10 Days in AZ: The vortex.

Orienting ourselves on our hike in Sedona. (C) Sara Dyer

In New Hampshire, we now talk about a polar vortex.
In Sedona—in fact, in most of Arizona—apparently there are spiritual vortexes. Once you enter Sedona, there are signs for rocks and crystals everywhere. We walked into a little shop and read all about the different qualities this or that crystal or stone had.
In the shop, it seemed perfectly reasonable to spend $51 dollars on a heart-shaped rose quartz crystal the size of a tablespoon.
From home, it seems less reasonable, but far more reasonable than before we ever went to Sedona.
I still think about that crystal and wonder what I’m missing out on.
Anyway, I’ve defined the vortex in my mind as a place where the mystical layers of the world are closer to where we can see them and feel them. Where the world we don’t see comes closer to the world we do see. And things do feel more special and more mystical there—the color of the earth, the rock formations, the sky.
Dan and I went on a hike around Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte. We started at the Bell Rock trailhead, looping around Bell Rock via the Bell Rock Loop and then skirting the edge of Courthouse Butte on the Courthouse Butte Loop. At certain points, even though we weren’t too far from the road, the sound of traffic and people just disappeared. All that’s left to do is slip around the earth and admire the huge rocks—all their divots and striations.
I never feel small when I’m in big big nature or at least, I’ve never felt that way so far in my life. I just feel good.

View of Bell Rock near its trailhead. (C) Sara Dyer

10 Days in AZ: It's so cold.

Everywhere we went, the people said it: It’s so cold right now! Unseasonably so! Br!
Then they’d ask us where we hailed from. When we said New England, they’d get a bit sheepish.
The beautiful thing was, there were outdoor and indoor fires everywhere.
And therefore, I did not care one bit.
Why are there not fires in 60 degree weather at all times?
This is what I am adopting from my time in the Southwest: fires when it’s warm out.
Dan started his marathon in Phoenix—bonfires.
We sat outside in Sedona—fire. The waitress even brought us a blankie to snuggle up. Then Dan shut off the fire accidentally by pushing the emergency shut-off with his toe. It was very upsetting.
Then we sat by another fire in Sedona at our hotel, chatting with a couple who had just arrived that day. Fires make people want to talk and be civil.
We sat near a fire where we stayed in Tuscon, and people asked us to take pictures of them. They knew we were nice people, or at least temporarily nice enough to approach, because we were sitting near a fire.
Fire in the entrance to the Grand Hotel in the Grand Canyon, amidst all the wild photos of taxidermied animals. It almost made staring into the face of a hunted kudu bearable.
I couldn’t get enough of the fires. I miss them. More fire! More fire all the time, I say!

10 Days in AZ: My Favorite Cactus Names

The day before Dan’s marathon, we stopped by the Desert Botanical Garden to walk around for a few hours and make sure his legs were extra tired before he had to run the 26.2 miles. Beyond the stunning array of cactus they offer, I was impressed by this: The at-times, at-times strange layman’s names for the plants.

In no particular order, here are my favorites:

Organ pipe
Desert spoon
Chuparosa
Palo verde
Fish hook barrel
Compass barrel

And not to be forgotten, the best of them all, for reasons that should be obvious:
Old Man Cactus, who poses for his own photo.

The illustrious, sagacious Old Man Cactus (C) Sara Dyer