Susan's sketchbook log: Sedona, View from a Vortex

 

Watching for Rocks

road signLove these signs in Oak Creek Canyon. Talk about belaboring the obvious. What d'ya think we're HERE for but to watch for rocks!!?!

The other signs I saw that made me smile were the U.S. Forest Service ones: "Healing in Progress. Stay on the trail." It wouldn't make me think twice anywhere else, but here in New Ageville, I could easily imagine a Ranger with crystals...

Bus parking onlyBus Parking Only

11,000 residents, 5 million visitors a year: you do the math. One young resident, asked his views on the tourist invasion, said, "Dangerous." Referring to our tendency -- stunned into stupidity by the views -- to stop in the middle of a road, park any which way and walk blindly into traffic, with our face stuck in a camera viewfinder.

And there just ain't enough parking. Frustrated in my attempt to get anywhere NEAR "the" sunset viewing place, I finally swung into "Bus Parking Only" -- which turned out to be a huge empty lot, with shade no less, and an excellent place to pull out the paints and do a little sketch to celebrate the sight of the almost-full moon.

 

Airport Mesa

So, back to Airport Mesa the next morning, a quiet visit after the dawn tai chi crowd had departed. This is where one of the vortices is. I was feeling it, but a minibus of tourists arrived and climbed this little "mini-mesa", laughing uproariously the entire time; they were clearly not feeling it. The hawk riding the thermals above the canyon floor didn't seem to give a darn either way.

 

 

susankmiller.net | sklog home | previous | next

© Copyright 2006 Susan K. Miller. All Rights Reserved.