Back From Sedona

My Sedona Soul Adventure was amazing, awesome, and any other over-used adjectives you'd like to throw into the mix.  It provided me with what I was looking for - although not exactly what I was expecting.  So much happened in my one-week journey that I will have to report on it in bits and pieces.

Red Rocks.  Yes, I saw red rocks - and orange, pink, grey, and other colors, too!  For someone who has lived her entire life in Western Oregon and Washington, I never anticipated the impact the rocky landscape of the Sedona area would have on me.  The evening I arrived, it was already dark, and I had very little sense of the surrounding terrain.  The next morning, as soon as I opened my door and looked outside, I was immediately struck by the size, color, and proximity of the rocky heights reflecting the rising sun.

I've seen spectacular mountains before - the American Rockies, the Swiss Alps - but something about these views filled me with a sense of awe for the power and majesty of creation.  I was surrounded by sights such as these the entire week I was in Sedona, and they were a major part of my overall experience.

Although a native Oregonian and former Girl Scout, I have gradually spent less time outdoors as the years passed.  In Sedona, I spent time each day walking, meditating, and taking pictures out in the autumn air.  And, every day, I was struck with renewed wonder at the magnificence of the landscape before me.  In fact, I could not return to Oregon before purchasing "Sights of Sedona" which promised a "spectacular time-lapse DVD experience of Sedona's Red Rock Country." 

Three Cups of Tea.  Do you have a list of books you intend to read "someday"?  Well, I do, and Three Cups of Tea is on it.  Although it was published a few years ago, I never quite got around to reading it.  I even recommended it to others, admitting that I hadn't yet read it myself.

Before I left Sedona, I thought, "I should get a copy of Three Cups of Tea to read in the plane on the way home."  After looking for it at one store, I forgot about it, but I did add the book to my Twelve-Month Plan the next time I had computer access.

The day after I arrived back in Oregon, I found out that David Oliver Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, would be speaking at Marylhurst University on the evening of October 16 (that's tonight!).  I now have a ticket to hear him speak and a stronger commitment to get a copy of the book.  I would be inclined to say "What a coincidence!" if I believed in coincidences.

Stay tuned for more on my Sedona Soul Adventure.