Christmas, Part Trois
Jan. 9th, 2003 12:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeSo. Phoenix is beautiful. Cacti are cool. Sedona, where my dad's vacation house is, is lovely in a very dropped-off-on-Mars way. Huge red rock formations everywhere, with name like Courthouse Rock and Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock. And there was snow in the shadows, which I found odd, but I suppose that's to be expected--Sedona's elevation is around 4,000 so it's colder there. Apparently in the summer it's incredibly hot--many, many days where it's over 100. But--say it with me--it's a dry heat. Anyway, we went on a jeep tour of the off-road trails that was very interesting. Our tour guide was this strange poseur called "Doc" who wore chaps and smoked non-stop and whose tour spiel was timed down to the second. He irritated me mightily with his patented "stupid tourist" stories--according to him, one "Wall Street banker" (you know, one a' them Back East Rich New Yorker-types, those sissified city slickers) asked at what elevation the elks grows horns. Right. Sure. Bart loved him but the rest of him found him a bit much. He was alright when he talked about the science of the area. For example, the entire area used to be underwater--there's a thin grey layer that indicates where the water came up to, that's called the "Bathtub Ring of Sedona." Loved that.
We went to the Grand Canyon as well. Just--so, so incredibly cool. So amazing. So many layers, so much time, so much beauty and grandeur. I really want to go back and hike to the bottom.
We are so amazingly fortunate to live in a country with such infinite variety of beauty. What a country where you can see both the green and gentle hills of the Shenandoah and the sere valleys of Arizona.
I got a hot stone massage in Sedona. It was very New Age-y (there is a big New Age presence in Sedona--lots of crystals and such, much fuss about the "vortex" that they believe surrounds some of the rocks); the masseuse talked about my chakras and cleansed my aura at the end with sage. She talked about the stones, saying they were "very loving." I'm not sure if she meant that as in they're invested with love or they're sentient beings that project love. But it was all very interesting. I don't necessarily subscribe to those beliefs but who am I to say they have no validity? "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
We went to the Grand Canyon as well. Just--so, so incredibly cool. So amazing. So many layers, so much time, so much beauty and grandeur. I really want to go back and hike to the bottom.
We are so amazingly fortunate to live in a country with such infinite variety of beauty. What a country where you can see both the green and gentle hills of the Shenandoah and the sere valleys of Arizona.
I got a hot stone massage in Sedona. It was very New Age-y (there is a big New Age presence in Sedona--lots of crystals and such, much fuss about the "vortex" that they believe surrounds some of the rocks); the masseuse talked about my chakras and cleansed my aura at the end with sage. She talked about the stones, saying they were "very loving." I'm not sure if she meant that as in they're invested with love or they're sentient beings that project love. But it was all very interesting. I don't necessarily subscribe to those beliefs but who am I to say they have no validity? "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
