Sunday, January 30, 2011
If you are having a hard day
A couple weeks ago while coming off the Trail, the other Trailwalkers and I found a cd in the truck. There was one song in particular that I fell in love with. It is called "One Day" by Matisyahu. If you have never heard it then you must go check it out. It has the most uplifting message that will definitely make you smile.
I Love my Job and Here's Why
My fellow Trailwalker, Seth, made this video. All the lines that are being shared are from the "Seven Paths of the Anasazi Way" book that the young walkers read on the Trail. I love it so much because it reminds me how lucky I am to work for a program that teaches these principles. I will proudly admit that I cried while watching it.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Adding to my food storage
Yesterday Jessica and I rented a canning machine from the cannery. That little machine is pretty nifty. I always assumed they were huge and hard to use but this thing is super easy. We canned 40 lbs of basmati rice, which we got for a only $26 at costco. I just love costco. We also canned 50 lbs of powdered milk. This is the same milk we use at anasazi; I love how it tastes and I usually don't like powdered milk. Now we are trying to think of anything else we want to stick in a #10 can before we have to take it back tomorrow. I keep thinking we should do some type of candy.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
As you can see I'm in a blogging mood tonight. This last weekend I was once again on the Trail and it was a good weekend for me. The Young Walker I had was not that easy, I had a difficult time reading her and getting to know her. Friday was spent in the office and she rarely spoke to us. We got out to the Trail well after dark, so we just unpacked and went to bed.
Saturday I had a difficult time getting her out of her sleeping bag. I tried everything short of grabbing the end of her sleeping bag and dumping her out. I had to be a little pushy since we had to eat breakfast, do the blanket stepping, pack and hike three miles before it got dark. At one point she asked me if I had any coke (I thought she meant a soda) but she clarified for me that she meant cocaine. I was a little taken aback by this statement. (something you need to understand is that as a Trailwalker I don't know their backstory and the reasons they are there, this is so that I can love them for who they are and not be distracted by preconceived ideas based on labels) I couldn't believe that she was seventeen and addicted to such a hard substance; although, it did add a little clarity as to why she was on the thin side.
We did make it to camp before dark; she actually hiked really well, but I noticed as the day went on that she became more and more defiant as the other TW and I tried to get her to participate in things like fire circle. Her defiance put a rankle in my plans of how this weekend would go and I became worried that she would not get done with rabbitstick by the usual monday afternoon. (my worst week ever on the Trail was when I let my ideas of how the week should go clash with how the week actually went. My Way of Being became a heart-at-war towards the Young Walkers and I lost the respect and trust of the YWs which led to utter chaos by the end of the week)
That night and the next morning I prayed to know what I needed to do to help this Young Walker. I realized that the first thing was too get my Way of Being ok with the idea that I might have to stay out a couple extra days and let my preconceived ideas go. When I realized that, I was much more patient. I realized that I needed to follow the Anasazi Way of constantly inviting but not forcing.
The next morning I got up early as usual but I did not press the YW to get up. She slept in for most of the morning which was probably a good thing. But what was amazing was that after she got up she immediately went to cooking herself breakfast. After she was finished, I asked her if she wanted to start working on her RS skills and she said yes. She went right to work and got quite a few things accomplished. That night we invited her again to fire circle and she actually participated. She was much more talkative with us and even began smiling a little.
Monday morning I did the same thing and she got up even earlier than the day before. Amazingly we helped her get all her RS requirements finished and she was in the band by early afternoon. I couldn't believe it. If you had asked me Saturday morning if she would have gotten everything done that quick I would have said no way, but the Creator gave us the inspiration to know exactly how to work with this YW and invite her to start a new beginning. It was a great learning experience for me in following the Anasazi Way and to see the powerful impact inviting someone can have.
Saturday I had a difficult time getting her out of her sleeping bag. I tried everything short of grabbing the end of her sleeping bag and dumping her out. I had to be a little pushy since we had to eat breakfast, do the blanket stepping, pack and hike three miles before it got dark. At one point she asked me if I had any coke (I thought she meant a soda) but she clarified for me that she meant cocaine. I was a little taken aback by this statement. (something you need to understand is that as a Trailwalker I don't know their backstory and the reasons they are there, this is so that I can love them for who they are and not be distracted by preconceived ideas based on labels) I couldn't believe that she was seventeen and addicted to such a hard substance; although, it did add a little clarity as to why she was on the thin side.
We did make it to camp before dark; she actually hiked really well, but I noticed as the day went on that she became more and more defiant as the other TW and I tried to get her to participate in things like fire circle. Her defiance put a rankle in my plans of how this weekend would go and I became worried that she would not get done with rabbitstick by the usual monday afternoon. (my worst week ever on the Trail was when I let my ideas of how the week should go clash with how the week actually went. My Way of Being became a heart-at-war towards the Young Walkers and I lost the respect and trust of the YWs which led to utter chaos by the end of the week)
That night and the next morning I prayed to know what I needed to do to help this Young Walker. I realized that the first thing was too get my Way of Being ok with the idea that I might have to stay out a couple extra days and let my preconceived ideas go. When I realized that, I was much more patient. I realized that I needed to follow the Anasazi Way of constantly inviting but not forcing.
The next morning I got up early as usual but I did not press the YW to get up. She slept in for most of the morning which was probably a good thing. But what was amazing was that after she got up she immediately went to cooking herself breakfast. After she was finished, I asked her if she wanted to start working on her RS skills and she said yes. She went right to work and got quite a few things accomplished. That night we invited her again to fire circle and she actually participated. She was much more talkative with us and even began smiling a little.
Monday morning I did the same thing and she got up even earlier than the day before. Amazingly we helped her get all her RS requirements finished and she was in the band by early afternoon. I couldn't believe it. If you had asked me Saturday morning if she would have gotten everything done that quick I would have said no way, but the Creator gave us the inspiration to know exactly how to work with this YW and invite her to start a new beginning. It was a great learning experience for me in following the Anasazi Way and to see the powerful impact inviting someone can have.
Christmas in Salt Lake
I know its a few weeks late but I thought I would say a little about my Christmas. I spent the week with my sister and nieces in Salt Lake in the snow and cold, but it was a nice change from the usual sunny, warmer weather of an Arizona winter. I had such a blast playing with my nieces and got a bit of a flashback to my childhood by watching farie tale theater with Amelia. Christmas morning was fun to watch the older girls get excited about presents. They seemed to love every single one they opened. My favorite was when Maggie got the dress my Aunt Marilyn crocheted for her and immediately wanted to put it on; when it came time for her to go to bed, Britt couldn't get her out of it so they became her pajamas for the night. Grandma and Grandpa Wood came over for brunch and Britt made this delicious oatmeal bake complete with real whip cream. Dinner was spent at my Aunt Christie's with more family and lots of laughs.One fun activity we did was take the girls to the children's museum. I spent almost the entire time chasing Maggie. It was fun playing in the water area with her and watching how much she loves the real helicopter outside. Maybe she'll be an adventurer like me.
I know I spent an entire week there but it went by in a complete blur; I was just having too much fun.
Eileen was so well behaved while we opened presents on Christmas morning.
As you can see, Amelia left a generous supply of cookies and milk for Santa and did not forget to leave some carrots for the reindeer at Britt's suggestion.
I have no idea what got Maggie so happy but I just love this picture of her hugging the bear (just look at the smile on her face).
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Britt and I which I didn't realize until I got home. I will have to remedy that the next time I am up there.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Bizarre Weekend
It all began when Wendy, Ridgewalk, felt good about me coming out to the Trail this weekend. Well Saturday morning came for us to drive out to the Trail together. We headed out in the white suburban but had to make a quick stop and pick up a burrito. As we turned off the freeway onto Gilbert Rd, Wendy turns to me and says the car won’t accelerate as we began coasting slower and slower down the road. By this point the power steering had gone and she had to “crank” the wheel to get us off the main road. We called a fellow Anasazi employee who lived close and tried jumping the sub to no avail. We headed back to the office (without forgetting to pick up the burritos) and got all our things moved into the truck. While I was getting in, I noticed one of the tires was flat, so we had to spend another hour replacing the tire there in the office parking lot. Once the tire was swapped out, Wendy and I were actually on our way when we should have been arriving at the bands. Two days before this, it got very cold here in Arizona and it snowed on the Trail. We were most of the way to where the bands were when the road turned from dirt to compacted snow and ice. Wendy didn’t feel confident driving the truck through that (I don’t blame her) so we switched drivers and crawled down the side of Cooks Mesa in 4L without any problems. 
Once we arrived at the bands location, there wasn’t much for me to do yet. So I spent the day with Wendy and Stanger joking, napping and reading bridal magazines (wendy just got engaged so I was flipping through them with her and discussing wedding options). That night it was cold with ice forming on things by 7pm. The next morning my canteens were frozen solid and there was ice on everything. If I had to guess, I would say the temp. was in the mid-teens. I stayed warm by making sure I went to bed hydrated and put an extra wool blanket that Ridgewalk had under me with my capote over the top of my sleeping bag. One great thing about the cold night with no moon was the star gazing; there was not a single part of the sky that wasn’t covered in stars.
Sunday morning we realized the starcraft vehicle (another suburban) we were in had a dead battery. After spending an hour just getting the hood open, we tried our jumper box which didn’t work. Two weeks before when I was coming off with rabbitstick we had the same problem and spent two hours looking for someone with jumper cables in the bloody basin. This time we had the same issue but instead of having an extra vehicle to drive around and find someone we had to sit there and wait for a passerby. Needless to say I got a good nap in while waiting and then was suddenly awakened by Wendy and Stanger yelling at me to stop the car they could hear coming down the road around midday. He was kind enough to stop even with filthy hippy looking people running at him and give us a jump.
Shortly after that chore, we picked up the injured young walker that we needed to drive to Final “D.” Well we were afraid of the car dying again and drove back over the snowing mesa into town to get the battery replaced. It’s a good thing we did because it was smoking and bulging by the time they pulled it out. We made a good time of it; joking that we had gotten lost and calling the buildings “large tents.” The young walker was awesome and played along. As we drove into town someone had built this snowman alongside the road. Stanger got a picture of me taking a picture of it.
By the time the car was fixed, it was dinner time and we decided to get some grub. We ended up at a Thai restaurant. Picture in your head for a moment four people, one of which is a young walker, dirty, smelly, looking like bums in a nice sit down restaurant. The whole situation seemed very surreal. We made the most of it by splitting four appetizers and then each eating a full entrée.
The next day we finally made it to Final “D” which still had snow on the ground. I took full advantage of it and hit Wendy with a snowball square in the chest. I spent the rest of the day with the injured YW and her band. I found an amazing metal shack someone had built complete with a 55 gallon drum fireplace. How could I pass up not sleeping in it. It was so awesome with my own little fire for warmth. For the first time that week I woke up with no ice on my things.
Tuesday I was priveledged to take the dawnstar YW’s to family camp and bring in their parents to them. I just love that reunion because that is what our program is all about: bringing families together. I and another TW cried when we saw it. Then I was off back into the bands to do the medical assesments for the nurse who was sick.
This whole weekend was strange because I went out without any set plan as to what I was going to do. I’m glad Anasazi feels they can trust me to be able to go into any situation and do a good job, and I’m glad I have so many weeks on the Trail to give me the confidence to be put in such a variety of situations.
Oh the car trouble didn’t end with the dead battery. The shadows, another TW and I almost got into a car accident on the freeway as we were coming home. Luckily we had prayed for safety and our driver was alert. The irony of it was that we were passing an accident when two cars in front of us hit each other.
Once we arrived at the bands location, there wasn’t much for me to do yet. So I spent the day with Wendy and Stanger joking, napping and reading bridal magazines (wendy just got engaged so I was flipping through them with her and discussing wedding options). That night it was cold with ice forming on things by 7pm. The next morning my canteens were frozen solid and there was ice on everything. If I had to guess, I would say the temp. was in the mid-teens. I stayed warm by making sure I went to bed hydrated and put an extra wool blanket that Ridgewalk had under me with my capote over the top of my sleeping bag. One great thing about the cold night with no moon was the star gazing; there was not a single part of the sky that wasn’t covered in stars.Sunday morning we realized the starcraft vehicle (another suburban) we were in had a dead battery. After spending an hour just getting the hood open, we tried our jumper box which didn’t work. Two weeks before when I was coming off with rabbitstick we had the same problem and spent two hours looking for someone with jumper cables in the bloody basin. This time we had the same issue but instead of having an extra vehicle to drive around and find someone we had to sit there and wait for a passerby. Needless to say I got a good nap in while waiting and then was suddenly awakened by Wendy and Stanger yelling at me to stop the car they could hear coming down the road around midday. He was kind enough to stop even with filthy hippy looking people running at him and give us a jump.
Shortly after that chore, we picked up the injured young walker that we needed to drive to Final “D.” Well we were afraid of the car dying again and drove back over the snowing mesa into town to get the battery replaced. It’s a good thing we did because it was smoking and bulging by the time they pulled it out. We made a good time of it; joking that we had gotten lost and calling the buildings “large tents.” The young walker was awesome and played along. As we drove into town someone had built this snowman alongside the road. Stanger got a picture of me taking a picture of it.
By the time the car was fixed, it was dinner time and we decided to get some grub. We ended up at a Thai restaurant. Picture in your head for a moment four people, one of which is a young walker, dirty, smelly, looking like bums in a nice sit down restaurant. The whole situation seemed very surreal. We made the most of it by splitting four appetizers and then each eating a full entrée.The next day we finally made it to Final “D” which still had snow on the ground. I took full advantage of it and hit Wendy with a snowball square in the chest. I spent the rest of the day with the injured YW and her band. I found an amazing metal shack someone had built complete with a 55 gallon drum fireplace. How could I pass up not sleeping in it. It was so awesome with my own little fire for warmth. For the first time that week I woke up with no ice on my things.
Tuesday I was priveledged to take the dawnstar YW’s to family camp and bring in their parents to them. I just love that reunion because that is what our program is all about: bringing families together. I and another TW cried when we saw it. Then I was off back into the bands to do the medical assesments for the nurse who was sick.This whole weekend was strange because I went out without any set plan as to what I was going to do. I’m glad Anasazi feels they can trust me to be able to go into any situation and do a good job, and I’m glad I have so many weeks on the Trail to give me the confidence to be put in such a variety of situations.
Oh the car trouble didn’t end with the dead battery. The shadows, another TW and I almost got into a car accident on the freeway as we were coming home. Luckily we had prayed for safety and our driver was alert. The irony of it was that we were passing an accident when two cars in front of us hit each other.
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