"Learning to Breathe" by Alison Wright

“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break.” – Chinese Proverb

            It is perhaps a stretch to call me a true traveler of the world. I am more a woman with no real sense of, what I would call, relative distance. I make my home where I need to, for the time being, until it is time to move on. I have yet to make a decision on where to live based on where my family is, and this, I think, has given me a bit of a reputation for travel. I rarely go anywhere outside of the town that I am living in at the moment, though and have only been outside of the USA twice. My heart lies in that direction though - To be a true traveler of the world. That coupled with my ever increasing desire to read everything ever written, ever – has sometimes led me to little gem of books like this one, 

“Learning to Breathe” by Alison Wright.

            One of my favorite genera’s of books would be what I have dubbed “Adventure Travel/ Personal Essay”. There is probably a better name for it, somewhere, but this suits me well. Usually, to be in this category the books are about one person’s really long travel adventure to a really cool place around the globe. They take place in a time span of anywhere between a couple of weeks to about four years tops. The writer/adventurer gives a good story about what happened and what they were thinking at the time, but mostly just crazy people that they met on the way. (See “Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost” for a great example and another one of my favorites.) This book goes a step further. That step is why this book will be on my bookshelf of favorites and books to give to other people for a very long time. 

Let me explain:

            Alison Wright is a photo journalist. She has a soft spot for children and South East Asia. One day while on a bus in Laos she is in a terrible accident. Her organs were in the incorrect places and she could not walk for a very long time. She does not want to give up her old life of travel, adventure, and fun though (I mean, who would?) and so against her initial Doctor’s opinion she does exactly that. This book is a memoir of her journey to recovery, and even achieving her goal to summit Mount Kilimanjaro on her fortieth birthday. It was inspirational to read. While I cannot truly or fully empathize with her, I could see the direction she was coming from just from things that have happened in my own life. Sadly, I have found myself devastatingly wanting in my life since a couple of huge accidents that had my guardian angels working double-time. But, that is a different blog post.

            The step farther that Alison takes in her book is the spiritual one. I can tell from reading this that she is a deeply spiritual person, and that that side of things was just as important as overcoming the physical limitations that she suddenly had in her life. Maybe it is because I have been witness to this in my own life so recently, but she talks about how some things happened to her because the right person just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. How, through a courageous journey she has come out the other side with more clarity than she ever imagined before this happened to her.

            I recommend this book to EVERYONE. Alison will take you through this time in her life in a way that has you questioning your own purpose on this spinning rock, and whether or not you are fulfilling that purpose.

            I am coming away from it a better woman for reading it, and I believe that in most cases it would be a benefit to your life to read it as well. Although I do have to warn you that it gave me the travel bug bad, so be prepared for that.

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“It had taken finding a stillness within myself to realize the answer to my question of why I had survived: for this breath. To be truly aware of each precious moment of time, right here, right now. For this very moment is all we have”

“We were all in this together, all companions in the pilgrimage of life.”

-Excerpts from Learning to Breathe

AA : Realities in Island Life

I think that I expected too much from this place and time. In a way this island has been a breath of fresh air in my system. Giving me the moment that I needed to catch my breath. I was still expecting to have more of an ADVENTURE though, and the fact that I have not is a bit depressing.

Which brings me to a few things that I have learned since being here....

1: The adventure is in your outlook on things. I came to a fishing resort and not only have I not gone fishing even once - but I have no desire to go. So when the only activities I do involve me hiking two whole miles to a small waterfall, I must find my own adventures. 

2: No matter where I ever live - the night is still my favorite time of day. It is a universal truth in my little world of wandering.

3: Like attracts like. This is something that I really should have figured out by now but it has really taken this long to sink in I suppose. But to be surrounded by awesome people, you have to be awesome. You have to be the intelligent, well read, active person you want to have around you.

4: There is a reason for me to be in certain places and meeting certain people where ever I go. This truth has never been more poignantly expressed to me than here in this island in the middle of nowhere. To know that the choice to come here brought me to someone who has changed my life for the rest of my life. Even if the most unfortunate of happenings occurred and I was to never see this man again after he steps on the float plane back to California - I will still have experienced this summer with him and have had the conversations we have. Out of all the times that I listened to God, the universe, my gut- whatever you want to call it- I will be eternally grateful that I listened this time.

5: You can never assume anything about anyone. They will always surprise you. I have found here a melting pot of people that has surpassed the wide variety that I have met in my travels so far. I have my usual misfits and travels and then I have people who have tried and failed at life in some way and are now picking themselves back up. They surprise me on a daily basis and in their own way they show me that humanity is going in the general right direction. 

6: I really suck at guessing people's age. This is now a concrete truth for me and I will no longer even attempt to guess anymore.

My season her is almost over. I feel in this moment that even though I will most likely not be returning to this place as I had hoped in the beginning, I will never regret the coming.

Alaska.... The early days

My newest adventure has been dubbed "AA" short for "Alaskan Adventure". I somehow thought it a good idea to go from being trapped on an Arizona Guest Ranch to being secluded on an Alaskan fishing lodge that you can only get to by boat or seaplane.

The first few days in my AA have been pretty good. I am freaking cold. Summer here apparently exactly like fall in the North West. Coming to this from Arizona has been a bit of a shock to the system. Hopefully my body will acclimate to this by the end of the week.

My hope is that this place will be somewhere I want to come back to next year. It's too soon to tell for sure, but I am hopeful.

Someone Much Wiser Than I Once Said...

"Gratefulness is the key to a happy life that we hold in our hands, because if we are not grateful  then no matter  how much we have we will not be happy - because we will always want to have something else or something more." 

- David Steindt-Rast 

I suppose that this goes along the lines of "Money can't buy happiness", but there is so much truth here. There is a weight lifted off my shoulders when I take a minute or two and think about what I DO have. The relationships, the employment that pays my bills, the health, the ability to have many hobbies, ALL OF MY BOOKS. 

I am usually thanking Heavenly Father, but it would also be applicable to thank whatever you wish. Whether it be a God, the universe, the Earth, or the thing itself. 

You will see how full your life really is. 

"The Good Girl's Guide To Getting Lost" by: Rachel Friedman

I loved this book!

I will say now that I recommend it to anyone and everyone. 

Beware: The probability of catching the travel bug is high.

"The Good Girl's Guide to Getting Lost" by Rachel Friedman was a fantastic distraction from my current very sedentary life. It is the story of how Rachel found her way in the world.. while seeing the world. 

(This is a video of one of her book signings)

I am a self proclaimed junkie when it comes to what I like to call "adventure travel" books. But most of the ones that I come across are written by people who are lucky enough to have made travel their careers or have had a successful career already and with a healthy nest egg in hand are emerging into the world. 

What I loved about this book was that she is basically broke.. and new to everything. 

I probably relate to her on some level that even I (in my gypsy ways) don't want to admit to. 

This is the description that is on her website:

Rachel Friedman has always been the consummate good girl who does well in school and plays it safe, so the college grad surprises no one more than herself when, on a whim (and in an effort to escape impending life decisions), she buys a ticket to Ireland, a place she has never visited. There she forms an unlikely bond with a free-spirited Australian girl, a born adventurer who spurs Rachel on to a yearlong odyssey that takes her to three continents, fills her life with new found friends, and gives birth to a previously unrealized passion for adventure.

As her journey takes her to Australia and South America, Rachel discovers and embraces her love of travel and unlocks more truths about herself than she ever realized she was seeking. Along the way, the erstwhile good girl finally learns to do something she's never done before: simply live for the moment.

Again: I recommend this book to everyone. 

And maybe plan a trip of your own

Potentials

I have been thinking of the mere existence of potential quite a bit the last few days.

It all started on Sunday. I went to church, something that is happening with more frequency and willingness in the last few weeks, and during Sacrament meeting (it's the equivallant to mass for all the non-Mormons that may stumble upon this page) and I was taking the sacrament (it's like communion - minus the wine) when I started to think about Christ. Now just in case you happen to be reading this and are not a christian... I think it will still be interesting... just bear with me.

So, the entire purpose to taking the sacrament is to remember Christ and his sacrifice to the world. Admittedly, I am generally not very good at this task. I can be seen doing everything from writing in my journal about something unrelated to staring at one of the babies that sits in front of me to entertain myself.

I, for once, was able to focus on the task at hand though. Christ and the infinite atonement that allows us to return to our Heavenly Father. I just kept thinking of all the doors that are opened up to us because of this sacrifice.

(Here is where we lapse into the gospel according to Tami and should never be taken as official LDS doctrine):

Because of this sacrifice, we are lifted from the previously insurmountable task of actually paying in full for every sin we make. All those pesky sacrifices and laws that quite frankly would have gotten very old, very quickly.

I, for one, am not quite able to imagine a world where we were bound by such things.

I also see a world limited. Thinking about it now, and most likely this is just a window into where I currently am mentally, I can not even describe how we would be limited. It is more a feeling of dread to be living under such drastic and intense rule.

it is as though this sacrifice not only opened the heavens to us, but the Earth as well. I wonder if we would still have the same cultures and divisions as we do now. Would we have the opportunities that we do now.

The world as a hole was given a second chance to become what they wished to be.. the best of what they could, would, and should be.

(Here is where any non-Christians can jump on... I promise no more talk of Christ)



POTENTIAL

No matter where you may believe we get it, or acquire it, or find it inside of ourselves - there is always that fact that we are never fully living up to it.

We can always be more, see more, love more, do more, experience more.

In my day of thinking of this I came up with an EXTREMELY LONG list of things I should be doing, that I am not. It was really kind of sad. My list of things that I already doing was pretty much narrowed down to two things: 1.I am a nice/good person 95% of the time and 2: I keep a journal.

There is so much more to this life. A continuance of learning and growth that helps us to achieve that height that we all want to be at.

The task of goal setting seemed the most appropriate sort of way to help myself achieve this potential I seek so wantonly after. The fact that I have yet to actually finish any goal ever has yet to really become important. The point is to change and become better. Maybe my penchant for falling off the wagon will change in the process.

Black Jack - Me Against the Dealer

(This is Linn. She taught me everything I know.)

So, as the good little Mormon girl that I was raised to be, I was not really ever exposed to gambling. The church itself frowns on anything having to do with gambling, even to the extent of not taking tithes from your winnings. This definitely limited my exposure to gambling to mostly things like Oreo cookies and SweetTarts. I have accidentally won the $50 pot playing some Texas Hold'em with the cowboys working at the first Guest Ranch I worked at. It was pretty much a fluke, as I had no idea what I was doing really, and none of them talked to me for a couple days. Needless to say, I was no longer welcome to play in their tournaments  I was welcome to watch though... someone had to heckle and keep the mood light. Looking back I have to say that the only reason I won was because no one noticed I was winning until the last few hands. I also think I was a better liar back then.

My relatively sheltered existence has been opened up yet again, and it was opened up to the game of blackjack. My fun loving GM here at Rancho de los Caballeros had a left over beer keg.. most likely from a group... that was going bad. What does one do when you have a bunch of beer you need to get rid of? You set up a casino night for your employees of course!

What is casino night, you ask?

My GM found a company that would come and set up tables and teach everyone how to play these games. We had blackjack, craps, Texas  hold'em, and roulette. My friends and I were pretty much accidentally smart enough to go directly to the black jack table.

Where Linn was waiting.

Linn taught all us new comers how to play this awesome game! Basically, It is you against the dealer and despite my youthful games of "21" the point is not always to get to 21. I learned about bust cards and that you should usually only split your hand for A's and 8's. I learned about doubling down, but never really got any real money out of doing it. I stood at that table for 2 hours straight. I have seen all of the gambling shows that show people staying at a table for an entire day, and I finally understand how that can happen.

I did briefly try my hand at roulette.... oh how I failed with a flourish at that. I was there for a total of probably five minutes and lost almost a thousand dollars. I moved back to my new favorite game for the last twenty minutes of the night and won most of it back.

You lost a thousand dollars?!?!

The best part of this evening was that none of it was real money.

We started out with a thousand dollars in chips and were supposed to go from there. The point to this other than playing and having fun was that we could "buy" some of the swag that we sell at our gift shop. I now have yet another water bottle, and traveling coffee cup, and T-shirt, and bandanna. All of which have the company logo on them.

I have to admit though... I probably won't be trying to win my yearly rent money in Vegas anytime soon.

"The Lost Night" By: Jayne Castle

"The Lost Night" by Jayne Castle, who also writes under the names Jayne Anne Krentz and Amanda Quick, was great. It was fun, suspenseful, and original. 

This is a futuristic, romantic, suspenseful, and paranormal novel. I loved every minute of it. She makes brief mention of ancient Earth and the things and traditions that made it over to the new planet. I like that this book is futuristic and in its own right even a bit sci-fi, but without all of the spaceships and the like. The story flows very well, and leaves me excited for the rest in this particular series. 

Here is the official synopsis from her website:

"Even the mysterious world of Harmony has people who don’t quite fit in. They’re drawn to places like Rainshadow Island, a beautiful sanctuary where anyone can feel safe—and where secrets are closely guarded...

Schooled in an exotic form of martial arts, and with the ability to detect the auras of dangerous psychic criminals, Rachel Bonner and her dust bunny companion have found peace and quiet on Rainshadow Island, operating a bookstore and café.

But her tranquil new life is thrown into chaos when Harry Sebastian, the descendant of a notorious pirate, arrives to investigate strange developments in the privately owned woods known as the Preserve.

Immediately drawn to the amber-eyed woman, Harry must tread carefully. While Rachel’s special talents can help him track down dangerous rogues who have violated the Preserve, they can also sense the heart of darkness within him. But desire can weaken the strongest of defenses—and leave even the strongest man wanting more..."

I would definitely recommend this book. It's not exactly epic literature, but I enjoyed it.

"Moonfall" By: Tamara Thorne

Unfortunately, every roommate I have ever had during that most lovely month of October can attest to the fact that I commence complaining about the lack of good Halloween books for me to indulge in. 

Well, in this last week in January, I have finally found a really great Halloween book. 

Moonfall by: Tamara Thorne

Here is the official synopsis from her website:

"Moonfall, the picturesque community nestled in the mountains of Southern California, in a quaint hamlet of antique stores and craft shops run by the dedicated nuns of St. Gertrude's Home for girls. as autumn fills the air, the townspeople prepare for the festive Halloween Haunt, Moonfall's most popular tourist attraction. Even a series of unsolved deaths over the years hasn't dimmed Moonfall's renown. Maybe because anyone who knew anything about them has disappeared.

Now, Sara Hawthorne returns to her hometown... and enter the hallowed halls of St. Gertrude's where, twelve years before, another woman died a horrible death. In Sara's old room, distant voices echo in the dark and tormented cries of children shatter the moon-kissed night

But that's just the beginning. For Sara Hawthorne is about to uncover St. Gertrude's hellish secret... a secret she'll carry with her to the grave.."

But

I LOVED this book! I could literally barely put the book down long enough to eat or sleep or go to work for two days. Tamara Thorne is such a talented story teller. She has a talent for moving the story along without adding unnecessary violence or action. I loved the background that she sets the story up with. 

What the synopsis does not mention is the other main character, John, who you actually start the story with. You get to witness the tragedy of his brother's death, and the subsequent loss of friends and family soon after. I would almost say that it is more his story that Sara's. 

Another thing that I really live is how Thorne so seamlessly interweaves the Occult with Christianity, without actually going into too many details for either. 

She had me on the edge of my seat, loving how things were playing out on the page. 

I would definitely recommend this book, with exceptions.

This is in the HORROR genre. I know more than a few people who can not take it, even if they say they can *cough*Cate*cough*.  

I for one, will be buying more of her books, though I may keep them til Halloween. 

Vulture Mine Adventure

I have moved to the middle of nowhere. In the desert. This sometimes feels like there is nothing at all to do. I have to sometimes remind myself that this is not the case...well not completely at least.

I suppose this is as good a time as any to update you on some of my more recent adventures.

About a month ago my new friend Darrian and I made the trip (about 7 miles up the road, because again we live in the middle of nowhere) to take the tour of the old Vulture Mine. 

This mine was founded by a man named Henry Wickenburg in 1863. He knew where to dig for the gold because he could literally see it on top of one of the hills. It was dubbed "Vulture Mine" because the vultures would hover  above in the air on the air currents or something that the gold would put off.

This mine became the most productive gold mine in Arizona's history. It produced 340,000 ounces of gold and 260,000 ounces of silver.

The mine spawned the town and the city of Pheonix, who was originally settled to open the canals left behind by Native Americans so people could create resources for the Vulture Mine and the town around it.

The town turned into a boom town. As a result this place LOVES Henry Wickenburg. There is a parade, and a day all dedicated to the man. The mine itself closed in 1942 to put more resources toward the war effort, but by that point the town had dubbed itself the Dude Ranch capital. There used to be like ten out here. I now work on one of the only two that are still open.

Here are a few pictures from the tour. We did not get to go into any actual mine shafts - which was highly disappointing, let me tell you.

I forgot what this does, but here is some random old equipment for your viewing pleasure.

above is the "Crusher" which crushed big chunks of rock into smaller chunks... apparently it has also taken a few hands in its time.

This used to be the stables. They kept most of the support animals off site unless they needed them.

Some cool old jars

Some one forgot to do the dishes

Here are a couple shots of what is left of Henry Wickenburg's original house. Below is a close up of one of the many gun ports he had so that he could easily shoot people trying to steal his gold.

There wasn't really a jail system here yet when the mine first started, so there was a bit of cowboy justice had here. This is the hanging tree. Steal gold, manage to not get shot on site but not get away either and you would most likely end up here. Tough luck.

If you notice below, this is the hanging tree, and that is Wickenburg's house directly behind it.
Location, Location, Location!

These are random bathtubs that are just sitting there. Darrian actually had a mini photo shoot with them. There were a couple women who stuck around with us as we waited for the group to pass us before we had said photo shoot. They were trying to figure out what all the interest in these tubs was.

This is me in an ore cart.

Some old stuff they had on display at the main house

The gas station

Me in an old fire truck

This is Darrian and I !!!