Still road-tripping Aug. 6th

Once again I was awed by the beauty of the land that is in our country. Today, we drove through a gorgeous section of Colorado – highway 550 going north from Durango to Montrose. Though the road was much curvier than most roads I’ve been on, it was worth it to see the tree-covered mountains, occasionally showing the red and brown earth underneath. You could literally see cascades – layers of mountains in the distance, just like the poems, songs and movies we’ve all encountered them in. Still, not as awesome as Monument Valley (I tend to prefer jutting rocks and sand to the green trees) but I thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

But, I promised to talk about Mesa Verde. In case you haven’t heard of Mesa Verde, it’s a National park in southern Colorado, dedicated to actual cave dwellings that were found in the cliffs of the mesas. Anasazi or Ancestral Puebloans as they are called, built homes in the sides of cliffs within natural alcoves. They are a fascinating sight and learning about the people and how they lived was very interesting. The biggest cave dwelling in North America is the Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. Over a hundred people lived in this home with over a hundred rooms built from bricks and mortar. We enjoyed exploring it and a few other dwellings at the park.

Of course, last night was also quite an adventure. We camped in the park, apparently during monsoon season. So, we set up our tent in the afternoon and Vienna reminded us to put up the rain cover. We almost didn’t but figured it only took a few minutes so we did. Thanks to Vienna we avoided a flood in the tent. We still spent the night in the tent with the wind and rain alternatingly keeping us awake. It sounded a lot worse than it turned out to be but it was scary while it lasted. At least we know we have a good, sturdy tent!

The next couple of days are going to be much more relaxing. We’re in a lovely hotel in Gunnison, CO, surrounded by mountains and fresh air. We’ll be driving little and relaxing a lot.

Another day of the Wood 2008 Road-Trip

Whenever I take a road-trip through different parts of the country, I am always amazed at the incredible beauty that God has put on this earth. Yesterday and today, we drove through and photographed Monument Valley, which I have never seen before. It was truly magnificent. Only in other parts of Southern Utah have I seen such majesty. If you haven’t been through southern Utah, it would be the first place I would recommend. Every time I go through, I am stunned by the buttes, mesas and gigantic ridges all around. Yes, I like it even better than the Grand Canyon. Maybe, only because I’ve never been down to the bottom but, I prefer immense things towering over me. They fill me with awe.

So far, we’ve seen the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Four Corners and are now at Mesa Verde. Grand Canyon was beautiful, as always. The only drawback is that when you look down at it, it doesn’t seem real. Maybe it’s the haze that was there but it flattens out the scenery, like a photograph. Andy and Vienna went to see the sunrise early in the morning – good for them. I just thought they’d like some daddy-daughter time so I slept in – purely selfless act on my part :-).

We did hike down into it – some. We are real wimps when it comes to strenuous activity. We went down about ¾ of a mile, but it seemed like 2 miles, easily. Of course, coming back up was harder but we managed well, taking very frequent but short breaks. All in all it took us only 1 ½ hours so not too bad. But, we were worn out and ready for lunch.

That afternoon, we drove out the east entrance, stopping at spots along the way to see different vantage points. It was gorgeous. This time, it was Vienna’s turn to sleep in the back seat. After GC, we headed toward Monument Valley. I was very excited at the prospect of seeing it as I’d seen the pictures and they were all stunning. Sure, enough – we weren’t disappointed. The late afternoon sun shown brightly and red on the faces of the East and West Mittens, the three sisters and all the other huge monuments jutting out of the desert. At one point, I could imagine that it was once a city for giants that had long been deserted and left to disintegrate. Truly, one of the most beautiful sites I’ve ever seen!

Then, this morning, Andy and I woke up very early to go photograph the valley by morning light. This was one of Andy’s dreams since he’d seen some beautiful images in that light. Again, it was beautiful but in a totally different way. The monuments so brightly lit the day before were now in silhouette and the other side that was in shadow the day before was now bright yellow. We could also see for miles the lights and shadows created by many layers of other monuments as far as the eye could see.

After picking Vienna back up at our hostel room in Bluff, UT we headed out. But, not too far because only 2 blocks from where we stayed at the Far Out Expeditions guest house, there is a rock formation called the Navajo Twins and right beneath it is a lovely café with a gift shop – too much for us to resist.

Then it was on to Four Corners – a necessary stop as we passed only 5 miles from it anyway but not something you would want to go too far out of your way to see. Literally, it’s just a platform with a cross cutting it into quarters with the four states listed in their appropriate section. There is a small tower to climb to take pics and then all around the platform are little flea market shops with Native Americans selling jewelry, figurines and other folk art. Vienna and I did enjoy getting some jewelry.

More about Mesa Verde, soon!

Day 1 of Roadtrip 2008 with the Wood Family

August 2, 2008

Today we left Scotts Valley for our last roadtrip before Vienna goes off to college. We are going to see several national parks – Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone. We’re also seeing Monument Valley, which isn’t technically a national park but supposed to be awesome. I can’t wait. I’m especially excited to spend these two weeks just me and my family on the road.

Today we drove to Needles – about an 8 hour trip – 9 with stopping for lunch, and mostly through the central valley of California and the Mojave Desert. I am sure the temperature topped 100 degrees though I don’t know for sure. Most of the drive was uneventful but we were expecting that. We did take a detour through Amboy on route 66, which was cool. Route 66 seems to attract the strange, unusual and often goofy. We stopped by a shoe-tree - a tree on the side of the road that people have thrown many pairs of shoes into. We’ve seen one before on route 50 up north so it’s not unique to 66 but then we saw another shoe-tree and then a bra-tree. Now, that was unique.

Amboy, itself is a ghost town that has one famous attraction – Roy’s Café and gas station. A very famous 66 landmark, it is in the process of being renovated along with the motel on the property. Apparently, someone recently bought the town and wants to make it a thriving community. Good luck. It’s a long way off but it would be great if it works.

Just past Amboy we saw the stretch of road where people have spelled their names and made other things with rocks. It was very neat. We thought about getting out again, but after enduring the oppressing heat for the shoe-tree and Amboy we couldn’t bear the thought of getting out again.

We enjoyed the time in the car, chatting, listening to cool music and enjoying the scenery as we passed by. We made it into Needles at about 5:30 and cooled off in our air-conditioned room before heading off for dinner at a local 66 tourist restaurant – the Wagon Wheel. Good food, service and a little gift shop – all requisites for a good 66 place. After a good walk in the evening heat, I took a cold shower – not by choice and am now relaxing and getting ready for tomorrow’s adventure – the Grand Canyon.

Pickens and Gore and the Global Crisis- Part 2

As I said, yesterday. I think that this plan goes deeper and broader than what most people are talking about on the news.

To start, Pickens responded to Gore's plan by saying that their objectives were different- Gore focusing on global warming and Pickens focusing on our use of foreign oil. But, I think these problems go hand in hand with our use of fossil fuels. I also see some other crises happening at the same time. There's also the peak oil crisis talked about in "Crude Awakenings" and a growing economic crisis, of which we may only be feeling the tip of the iceberg now. These things all affect one another and solving one may have a great impact on the others, too.

This economic crisis, is shown on the news as individual problems - gas prices, the housing market, stock prices and inflation. I think that these things all play into one overall trend that will become much worse once China and India's economy have reached the levels that ours is at. And that is inevitable.


A Business Week article from August of 2005 says, "China and India... possess the weight and dynamism to transform the 21st-century global economy. The closest parallel to their emergence is the saga of 19th-century America ." It also says that by mid-century, these two will equal or even surpass the US' economy and global power.


While, my fundamental philosophy is that this is the way it should be- it's the great equalization of the global economy and the logical evolution of our world - it's really going to hurt. These two countries will eat up all the current commodities that we have been taking for granted all these years. They're already doing it with oil which is greatly contributing to the oil crisis. They will also be spewing as much carbon and other toxins into the air as we do pretty soon.


My point here is that all of these problems are related or at least affected by our dependence on fossil fuels. If we can move ourselves away from them, using the clean and limitless power in wind, solar and other renewables, we can relieve all of these problems and even completely solve a few. It's all one big eco-system of problems and the time to actually start solving them is now.


The good news is that we already have some leaders in Gore and Pickens who are ready to start the long haul to get us where we need to be. I am hoping some more will crop up with more great ideas. So, come on all you big brains out there - get to work. I'm willing to do some grunt work but I need your expertise to get us started.


If this or any of the stark news reports you've been hearing are starting to get you worried, like they are us, here are some places you can get started:


The Pickens Plan: http://push.pickensplan.com/. Here you can join the army and learn of ways to get the word out, educate others and our government of the need to get to work. Right now, it's just a big group of people contributing to the conversation but Pickens himself updates us with his progress and gives us tasks such as writing our congresspeople or setting up house parties. Eventually, I think he'll give us more info on how to contribute, invest and help the project to build all those windmills. I'm looking forward to it.


Gore's We Can Solve It: www.wecansolveit.org/ Similar to the Pickens' Plan website, you can join Gore's group and get information on how you can help with the global climate change crisis, by calling on your utility company to be carbon-free, going solar and talking to everyone you know, including the government, about the issue.


This is starting to become a real movement and we all need to be a part of it to save our society from the dim future that has been predicted. Yes, there's a chance that global warming is a myth or that there is actually an endless supply of oil in the earth's mantel as a friend of mine (a scientist that works with Russian scientists) insists. There's even a chance that the economy will work it's way out of this doldrum and not be affected at all by China and India. But, as I say with pretty much all of my moral imperatives - do you really want to take that chance?

Gore and Picken: Leaders Attacking the Global Crisis

A couple of weeks ago, Andy and I watched a movie called "Crude Awakenings" which portrayed a very bleak future for us. It showed how dependent we are on oil and that we have most likely reached the peak of our supply, meaning - it's all downhill from here and the down-slope will be a lot faster than the up-slope. Basically, if we don't find a substitute for our energy and transportation needs, we won't be flying in airplanes one day and we may go back to a horse and buggy existence. I know it sounds far-fetched but check out the movie and you'll see that it's pretty credible.

Shortly thereafter, we heard about T. Boone Pickens' plan to break our dependence on foreign oil. He says that in 1970 we imported 24% of our oil and now we import 70%. "At current oil prices, we will send $700 billion dollars out of the country this year alone — that's four times the annual cost of the Iraq war." In 10 years that is 10 trillion dollars - the greatest transfer of wealth ever. He wants to combat this by building a ton of wind farms in the west between Canada and our south-western states where there's a lot of wind - more than anywhere else in the world. By doing this, we can use that energy for electricity and divert that natural gas to transportation needs. After being a bit scared by the movie, we checked out his plan at http://www.pickensplan.com/. We listened to his message and now we're part of his growing army of people who will hopefully work together to convince the government to support the project.



Then, Al Gore came out a week later with his plan to fight the global climate crisis - global warming. His plan is to completely stop using fossil fuels for our energy in 10 years, a much more ambitious plan than Pickens. We most recently heard Gore on Meet the Press on Sunday - our weekly news ritual and he had some very interesting and compelling arguments.

Gore said that international scientists studying global climate change say we may have less than 10 years to make dramatic changes to avoid catastrophic effects of global warming. Burning fossil fuels are the heart of global climate change - coal and oil. I have also joined his online group at www.wecansolveit.org/.



The bottom line here is that there is a growing understanding that we need to do something about these problems and in my opinion, it goes even deeper than these.

Tomorrow, check out part 2 of my blog which will give you more of my opinions on this growing issue and what we can start to do about it.

My Mom's Last Gift

One of the people I wanted to write about in this blog is my mom. She died in March of last year.
I don't want to go into any detail at all about her death because at first read, it is long, depressing and extremely pointless. My mom suffered quite a bit in her last year and I hated watching her waste away without any ability to really help - being literally across the country. But, I would like to say that having the perspective I have in life - an eternal perspective that I've gained through a strong Mormon background - I know that her death and suffering were not pointless, at all.

When people wonder why bad things happen to good people, I can actually hold my mom's and my experience with her illness up as an example. I know why they happen and it's actually for a good reason. Mom spent her last year in a hospital, unable to get up, communicate or do any of the normal things we take for granted.

When she first went into the hospital, I was called back to Florida to be with her and to help with the doctors and tough decisions. I am her only child, which leaves me "responsible". My grandmother and all my uncles have way more life experience, but the final decisions as to her care were in my hands. That certainly doesn't seem fair and at the time it almost felt ridiculous. Who am I to know how to handle this stuff? I'm just a kid in comparison to the wisdom necessary for this.

I was scared when I took that first long flight home - scared of what she'd look and be like, what would happen while I was there and the great unknown. But, I had one thing going for me. I had the distinct thought that this would be one of the most important educational experiences of my life and I had a choice. I could either wallow in the overwhelming depths of despair that I felt or I could face the next few days or weeks as the learning experience it was and grow with it. On that flight, I chose to stay faithful, make the decisions and handle the situation the best I could - for my mom, my grandma and for myself. I have never regretted that decision because anytime I began to feel overwhelmed again, I could remember why I was doing all this. And, I knew that at the end of it, I would be a better stronger person than I was then -and I was right.

What I didn't know at that point was that not only would I be in FL that first time for 3 weeks with no resolution to my mom's situation but also that it would be a full year and more before I was through the muck of that time - before my mom would be through the muck of her experience only to be released in her passing. She spent that year without the ability to speak because of being on a respirator or write because of her weakness. Though we could talk to her, she had no way of telling us her feelings or what she was going through. She was alone in her thoughts. My uncle often said that she was having her own experience in her own spiritual world, wrestling with God in her own way. And, she was ever-so-patient in that trial.

In March of 2007, came the culmination of all that effort, waiting, fighting and learning - she was alone and unconscious when she passed and I heard via a phone call late at night after having made the last decision of her life - not to have the doctors resuscitate her if she went into another code-red. Had I recognized that they meant it could happen that night, I might have asked them to keep her alive until I got there. But, all that really would have done was eased my own guilt for not being there with her- it wouldn't have made it easier for her. To this day, I'm not sure I did the right thing on that last decision but I think that she had lingered long enough and didn't need to wait any longer. One day, I'll see her again and ask.

Anyway, the great things began to happen after her passing. It's funny how the deepest sadness really can be the most cleansing. I learned that I really appreciate mourning. So many folks don't like funerals or can't handle death but I now understand why we go through those steps and I actually felt honored to be able to give my mom that time of mourning, planning the funeral, preparing a tribute to her and performing the ordinances we all perform for our loved ones.

One of the things we Mormons do for those that pass is to dress them in the special temple clothes for their burial so that they are ready for the resurrection. I've never done this before and it was a bit shocking, very solemn and actually quite beautiful. We consider it the last service we can do for them and I was so honored to be able to participate. It was me, my grandma and 2 other ladies from my mom's ward and we dressed her in the funeral home. It was a very spiritual experience and one which I wouldn't mind doing again. You feel very close to the person you're serving and close to God and the spirit world. In a world like ours where everything is so base and profane, it is wonderful to have things like this to remind us of who we really are and where we come from.

I spent several days planning the funeral and writing an obituary for my mom. The obit in the paper only turned out to be a very few lines - any more would have cost more than we could afford but I used what I wrote on the program for the funeral which I created. I also spent time at the funeral home, picking out her casket and organizing the service and paying for these things (a rant on the death industry is surely in the future of this blog). I also put together a table of pictures and items from her life, including a life-sized color drawing of Goliath that she made several years ago. I was happy to do all of these things to honor my mom and it brought me some joy in that time.

The funeral itself was one of the most beautiful services I have ever been to. I had my uncle Rick do the eulogy. I felt he was the right one because although he and my mom didn't agree on much, he is the only Priesthood holder in the immediate family and I wanted his authority in that spot of the program. My daughter played a gorgeous piano piece by Beethoven that was perfect. I was so overcome with emotion while she played and so filled with the spirit. We then had folks come up and share their feelings and stories about my mom and it was amazing to hear how everyone else was dealing with the situation and to hear things I'd never heard about her.

The most powerful was shared by a man who was the High Priest group leader in her ward. In his role, he felt he had a responsibility to visit my mom occasionally. So, he did about once a month while she was there. None of us in the family knew he was visiting and since my mom couldn't communicate - though she was awake and aware most of the time, she had never been able to tell us, either. He said in his remarks that though he couldn't talk with mom much, he spent time with her and was amazed by the great amount of patience she had in her situation. Patience was a common theme in the service and in her life. He said that he had learned something about patience and dealing with trials from visiting my mom and that he was a better person for having done that. This was what really made me think about why these bad things happen to good people.

If my mom, had not gone through this experience, she never would have had the opportunity to learn and grow in that spiritual world that we can never comprehend. I would never have had the opportunity to deal with these doctors, lawyers, decisions and most importantly emotions that I'd never dealt with before. I certainly am a stronger person than I was before then. My grandma would never have had to learn whatever lessons were hers to learn. And, even this man had an opportunity to grow because of my mom's situation. All these people, her brothers, her friends, my husband and daughter and more that I don't even know of have all become a little bit stronger - a little bit better because my mom went through that.

That is what this life is all about. We have these terrible awful experiences so that we can wrestle with them, so that we can try to figure out what we need to learn from them, so that we can prepare for even more life lessons to come - and ultimately, so that we can prepare for what comes next - after this life. I am ultimately very grateful for the experience I had to go through. I'm even joyful about it now that it's over and I can see the stronger person I am - braver now to take on new challenges I never would have thought about before and much more appreciative of my wonderful mom who sacrificed most of her life to raise me and teach me. In her sickness and death I learned even more from her and for that I'll always be grateful to her and to God.

So, when something horrible is happening in your life - think about what you can learn from it and how it's going to make you a better person after you're through it. It's all for our good. It's all for our learning and it's all because we have a God, a Father above who loves us as we love our own children. He hates to see us suffer but allows those things to happen because He knows what He wants us to be on the other side and knows how to get us there. Have faith in Him and in the trials we experience.

Doctor Who?

Nobody gets it. Well, nobody except my daughter, my mom and a tiny handful of special people. Nobody else gets the magic that is Doctor Who.

Why? I don't know, it's such an amazing television show. A BBC original that started way back in the late 60s, had an incredibly long run - over 20 seasons - and was very popular in Britain. I'm sure it was mainly a kids show but my mom and I watched it faithfully every Saturday night on PBS, usually right after Benny Hill and right before Monty Python's Flying Circus, neither of which my mom let us watch.

Now, BBC has completely revamped Doctor Who and is taping the 4th season. I have carried on the tradition with my daughter, Vienna. She and I just finished watching the 3rd season and were distraught that the season was over.

It is definitely a campy sci-fi with lots of special effects and unbelievable aliens and plotlines. But, it's not about any of that - it's all about the Doctor. He is one of the most complicated characters that I have ever encountered in a TV show. The depth of his personality rivals that of any human I know. The last episode of this season illustrated that to me.

The Doctor is the last of his kind - alone in time and space - and lives much longer than humans so his existence is based on escaping his lonliness. He constantly finds companions to travel with him, who inevitably fall in love with him (usually a platonic love that transcends any affection we are used to) and then eventually has to leave them so as not to be devastated by losing them to decay and death.

In this last episode, he found one of his own - a time lord named the Master who had once been the Doctor's friend but has much longer been his enemy. The Master had become insane and intent on destroying the earth. After torturing the Doctor, keeping him hostage for a year and killing many people, the Doctor had only one thing to say to the Master. "I forgive you". This was defeat to the Master.

And, finally when the Master was shot and faced death, the Doctor told him to regenerate - a trait that time lords have that gives them their longevity. The Doctor was willing to take the Master with him to care for him and be responsible for him. The Master refused realizing that dying was how he could hurt the Doctor the most. When he died, the Doctor just held him weeping for his lost, insane companion.

How many TV heroes have this many facets to their personality? And I haven't even touched on his relationships with his travelling companions and the enemies he defeats on a regular basis. Or his childlike excitement when faced with danger. Or his incredible brilliance or his arrogance, both of which are irresistible. All of these things along with his incredible love for those around him make him, in my opinion, the best, most interesting character in all time and space.