our love is amazing

So… we are in Sedona, Arizona. A beautiful town surrounded by towering red rocks (a la Utah) and national forests. It is a little touristy here, however. The town is full of crystal shops and Navajo arts and crafts stores, all run by white people of course – a bit depressing.

We were in the Grand Canyon on the weekend. I had a great time hiking in there, alone, because BJ was unexcited and wanted to do some work. I didn’t mind though, I loved it. There were lots of people and all of them in a good mood. I took lots of photos with my new camera. But most photos of the G C look sort of the same so I didn’t put too many up on flickr. I did see some amazing beasts which you will see there.

This is a short post because I am feeling uninspired to blog! But do look at the photos my friends.

P.S. we will be back in Sydney on Dec 11.

This morning I flew from Toronto to Vegas to meet Bj. I had a great great great 2 weeks in Toronto. was sad to leave my friends and the city I love but glad to leave the COLD getting colder and glad to go to the south-west desert and glad to be seeing my love again. The flight had a festive feeling and when we landed the passengers applauded. I love it when passengers applaud.

Vegas is hot and nice. we are not downtown among the madness. we’re in the outskirts and camping in the desert tonight. The crazy thing is we were here EXACTLY two years ago in 2007. on November 1st we were picking up our friend Emrys from the airport two years ago. today we were back at that same airport on Nov 1 again. unplanned coincidence. uncanny.

so Toronto was so fun. so many highlights, too many to mention. so much fun with Ian. then he left to go on tour with his band. so then I had fun with all my other friends. Serena. Paul. Shannon. Jennifer. Anna Silverstein (my newest Toronto favourite, she is Ian and Paul’s new flatmate). Beth. Roberto. Doug. Heather Goodchild. Golden times all round. So many great friends, so many thrilling people to be wildly inspired by. I’ll admit to being “on a bit of a high” after having such a fun two weeks with such dear precious people…

I went to Heather Goodchild’s art show opening which was spectacular. This is a close-up of part of one of her burlap hook rugs that she made. I stand IN AWE.

This image doesn’t do this one justice but maybe you get some idea…

After her show much later that night I went to a party that Heather’s friend was throwing for her. I turned up late and everyone was drunk. Heather was drunkenly declaring that she was so happy with her rugs, she wasn’t going to be modest, and then she was insisting that she didn’t even make them, that the gods made them through her. She was very emphatic, it was a joy just listening to the gold that was coming out of her mouth. Heather Goodchild: artiste extraordinaire: channeling the universe’s whims through her skilled hands.

It is quite sensational to be with my main man Bj again. I must say. very excited about that and looking forward to our times together down here in the south-west.

Serena

I am back in Toronto for 2 weeks only and having a great time here. Bj is still in Moab, Utah where it is warm and dry. Here it is cold cold cold and wet. I am staying at Ian’s place but he is leaving for a tour with his band on Tuesday. It’s fun staying at ian’s house with him and his flatmates Paul and Anna and Paul’s kid Ilija.

This is a video of Ian tickling Ilija. Ilija painted his face himself. He LOVES to dress up. He also loves to watch youtube and look up pictures of dogs dressed as superheros on the internet. He is missing not two but four front teeth… He is SO CUTE.

Last night Ian had a big bash to celebrate the fact that he didn’t die from cancer. He finally finished his two years worth of chemotherapy. I remember writing on this blog 2 years ago about how he had leukemia. That was a real shock. He was extremely sick for a long time and then he was less sick but still on chemo for another long time. Now he’s all well and drug free and wide awake.

Last night at his party there was a ceremony wherein a friend dressed up as a priest and said a cosmic eulogy. Then Ian rose out of a makeshift coffin that he had fashioned the night before from cardboard boxes. He was wearing sunglasses. Everyone had candles. Then Ian took the mic and said a few words. He said how he was happy to be alive and thanked everyone for coming to the party.

I’m packing up our apartment because we are done with living here. Sad but true. for me. But it’s okay, I had a great 9 months here and I’m very happy about that. In a week I’m flying back west to “Lost Wages”, Nevada, to be reunited with bj. Our plan is to spend some time in the glorious south-west and then fly home for christmas. I’m very excited to see more of Arizona and New Mexico. I think many delights await us. Also will be nice to go home for xmas.

today was such a strange day, a whole day in a motel room, in green river, utah, a non-town on the highway between salt lake city and moab, a town of nothing, just a strip of gas stations, abandoned buildings, empty parks, etc, the loneliest place on earth, surely, especially on a sunday, and i hate sundays anyway because i always find them so depressing. who else hates sundays? i dont know anyone, most people are into them.

tomorrow i am flying back to toronto to pack up our things and spend time with my friends there. jennie left this morning on the greyhound to salt lake city. the greyhound bus leaves from this motel, that’s why we’re staying here, because the bus leaves at 5am, and the motel is nearly the same price as the RV park, or only ten bucks more. tomorrow morning at 5am i will catch the same bus to salt lake city then catch the plane to toronto via denver. bj is going to go back to moab to hang out while im gone and work and ride his mountain bike.

bj has worked all day today in the motel room, i have been doing various things including the following: cleaning the van, getting stuff to take, packing, lunch and dinner, the internet, sorting, making lists of 3 items or less, 2/3 of a $2 dvd i bought at the truck stop here, downloading a tale of two cities by charles dickens from librivox.org, feeling slightly anxious about the fact that im off to canada tomorrow, leaving bj, and also feeling slightly anxious just because im spending all day in a motel room, in a lonely non-town in utah.

at one point because i wanted to get some sun, i asked the girl at the desk if downtown was in walking distance, she laughed at me and then she told me there is no downtown, all there is is this strip of truck stops. bj and i went for a walk and thats when i realised it was the most depressing place on earth, the only sign of life we saw was some people selling melons and pumpkins, we thought about buying a melon but we dont have the right knife.

but who can live in a town like this? in my heart of hearts, i wonder how anyone can. or at least how they can without feeling sad every day of their lives. its not the size of the population per se, but the way the buildings outnumber the people, like there’s meant to be more people to inhabit the buildings, but lots of the people have gone. sad. too lonely for words. i wonder if people who live here are sad and don’t even know it because they’ve never been anywhere happier. i realise this is a culturally-centric perspective. but the “life” here feels seriously “lack lustre”.

so now im going to try and read my book or do a crossword, im excited to see my friends in toronto, serena is meeting me at the airport, what a gal.

(please be sure to see photo below in the previous post)

(See more on flickr)

I have been having a great time with Jennie here in Moab, Utah. The desert is just a beautiful place. We have been going for lots of hikes and other than that just hanging out and having a fun time. She is my old old friend who I haven’t seen enough of for many years. So it’s great to have lots of time together.

Bj has been working a lot and doing a little mountain biking. He keeps getting flat tyres which is upsetting.

I don’t have a whole lot to write about, I just wanted to post some photos. Because the desert here is just so amazing and beautiful. The landscape is VERY DRAMATIC. We really, really LOVE IT.

The morning we left Idaho for Utah we had a Mexican buffet breakfast. That was a delightful treat, because I’ve never seen all-you-can-eat Mexican before. And I do love mexican food and the abundance of it here is something to be taken advantage of.

Salt Lake City

We were in Salt Lake for one night only. It happened to be the very night that the famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir was rehearsing, and anyone is allowed to go and sit in on their rehearsal. We found this out by complete chance. We got a lift downtown from the campground with some Mormons who ran a shuttle service taking people from the campground to “Temple Square” which is the centre of town, where it all happens, all the bizness of the latter day saints. It has the temples and the church history museum and the family history centre where you can look up your ancestors.

Anyway the friendly Mormons driving the shuttle bus told us about the choir and how they were practising and how anyone could go and listen. I dragged BJ in there but he only stayed for about five minutes. I stayed until the end, the singing was really quite moving, I was feeling myself get converted. The interior of the temple was beautiful, and the acoustics were sublime. I was very glad I went. Mum, I was thinking of you, you would have loved it.

I didn’t have my camera but here is a clip from youtube for anyone who is interested:

Later that night we picked up my friend Jennie from the airport. That was very exciting. SHe is with us for 10 days. THe next day we drove to Moab, which is the amazing desert town. It is located in close proximity to two amazing national parks: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. We’re staying in a little cabin in a campground just outside of town. It is utterly beautiful here.

This is the view from our campground

Yesterday Jennie and I drove to Arches and went hiking, it was AMAZING. Vast plains of dramatic red rock structures jutting out of the earth. Huge and beautiful. See Flickr for pics. It’s such a thrill being in the desert. The light is exquisite, as it changes throughout the day.

Mr Rossiter of NSW has worked as a computer programmer for some years now. He is currently travelling in America with his wife, Rebecca Stuart, 31. Ms Stuart writes a hit blog about the couple’s travels, as well as another blog where she shows drawings and photos. Ms Stuart loves doing blogs.

“BJ helps with all the technical stuff but I do the content. I’d be lost without him to do all that stuff, I’m hopeless at all the settings and things!”

For some time Ms Stuart has been encouraging Mr Rossiter to start his own blog.

“He’s so good at computers, and he loves the internet. It’s only right that he does his own blog. It’s long overdue really,” Says Ms Stuart.

Mr Rossiter was hesitant to start his own blog, however. “I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy,” admits the shy Mr Rossiter.

Mr Rossiter in his “home office” – the couple’s 1997 Dodge “Leisure Travel” motorhome

But, due to spending so much time on the internets, Mr Rossiter was able to spot a gap in what’s available online. This gap happened to coincide with a long-time interest of his.

“Cute animals. I love them, I always have. I look at lots of interesting things on the net, but when I see a picture of a cute animal, I just go weak at the knees.”

Mr Rossiter decided there needed to be a place where fellow beast-lovers could go and see all the cute animals on the internet. His only restriction- no dogs or cats.

“There’s so many dogs and cats, all over the internet. I wanted a forum to show the more exotic, less celebrated critters.”

Mr Rossiter’s blog features pictures of all these other “exotic” animals. Animals in funny situations and animals doing strange things can finally all be found on one “amazing beasts” website.

Ms Stuart is thrilled that Mr Rossiter has finally started his own blog.

“I love it. I love cute animals too, so I love the blog. You used to have to trawl all over the internet to find pictures of these guys but now they’re all in one spot, finally. Beej is really good at finding the pictures, he has a gift for it you might say, so I’m confident he’ll have all the best animals on the internet on his blog. My favourite picture on there right now is the Russian girl with the pet seal.”

Check out Mr Rossiters blog at mzngbeasts.tumblr.com

Apparently it is October. You can tell in North America because the towns abound with pumpkins. Outside all the supermarkets where the trolleys reside there are mountains of pumpkins heralding the arrival of autumn, distinguished by the celebrations of Halloween and Thanksgiving, both of which heavily involve pumpkins.

Both Halloween and Thanksgiving are such a big deal: the end of summer and the coming of winter are compensated for by “the fall” and these two festivals.

I think that this continent can be credited with the way it manages the seasons. Spring and summer need no festivities as their very arrival brings festivity. Winter means Christmas, and Fall means Halloween and Thanksgiving.

I sincerely appreciate the way The Fall is celebrated here. I have done a couple of Thanksgivings and I find Thanksgiving probably the most “pure” celebration – history and colonialism aside – the concept of it seems so “pure” to me. Wholesome but unfettered by religion and not involving the consumerist aspect that gift giving entails. I am all for Thanksgiving and it makes me sad that no such equivalent exists in Australia.

Today we were driving to the mountain to go mtn biking/ hiking and we drove past a pie festival that was taking place in the street here in Hood River, Oregon.

There were a whole lot of pies for sale and they’d cut off the traffic for the occasion. We pulled over to check it out, not for the pies but because there was musical entertainment that consisted of a teenage marimba band, playing this Zimbabwean marimba music that we could hear from the van as we drove by and which totally arrested us and caused us to stop and listen.

So there were about 10 or so teenagers playing marimbas / shakers and the music they were making was one of the most amazing sounds I’ve ever heard. I’m NOT KIDDING!!! I’m not even exaggerating!! It was incredible. I have never heard any music like this before. It was so joyous and lively and THRILLING.

I stood and listened to them for the rest of their set, and I was so enthralled, I couldn’t believe how happy I felt and how fortuitous it was that we were driving past at that time.

After they stopped playing I was standing there in joy/shock and I talked to some of the teenagers and told them how much I loved their playing, they were so cute and excited and polite. Talking to them was a treat.

Oh my god. The whole experience was not unlike a flock of tropical parrots with the most splendid plumage descending from the sky and taking me gently in their beaks and elevating me into the heavens for a brief time. This music and these teenagers playing it: so amazing.

I have some video snippets for you to see. I beg you to watch them. The crappy sound recorder on my camera of course does not do the sound justice, but you get the idea… of how delightful it was… I hope you do anyway.

Is this not the best thing you have ever seen/heard???

Please pay special attention to the girl on the big bass marimba, with the headband in the purple dress, flailing her arms with such exuberance. She is my FAVOURITE.

How cute they are in their little batik shirts and dresses.

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Then later today I found a dead little skunk. It was lying by the side of the road. I stopped and spent a moment with it. I took some photos of it.

Isn’t it quite stunning? I am going to take the photos to the police because I’m pretty certain that the skunk was murdered. Something is just not quite RIGHT about it. Look at that picture.

I have recently updated my other “visual” blog, should any of you folks be interested. www.yondercomesmyhoneybabe.com with some new Canadiana/Americana love.