My creative life as a vagabond: Getting Better

Hello there.

A bit of a warning: Today's blog will probably be longer than usual. Here I sit listening to the cooing of a pair of doves nearby. It just happens to be one of my favorite sounds in the world. That thought reminds me of how very glad I am to feel alive again. Having gone through some difficult times in my head for a while, for a combination of reasons I'm sure, I'm so very grateful to be seeing the light again.

It's interesting how much we can learn from a dark night of the soul. The gracious powerful growth that creeps in while we aren't looking. While we're wishing to feel something else, focusing on our pain, and spilling to others about our suffering - there's a secret unfolding. We can't see it until we emerge. If we emerge. In my case, the darkness took a couple of months to make its way through and out of me. Somewhere halfway through, I decided to just let it happen. Rather than beating myself up or wishing I could just 'get my shit together' or be searching for that positive, courageous, generally peaceful person that I had been - I decided to let it be. Just be gentle and loving. Even when I couldn't stop crying day after day. Even when I felt overwhelmed and just plain scared. Even when I lost my confidence and felt lost and lonely and fragile. Sound kinda hokey? Maybe so. But it helped. And hurray! it eventually shifted, or finished, or whatever might describe that mysterious phenomenon.

That doesn't mean challenges don't continue to happen, no sir. But now I can once again see solutions - or know I will find them. I know I can meet anything head on and go from there. I know that the right people and resources and experiences will show up to help me along my path. I've also learned that now I just seem to feel and cry over stuff more than I used to. Sad movie parts, songs, small children, pretty flowers, sunsets, animals, goodbyes, hellos...

Ha-ha. Well. I guess I can accept that.

It does not escape me that many people suffer mentally over very long periods of time, and live with pains that I've never experienced. I'm only sharing this particular experience of mine at this specific time in my life. Not really sure why I'm sharing it, but maybe it will help someone reading this.

SO moving along -

When we last left off, I was at an RV park in Yuma, AZ for the second time, and I had just sold Rebel.

About halfway through my stay, my friends Don and Alicia from Texas, that I originally met in Florida last year, arrived at the park in their big RV. Parked next to theirs, Aretha looked like a baby RV ha-ha. I really enjoyed spending time with them. They have two little dogs named Pebbles and Bam Bam. Most days we would meet up and walk down to the outdoor pool/hot tub in the late afternoon. Not many could go in the hot tub of course, so sometimes we had to wait in order to maintain distance. Then Alicia would cook up something wonderful and we'd play some songs on guitar and/or ukulele - and sing, of course. We went out on a field trip to Yuma Territorial Prison Park one day. According to Genealogy Trails, it operated 1875-1901, and was renamed the 'Hell Hole' by earlier inmates. It housed some of the roughest and toughest characters the west has ever known. That night we watched a relevant western called 3:10 to Yuma. Pretty cool day all around.

Soon it was time to go.

I said good-bye to Don and Alicia and headed to Sedona, about 5.5 hours north for me, to meet Mom. She decided to take a road trip down from Colorado. It was a beautiful day for the drive. I had good music blaring through the speakers, with wind whipping through my hair as I traveled those winding roads - feeling pretty grateful for it all.

Aretha took a rest in a back parking lot at one of Mom's timeshares while we lived inside a studio unit for a week. It was actually located in Cottonwood, a town next to Sedona. We had a great visit as we usually do. We hiked a couple of different parts of Red Rocks National Forest. My favorite was Doe Mountain Trail. It was well maintained, traversing along several levels of sandstone rocks and minor cliff bands. The view from the top was breathtaking. One day, we took a little trip to the nearby town of Jerome. The road climbs quite high to get to this old area which was once a booming copper mining town. We walked along the streets and went into Old Liberty Theatre and watched a film about the history of Jerome. I enjoyed the skeletons! Even sat next to one in the theatre seats! Of course we dined at a couple of cafes and restaurants. Crema Craft Kitchen + Bar in Cottonwood had scrumptious bakery and bread pudding french toast. Yum! Pisa Lisa in Sedona had amazing gourmet pizzas. Also delish.

Sadly, it was time to say good-by again. Always too soon it seems. Believe it or not, there was a winter storm warning in effect for that weekend. I left a day early to head south and to lower elevations so I wouldn't get caught in snowfall. (I have zero interest in driving Aretha in snow) Mom ended up waiting it out nearby for a few days before making the trek back to Colorado.

I landed back at Golden Sun RV Resort in Apache Junction to stay for a couple of weeks. It was actually the first Park I stayed in when I came to AZ back in early November. I rejoined aqua aerobics and was also able to get back to writing and other projects I'd put off while I was with Mom. During my stay I met a couple, and the husband played country music 'back in the day'. His wife set up a little jam session event starring Ken - Stefani - and Keith Williams. Yes, my friend Keith had moved down to Tucson for a bit and decided to take a ride up to Apache Junction to hang out for a day! It was great to see him again. He's heading east toward Texas in a couple of days. I don't know when we'll lay eyes on each other again, so I was super glad he came up for a visit! So - we had the jam session outside on a warm balmy evening and several neighbors pulled up chairs and listened. What a great time it was!

Also my friends Don and Alicia (from Texas) had moved on to a park in Mesa, 20 minutes away from me, for a couple of weeks. They came to pick me up one day and we went out to lunch, went to their park for hot tub time in the evening, and then played some guitar. They came over to visit one more time after that. I don't know when I'll ever see them again either, so I was really grateful to hang out one last time. Man, I feel so lucky to have such friends to spend time with way out here!

If you're still with me -

Here's the last little piece of today's post:

I moved from Apache Junction to Mesa about four days ago. I plan to live here for approximately two months because I've started working at a job at a cafe here. It's called RaVes Cafe, and I'm scheduled to work there from Feb 8-April 8. It's a work camping situation. The idea is to have an equal trade of work time to cover the cost of staying at this great RV Resort adjacent to it. Well I figured it might be an interesting little gig...Meet people, enjoy the place (there are a lot of activities here), maybe have some fun...

Who knows?

Until next time - Be cool. Love your people.

Over n out.

Stefani