“I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go.”
~ John Lennon
Soundtrack for a Sunday Morning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVXR2LYeFBI
I’m settled into my spot overlooking Two Guns tourist attractions. High up on the ridge, the weather has been blazing hot every day. By 10:00 a.m. it is often in the low-90’s. Cosmo and I get up early and walk to the canyon and look across at Louise Cundiff’s tower and the other ruins where we’ve parked in the past. We can see down to the Apache Death Cave. Tourists are sparce these days. We seldom see anyone down there. I suspect the heat and the roadwork along I-40 at the Two Guns exit are huge deterrents. Fine by me. Up on the ridge, absolutely NOBODY comes by. There would be no reason. The two-track coming in looks worse than it is and with each day of rain, the grass in the middle grows higher. It probably looks impassible to the casual visitor. The I-40 road construction workers have all moved out. Not sure where they went. Probably moved closer to Winslow as the road work is moving in that direction.
The afternoon monsoons bring us some relief from the heat, and high up on the ridge, the wind is in from Flagstaff, bringing us some cooling breezes near sunset. The skies have been beautiful.
And of course, with the moon being a sliver in the evening sky, it makes way for spectacular views of the Milky Way.
That never gets old for me.
I drove into Winslow on Tuesday to pick up mouse traps. I’ve not heard my hitch hiker or seen any signs (mouse poop) he is still here, but Cosmo wakes me up every morning at 4:00 a.m., sniffing and snorting and pawing at cabinet doors. If he says we have intruders, we have intruders. I got the traps, set them and caught one the first night. I got two more on the second night. I’ve set the traps every night since, but so far, they have been empty in the morning. I hope that means they are gone for good.
Although we got almost no rain for the latter part of the week, I could see raging thunderstorms every afternoon and evening. Most of them are over in Winslow, but some are just north of us here. They have been spectacular. Wish I could do a better job at capturing them.
Lessons From The Road: Never underestimate how the smallest kindness you offer can affect someone else. I drove into Winslow on Tuesday, and as I got out of my van in the Walmart parking lot, a Native man, maybe in his 60’s approached me. I thought he was going to ask me for spare change but as I reached into my pocket to see if I had any small bills, he said “How are you doing today my friend?” I told him I was doing well and asked him the same question. He said “I’m good. I’m heading in to see my girlfriend and ask her what I can bring her for lunch.” I said, “Boy, I wish *I* had someone who would come see what *I* wanted for lunch!” He said in a very sincere voice, “I’ll buy you lunch. What would you like?” I thanked him for the offer and told him I had just finished breakfast. We chatted as we walked from the far end of the parking lot to the inside of the store and then headed in separate directions. He said, “I really will buy you lunch if you want.” I said, “I know you would. And just offering made my day. Thank you.” It did make my day. I’m not sure why he offered. He had just gotten out of a beaten-up old truck. I thought perhaps he needed some financial help, but instead he offered to buy me lunch. Maybe he thought I was worse off than he was? Maybe he just recognized me as part of his tribe? Maybe he was just a kind man? I’m not sure it matters. He made me realize that this was the world I want to live in, and on some level, I am finding it. I recalled my goal for the year (in lieu of a New Year’s Resolution): Be of Service. I’ve not been very good at that. I will do better now that I am reminded what a difference it can make to have a stranger offer an unexpected kindness. Me-mom told me once, “If everyone swept their own front steps, the world would be clean tomorrow.” My corollary to that is, “If each of us did one kind thing for another person today, the world would be such an amazing place to live tomorrow.”
And finally…My happy song of the week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
See you down the road,