articles @ sedonainformation.com

Acknodded – to acknowledge someone by nodding one’s head in the direction of the individual being greeted (rather than a wave or hello)

Artifake – something that appears, at first glance, to be an artifact (e.g., when you find a piece of pottery that turns out to be a rock sliver)

Benitization – after Benito, the Sedona street samurai of 2000-2001, and his weird improvised words

B^{3 –} Buddha cubed

Canyonette – a small canyon

Cavortium – area of activity where a group of people are cavorting

Cowboy cairn – a rock on top of a Coor’s can, or vice-versa

Forest cerveza – the Forest Service

Flateau – a small, flat spot

Geologer – an individual who studies geology, (e.g., Wayne Ranney)

Gourmasian – fine, Asian cuisine

Heartwork – homework that involve heart lessons

Hysterical marker – a fictitious highway marker substituted for Historical markers

an “Itsmy” tern – a selfish bird

Laisical – lazy and lacksadaisical

Mini-Mesa – a small mesa, derived from “Mini -Me” in the Austin Powers movies

Metamorphart – a fart that changes from it’s original inocuous form…to worse

Operational medium – the type of ground that is therapeutic to a recent surgery or operation

Overnoxious – overbearing and obnoxious; or when ya got bad gas

Peripheral knowledge – a sixth sense that provides information from the unconscious

Picturine – picturesque

Predecestor – people who came before us

to “Roget” someone – use vocabulary that is above someone’s knowledge

Santa-fake – SantaFe-style houses that are not truly adobe; rather, plywood and plaster

Stormlet – small, local storm

Swamplet – a low, wet area; small swamp or big puddle

Undercake – whatever is underneath (e.g., a t-shirt under a dress shirt; an underlying layer of rock

 

My good friends Chuck and Phyllis Cline, owners and operators of Sedona’s famous Heartline Cafe, have graciously permitted the reprinting of selected recipes from Chuck’s marvelous cookbook, Recipes From Sedona’s Heartline Cafe.

Enjoy your cuisine explorations and stop by to taste the Chef’s magic at the Heartline Cafe next time you visit Sedona. There’s nothing like the real thing.

Chuck’s notes: This was our prize-winner in a local chili cookoff.

Moroccan Lamb Chile

Six to eight servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 small red onion, diced

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

1 teaspoon turmeric

10 threads saffron

1pound leg of lamb, boned and diced
into half-inch cubes

2 1/2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
(drained if using canned beans)

1 cup red lentils

1/2 cup Roasted Peppers

2 cups crushed tomatoes

3 cups Oak Creek Nut Brown Ale
(or similar)

1/2 cup raisins

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon oregano

kosher salt and pepper to taste

fresh mint and sour cream for garnish

Lamb

In a large stewpot or Dutch oven, saute the garlic and onion in the olive
oil. Add the ginger, turmeric, and saffron. Saute until fragrant.
Add the lamb and stir to brown it. Add all the remaining ingredients
except garnish. Simmer, covered, for two hours or more,
until lamb is very tender.Taste and correct seasonings.

Presentation

Garnish with fresh mint and sour cream, if desired,
and serve with Potato Flatbread.

Bobbi L. Moore is a long-time resident of Sedona who is a certified NLP instructor and master practitioner, has an extensive background in family counseling, and uses massage therapy in conjunction with other modalities for helping individuals attain harmony and balance in their lives. “Little Miracles” was originally published in the Sedona Red Rock News. Re-published on www.SedonaInformation.com with the express permission of the author, Bobbi L. Moore.

I started to write these articles because I wanted to read and have others read something that was about the special everyday things in the world. When I heard her say that she liked the articles, it gave me a warm and lovely feeling all over that spurred a wonderful memory.

My children and I had just come back from a weekend at my sister’s home. I heard the girls screaming in their bedroom and I quickly ran in. They were pointing to my daughter’s dresser drawer where our cat Juniper had given birth to the largest litter of kittens I had ever seen.

Juniper had already delivered and cleaned almost seven kittens when we arrived. Needless to say, she was fading fast. I had the girls get me a warm cloth and I helped clean the last kitten and put her with the rest of the litter. We all petted and comforted Juniper. I left, only to be called for again. When I returned there was yet another kitten coming into this world.

If you’ve never seen a baby of any kind being born into the world, you’ve been missing a lot. As I watched that tired mother cat straining to give birth to her new kitten the miracle of it sent chills up my back, smiles into my heart, and a feeling of awe that I can’t quite describe. My daughters were speechless. They stood there with an expression of wonder in their faces, their eyes wide open and tears running down their cheeks.

I reached down and pulled gently on the next kitten with each contraction. Juniper was too tired to deliver this one, let alone clean it and move it. Slowly the kitten emerged into this new and very different world. As we cleaned it we all began to laugh at the same time. Juniper just laid there with a contented grin on her face.

All of us come into this world one way or another, some kicking, some with the help of others, some rushing forward head-first, and it’s always the same miracle, the miracle of the constant cycle of life.

Yasha, my old ballet teacher, used to say that watching the new things in life is what kept his aging body young. He loved to play with children and babies for hours. He’d get down on the ground and show them the mysteries of life around them - birth, life, death, and birth again.

There are so many types of births. The birth of a child, the birth of an idea, the seasons of Mother Earth rebirthing over and over, the birth of a planet, and the birth of that tired little kitten that filled me with miracles, mystery, and awe.

Pricing your Home to Sell

One of the most under appreciated skills a Realtor has to offer is assisting a seller in selecting the correct price to market their home. The reason this skill is so under appreciated is that all to often the news is not what the seller THINKS they want to hear. I say THINKS because I want to show you the difference between marketing a home with the right price immediately as opposed to listing it to high and then going through multiple price reductions.

The process to selecting the price to market your home usually begins with the seller determining in their mind how much they want for the property. The problem is that how much you have invested into a property, or how much you need to get out of it has absolutely no bearing on how much a buyer will be willing to pay for it. If you hold or have ever held stock then you know that the seller doesn’t establish the price, the buyer does. If you want to sell your stock you check to see what it is currently being traded for and then decide if you want to sell at that price. Real Estate is not that much different, especially in a market like ours now where there is a very high amount of inventory in every price range.

A good Realtor will do a thorough CMA (Competitive Market Analysis) and determine how much homes like yours are currently SELLING for and base their price recommendation on that information. A good Realtor will use comparable sales as close to your home and as recent as possible. Three comparable is good, five or six are even better. The big difference here is that the Realtor will look for homes that SOLD while a seller, who can’t access this information themselves, will usually look at what other sellers are ASKING for their home. That’s a big difference. A home right next you might have been listed for $500,000 so when it sells you think they got $500,000 but in reality the agreed upon price was $460,000. The average consumer would not know that but a Realtor would.

Many sellers think something like “Well, let’s try it at this price and if it doesn’t sell we can always reduce it later.” The problems with this theory are numerous. First of all the best time for marketing a property is the first thirty days. Why? Because there are a number of buyers anxiously watching for new properties in their price range because they have been unable to find anything that suited them thus far. This pent up demand will focus on the new properties as soon as they come out. If their first reaction is “Nice house but I would never pay this much”, then that first 30 days ends with all the buyers currently in that price range having left disappointed and now the real waiting begins. Second, once a house sits on the market two factors can come into play. Buyers will start to wonder what is wrong with a property that sits on the market too long. If a property has had a series of price reductions then they buyer will think either “they must be getting desperate to sell” or “I’ll bet if I wait a little while longer they will lower the price again.” Either way the property now begins to sit on the market for far longer than it should have. When that happens you must consider all of the money you have tied up into this property that you will never get back. Property taxes, insurance, and interest on your mortgage are all expenses you will never recoup. If a property sits on the market for longer than six months this can really begin to add up to some real money. Had the property sold quickly you would have saved all of that money and you would have been able to move on with your life that much sooner.

A good Realtor’s job, just like a good doctor, is to give you the information you NEED to know. All to often Realtors will tell you what you want to hear just to get a listing. How would you like to go to a doctor and have him tell you that you’re in great shape all the while knowing that you had two or three serious issues that should be treated immediately. I’ll bet you wouldn’t think to highly of that doctor for long. So the moral of the story is this: If you truly want to sell your home then listen to the information your Realtor provides and base your asking price on that. You may THINK you are getting less money than you wanted but in reality if you sell that home quickly the savings in holding costs and the value of your time can easily off set your disappointment. Talk to someone who has had their home on the market for a year, constantly trying to keep it ready to show, and unable to move on with their life and you will get a picture of what can happen when you overprice your property.

SOME GREAT NEWS FOR COLDWELL BANKER FIRST AFFILIATE SELLERS!

It’s not often we blow our own horn in this newsletter but the year to date statistics I just looked up are too good not to mention. So far in 2007 Coldwell Banker has successfully marketed and sold 31% of all the residential properties in Sedona. Of all the residential properties currently under contract CBFA has a 38% market share. You would have to combine the results of our next THREE competitors in order to duplicate these types of numbers. So if you are thinking of selling your home talk to one of our agents if you want to use the company that is truly producing results for their customers. Also, if you have used us recently, Thank you for your part in helping us achieve these results!

Tod Christensen
Designated Broker/Vice President
Coldwell Banker First Affiliate

“Quite possibly there is no such thing as spirituality
other than to stop deceiving ourselves.”
- Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche –

The last time I saw Chogyam Trungpa he was walking down the street in Boulder, Colorado with Allen Ginsburg, Gary Snyder, and Robert Bly. It was 1970 and on the previous night this motley group of pirates had presented a very spacy poetry reading at the University’s performance hall. Gary Snyder introduced his epic poem “The Smoky the Bear Sutra”, Ginsburg played the harmonium and recited stream-of-consciousness ravings, and Chogyam placed a meditation bowl over his head, beat on it, and laughing until he fell over, broke up the scene. It was cosmic fun at its finest.

I never got my private audience with the Rinpoche like several of my friends did. Two friends had a private meeting with him and he sent them off to India where they met Neeb Karori Baba. They went overland from London the entire way, it took months, and arrived just in time to meet Richard Alpert, AKA Ram Dass, as he was settling in. Remarkably they discovered other synchronous events related to Chogyam Trungpa throughout that journey and on many other journeys to come.

Since I read Trungpa’s earliest works I have been deeply engaged by the Tibetan Buddhist way. It has enabled me to make sense out of chaos and then put it back to be itself. As time passed, I noticed that Carlos Castaneda’s teachings seemed more and more like a Mexican shaman’s mirror of Trungpa’s teachings. No wonder really because the truth comes in many forms. What packaging do you prefer?

Trungpa spoke a lot about “Spiritual Materialism”, the concept of “shopping” for spiritual meaning that Americans fall prey to by being suddenly exposed to the fabulously colorful and esoteric teachings of monks, gurus, psychics, crystals and shamans from all around the world who offer new and exciting ways of “getting better” and “finding truth”. He felt it was an obstacle to what he described as “waking up”. He would probably have a field day in Sedona if he were alive today viewing the proliferation of New Ways in the New Age, in all their bright and cheery forms. Still, what can you say about his own path – he was living the way of Crazy Wisdom and drank a lot of sake along the way. His life has not been without the harsh judgement of others, too, regarding the way he walked the walk and talked the talk.

One of Shambhala Publishing’s Trungpa offerings is a collection of fifteen previously published articles by him. It is called The Heart Of The Buddha (Shambhala Publications, 1991). I find the question and answer sections in his books that are transcripts of his talks at seminars to be of great value because they contain typical questions and streamlined answers, like FAQs, that make sense out of his deep transmissions. This book has a few of those Q & A sections, however most articles in this book present the basic teachings of Buddhism and how they relate to everyday life in the form of short essays.

I love Tequila and other fine spirits. And sake is right up there with Single Malt Scotch. I have always had questions related to drinking and spirituality that I wanted to ask Trungpa since he was a legendary drinker at times, that is to say, an alcoholic. A fine chapter in this book, “Alcohol as Medicine or Poison”, finally answered some of my questions from Trungpa’s Vajrayana teachings. It was composed during Trungpa’s personal, private retreat in Charlemont, Massachusetts, 1972. This retreat was famous because after he finished it, Trungpa began a new style of teaching that was more suited to western students. He “joined” their world as a Bodhisattva would and gave up a lot of the external trappings of traditional Buddhism. He wore a suit, ate pizza, and had martinis at lunch.

Trungpa states that alcohol can be used in transcending the duality of the apparent world as part of Buddhist tantra practice. When a yogi drinks, it is his or her way of accepting the dualistic world, the world of ordinary appearance. Alcohol in this case serves as an invitation to communicate with compassion and relationship. It becomes fuel for relating to students and the world in general. It becomes amrita, the sacred potion that is antideath.

With alcohol, unlike other intoxicants, there is always a sense that we still have a body. It involves a process of coming down rather than going up into space. To fully relate with alcohol, it is extremely important for the average person to maintain an awareness of their state of mind during drinking, that they tighten up their system as an “intelligent defense mechanism” as Trungpa states it. This form of “conscious drinking” allows a person to be aware of a sense of dance with alcohol, an ability to avoid relating only to the joviality of alcohol that spells a destructive level that is absent of mindfulness. As humans we tend to relate incompletely with booze, to either the cheering up, the party aspect, or the sedative, the relaxing aspect. It is this incomplete relationship with alcohol that changes it from medicine to poison. The end result is that a person’s neuroses take over, the style he or she is habitually hiding. By staying conscious of the increasing effects of alcohol, a creativity arises and brings the drinker down to ordinary reality. A sense of humor evolves at that point from the poignant sights, sounds, colors, and smells of life. For the conscious drinker, elation seemingly without limitation is seen accompanying the depression of knowing one’s neuroses. It is not one or the other. It does not become an unconscious experience.

Trungpa mentions that in the Guhyasamaja Tantra, the Buddha teaches that that which intoxicates the dualistic mind is the antideath potion. The person who truly enjoys drinking is usually uncertain and questions whether it is an alliance with good or with evil. This uncertainty allows space to develop for a sense of intelligence and fearlessness and to relate to the present moment as it truly is. In Trungpa’s words, “ Fearless willingness to be intelligent about what is happening in the face of the unknown is the very energy of transmutation that has been described in the tantric tradition of Buddhism”. Ultimately, the conscious drinker can glimpse, or even attain, the highest level of intoxication if they are open enough. It takes surrender and the acceptance of the notion of freedom rather than doubting it. This is regarded as the highest level of intoxication, skillful means and wisdom.

I find Trungpa’s thought on the subject of drinking to be like many pearls of wisdom, it either resonates in your being or it doesn’t. Like many activities that are emotionally-charged and come sprinkled with feelings of guilt and judgement, other people’s opinions can certainly get in the way. To see clearly takes work. To consider the question with awareness and an open mind puts one in the position of being alone. Drinking alcohol has all the attributes necessary for waking up and letting go of self-deception. At the same time, because of its inherent ability to invoke personal demons in the form of neuroses, alcohol is an energy that beckons mindfulness in order to stay off the floor and on the path.

“In other words, you think you are able to deceive the path by being
a smart traveler on the path, but you begin to realize that you are
the path itself. You can’t deceive the path because you make the path.”

Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche
Crazy Wisdom

She can be reached at: moore_bobbi@yahoo.com

This week while training a group, I was asked how I came to write “Little Miracles”. The question stemmed from a statement that I had written on the board before class: “Life Is What You Emphasize It To Be”. I have no idea who originally authored that quote, however how I came to believe it was an entirely different and surprising element in my life.

About 10 years ago, when I was attending an interesting seminar (I love seminars because you can learn a lot in a short time), the presenters gave us a very unusual assignment. We were given tags, five that said descriptions like “cold, hard, unlikable, unfriendly, unreasonable”, and five that indicated the opposite such as “warm, friendly, likable, reasonable, or nice”. Our assignment was to pass out all of our tags by walking up to any person in that seminar and sticking a tag on them. We were only allowed to say, ” I am giving you this tag because you look “friendly”, “unfriendly”, etc.

So off we went, very uncomfortable with our task, and started distributing our tags. After we were finished there was one gentleman about 65 years old who had his entire body covered with negative stickers, front and back. He looked sad, but resolved.

The seminar’s conductor knew about this man’s personal history. He asked the gentleman if he would please come up to the front of the podium and speak about himself. What followed was heart-breaking yet beautiful.

John (not his real name) was originally from Hungary. He had been a Baron as a child, living happily with his family until Hitler’s armies invaded his country and moved through the countryside killing virtually everyone in their path. No prisoners were being taken.

It was too late for John and his family to escape so his parents called all the children, family, and servants together. In case the children escaped death, they were given simple maps to follow. The maps included instructions on how to live off the land and scavenge for food as well as directions of likely places they could go to for help. The maps were hidden in the childrens’ shoes and they were quickly dressed in the warmest clothes available for the hopeful, long walk ahead. All of this was done in less than a hour.

The adults, royal and servants alike, agreed to stand around the children and act as a barrier when they were shot. They hoped to protect the children with their own bodies and lives. In the event that any of the children survived they were instructed to “play dead” until they were safe and then, if possible, walk to freedom.

John was the only one to survive through the night. He began his walk to freedom by travelling only at night and hiding or sleeping with the dead during the day for protection from the troops that scoured the countryside. Six weeks later he made it to freedom. Eventually he came to America, started a family of his own, and began a new life.

Most of the seminar participants who listened to John’s story wept with bowed heads. How could so many of us have labeled this man who had suffered so deeply? As he continued to talk it became obvious that he was a happy person though very, very shy.

He had learned to keep a still, straight face on that walk which accounted for why so many of us had believed he looked “grim”. Inside of him there was great joy.

John had decided to emphasize the joy and beauty in his life. He said his parents and friends had wished this for each child should they survive. He said that to do less than to value all the wonder and beauty in the world was to let down the very people who had sacrificed their lives for him.

What he said changed a great many things in my life. It was inspiration to change the way that I looked at the world. It allowed me to see the miracles of life each and every day and to emphasize the joy within myself and in the world around me.

Around Sedona

May / June 2007
Joel Gilgoff, associate broker, president
RE/MAX Sedona

What’s Happening: Click on the links below to get a current list of events in and around the Sedona area.

http://www.sedonaaz.gov/tourism/acEvents2.aspx

http://www.sedona.net/index.cfm?Render=EventCalendar_ViewEvents

The first Friday of each month continues to be a special event at 15 Sedona art galleries. Stop at any gallery and hop on the free trolley to see all the rest. For information call 282-3809.

Have you ever taken a tour of Tuzigoot National Monument? A 25 minute drive from the Southwest Inn will take you back over 600 years to a time when the Sinagua Indians inhabited this area. The population of Tuzigoot was about 300 people.

Sedona is again planning a Western Americana Day. This year’s event will take place on Saturday September 22nd at Sedona Airport. Featured will be airplanes, classic cars and a community festival.

City Business:

The City is in the process of creating their 2007-2008 budget. They are making some difficult decisions in prioritizing where their limited funds should be spent. Some initial cuts involve delaying the striping of bicycle lanes on 89A until ADOT resurfaces the highway. They are also reevaluating the cost of the Roadrunner Shuttle System to see if it is cost justified.

Big Park Community School was rated one of Arizona’s 20 best schools out of field of more than 800.

New Developments:

Funding issues have delayed the proposed Creek Walk Project. The City is looking at a scaled back design costing about 1/3 of the original $2.3 million. The new design would extend only from the Crystal Castle to Cedar’s Resort.

Highway Construction: We recommend that during ongoing construction of Highway 179 visitors to Sedona come via Highway 260 (Hwy 17 exit 287) – proceed west to Hwy 89A – then north to Sedona. This will avoid any possible Hwy 179 construction delays. Oak Creek Canyon which was closed for about 10 days for road repair is now open.

Construction on the new $10.5 million Red Rock Ranger Station and Sedona Visitors Center is ongoing with completion scheduled for early in 2008. The station is located on Hwy. 179 approximately 1 ½ miles south of the Village of Oak Creek. When completed, the building will encompass 25,395 sq. ft. and will service approximately 700 visitors a day. It will house 86 forest service employees plus Sedona chamber staff and volunteers. The construction is running ahead of schedule at this time.

The Sedona City Council has committed to join a regional task force with the goal of making Sedona a bicycle friendly community. The committee will access current and future planned trails to make sure they are bicycle friendly and create signage and maps for the public.

The Marketplace at Flagstaff Mall, a 40 acre shopping and dining development is planned for just east of the existing mall. Plans call for the mall to begin opening in October 2007. Stores include Marshall’s, Best Buy, Old Navy, Linens n’Things, Cost Plus World Market and Petco. Home Depot will also open a 2nd Flagstaff location within the development. Preliminary plans also call for a 10 screen movie theater. In the interim, the existing mall’s food court is undergoing remodeling and will remain closed until October.

The Fitch Company is holding public information meetings to discuss their plans for Phase 2 of the Cultural Park Land. Fitch is hoping that the city will approve construction of a conference center and hotel on the property which is currently zoned for only community facilities. I feel that the public will strongly object to this proposal.

A new 30 lot single family residential subdivision called “Hillside Vista Estates” located west of Bristlecone Pines Road in West Sedona was recommended for approval by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

An existing residence has been approved for use as a three unit bed and breakfast. The home is located on the northwest corner of Forest Road and Van Deren Road in Uptown Sedona.

The Sedona Chamber of Commerce Visitor’s Center is closed for remodeling. Construction began this week and should be completed in about 5 months. A temporary visitor’s center is operating in the Sedona Center (about 1,000 ft. north of the old visitor’s center on the other side of the highway).

Possible new developments in the city:

Two office buildings and 40 units of lodging across the street from the Les Springs Subdivision in West Sedona.

A possible 48 unit residential condominium project called “Falls at Oak Creek”. The project will include the redevelopment of the Oak Creek Mobile Lodge property along SR 179.

A 9 lot single family residential subdivision called “Seven Vistas” located at the intersection of Badger Drive and Lynx Drive in the chapel area.

Possible redevelopment of the Loma Casi Resort and adjacent commercially zoned property.

A possible new 7 lot single family residential subdivision located just west of the Basha’s shopping center on Payne Place.

A new 20 unit motel to replace the existing 14 unit Red Rock Lodge located north of uptown along 89A.

A possible 11 unit single family residential subdivision on 4.8 acres off Schnebly Hill Road.

A possible 60 ft. tall cell tower located on the Hyatt Resort Property in Uptown. The applicant, T-Mobile, is proposing to disguise the cell tower as a pine tree. (Might be a great place for Christmas lights.)

Remodeling of the old office building/gallery space on Schnebly Hill Road at the junction of 179.

A possible new building behind the existing strip center at 89A and Dry Creek Road.

Sedona Roads:

ADOT’s great experiment with roundabouts is beginning to take shape in Sedona. The first roundabouts at Back O’ Beyond Road and at Ridge Trail will be completed later this year. ADOT is considering giving education classes to the public in how to use the roundabouts. For info www.azdot.gov and search the site for roundabout.

Birding:

Birding is quickly becoming one of America’s top hobbies. The Sedona area has over 350 species of birds that either live in the area or migrate through it. Spring is top migration time, it seems that birds love Sedona as much as tourists do and stop on their flight between South America and Canada. The 2007 Verde Valley Birding and Nature Festival will run from April 26th – April 29th at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Cottonwood.

Miscellaneous Around Sedona:

Javelinas on Parade, Sedona’s public art project, will continue on display through November 2007. “Javelinas on Parade”, a 104 page book of photographs and stories, is now available for sale. The book is available at the Southwest Inn or on the Javelina website www.javelinasonparade.com for a cost of $20.00. Proceeds from book sales will be used to support Sedona’s art community.

The Museum of Northern Arizona features a new exhibit: “Lasting Light: The Photography of the Grand Canyon”. Sixty images representing the work of 26 fine art photographers will be on display through June 17th. For more information visit www.musnaz.org

Out of Africa Wildlife Park (25 minutes south of Sedona) has just opened its’ first “community aviary”. The aviary will be a permanent part of the park and feature over 90 birds.

Casa Rincon Restaurant has closed and the building has been sold to the brother of the owner of the Cowboy Club. The building will become a new steak house later this year.

Events continue weekly at Red Rock State Park. For information call 282-6907.

Nate Schreiber, the executive chef for the three Cliff Castle restaurants, was named to the top 100 chefs in America.

Now that the Uptown Enhancement Project is complete, it’s time to take a look back at Uptown’s history. Two of Sedona’s businesses which opened in the late 1940’s are still in existence – the Hitching Post Restaurant and Rollies Camera. Thirty-five years ago Bill Pepparos owned The Turtle which has since changed its name to The Orchards Restaurant.

Sedona’s oldest art gallery is also still in existence. Most tourists pass Treasure Art Gallery on Highway 179 (you may mistake it as a house) without noticing it. The gallery was built in 1961 by one of Sedona’s first master artists Stephen Juharos and is open Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM.

Wildflower season is happening throughout Arizona at this time of year. There are lots of sites that report the best viewing areas. Search Google for “Arizona Wildflowers” for reports of the best sighting areas for the dates you plan to be in Arizona.

Sedona artist Jan Sitts has released her latest book “TextureColorFeeling”. For information see her website www.jansitts.com

Drum circles in Sedona have been an ongoing tradition for over 20 years. The Full Moon Drum Circle at Cathedral Rock captures the essence of Sedona’s alternative music and dance scene and has been legendary for over 20 years. Few places in America or the world can boast the blessing of continuing night-time, outdoor music jams, especially featuring the creative spirit of inspired residents and visitors coming together and jamming wildly in the dark. In addition to the monthly Cathedral Rock Full Moon circle, regular drum circles take place in Sedona every Wednesday night at the Oak Creek Brewery in West Sedona (www.oakcreekbrew.com - 928.304.1300) and every Saturday night on Schnebly Hill Road (weather permitting - Winter takes its toll: call Chris Wales for info 928.301.0359).

After the Rainbow Tribe’s 1998 gathering in Arizona’s White Mountains near Springerville (www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/index.html), approximately 1,000 of the attendees dropped into Sedona for the Full Moon Circle. It was my first Sedona Full Moon experience and I had been told expect between 20 and 30 participants. That number sounded great for a nice time making music in the moonlight at Cathedral Rock, the traditional gathering place for drumming in the area. My friend Hans from Zurich, Switzerland was visiting and was looking forward to a peaceful nature setting and modest music crowd that would crown his three-month visit to the Verde Valley. He brought along his mini digicam to record the events of the night as well as a drum he borrowed from our friend Chip in Cornville.

When we arrived we made the turn off Hwy 179 into the Back-O-Beyond subdivision and expected to continue down the windy road about a mile to the parking lot. As we made the turn a man was frantically waving at us to stop. We stopped quickly and were told to park here because there were no parking spaces between Hwy 179 and the lower Cathedral parking lot due to the Rainbow Gathering folks showing up and making it the largest drum circle in Arizona’s (and Sedona’s) history outside of the 24 hour-a-day circle that always accompanies a Rainbow Gathering and had well over 2,000 drummers this year in the White Mountains.

We walked over a mile to get to the circle. The sound of power drumming was booming loud even at the highway. As we moved up the trail to the upper red rock sandstone flats at the base of the Rock it was like swimming in a warm flow of human energy - the constant flow of bodies going up and down the trail in the dark radiated the tranceful perfume of sweat and rhythm. Hans and I were overwhelmed to discover a circle with at least 500 drummers beating out African-inspired music that was accompanied by dozens of semi-naked dancers, sitar players, rhythm sticks, tambourines, digeridoos, candlelight, and a sweet-smelling cloud of smoke. It was an all-night affair that went on until the sunrise began its climb just north of Bell Rock. The energy level was unlike anything I had ever witnessed in respect to music and outdoor, non-commercial gatherings. The whole night was brilliant and filled with magic.

It was this circle’s inspiration that created my desire to help drum jams happen more frequently and regularly in the Sedona landscape. Why wait a month to have such fun? Immediately I nailed up posters on all the local bulletin boards announcing the beginning of regular Saturday night drumming in the Red Rocks. I was determined to launch a new tradition so that I could enjoy my favorite new passion. I might have been a novice drummer, however I had the commitment to seeing it through even if others were not ready to support the idea.

It took a few months to gather steam. Some nights brought only 2 drummers, other nights brought in 15. Slowly but surely the word got out that the weekly Sedona drumming scene was an ongoing reality. A phone list was compiled and with a little effort a small, dedicated corps of musicians began the tradition. Big campfires fueled the circle through the cold winter nights and eventually a reliable, permanent location was imprinted on the local drumming network - the hiking trail parking lot on Schnebly Hill Road, the spot where the pavement ends. It was here that locals knew they could count on someone making music on a Saturday night. A steady crowd began to materialize weekly always featuring a small, tightly-knit band of drummers that made up the core. After jamming together for many months our inner circle of regulars could get in sync within minutes and make sounds and rhythms that could truly be called music. Sometimes it fell into “Thunder drumming” though usually it found a groove and propelled us into a trance for hours.

If you want to drum and dance in the dark or merely sit and listen to the groove you can stop by just after sunset on any given Saturday night and join in the fun. When I passed the reigns to Chris Wales he took over the commitment to continue the phone list and contact pipeline. Call Chris at 928.301.0359 for more information concerning Satruday night drumming as well as info on which night the Full Moon circle will take place. It’s an age-old question affecting all full Moon gatherings around the world: should it take place on the night of the day on which the Full Moon falls or on the night of the Full Moon even if that Full Moon falls after midnight, thus being technically on the next day. Sedona has found its own way of handling this challenge and often has two Full Moon circles, especially if those dates fall on weekend nights. The only drawback is that one of the nights has 5 people showing up while the other has 30. If you don’t stay in the contact loop you might show up on the wrong night and miss the jam of the century….

Check out my Phoenix friends’ website for more detailed info on Sedona and Arizona drum circles, drum classes, and drum events (classes with master teachers like Mamadi Keita):

www.azdrumanddance.org/azstuff/classes_events/Sedona_drum_circles.htm

See you at the circle.