Bisbee-ites tend to LOVE Halloween. I was invited to go out with Mark and Jack and friends for the evening. Jack decided to stay home…understandable after traveling for two weeks on business. He deserved a night at home.

We walked to the old Panterra Gallery in ‘The Gulch’ around 7 pm. Chuck was having a surprise birthday party for his partner Maralyce and she was expected at 7:30 pm. There was a band playing which included Chuck’s son, Dylan. I was dressed as a cowgirl with a big black cowboy hat and a black mask that Jack gave me.

Kate and Nancy

There were lots of people at the party including some of my friends.

Unknown, Lizann and Mark

Karen "The Killer Bee" and Glenn "The Miner"

The band played and Maralyce made her appearance.

The band at Maralyce's surprise birthday party.

Maralyce dancing with a friend

Maralyce was indeed surprised.

Maralyce surprised!!!

After the party we walked to the Central School parking lot where there was a great band playing. The band was from Tucson and played a mix of Latin and jazz fusion music.

The band from Tucson...name unknown

Margie and Keith dancing in the parking lot at Central School

Mark drank tequila from Darrell’s bottle.

Mark drinking tequila as Darrell 'The Devil" looks on.

And a good time was had by all!!!

A wonderful Bisbee costume.

Including the giant pumpkin outside Sulley’s.

The giant pumpkin outside Sulley's.

I made my flight reservations. I am leaving on Friday, December 4 for Quito, Ecuador. I’ll fly out of Tucson to Houston and then on to Quito where I will be staying with my friend, Sue, at her home in the old district of Quito high in the Andes. My return date is May 29. Six months in South America. Wow. I leave in one month.

I moved into a friend’s house out in the Warren district of Bisbee. I am renting a room in her lovely home. It is quiet and I feel safe and secure here. Margie gives me my space and we seem to be getting along well.

I wanted to visit Max, my son, before I leave so I am flying to San Francisco on November 13 for a few days visit. I fly back to Tucson on Monday November 16. A short trip but I didn’t want to leave for six months without seeing him. I hope I get to see Sarah, his girlfriend, too. Hi Sarah!

My friends Jack and Mark invited me to go with them and my roommate, Margie, to Colorado for Thanksgiving. We will drive up through New Mexico spending the night in the town Truth or Consequences. We’re staying at Riverbend, a motel with hot spring tubs on the river. Then up through Sante Fe and Taos to southern Colorado to the town of Alamosa where a friend of Jack’s, Phil, and his girlfriend live. We’ll stay with them for four days. I am looking forward to spending time in the mountains, going hiking and eating Phil’s cooking which is supposed to be very good.

On the way back we’re stopping in New Mexico to visit Georgia O’Keefe’s house at Abiquiu which I’ve wanted to do for a long time. We’ll be gone for 8 days. When we return I’ll have two days to get everything ready to leave for Quito including putting my car in my storage unit out in the San Jose area of Bisbee.

Going forth. I am excited at the adventure ahead. But also a bit reluctant to leave the safety and security of my home and friends here in Bisbee. But that is always how it is. The comings and goings are stressful. But I must go back to that great continent. I will have a few months of fun with Sue and get to experience Ecuador again and get to know that country better. Then on to Argentina and Bolivia. I will keep you posted. Thanks to all that read these posts. I write them primarily for myself but it is fun to know that you share my life a bit. Cheers!

A friend of mine (thank you Mary Ellen) sent me this poem. It speaks to me of my own journey and reminds me to be true to myself.

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice –
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do –
determined to save
the only life you could save.

- Mary Oliver

It took some doing for me to make my decision to return to South America. When I contemplated returning old fears and messages reared their ugly heads. I had to tell them to go far away and do what I wanted. Interesting how old messages rule our lives sometimes. My last post was like a declaration of independence. I needed to proclaim my independence from the old rules and my new sovereignty. Have any of you had to do that?

I am going to go to Quito, Ecuador and stay with an American friend who I met there last spring. I am going to rent a room in her home which is a 4th floor walkup in the Old Town of Quito. That will get me in shape! Sue came to Quito over 20 years ago to teach Spanish and she is going to help me improve my Spanish while I am staying there. She says she’s an excellent teacher and I hope she will make it easy for me. Speaking Spanish in South America opens up so many opportunities and expands any experience. It also makes traveling safer for a single woman.

I am planning to stay in Quito and Ecuador for about 3 months. I’ll do some touring to areas I missed last time. Then I’ll head south to Bolivia and Argentina for a few more months. I am hoping to stay 6 months and come back speaking Spanish!

I will update this blog as I venture forth. I still need to make my plane reservations. That will cement the deal. I am excited and happy with my decision.

I have lots to do in the next weeks but I enjoy planning and researching a trip. I will be returning to a city and country I know. I look forward to Quito, Mindo, staying at the beach, visiting Otavalo and staying at a farm outside Quito. Sue goes to the farm most weekends to garden, meditate and make tempeh. I don’t know anything more about it except that she said there’s a spot for me there. I imagine I’ll do some work and enjoy being in the country…it’s difficult for me to be in a city for too long.

Cheers!

Yes, a leap of independence. A leap of faith. Leaping out of the box. Into the unknown.

I am going back to South America. For me it is a big leap of faith, jumping off the cliff.

I don’t understand it all but it is something I need to do. For myself, for my life.

It feels scary but I’m not going to let that get in my way. It’s something that, if I don’t do it, I will regret it.

So I will leave the safety and security of my home in Bisbee, my friends in Bisbee, my life in Bisbee. To find the safety and security within myself. To become a stronger person. To get to know myself better. To explore. To learn. To deepen and widen. To be more of who I am and to create further my own life as a sovereign person.

I leave this wonderful home I have been house sitting since July. Comings and goings are never easy. But I go forth…straight on to my destiny. It is a choice, a personal decision.

I’ve had a mouse in my house for a couple of weeks now. I’ve tried different methods but this mouse didn’t leave my house (alive or dead). So which method below do you think was the successful one?

Conventional Mousetrap

Catch and Release Mousetrap

Natural Mousetrap

OK. Don’t look at the answer!

If you guessed the kitty cat…you’re right! I let Rachel into my house and within 5 minutes she was strolling to the door with her head high and a mouse in her mouth. For those who don’t kill creatures in their houses, please don’t get upset with me. I believe it’s all part of the natural cycle and process of life. Cats have been killing and eating mice for thousands of years before we started feeding them out of cans and bags of dry food. Without mice there wouldn’t be any cats.

Anyway, I’m glad the mouse is gone. Thank you Rachel, the cat.

It’s interesting to note that friends come into my life in many different ways and times. Some for a few minutes, days or weeks. Some for many months and years. Some for a lifetime. Friends are our angels, our reminders, our teachers, our loves, our best and closest human beings to who we are.

Sometimes they leave and sometimes we leave them. Sometimes they surprise us and arrive unexpectedly, sometimes they come slowly and timidly into our lives. Always appreciated. Always accepted.

Tonight I am reminded of friendship. I hope I am a good friend to my friends. Love is not always easy. Some friends are easily close, some are distant but understood. But always there is a connection, a reminder of joy, trust and closeness.

I believe we are all here to transform ourselves to the best we can be. We grow and stumble and make our way to ‘our’ bliss whatever it is for us. We give and we receive. We are blessed with friends of grace and friends of effort. We are never alone.

Last night there was a birthday celebration at the La Reforma restaurant in Aqua Prieta, Mexico. Jane, Mark and Jack invited me to a ’surprise’ dinner. We drove from Bisbee to Douglas (on the U.S. side of the border), parked our car and walked across the border crossing to the Mexico side where we took a taxi to La Reforma.

La Reforma is a beautiful and large Mexican restaurant in Aqua Prieta known for its good food. When we arrived around 8 pm the place was empty except for a small Mexican party of 8 or 10 people. We selected a small table in the middle of the restaurant near a huge fireplace with three large baseball trophies sitting on the mantle.

We ordered margaritas and guacamole. The hot sauce, chips and guacamole were delicious and went well (of course) with the margaritas. Jane gave me a card and two small presents which I opened immediately. The animal on the front of the card looks somewhat like a fat rabbit but with small feet (it can’t be a rabbit!). What is it? Well you decide. I thought it might be a ground hog.

Jane's Card

We ordered our entrees and we talked about Fiji while we waited. Mark and Jack have decided to move to Fiji soon and they’ve put their beautiful house on the market. I will miss them! Jane and I will just have to go visit them. I hope they don’t mind if we stay too long!

Jane, Mark and margarita time!

My fish arrived covered in a very hot red sauce. The sauce was delicious but hot, spicy hot. Jack and Mark both had steak dishes and Jane had a delicious looking shrimp dish served in a lava rock container.

Because it was my birthday the waiter made us an interesting roasted vegetable salsa and, at the end of the meal, brought me a slice of raspberry chocolate cake which we all enjoyed. We passed on the flan because the waiter said it had been sitting outside and was no good!

Up close at La Reforma

My friend Jack

The owner of La Reforma was shot and killed in the restaurant last year and it was closed for some time. I think the food and the cheer of the place has suffered. But we had a great time!

We asked to be taken back to the border crossing in the restaurant’s van. In the past the van would pick up visitors from the U.S. at the border crossing but it wasn’t there this time. The waiter said that they would drive us back. So it was a BIG surprise when we walked out of the restaurant to see a small VW bug (old style) waiting for us at the curb. We were two big men and two small women but we managed to squeeze into the bug and not freak out too much by the driver’s fast driving.

Two big men, two small women and a VW bug driver

The La Reforma shuttle bug driving away

We made it back in one piece to the border crossing and walked into the crossing room. Jane, Mark and I were given passage with no problems but Jack was asked to wait. He has a British passport, travels extensively and was born in Kenya (actually Zanzibar which doesn’t exist any more). He was released after about 15 minutes. Apparently this is a not uncommon occurrence for Jack.

They dropped me off at my car in downtown Bisbee and before I departed I received a wonderful card and a bottle of good wine from Mark and Jack. Kisses and hugs from all and I was back in my car driving back to my house in Brewery Gulch. What a wonderful evening and I will remember it for a long time!

I went to the Bisbee Farmers Market yesterday. It is held every Saturday morning in the Warren District of Bisbee. I bought some organic vegetables, listened to mariachi music and watched Mexican folk dancing. I drank an horchata (Mexican sweetened cinnamon rice drink) and watched kids playing in a big muddy water puddle (we’ve been having some heavy monsoon rains lately).

The Bisbee Farmers Market is a community event with vendors selling fruits and vegetables, organic meats and eggs, honey and homemade preserves, tie dyed clothing, Navajo jewelry, minerals, ceramic Christmas decorations, rocky road candy and different varieties of plants and herbs. There are also vans selling food, tables offering tamales and coffee, and much more!

I loved the community feeling and the diversity of people attending the event. There were people of different ages, families, children riding bikes and using hula hoops, dogs on leashes, and people sitting on plastic chairs under a big tree. It felt good and I was happy. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Beautiful organic vegies

Tie Dye Still Exists in Bisbee

Kids playing in the mud puddle. Brings back memories!

Local honey and homemade preserves vendor

Mexican folk dancing. Notice the gutter in the middle of the 'dance floor'

Rocky Road Candy Vendors

Mariachi Band at the Bisbee Farmers Market

Singers under a small tree at the market

I’m still in the Bay Area staying with my son out in San Ramon. I plan to leave Sunday early Sunday morning.

I drove with Karie up the California coast from Oceanside to Big Sur on Wednesday, August 26. We stopped in Santa Barbara. I wanted to see Dave Richo.

We spent Wednesday night at Deetjens in Big Sur. It was a beautiful afternoon and evening with the fog offshore but creeping in close at some spots. We stopped to see the Elephant Seals resting on a beach close to the road and I marveled once again at the beauty of this magnificent coast.

We had a glass of wine at Nepenthe and I slept well in the Van Gogh room at Deetjens looking forward to my eggs Benedict at their small restaurant the next morning.

We stopped in Monterey to stroll around Cannery Row and then headed north to Marin to spend the night at my friends, Daphne and Bill’s, house in San Anselmo.

That night we ate ice cream cones at my favorite organic ice cream shop in Fairfax, The Scoop. Yum!

The sailing plans fell through for the weekend but I did get to visit the East Brothers Light Station. It is now a B&B operated by friends of Karie’s. I had met Ed previously but not his wife, Ann who is from Belgium. Ed picked us up in a skiff at the San Pablo Yacht Club and took us out to the island. There is a beautiful old Victorian house on the island that is now the B&B. Ed and Ann do everything on the island and run the B&B. Their plan is to run it for two years and then take off cruising in their boat Mucho Gusto.

East Brothers Light Station

The B&B on East Brothers Light Station

Ann is a fabulous French cook and served us a delicious lunch along with glasses of red wine. The weather was perfect and it was a wonderful time full of beauty, sailing stories, and plans for future adventures.

Ann's lunch that she put together from leftovers

I spent Sunday participating in a day-long meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center (www.spiritrock.org). The retreat was hosted by Jack Kornfield, one of the founders of Spirit Rock . He is known worldwide and has written a number of terrific books. I admire him greatly and he exemplifies what it is to be a good person through the practice of Buddhism. It was instructive and powerful to spend a day with Jack. His goodness, peace and power seem to rub off a bit and changed my internal structure. We did sitting and walking meditations and had dharma talks with Jack and Phillip Moffitt, who assisted at the retreat.

We stayed Sunday and Monday nights at the Marin Headlands Hostel. We lucked out and they gave us a private room. There was a weekend wedding party taking up the whole building so we stayed out in the smaller annex.

Marin Headlands Hostel Annex

My birthday started out a fine day. The weather was fantastic. I spent the day in Sausalito and went for a walk by myself at Blackie’s Pasture in Tiburon for a few hours. That evening I hosted a small dinner party at Avatars in Sausalito with my son and a few friends. It was a quiet but good birthday.

I spent the last couple of days with my son, Max, out in San Ramon. I also got to spend time with his girlfriend, Sarah, who I enjoyed getting to know better. I sure appreciate both of them: they are good and loving people.

Karie left on Wednesday and I am glad to have my time alone again. My plan is to drive to Tahoe and then down 395 on the east slope of the Sierras through the Owens Valley and then to Phoenix before arriving in Bisbee next Tuesday or Wednesday.