Photo of the Day: Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's Phoenix home. Incredible place, incredible tour.

Photo of the Day: Desert Botanical Gardens, Phoenix, AZ, 09/21/04

But it's a dry heat....

The first day was spent at Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Phoenix residence. It was incredible! I’ve always thought the guy was great, but to be at his home was fantastic. And I had no idea he was so into Oriental art. The tour was 90 minutes and included his working office, his living room, family room, theater and small cabaret he has on the property. His school of architecture is still ongoing. The students spend half the year at the original Taliesin in Wisconsin and the other half of the year at Taliesin West in Phoenix. They are in Wisconsin right now. It was interesting to discover first year students must live in a tent at Taliesin West to get better in touch with nature in order to incorporate nature into their designs. In the second year, they are given materials and told to design and build their own rooms.

Spent some time in Scottsdale, which is a very, very upscale version (think Rodeo Drive) of a tourist town. Lots of spas and resorts, most of the shops are cool, with lots of art and Native American-made clothing, pottery, jewelry, etc. But there are malls that cater exclusively to the very, very, very well to do, the haute courtier, the Paris Hiltons of the world. Still, it was nice to window-shop and buy a T-shirt, a cactus, and some candy.

Sedona was really the highlight of the trip. It’s in upper central Arizona and can seem to be a new age oasis in a very Republican state. Lots of palm reading, aura reading, crystals, etc. And lots of jeep tours out into the hinterlands. I just bought a forest service day pass and developed my own tour. And there are several sites are designated as a Native American vortex site. I walked a creek about a mile or so and reached one such site. I stood in the water at the vortex and meditated for about 10 minutes and could really feel something. Sunset and sunrise were great as the colors of the rock formations were really in play. But it is an upscale hippy/new age art & tourism community. The homes there are quite palatial. But I really loved the place. If I was going to move to Arizona, that would be where I would move.

There were several things I wanted to get to that I was unable due to time constrants, so I'll likely return at some point.

But for now, you've got the vacation photos to endure.

Photo of the Day: Okay, folks. Now you get the vacation shots we all so love to see from other people. This one was taken last week in Sedona, AZ, in a place called Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village. I found it to be quite a cool place, literally and figuratively.

Photo of the Day: This will be the last post until I return from my week in Arizona. It's along the east bank of the Willamette River in Portland, Aug. 2004.

Photo of the Day: A pier near Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, CA, Dec. 30, 03.

I've got ramblin' on my mind...

I'm still wrestling with the urge to contact my friend who is a state senator for a meeting on how to get some momentum going in reining in the political hatred now so evident today. I've jsut gotta find the time, which is difficult to do since I'm attempting to get a bond levy passed for a community swimming pool, running for the board of directors to run said swimming pool, having to teach high school journalists how to take photos of sporting events, working with the service club to which I belong, do my regular 8-4:30 job, and take care of my contemplative garden.

And Sunday I leave for Arizona for a week.

And the leaves will soon be falling off the elm trees that surround my yard.

And the Ducks are playin' football again.

My longtime hobby of trading live musical performances has taken a back seat--er--better make that changed freeways completely, as I've not really done any trading since--well for a while now. Perhaps that'll change with the coming of winter. Who knows?

My meditation grows somewhat restless lately, as well. Perhaps this vacation is just what I need to recharge the old batteries. And those batteries will be 55 next week.

I'm looking forward to Sedona. I've heard interesting things about it: it's an artist colony, it's really new age, it's gotta hummmmmmmmmmmmmm. It would be interesting to also explore some of the Anasazi ruins in northern Arizona, but I don't think I'll have the time to get that done.

Anyway, just thought it was time to write a rambling post and I see I've accomplished that. Now, back to your regularly scheduled falderall.

The River

We must die each moment and allow life to express itself through us. Our lives may not turn out the way in which the ego has imagined, but when we surrender to the truth of what is, we will find freedom beyond measure, as surely as the river finds its way to the sea.

Photo of the Day: Another from the architectur and angles file, this time of downtown Portland from across the river, Aug. 2004.

Photo of the Day: This is from my architectural/dissonant shapes period, which I'm not quite over yet.

Interconnectedness

Humanity is one single body. What touches one part of this body touches all. Touch one strand the entire web vibrates. Humanity shares a single destiny. This sharing of destiny, this network of interdependence, is infinite in scope. My life and yours are completely autonomous. Yet we each exist only in total resonance with all other beings.

Due to the fundatmental interconnectedness that lies at the heart of reality, your interest is also my interest. Therefore, my happiness is to a large extent dependent on yours. From this, it becomes clear that 'my' interests and 'your' interests are intimately connected. In a deep sense, they converge. Because of this, if we wish for our own happiness, we have to consider others. It is a practical necessity that we do so.

A mutually dependent universe means that each indivudal helps to sustain the world and shape its course of events. We are continually interacting with others and the world. The manner in which we think, speak, and behave issues karmic energy which acts upon the world. At the same time, we are molded by events and nurtured by personalities we meet.

Mutuality and interdependence are the substance of our lives.

The Wisdom of Buddha

If you want to get rid of your enemy, the true way is to realize that your enemy is delusion.

Photo of the Day: Starfish on Hollyhock beach, Cordes Island, B.C., May 2003

Photo of the Day: Cinder Butte near Mt. Shasta, CA, Jan 1, 04, at sunset.