Apr25
Posted on Apr 25 by Ruth Davis
We are finally settling into our new home base for the next two months. We’re volunteering as camp hosts at Fool Hollow Lake State Park in Show Low, Arizona, a cool, summer getaway in the White Mountains. We’re at 6300 feet elevation, 180 miles north of Phoenix and 60 miles west of the Arizona/New Mexico state line. According to the signage along a nearby hiking trail, this area has the largest contiguous stand of Ponderosa Pines in the world. Our campsite is actually in one of the camping loops, a first for us. In all of our previous hosting jobs, our site has been in a separate area, or with the other hosts. Here, there are campsites on both sides of us, and, even though they are at least 100 yards away, and on the other side of pine trees and junipers, we can hear people’s conversations and smell their evening fires. We’re in the Cinnamon Teal loop, on a bluff about a hundred feet above the east side of Fool Hollow Lake. We are surrounded by pines...
Apr05
Posted on Apr 5 by Ruth Davis
A belated thank you for all of the support and compassion after my last letter about quitting smoking. Many of you wrote and shared your own stories of quitting, offering compassion and tenderness. Some of you didn’t see what the big deal was about pot. A few have asked how it’s going. The first three days were easy. I had full days of clients, get togethers with friends, and no cravings or urges. On the fourth day I was looking forward to returning to my beloved yoga studio, but I woke up with a twinge in my lower back. I freaked, remembering my 5 month bout with sciatica three years ago. My body was so tight that the only thing I knew to do was smoke to relax. I was able to breathe, and cry and notice what I was bracing against. And instead of beating myself up for smoking, I was kind and compassionate, allowing myself to try a different way. I have always been an all or nothing person. A few months ago I announced I...
Mar07
Posted on Mar 7 by Ruth Davis
There comes a moment when you know that they way you’ve been doing something no longer works. Sometimes, you can change the behavior right then and there. Sometimes it takes a good long time from that moment of realization to actually taking action to do it differently. The biggest factor is, how do you treat yourself during the transition. I don’t remember the first time I smoked pot, but it was some time during my sophomore year in college with friends. I liked the silliness, the laughing, and how ideas just exploded, especially when we were brainstorming together. I started smoking regularly in the late 90’s, after many years of discovering and writing about my deepest secrets of loss and sexual abuse. I just needed a break from the trauma and depression. I remember going to an art store where I’d heard the owner sold marijuana, and asking, “So do you have anything to inspire my creativity?” He had no idea what I was talking about until I asked straight out, ” Can I get...
Feb07
Posted on Feb 7 by Ruth Davis
We left the rainy, cold Oregon coast at the beginning of January, expecting to do a quick, four day drive down to Morro Bay, enjoy a week of fresh fish, friends and birding, then head to the Salton Sea, south of Palm Springs for the month of February. But the west coast experienced some of the biggest wettest storms in history, which changed our travel plans. Instead of staying one night at a casino at our first stop over the California border, we stayed for six, to avoid the icy roads, the big winds and all of the rain. We had no hookups, and there was no sun to charge our solar panels, so we ran the generator as needed and did fine. They had a dump station and fresh water, so we still had everything we needed. After the first storm passed, we drove 100 miles to another small casino in the town of Laytonville. A new Mac client lives there so I asked her for dinner recommendations, and did she want to join us. Instead,...
Jan04
Posted on Jan 4 by Ruth Davis
We left our amazing campsite on the bluff of the Umpqua River Lighthouse last week and spent a day and a night in Coos Bay to take care of some things on the RV before heading south. While the RV was at the shop, Mabel got her toenails clipped, Marika and I got haircuts, we stocked up on groceries and dog food, and enjoyed the water views. We spent New Year’s Eve at Harris Beach State Park where our Cape Blanco co-host friends Paul and Jayne are now working as yurt hosts. We had reservations for 2 nights, intending to begin our journey south on Monday morning. But as we were walking with the dogs around the campground on New Year’s Day, it was such a beautiful day, and the beach was right there, and Marika said, “I wonder what we would need to do to stay another night.” Wow! It hadn’t occurred to me but, yes, I loved the idea. We didn’t have to be anywhere until Morro Bay on the 8th, and I had added...
Dec28
Posted on Dec 28 by Ruth Davis
I can’t believe it’s almost the end of 2023. It’s been quite a year for me! Really high highs and incredibly low lows. And everything in between. Like most of you. So often, if we’ve had a loss in our life ( a loved one, a job, a relationship, etc) we say it’s been a bad year. Yes, definitely, it’s been hard, but every moment hasn’t been full of grief. We couldn’t survive if it were. In the midst of all of the hard stuff there are always moments of hope, of joy, of gratitude. These last few days of the year are an especially opportune time to reflect on ALL of the moments that have made up this year. It’s easy to list all of the BIG stuff that has happened to us, for us. But what else has happened? What else have you done? Taking the time to honor and acknowledge our lives can be so empowering. I invite you to find a quiet place and take out a piece of paper. Ask yourself these questions: What...
