Hi, thanks for stopping by! I’m Jeanne, intrepid daydreamer, sharing my thoughts and experiences about this Happy Life we all seek. Join the discussion, challenge my thoughts, share your wisdom!
Here it is, October 21st, and I haven’t posted since October 15th. Hmmm. That’s six days, six whole days! A record for this newbie who started out determined to post daily because — well, because that’s what’s recommended!
I admit I’ve started posts several times. No success. Oh wait, maybe that IS success in its own right. I mean, sometimes we just have nothing to say, correct? Sometimes it’s a good thing to be mute.
I do like silence. As much as I enjoy music, I rarely have it on anymore. As for TV, it’s on only if there’s something I want to see — I don’t need background noise other than what nature offers.
It might be different if I lived in a place where there were constant sounds of traffic and sirens and screaming angry neighbors and I wanted to drown out those sounds with something more pleasant. But I left all those places behind some years ago, and today I avoid them like the plague.
Silence outside of me is precious and much appreciated; but the silence within is surely more important, and I’m thinking that the Universe must have grabbed hold of me and said, in no uncertain terms (but gently, as always): Stop. No thought. Be still. Observe. Let go. Breathe. Just Be.
And so I have been.
As one who grew up in the Land Below Sea Level (New Orleans), I’m fascinated by the mountains. I’m familiar with the heavily forested, gentle mountains of the east, but these mountains in the west are strange creatures indeed. Some look just like the mountains of the old-time cowboy movies (nowadays called westerns). Some look like a dump truck from outer space unloaded its cargo of ash, or dirt, leaving piles of mountains that look like giant anthills. Some look like stacks of monster boulders heaped one upon another and balanced precariously, just waiting for a monster wind to unleash them onto the highways below.
I see a pattern in my observations: montrous everything. Monstrous mounds of dirt, or boulders. Monstrous sky. Monstrous winds. Monstrous miles of nothing in between cities. Monstrous amounts of undeveloped land. The west is a monstrous place, a place of monstrous spaces and monstrous land upheavals. All monstrously strange and wonderful. Too monstrous to contemplate, almost too monstrous to take in. Gosh, I’m on a monstrous journey of monstrous proportions, and like you I’m tired of the word monstrous and need to find another word to describe! I’ll work on it, I promise.
Oh, by the way — we’re having a monstrously great adventure! Cheers from Sierra Vista, Arizona.
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Tags: adventure, journey, monstrous, silence, universe
Categories: Road Trip
Hi Jeanne,
I appreciate your pictures of the wild wild west, especially of the one where you are getting a sun bath with your loving pets. Yes, everything in the west is monstrous and you fit very well enjoying the silence with your monstrous heart and spirit.
Thanks for sharing, got to enjoy the Grand Canyon state today!
Thanks, Suzen — gee, when we get to the Grand Canyon, I guess then I’ll REALLY have a new take on what’s big. What I’m enjoying so much is the message of greatness out here — if I were a teenager, I’d say “man, this is heavy, dude!” — or something like that. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hi Jeanne,
Now dont you look all happy in blissland in that pic…:) Nice!! Silence can do us all a world of good….and see how lovely and happy its making you.
I know you might think its the norm to post everyday..but believe me, i stressed about this issue too, and after much ado I have realized that posting often is good enough. When you have something to say..and say it passionately, readers will come to your blog. Infact i can safely say…from the beginning…i have never posted everyday.
Ohh..and the pictures are all awesome!! Have a good time in Arizona..and share some more of those lovely pics of your trip.
Lots of love
Zeenat.
I just love hearing from you, Zeenat — you have such a warm way of giving the verbal hug!
Sometimes I get so relaxed I feel like a bowl of pudding, and it’s great — that pic shows me just soaking it all up! And yes, more pictures coming — maybe a whole postful. Love you, girl!
Will this be your first time at the Grand Canyon? I’ve not yet been. Gosh that’s sooo exciting. How long until you are there? Do you have a plan or are you just rambling at your leisure with no fixed itinerary or clock to follow?
I bet the poochies love all that traveling and adventure. Sweet little fluff-muffins. They are usually just so happy to be with their owners. We took our “Chance” to Canada in 1994, a 5-day drive and it was a wonderful adventure.
And hey, post when you’re in the mood. That’s what I do now and I think it’s best for me.
You bet, Jannie — the Grand Canyon will be a first for me. I’m intending perfect picture-taking weather, too! As for the schedule? We have a general idea: we have campground reservations for two weeks near Sedona AZ, that’ll be our “base camp” for the Canyon and lots of other things to see and do, and we may stay longer if that’s what it takes. So we’re mostly winging it, and the ONLY REASON we look at a clock is to be sure we check out on time, LOL!
The pups are great travelers and they’re enjoying the new smells everywhere we go! I’m surprised their nose-to-the-ground activity hasn’t gotten them in trouble, but heck, the trip is still so young
— they have plenty of time to find rattlesnakes and scorpions. Ugh.
Hi Jeanne,
I love the photos you’re sharing. It looks like you are having a marvelous time.
And who said you need to post every day? Slap their hands. Blogging is about having fun and making up our own rules along the way. Just as you are….
Thanks, Barbara — this blogging thing is definitely a “move when the spirit says move” thing! It’s all good, and this side trip into the southwest is leaving me speechless much of the time. It’s a contemplative thing, I believe.
I DO love making up my own rules — that rocks!