October 7, 2012
After breakfast and waking Betsy up from a drug-induced sleep, we headed over to Ahote and Tuwa’s home to continue our visit. During our drive, Betsy informed me that she wasn’t feeling well and could not return to the fields for the second day of harvesting. After we arrived at Ahote and Tuwa’s home, Ahote invited me to climb a ladder to the roof of his house to photograph the corn drying in the sun. I had to pinch myself once again. I couldn’t believe I was permitted to photograph a Hopi village. I harvested the following images for Ahote, Tuwa, and my journal with great respect and honor.
Image Not For Sale or Redistribution | Faces have been blurred out to protect their privacy.
Ahote invited us to return to the fields for another day of harvesting, but Betsy and I declined. Neither one of us was feeling up to it. We couldn’t figure out if it was the elevation or the intense sunshine, but we both knew that we would not be able to endure another day in the sun.
I sat down with Ahote and expressed my sincere gratitude for everything he shared with me during our visit, especially the invitation to hunt with him and his son. I reminded him once again that my living situation would change at the end of the month; I had no idea what that meant for me going forward.
He looked me straight in the eyes and said I was welcome to live at Hopi with one of his friends if I had nowhere to go. I just stared at him, unable to speak. Words could not express the feeling that washed over me when he said those words. I told him that I would keep in touch with him over the next several weeks and keep him updated on everything that happened.
Betsy and I then said goodbyes to Ahote, Tuwa, their family, and friends. We returned to the Cultural Center, where I had parked my van, and then set out for Phoenix. We spent the next hour and a half following each other from the Second Mesa to Interstate 40. Once we reached the Interstate, we separated; Betsy stopped to get gas in Flagstaff and then continued south to Scottsdale, Arizona; I drove to Sedona, Arizona, to look for a place to do my next meditation.
As I approached the Sedona city limits, I drove past Snoopy Rock…
Snoopy Rock, Sedona, Arizona
I then drove through downtown Sedona, which was so crowded with tourists that I decided to keep driving. I continued south on Arizona Highway 179 until I reached Interstate 17. I stopped in Camp Verde, Arizona, to get a bite to eat and then remembered a mountain that I had noticed a few weeks earlier during a visit to New River, Arizona.
After grabbing a bite to eat, I continued south on Interstate 17 until I reached New River. I exited the Interstate and drove less than a mile to a secluded park facing the mountain.
This mountain was located at the following coordinates:
Google Maps 2012
Between 3:38 and 3:58 PM, I opened the back of the van, grabbed my meditation tools, and invoked the “Listening To Your Soul” angel. Once I completed my meditation, I continued to Phoenix. I arrived back in Phoenix around 6:30 PM. As I was about to get out of my van, I looked down at the floor and noticed the stick I picked up on Day 52 was next to three small stones I brought from Hopi.
I wasn’t sure if it was due to sun poisoning, dehydration, or the chicken sandwich that I had when I stopped in Camp Verde, but when I got home, I was sick to my stomach. I went to bed that evening, not feeling well at all.
October 7 through 15, 2012
I spent the next few days recovering from my trip to Hopi. It took me several days to completely regain all of my strength. That week, I placed a new Hopi bumper sticker on the back of my van.
Since Ricardo was in between jobs and wasn’t scheduled to start his new job until early November, he and I set out for California for a long weekend. We left Phoenix on Friday, October 12. We spent Friday night in Palm Springs, Saturday and Sunday visiting his family in Santa Paula, and returned to Phoenix on Monday, October 15.
At one point during our drive back to Phoenix, we stopped at Starbucks for some refreshments. While checking my email, I visited Ticketmaster to see if any tickets were available for Madonna’s MDNA show in Phoenix the following night, October 16.
Luckily, I found the following tickets: Section 101, Row 3, Seats 13, and 14.
Ricardo was kind enough to purchase both tickets, valued at over $700.00. I couldn’t believe it, but I was going to get the chance to see Madonna’s MDNA show.
I decided to perform my next meditation at her show.