Learning to Have Fun Again

Kaya, above, sitting on a piece of sculpture in downtown Mesa.  This picture is the first picture I shot in Arizona and is symbolic of my life since I left Crestone.  I've been having fun with a lot of nice people. 

Below is the rickshaw that Mother Theresa used to use - it has been verified and sold to a museum at the University of Arizona.

Kaya was just as new to Mesa as I was so we checked everything out, including American Indian dances, above, and tourist places like the one in Scottsdale, below.

Kaya and Toby crossing the Salt River, above, and below standing in front of the Lost Dutchman's Mountain.

The boat that took us on a trip around a large lake where we could see mountain sheep and an eagle.

The night before I left Mesa Kaya took me out to dinner at Organ Pipe Pizza where organ players entertain.  This ornate specimen sounded like a full orchestra at times.

Before I left we had a light rain and this rainbow popped out.  I really enjoyed myself - learned how to play Bingo and actually won a game.  Got to see some good movies, go hiking and do lots of healthy stuff.  Mostly is was just healing to be around a happy active friendly person like Kaya.  Thanks!

Fran is always helping me so when I begged her to tell me something she would like, she said a number for the front of her house.  I carved the numbers to look like rope, then edged it all with copper nails, then filled in the rest with milagros I found in Scottsdale.

Then on Fran's birthday I asked her what I could make for someone who has everything, and she said a "shrine or a painting".  So, she got a painted shrine.  This is the first in a series of shrines dedicated to various famous Francis' in history.

Outside Tucson, Terrasante is next to a giant hole in the ground called the Bowl.  The erosion on the sides of the Bowl, a 15 acre hole in the ground created about 20 years ago when it was used as the substrata for the Old Ajo Road, have now become huge.  Now I want to carve them.

 Below is my first attempt to carve a life size figure in the ground.  So far it looks a lot like an archealogical dig.  The figure reminds me of people who died in Pompey.  Now I realize I have to come up with a whole scenerio to explain these figures.  Am also going to add symbols. 

This is the slightly pregnant earth goddess I carved into the desert in February 2010.  She is about 60 feet long and is surrounded with tires.  This visit I've been given permission to "do whatever you want" inside the Bowl so I'm carving a 100 foot tall, very pregnant Earth Goddess this time.  This photo was shot from a small airplane.  These earth carvings can only be seen from an airplane or Google Earth.

Below is the partially carved (dug out with a shovel) pregnant Earth Mother who has the earth as her tummy.  It will be about 100 feet tall when finished. I'm going to plant a native grass in the ditches I've dug around the goddess, a grass that is different from the others growing in the bowl.

This is the Kiva House which I've been using as my studio.  If it's cold outside, it's warmer inside, when it's hot outside, it's cool inside.  Amazing.

Above is the shrine above the throne in the outdoor toilet.  Below is the solar shower which works pretty darn good, once I learned how to use it.

Kaya came to visit me and we met at the gem show.  What fun!

Thursday nights one of the couples here, Dan and Megan, has a bonfire and potluck.  We sing and party and have fun.

I was invited to participate in the display Terrasante was having at the Peace Fair in Tucson.  When I wasn't watching the booth I walked around photographing everything.

Bruce and Jill, above, have the same birthday, time of birth and a huge list of strange coincidences like when they both ended up working as nurses at the same hospital..  Bruce owns Terrasante where I'm camping.  Below, when I started carving my giant earth goddess, Brian and Tom, the owners of the Bowl had their19th annual piano burning.  Free food and beer.  Over a hundred people showed up.

I saved my last month in Crestone for the last.  The cabin I rented was fine for warm weather but was too cold for the winter.  So, I rented the downstairs of a large house.  This half is a greenhouse with the only heating.  At night I would freeze and stay in bed, but during the day I could function and be warm once the sun got up.  I learned a lot about passive solar heating.

My bedroom was 26 feet by 13 feet.  Difficult to keep warm.

I made friends with Bo, who travels with his buddies, a lama and two massively huge but gentle dogs.

Below are two of 14 drawings I did for a children's book about a pig who could fly.  Diane Bairstow scans the drawings into her computer then colors them in Paintshop.  Can't wait to see the final result.