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On break from a long drive to California, I took respit via a hike in Joshua Tree National Park, hiking up Lower Cottomwood Wash to this place- wash meaning maybe some soul cleansing under the desert sun, or also in this case, the dry sandy bed of a river currently without water flowing in it. At this spot, the water’s route comes over this dry fall. Walking inside the crack, I found the tiniest dribble of water, and it spoke as a spot for a new Slice of Life audio reflection. It’s been a few weeks since the last one.
Having just re-listened to it, 2 days later, on one hand I am wondering who I am listening too, but I know the voice. I am feeling a strong tug to return to this peaceful place, but am far away. The nudge for this came via an email from my friend Raj Boora, who I met for lunch in Edmonton back in mid-August. He recently emailed me a brief but big question about my road travel in 2011:
What did you learn about yourself on this trip, Alan?
Having tried to answer it, I am still wondering if I did, but there you go.
To get this spot I had walked up a dry river bed, all sand and gnarled wind blasted trees, many bent over, like old men others hoary with mistletoe or flood debris. They have a tenacity for life worth respecting.
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At the place of the dry waterfall where I recorded this was a place of picture words for Scpttlo- the weathered granite formation this place is known for, boulders looking like giant toy blocks, pillows of rock, looking like like piles frozen from squeezed out mud.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
Inside the crack of rock where I recorded this is a a drip of water down crack. Water in the desert very magical and a hopeful sound. My hope in 2012 for the next few months is to do 2-3 Slices per week, especially in light of sorting to teach a section of ds106 starting next week, and reflect on my own process of becoming a teacher.
In thinking about Raj’s question, what I thought I learned is (at least when this was recorded):
(1) That I could do the trip – that I was able to live out of the truck for 5 months, to be away from my home, to cover a lot of distance and be with many people.
(2) That I could make mistakes, not see it at the time, and face up to regrets. I have much more to do here, but am learning in the face of times of despair, life does go on.
(3) That I have a lot of good friends out there. So many people went the extra mile/kilometer and then some. Connecting with them in their space, where they live really matters beyond the connections made online.
(4) That I have a lot to improve on- s.g. fitness, getting out hiking, getting back to the space of nature.
That was a very special spot, and is now so far away.
cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by cogdogblog
The Slice of Life 006: From a Crack in a Rock by CogDogBlog, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
