Lizard Dance Productions: Blog

I woke up with the Lord of the Rings' "Evenstar" song playing incessantly inside my head. There's nothing to do but to accept that when it happens. I have learned the hard way that trying to suppress a melody that just won't go away is not good for the soul. So, I took it upon myself to enjoy the day by going on an early morning hike to South Mountain Park - the world's largest city park located here in Phoenix, AZ. At a little under 17 thousand acres, the park is a monument to the foresight of the Phoenix city elders - one can only hope the lure of big developer money won't cause the City to lose this precious natural desert jewel.

With the beauty of "Evenstar" running through my head, I felt myself transported by the music to another time and place. It's funny how music can do that. While I was cognizant of all the desert life happening around me - lizards, rabbits, quail, doves and of course the ever-present hummingbirds and butterflies - I still felt that I wasn't really physically here on the planet - with the "Evenstar" melody running through my head - I felt more like an observer - something I guess akin to an out of body experience.

I met up with a lot of desert life - most notably the quail were out and were extremely vocal. Quail have a number of vocalizations - as do hummingbirds. Having had the opportunity to observe quail before - I know they travel with a lookout constantly issuing warnings when danger approaches.

The air was warm and the sky was the bluest of blues - although the brittlebush was now drying out and so were the stalks of the ocotillo - but the ocotillo flowers were still out on some plants - so the hummingbirds were having a good time.

I hiked down a favorite trail which leads to an old Hohokam hangout - a canyon filled with rock art petroglyphs. Ancient messages which remain a mystery to this day. I had a few very close encounters with hummingbirds - they would come right up to me and hover for a few awe inspiring seconds before zooming away to carry out whatever errand they were briefly deflected from when they observed me.

I hike a lot to this canyon to look at this rock art - and I wish I could unlock the mystery of the messages. I can also view the whole valley floor from this canyon and the high rises of Phoenix were shimmering in mid morning heat - if I close my eyes can I picture the desert the way it really was when the Hohokam roamed these parts? No - I try but I just can't muster up that much imagination. But it must have been awesome - a sea of desert as far as the eye could see - no paved roads snaking their way along the desert floor and indeed no ugly brown cloud of pollution hovering above the valley floor as it does now...

Sitting on a cool rock I stare at the petroglyphs - what was so special about this canyon? The melody of "Evenstar" is constant - the breathtaking vocals of Isabel Bayrakdarian soar in my mind - I have no need for an iPod as I hear every note cleanly and distinctly - the beautiful vocals as much a mystery as the petroglyphs for Elvish is not my native tongue - nor am I fluent in Hohokam petroglyph imagery.

But while I do not have a literal translation of either "Evenstar" or the Hohokam petroglyphs - I still feel the beauty of each - and the important thing is that I am moved by both in a positive way. I sigh and realize that it's getting quite hot. Time to start the hike back. As I travel up the canyon - I find my footing mostly on rocks and so it's a big surprise when I walk over a big rock and shock a family of quail - mama quail screeches what I imagine "Hide!!!" must be in quail language and I suck in my breath as I see at least ten tiny fuzzy feathery baby quail scurry as fast as their little legs can carry them under the nearest rocks available. "Babies!" I say softly out loud to no one in particular - and then I see mama and daddy quail walking away and squawking up a storm - it's obvious they want me to follow them and forget about the babies - I smile at the instinct of animals to always always protect their young. I speak to the quail parents as soothingly as I can and tell them I'm leaving - and so I do - walking away from both babies and parents. A few yards away I hear the parents calling out to their young as they circle back. I smile at the wonder of nature on this Earth Day 2008.

On a recent one day retreat - I experienced all that is good on this planet. It was a day of true connections - and a meeting up with my authentic self - who surprised me with a message of self love that brought tears to my eyes. In less than 24 hours I was able to connect deeply with people I had never met before and to share my deepest fears and foibles - and to express myself in a song of blessing which had been gifted to me from above and for which I desired to pass onto those six other feminine souls who shared the sweat lodge ceremony with me. In turn, I listened to their prayers for others as the water pourer poured the life giving water onto the hot stones. Being my first such ceremony - I did not quite know what to expect or even how to behave - but picking up on the various nuances I realized that being emtombed - for however briefly in the earth - and feeling the heat of the rocks and the steam generated by the pouring of the water on those rocks - and my tears mixing with my sweat - and hearing the others ask for help for others in their lives - made me realize how much we all ARE connected to each other and the entire planet. How to explain my trip to Bisbee and not knowing where I was going to spend the night but finding the perfect Bed & Breakfast run by three sisters who desired above all else to make sure my stay was comfortable. The place was perfect - the room was perfect - and the three sisters were the most hospitable people I've ever met in my life! After the sweat - we all sat around the fire and the stars above shone brightly - their light was the light of knowledge from the past, present, and future - available to those who will only open their hearts to themselves and to each other. A great feeling of peace and contentment - gratefulness for meeting all the others - great bear hugs given and received - watching the smoke from our prayer flags raise to heaven...and the knowledge that no matter how alone we feel - we never actually ARE alone. My thanks to all those who participated in these most glorious hours. It's an experience I will treasure forever.

"That's Just the Way it is..."

Those six words are also the title of a Bruce Hornsby and the Range song. Just the other day I ran across those six words on a website - something about aggravating someone in the (your choice here) industry and how angering one person in said industry can end up negating 20 connections. " 'That's just the way it is...' " read the end tag line.

Wow. A blanket denial of accepting true responsibility in the face of political convenience. Or - perhaps just a weak backbone when encountering adversity.
Whatever - I'm not one to believe in the "that's just the way it is" mentality. For to say those words is to admit defeat - to give up the good moral fight - to accept the status quo without question - in short - to deny the possibility of hope in a world gone mad with greed and power. And to allow the arrogance to continue without abate.

Those six words give those who hold political sway the power to continue to do so. Those six words are designed to take the power away from those who think themselves powerless to begin with. Those six words - if you believe them - will forever color your world with darkness and despair.

I choose to believe that change - no matter how difficult or lengthy - is a goal we should all strive for. I choose to believe that a good moral character is built by standing up for one's beliefs - even IF it angers one powerful person in your own political arena. I choose to believe that sooner or later the Truth will evidence itself and the current political system will no longer work in a world peopled by those who seek to make the world a better place for all - without thought of political gain or power. But all of this is hard work for the one whose heart beats to a different drummer. It takes courage and faith and fortitude. It takes a belief in the ultimate goodness of being human. And it takes a realization that we are here to serve others and not the other way around. If YOU have recently angered someone in power while walking a higher road - consider it a blessing. Moral warriors are desperately needed in times such as these. Be a Citizen of Change. Follow your moral compass. Life is about helping others - not enslaving them.

That's Just the Way it Should be.

This past weekend I got a very nice gift! Getting up early for a sunrise walk at Papago Park - I walked along the trail - java in hand - to see not only the big horn sheep at the Zoo - but also - a very hard to see resident - one urban great horned owl. I have heard the owl's cries echo throughout the Papago buttes - but had never seen it - until this morning. There he was - majestically sitting atop one of the rocks where the big horned sheep are penned up - surveying his domain. It was just before 6 AM - and I marvelled at his outline - great tufted feathers straddling his head. I spoke some owl to him - but he didn't seem interested - and then - magically - took off from his perch and spread his great wings - he looked awesome in flight - and before I knew it he was hidden away in the recesses of a Papago butte cave. It was a wonderful Labor Day gift - the kind you wish you could get every day. But then again - maybe we can receive those gifts every day. We just have to be open to them and they will come.

There's definitely something very crazy about trying to survive in the dog days of summer heat here in the Sonoran Desert. It's HOT! Heck it's hotter than hot - it's - well - HOT!
We desert dwellers tend to joke about it a lot - it's the only way we can survive the triple digit temperatures. On the hottest days it starts out around 85 degrees at 5 AM. By 10 AM it's usually hovering around 106 and by 3 PM we generally reach a toasty 110 and possibly higher - a couple of weeks ago it reached 114 ! Getting into a car that's been sitting in 114 degree heat for a couple of hours is a lot like immersing yourself in your 400 degree oven. We always get some relief from the heat when the summer monsoon rains blow in - generally bringing a wall of dust in beforehand and more than likely coating our just washed cars with a spotty mix of mostly dirt rather than water. But sometimes we get really lucky and we get a good downpour. Then we smile and breathe in the smells of a freshly washed desert. It's the most beautiful smell in the world. True desert dwellers love that smell. But it doesn't last for long - nor does the respite from the high heat. The next day we're once again feverishly trying to avoid the heat by cranking up every AC we have to full. But as much as we complain about the heat - most of us enjoy it in a strange sort of way. After all - it's a dry heat...

So there I was, walking along a trail at Hovenweep - site of ancient Indian ruins in Utah and Colorado - and there - on the trail in front of me - a wriggling, struggling, furry hair ball ! I immediately knelt down and cupped the small furry object in my hands - it looked like a baby rabbit to me - all fur - eyes not yet open - wriggling around in the palm of my small hand - now what to do? Well - I thought I would take it to the Ranger Station - better for the little one to die in the relative comfort of air conditioning than to suffer the fate of the 100 plus degrees temperatures of the desert. The poor thing struggled all the way back to the ranger station - where with teary eyes I handed it over to the rangers. I of course was told that because I had picked it up - they couldn’t return it to the wild and I was told there really wasn’t anything that could be done - I wiped the tears away and at least asked that they give the little rabbit a safe passage to the other side. They put the little one in a small box and covered it with tissue paper in order to keep it warm. They thought the poor thing had been dragged out of its burrow by some predator and was dropped on the trail where I found it wriggling and squirming - probably because the small stones on the trail were so hot that the the little thing was getting burned all over whenever it touched those small pebbles heated by the intense sun of the desert. I continued my road trip for the next couple of days - periodically thinking about the poor little rabbit and hoping it had made it to the other side in relative comfort. Now I know the fate of the world doesn’t hinge on the life or death of one small baby rabbit - but how cruel to be just born only to die so soon!
The fates are kind for today I received an e-mail from the ranger I gave the little fella to - and Susan told me she had been feeding the baby rabbit and it was doing well - so she is hoping that she can release it back into the wild within three weeks! The news made my day! No - I hadn’t saved the whole world - just a tiny piece of it - but that tiny piece was enough to give me joy and a feeling of true peace. My undying thanks to the rangers at Hovenweep - who went the extra mile to save an innocent life. Sometimes we find ourselves in the smallest of things - and while their eyes may be closed - ours are opened to the wonders of life.

It may sound weird - but I find that whenever I have spent time helping someone - I come away with more energy and I feel more centered as a human spiritual being. I have played my Native American flute at grief counseling sessions and have found that the positive reaction from those in pain and the knowing that my music may have helped them a little - always gave me so much more peace of mind and energy. It’s like even though I gave my energy away - it came back to me a hundred fold.

I love all of Nature - but I am especially drawn to southwestern landscapes - mainly canyons. There is definitley something magical about the desert and the ensuing canyons - not to mention the unique lifeforms that dwell here in the desert. Most canyons here have a lot of rock but not too much water - and those canyons that DO have a lot of water are a stark reminder of how important water is to this unique landscape we call desert. That being said, ALL of Nature is a blessing - and I firmly believe that we as humans NEED Nature in order to center ourselves. I feel closest to God when I am in nature of any kind.

With all the noise inherent in our industrialized mechanical society - how does one find the silence necessary for spiritual growth? Our bodies are constantly bombarded by not only noise - but now all kinds of cosmic rays and frequencies coming from our wireless devices. Some say all the new cell phone towers and the radio frequencies they transmit are what is causing some species of dolphins and whales to lose their navigational abilities and hence they wash up on our beaches and die. How do we live in this technological world we created without throwing out the baby with the bath water? These are all deep questions which deseve deep thought - and I’m not so sure we can throw out all the progress we’ve made in tems of technology in order to move ourselves backwards to a time we thought maybe was better than it is now. But in order for our souls to grow - we need silence. It is within silence that we can nourish that part of us that needs a clean bare slate with no distractions. A sanctuary is definitely needed. Take the time to find out what your sanctuary is. It can be a quiet room, a quiet temple or church - or a space in your backyard where you’ve installed a water fountain to mask some of the noise inherent in our society. It can be a musical instrument which focuses your mind on the sound rather than on the noise. Whatever your sanctuary is - spend some time there every day to re-center yourself. The time you invest in yourself and your peace of mind will be reward enough in itself.

There is something magical about Spring. Mother Earth throws off her long sleep and shakes herself loose. Life - which had been dormant - suddenly starts to emerge again. Ground and trees - which had been frozen - start to thaw - and with that thaw comes an energy to renew life. Some people think that the Sonoran Desert only has two seasons - hot and hotter. And some are fond of saying the desert holds nothing of import - no “Spring” as such - just rocks and cactus. Well - while the changes in the desert Spring are not as dramatic as say - back East or the Midwest - where mounds of snow gives way to crocuses jutting their tiny buds up through the last of winter’s icy grip - we desert dwellers take our daily walks here in April- hoping to catch - yes - the fist Saguaro bloom. And today - that day happened to me. Soon the tops of the saguaros will be all white and covered in blooms - the Arizona State Flower. Then, after the blooms fall off - the red juicy fruit develops and provides food for the birds and the few lucky coyotes who get to snatch up first whatever falls to the ground. Long ago - the ancient dwellers of these lands gathered the fruit with long sticks and fermented it. The desert provides for us if we will only take the time to learn about it’s treasures. Enjoy your Spring - wherever you may reside. Revel in the newness and the promise of a fresh start. Take a few minutes to stop and smell the newly bloomed flowers. You’ll be glad you did.

And speaking of our planet and nature - it's amazing how the natural world adapts to ours. This month I discovered that a family of Great Horned Owls has been making its home in the Borgata towers in the middle of bustling Scottsdale, AZ. The towers look down onto the main center courtyard - where our farmer's markets have been happening - and a little baby owl was watching it all with great focus and concentration earlier this month. I've put some photos on my photo page ( http://www.lorriesarafin.com ) to earmark the event. I wonder what the little one was thinking as he/she looked down upon our world from his lofty perch...

It keeps coming down to the same word - LOVE. It seems that no matter how you slice it and dice it or how your analyze it - LOVE is what we all need now - and so does the planet. I do however think that Planet Earth can take care of herself - and should we humans get a little too entranced with ourselves - she will surely give us our walking papers and *poof* we will be gone in a cloud of dust. For even though that is what our outsides are made of - dust - or as that plaintive “Kansas” song says…”all we are is dust in the wind…” - I’d like to think that we are more - that our spirits - the energy that makes us who we really are (“Luminous beings are we - not this crude matter!” says Yoda) will finally get the message that the Earth has been beaming to us for quite some time now - “HELP!” Do something nice this week for the planet - go out and buy just ONE compact flourescent bulb. It’s a first step at least - but every journey starts with a first step - and who knows what steps you’ll take after the first one.

I am just so excited that the music of SECOND WIND will be airing on some 90 public radio stations the week of October 24th. My thanks to Laney Goodman - the host and producer of "WOMEN IN MUSIC" - an eclectic music mix on the pubic airwaves since 1996. Check out her website to find a station near you!

http://www.womenonair.com/index.shtml