Grateful for the Mystery and Christmas Trees

Our friends out in Castle Valley let us buy one of their turkeys they raised this year and we went out the Saturday before Thanksgiving to "prepare" the birds for consumption. Two of the Toms below were prepared. It is never fun to kill an animal, but very satisfying to be part of the process, to know where the food on the table comes from, to know it was treated humanely and was put to good use. The turkey tasted great, thanks Brother Turkey.

I really like the idea behind Thanksgiving, so I thought I would write down of few of the things I am most thankful for.

I am a pretty ungrateful person. I am not very good at expressing thanks for all I have and all I have been given.

I recently read something the affect that all of the great spiritual traditions/religions have focused on relationships; relationship with God (or whatever you choose to call the Divine Mystery), relationship with family, and relationship with the "other" (always the hardest one). I would also add relationship with the creation, the natural world. These are the relationships I strive to focus my life on.

Above all I am thankful for relationships with my family. Alina and my four boys are my world. I truly don't deserve them.

I have some pretty amazing parents and siblings. I rarely tell them how much I love and appreciate them. I do. Any of you that know my family know that they are amazing people.

I am grateful for the mystery (that I am coming more and more to accept) that is this life. Just to live here on this amazing planet for a short time surrounded by people that love me and people that I love is enough. I am content.

I am thankful for the ability and freedom to question my existence and my place in this great infinite space.

I am grateful for wild places (big and small). For places that are quiet, places where I can interact with natural processes. Places that overwhelm me and make me feel small, but yet still a part of it all.

After Thanksgiving we went up on the mountain with Reno and Star and got a tree for them and then went the following weekend to harvest our Christmas Tree with Todd and Ash.

Tree down

Uncle Todd demonstrating the art of getting pulled behind a truck

Special moment, if we ever make a Christmas Album this will be the cover

This year was Ridges turn with the saw

Wild Tomatillos and 5 Faces

Todd and I took advantage of the long weekend and explored a couple of areas we had not been into yet.

Spring Canyon that drains down in Labrinth Canyon on the Green and Davis Canyon down in the Needles District of Canyonlands. Davis Canyon canyon is a remote section of the Park that has some interesting Pictographs and Ruins that I wanted to get into.

After exploring around for while we found the 5 Faces Pictograph Panel and several nearby ruins. One of the ruins had an interesting green plant growing out of it. After looking at it, it appeared to be a tomatillo plant.

I was not aware of it but wild tomatillo is native to the Colorado Plateau and apparently it was also cultivated by the Anasazi. Which made me wonder if those plants had actually been on that ledge for the last 800 years growing and dying and sprouting again each year. I wonder what Anasazi salsa tasted like?

Walking the ledge to the 5 Faces

Todd walking on water

Metates and faint pictographs

The 5 Faces

Looking for a route into the Log Cabin Ruin

1st weekend in November

The first weekend in November is always the Folkfest here in Moab and we usually make it out to a few shows but this year we ended not going to any and just hiking and hanging out with all the family that came down.

We took every one up to the Fisher Towers and walked beneath the big towers

The kids climbing around below Ancient Art tower. A couple of climbers are actually on the route above.

Murdocks with the Titan behind

Pumpkin Chuckin

We stayed in Moab this year for Halloween and took the girls out to the annual Pumpkin Chuckin festival. Good times and disturbing costumes.

The girls checking out the chuckin contraptions

Trebuchet launhcing a gourd

New this year was the air cannons destroying a van with pumpkins, pretty impressive

Gender bending Murdocks, not so pretty