Abajo and the World – August 2020

August 26, 2020September 12, 2020 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

August 21^th to 25^th – Our place on the mountain is peaceful except for the occasional ATVs and motorcycles that come down our road. The world, however, seems to be in more and more of a turmoil.

My morning walks are a special time I really enjoy and I go far afield from the original loop road. I have walked here enough that I can go any direction and not worry about finding my way back. My biggest concern is the archery hunters, but hopefully I don’t look like a deer or elk to anyone. I have made up a game “forest pick-up sticks” where I have to make my way through the densest forest without stepping over deadfall, pushing through bushes, or bending under low tree branches. It’s just a bit of silliness, but it is also about awareness of how and where I am walking. Oh yes, no stepping on wildflowers.

I enjoy playing my cello outside and Clifford likewise spends as much time as he can playing his dulcimer outside. We both play with a music group in UK via zoom (I use viola for that) and Clifford also plays and sings with three other groups. While zoom doesn’t take the place of meeting in person for those who are no longer able to because of covid, for us it is opportunity to play with others that we would not otherwise have.

Errand Day – Rose of Sharon in Monticello

On the world front: there are two hurricanes, Marco and Laura, coming into the Gulf of Mexico and they are expected to cause much havoc. At the same time, wildfires are increasing in California, while those in Colorado have not abated. Even in Montana, my sister sees smoke coming up from the ridge of the Sapphire Mountains behind their home.

Sunset on Abajo Mountain – color enhanced by forest fire smoke

Discord, controversy, and contradictions on covid protocol continue due to lack of knowledge and outright deceptions in regard to the illness.

For my part, I try to focus on what I can personally do to make a difference, and that is why I persist daily with my Higher Vibration Photo Series.

Each photo and the words that come to me are meant to uplift the viewer, to bring a drop of light into the vale of darkness. It might not see like much in the face of all that surrounds us, but it is something valid and real, and I trust that in the larger scheme of things, each photo and each sentiment makes a difference for good in the world.

August on Abajo – August 2020

August 11, 2020August 29, 2020 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

One of the highlights of these early days of August on Abajo Mountain is my morning walk.

One day I met a human on the trail. Clifford and I have been camped here awhile and I walk every day and this is the only time I have seen someone else out walking. The fellow and I stop and chat for a couple minutes before continuing on our ways. The brief encounter makes me realize that I miss having people to talk to in person, besides Clifford, of course. I am very grateful that I have him in my life and that I am not living alone. I am grateful for the calls from my kids and really really look forward to seeing them in person… just not this summer.

The walks provide the photo opportunities for my Higher Vibration Series, a daily photo with a comment to inspire people. I am on day 303 – that is 303 days of preparing and posting a special photo, never missing a day. I am also working on getting all of these photos on my website, which has been a big project. There is so much negativity in the world now with Covid, the environmental disasters, the political scene, as well as deep dark things that we scarcely know about, I feel compelled to off-set that in any way I can by contributing something good, beautiful, and uplifting to the energies of the world. It might only be a drop in an ocean of darkness, but it is a drop of light.

Another highlight is listening to Stjepan Hauser, the Croatian cellist who performs in interesting scenic locations and almost always barefoot. His posts on Instagram are short romantic cello pieces, played with beautiful sensitivity, as he seemingly flirts with the videographer. His concert “Alone Together” is a full-fledged concert, a contribution to the world during this difficult time of Covid when so many people cannot meet with family, friends, music colleagues, and so on. The performance is quite sensational and I would encourage music lovers to find him on Instagram or YouTube. I am inspired to take playing my cello more seriously again, with intentions of playing outdoors in a public venue, like a park, where people might be uplifted by the vibrations of a real instrument.

Clifford continues with his dulcimer, virtual flying, ham radio, and plans for continuing CI research. We both join a UK zoom music group twice weekly. Very challenging for me on the viola, but fun for both of us.

Clifford with the dulcimer preparing for zooming

Life on the mountain is good, social distancing at its best.

Abajo Hike – July 2020

July 31, 2020August 26, 2020 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

The last days of July include a hike with Clifford, leaving cross-country from our campsite. Heading south, we eventually come upon a jeep trail and since it is going the direction that we want to explore, we follow it in a big loop on the north slope of Abajo Mountain. Sometimes we are in pine forests or groves of scrub oak, sometimes surrounded by aspens or crossing meadows. The road is rugged, probably a lot of fun for ATV’s and mountain bikers. It eventually takes us around to the far side of Pine Flats, quite the delightful hike.

Having listened to a documentary on trees having feelings and friends (of course they do!), I started being more aware of trees hanging out in families, as couples or close friends, as well as the great trees called Mother Trees, which nourish the trees around them through their complex root systems and by providing shelter for saplings. Photos of tree families and friends will be featured in a separate blog, as there are too many for this blog. Wildflowers are always a delight to see.

Of course, music continues, sometimes individually and sometimes Clifford and I play together. The photo of me with the viola is a “Becka Day” as I realized that I was wearing pants, shirt, and shoes, all from Becka. Thanks, Becka!

While we are here, the roofing job takes place at home-base in town, and when I go to town to check on the roofing and run errands, I discover that a shrub near the driveway is BLOOMING! We have never been here this time of the year, since we are usually in Montana by mid-July. However, this year is different because of covid. It is a small consolation to see the beautiful blossoms of a Rose of Sharon.

With smoke from the forest fires in Colorado adding particulates to the air, the sunsets are particularly vivid these last days of July.

Highlights of Abajo – July 2020

July 18, 2020August 13, 2020 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

July 13-18

We are camping on Abajo Mountain in southeast Utah, a dispersed area that allows for space and a fair amount of privacy from other folks who are also camping here.

The daily “highlights” don’t really touch on what’s important. The morning walk is important, on a superficial level for the exercise, but also for the photo opportunities for the daily Higher Vibration photo that I post on FB, Instagram, and on my website. But even more important is the positive vibration that I feel from the connection with nature. Opening to what’s positive, beautiful, and right with the world is nourishing for the soul, and I am blessed to be here on the mountain where I can take these daily walks among the pines, aspens, and scrub oak with wildflowers keeping us company.

For Clifford, bringing forward activities that have been left on a back burner for over twenty years is what is nourishing his soul. Playing dulcimer, virtual flying around the world, and ham radio have gained an important place in his life. After devoting himself to Carnicom Institute research for the past two decades, it is now time to fill in the life-gaps. He is still working on research projects, but his life is more balanced and enriched.

Covid has changed our plans, but we are not nearly as disrupted as most people. Self-isolation via camping/boondocking is a normal way of life for us. Even when we are in town, especially since moving to Utah, we are pretty much self-isolated – partly because of Clifford’s research, but also because we simply don’t know anyone and are not involved any social activities of the town, not that anything is going on now with Covid. So, other than missing the trip to Montana to see family, which is huge for me, we carry on doing what we would be doing in any case.

Monday: Town early to get the trash can out to the street. Play bluegrass music with Clifford. Listen to David Icke on the London Real program.

Tuesday: Morning walk through the pine forest, visiting a great Mother Tree. Clifford updates me on Covid, more than I really want or need to know. Taxes are done, slow because of computer and software issues.

Wednesday: Morning walk, especially enjoying the lower aspen forest. Clifford is not wanting to make the trip to Montana because of Covid issues. Play cello outside. I think I saw a mouse in the RV. Set traps.

Thursday: Mouse trapped, major counter cleanup first thing. Trip to town for errands and domestic chores at the house in town.

Friday: Longer walk this morning, then more counter cleanup (another mouse trapped). Review the journal of the St. Mary’s Pilgrimage in August 1996. Continue editing I Am Markus Desmend, Ang’s sci-fi novel.

Saturday: Forest walk, mostly in the aspens. Deposit insurance check for roofing work (following hail damage), which is scheduled to begin soon. Begin rereading Way of the Essenes. Sit outside to eat dinner and watch a beautiful sunset.

Summer Solstice on Abajo Mountain – June 2019

June 21, 2019October 27, 2019 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Friday June 21 – I wake up much earlier than normal and being unable to get back to sleep, I get up, make coffee in the French press, take a few moments for quiet time, and then write in the journal, sitting outside in sunlight filtering through pine boughs.

Today, to celebrate Summer Solstice, we are going for a picnic on Abajo Mountain. After the morning routine, which includes the ham radio net that Clifford checks into daily, we head up the mountain. Today we go to Pine Flats, thinking that we will go to the spot where we camped last June for Amateur Radio Field Day, but a big party is blocking the road.

Last June we camped in the pines beyond this stand of aspen

Too bad, but we decide to go in further on the main road and around the bog area to see what we can find. Due to abundant snow melt and spring rains, the bog is now a pond and wild iris are blooming everywhere.

The road is above water, but muddy and Clifford has to gun Suburban to get through it. We certainly would not be able to bring Cougar up here. We find a pretty and level place to park where the road becomes a 4-wheeler trail. Clifford sets up table and chairs and gets his books out, while I wander about taking photos and gathering a few rocks for the backyard landscaping. After awhile, we have our picnic of nachos and hot tea.

By the time we are finished with our picnic, the wind has picked up and it is getting a bit chilly here on the mountain. We pack up and head out, but take time to explore a bit, finding other potential camping spots, should we decide to come up with Cougar for this year’s Field Day.

Before heading back to base camp, we drive further over the mountain to the view point where we stopped with our friends just a couple of days ago. Sage is abundant here and I want to pick enough to make a couple of sage bundles for smudging.

Wild lupine and sage are abundant at the overview

Back home, checking messages, I learn that my daughter Becka and her driving companion, on the journey from Atlanta to Missoula, Montana, are in mid-Wyoming and it is snowing in Bozeman, their destination. I’m guessing she is not thrilled with that! While Clifford continues with his projects – CI research and ham radio – I unload the rocks, edit photos from our outing, and play viola before starting dinner. Before I know it, bedtime has arrived; Mary Oliver poems close out the day for me. Clifford, as usual, stays up late working on his projects.

Cabin City

July 5, 2014January 14, 2017 Carol CarnicomLeave a comment

Camping at Cabin City – June 29 – July 2, 2014
Clifford left on Friday to set up camp at Cabin City, luckily getting the spot we had had before that we liked, even though there were a lot of other campers here. He came ahead of me as he wanted to set up and participate in the ham radio field day on Saturday. He had a good time in spite of the rain and learned a lot about field day. There may be some interesting correlations with the chemtrail spraying and the ham radio signal quality and strength which would also apply to such things are HAARP frequencies, electromagnetic communications and weather control.

Since I’m still working at the store (Rocky Mountain Organics in Wallace, Idaho) I was not able to join him until Sunday evening. When I arrived, he had just gotten a campfire going – very nice, as the evenings do cool off and it had been rainy here much of the time since he arrived. Just as we got ready to have dinner, it started to rain again, but luckily it was short-lived and we were able to revive the campfire and enjoy heading out again. As the sun reached low to the horizon, the color through the overcast moisture-laden air created an unusual but lovely ambient color.

Monday was a gorgeous day… a wonderful sky with no chemtrails to mar the deep blue. An afternoon hike cross-country from our camp was sweet with the many blooming wild flowers: trillium, daisies, thistle, bluebells, buttercups, honeysuckle and others that I don’t their names.

Clifford even picked a little bouquet of daisies for me which brightened our picnic table for the duration of our stay.

In the evening I played my cello outside, to the delight of the neighboring campers whose little daughter was learning to play the cello. As the sun went down, cool air moved in and another campfire warmed our evening.

Tuesday proved to be another gorgeous day.

Gorgeous Blue Sly Day — Gorgeous Blue Sky Day

We drove up the road and parked at the trailhead along Rock Creek, which might be more aptly called Brush Creek. Even though our entire hike was along the creek, we seldom saw it due to the dense brush. As we hiked, we saw signs of wildlife: elk and deer tracks in the muddy spots on the trail and recent bear scat and many overturned rocks, a bear diligently foraging for ants. I sang a little bear song and when the thimbleberry became especially dense, Clifford got out his harmonica and played a few tunes. I have never seen so much thimbleberry; it was thick and tall, frequently as tall as me, obscurring the trail. Hard hiking for me, but at least the trail was relatively level.

I especially enjoyed the many wildflowers. In addition to the variety seen yesterday, there was also brilliant red Indian paint brush, honey suckle, delphinium just beginning to bloom, and many others.

Once we were satisfactorily hot and sweaty from hiking, we found a shady spot under a big old douglas fir where we found seat-size needle-covered rocks and a respite from the brush and thimbleberry. We enjoyed a little snack of an apple and a tortilla while we rested in the shade. The mountains behind us and across the creek from us are steep and often rock-faced. Clifford talked about some of the experiences of surveyors in these type of conditions, both his experiences as a surveyor and the experiences of others, especially in the 1800’s when the idea from the “powers-that-be” in the east ordered the surveying of the west in preparation for the settling of the land, having no idea that some of this land could not be settled. Some very hardy brave souls had taken on the task of surveying and one has to wonder how many of them were injured or died in the process.

Ice and food is running a bit low, as we had not originally planned to stay until Wednesday, but we come up with a good meal none-the-less and enjoy the evening by the campfire.

Wednesday morning – I make a little campfire, not so much because it is chilly out, but because I enjoy the comfy ambiance of it while I drink a cup of tea and write in my journal. Today we will have to pack up and head home to obligations, but we are grateful for the time we have spent here being in the outdoors and for the time to read, write, think, study, and meditate. And take photos, of course!

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Tag: Wildflowers