Impressions

Yes, we had to drive from highway 59 directly through Hildale and Colorado city - I have no clue where one ends and the other starts. To the very corner of them where the mountains are letting out a small stream. The road has the same name - Whitewater canyon, so there is no way of getting lost. But then it gets bad, really bumpy and in places like a ditch. In spite of that we managed to reach the very end of it - a small parking place with several big trucks there already. Some people from around here don’t believe in driving smaller cars when not carrying big loads…At some point, I guess, the gas prices will change the belief system. And there we started - on a very sandy path by the stream. To tell the truth - it was not an easy walk, not so much up, mostly a little up and down, but the sand made you feel as if you are in a bad dream sliding back with each step. It was the end of April, so there were cacti blooming:

Being careful not to step on some prickly ones little by little we reached the main feature - the narrow part of the canyon with a little waterfall and steep rocks:

This was the view in front of us:

Pretty. But we had to pursue our trip upwards. It was tricky to find which side of the steep canyon to climb, where was a passable route. On the left side. So here we climbed it and continued to walk on slick rock ( and believe me - it is much more comfortable than sand) and then again sand-rock-cacti, bushes, up and up the slope of the canyon towards the pines we could see on its edge.

It was a pretty long climbing, maybe for a couple of hours until we reached the top more or less (I say more or less because even if you think you have reached the top - there are still ways to go up) and had lunch there with the beautiful vistas, slick rock and pine trees:

So we still went further up a little till we reached a real edge of that mountain facing the vistas to the other side. Though the latter ones looked the same - this or that side. Red mountains in far distance, perfectly clear skies, that is what Southern Utah is.

And then we descended the same way we came up, except that the views always look a little different and it is now harder on your knees not as much on your lungs:

And then we lifted our heads and noticed an arch high up on the left side of canyon wall looking towards descend, towards Colorado city:

Some adventurous people we met on the trail hiked there to have fun walking on it…not us. I wish we could see them over there while we were taking pictures, but to no luck.

And here we were again passing the cacti:

crossing Colorado city with its huge homes with multiple wives:

and back to our not so big home though it is also a B&B. We reached our Rockville via a back road which is not so good as driving through Hurricane, but is very picturesque:

Till next trip!

Brian Head Ski Resort is located in the same mountainous area as Cedar Breaks National Monument, just minutes from it. It is 12 mi from Rt 15 and totally 27 mi North of Cedar City. The resort itself is not very attractive, but the slopes, the trails, the views, the chair lifts are fantastic! It is always smart to check the weather over there before going because even when we have warmth and sunshine in Zion, the winds in Brian Head can be unbearable and the snowstorms blinding. So we waited this year for a long time until we picked the best day, which was April 4th…pretty late in the season :-). This is how it looked:

Empty chairs, well graded slopes…and it was Friday for God’s sake…Where were the people? Is this economic crisis hitting us already or everyone is tuned to spring activities?

This is the smallest and easiest trail, by Navajo Lodge. It used to be dotted with a lot of small skiers, closely held by their instructors, or groups of snowboard beginners…The terrace used to be full with lunch eaters, hard to find an empty table. And here we are all by ourselves (we hardly caught a lonely wandering Englishman to take this picture):

For us, the consumers, it was the best! And a little surrealistic - you go down the slope - and there is no one around, you have the slope just for yourself, as if owning it for those several minutes! The sun is kissing your cheeks and the wind is cooling the well layered body, you fly down like a bird with no obstacles, just the smooth white terrain - tell me about the feeling of “present”, “the power of now”!

This is the view once you get to the top with the longest lift from Navajo Lodge. Is is always so beautiful to see that huge space with colors, especially the red rocks sticking from green forest and white slopes…The only problem - when you go up, you are excited to go down as fast as you can on those empty trails together with the wind… I checked - it takes 7-8 minutes to go up on the chairlift and some 3-4 min down - so in an hour you can make up to 5 rounds.

There are houses on the sides of the skiing slope - but I never saw anyone there. Just an investment, I guess…

And here we are color matched on the top of our beloved mountain:

That day we skied from 1 pm till 4:30 pm, which is considered half day and it was enough ant even too much for our untrained legs. We went 15 times downhill. The next Saturday, which was April 12th, for the closing of the season they declared half price for tickets…it was certainly an incentive to skip Tai-ji and leave all spring work at home and go skiing once more. The weather couldn’t be better. And again - there were extremely few people skiing on all 3 mountains with all the 8 chair lifts operating…Good for us, but not so good for the owners of the lifts who were in my eyes - just waisting electricity and not saving nature… But what can you do - you just enjoy!

Spring in Rockville is very beautiful. Especially this one, because we didn’t get the late frosts as usual which kill the tree blossoms. But i was a little cooler than usual, so everything started blooming later that usual. Anyway - from March to May it is a very good time to come the Zion NP and hike a lot! The temperatures almost never get to hot, they are in a comfortable range for hiking or working outside. And a spring breeze is cooling you constantly. However, there can be some rather windy parts of days. Also - there may even happen to snow once, as it was two years ago: March 15 th morning looked like this:

This year it snowed on March 16th, but it wasn’t as impressive. But have in mind - those are the only one or second times during winter season that we see snow!

So if you are more into blooms and flowers - come no earlier than the end of March. The same pear tree you just saw under snow looks like this:

And we have sunsets like that:

Closer to the summer those sunsets get less red and impressive, because the sun sets in a different location in regards to the canyon direction. But we still have beautiful views around while evenings set down:

WE have a fairy tale in Lithuania by Biliunas about “Cursed monks” who were punished and turned into stone figures because while going up and reaching for the torch of happines on the top of a mountain - they couldn’t sustain from doubts, fear and curiosity and looked back… The author definitely never visited this area, but I have never seen a mountain which would illustrate the tale better:

And here are some blooms:

Those are peach trees blooming:

The irises come out later, only by the end of May:

And please, don’t miss our sign almost all buried in flowers…

Come and see for yourselves…

The end.

Here in Rockville and Springdale we are blessed - we have Yoga ant Tai-Ji classes! It is hard for us to choose where to go or to find time for both. Ann Rutz teaches Anusara Yoga and David Rutz teaches Tai-ji. They are both wonderful teachers, what a family!

This time I will talk about Tai-ji which we usually have on David’s terrace, and that is how we usually see him :-):

And this is us, his most devoted students: Susan, Genevieve and Nida:

It all started several years ago - David got engaged in his Master’s Chungliang Al Huang classes in Oregon and even invited him to our canyon one of the beautiful autumns maybe a couple of years ago.

Here Chungliang is in the middle of the circle teaching us to relax in our movements, to dance in his class and through life.

He also showed us how graceful he is while doing Chinese calligraphy:

At the end of the classes as usual we were taking pictures with him:

But then he left and David decided to continue teaching us the Five Elements and Four Circles of Life. So we are enjoying every minute of it:

Especially when the weather is nice enough (which is almost always we have it on the terrace with the magnificent views of Zion:

That is why when we come to class we at first all exclaim what a wonderful weather we have here, how beautiful the mountains look and how grateful we are for that:

Then we do the Five Elements and Four Circles of Life created or choreographed by Chungliang, trying to be as graceful as possible and also trying to feel the energy floating around and through us:

And at some point we always discuss things like whether there is a bad and good energy or just the energy we need and use and the energy we don’t utilize (Susan’s brilliant thought). We discuss Chinese symbols, some philosophy and then David tells us something in pure Chinese language, which to him sounds musical and to me - not so much :-). He is a very good student of everything Chinese! There are quite a few Chinese paintings in their house, so when the weather is not the best -we do Tai-Ji in the house and admire the art:

There is also another Buddha outside who watches us while we dance and gives us a hint to be as Present as possible:

We usually end the class with the healing movements of Spring Forest Chigong and then usually Ann, our Yoga teacher, comes back from walking their dog Lao-Tzu and we have a nice chat with her:

And then David sees us off, till next Saturday:

Thank you, David!

Here is how our Zion National Park looked this winter. It is usually like that every winter, except that this winter we had a lot of snow. While I am writing this it is already 28th of March and I can still see snow powder on the slopes of Mountain. But the pictures were taken not now, but at different times in December and February. Here is the entrance to the park and the main scenic drive:

We were so happy to catch that beam of sun on the edge of the mountain:

Virgin River by the Temple of Sinawawa:

There were some bright colored ducks swimming in the river:

As every temple the Temple of Sinawawa it has an altar and a pulpit:

There was much more snow in February and those are a couple of views on the top part of the park - the Canyon Overlook trail:

I guess - every little town has someone. We have Susan Taylor. She simply shines. Not only that she eagerly helps in every Rockville event, but her presence is more than her help. Seeing how people love her I dare say that she lifts the vibrations not only in me. Today - March 10th - was Susan’s Birthday. Here is how her house looked in the morning when we came to congratulate her:

Susan’s daughter Marie organized the most beautiful Birthday party for her I have ever seen. It was in Rockville Community Center and how many people participated?…Sorry, I was so excited that I didn’t count, but my guess is - no less than a hundred… Here is how it looked:

And here is our Susan, alone and with Marie:

And with our outstanding photographer Jim who is reading a poem specially created to Susan (he and his wife Carol are also poets). He was also very excited, he could hardly see what to read:

Though the invitation said “no presents”, Susan got two. Well, she got some more, but the others were not official. Under the experienced direction by Alison a bunch of women created and sewn a fantastic quilt - a very personalized one for it had the pictures of Susan and her friends on top, several of Susan’s best pictures of Zion park, Buddhist monks and Rockville under snow (which rarely happens) and Buddhist prayer flags on the bottom. It emphasized not only Susan’s social talents, but her talents as a photographer as well. I bet she likes the quilt because she is a picture lover and keeps boxes and boxes of them.

So here is the quilt:

And here is the other present:

This fancy man (Agent 007)  simply emerged from the box while Susan was unwrapping.

There were lots of cards, but this one requires to be shown separately. It is made of metal and is huge like a sculpture:

This is the most magic moment - and what do you think - she blew all of the 58 candles at once! What a lung capacity!

And here are some of Susan’s friends, sorry, I didn’t take them all…Some pics were blur, too excited to have steady hands…

Alison and Johnny:

Oh, I have to mention - almost all of us has green dots on our noses - to show we belong to “Susan’s gang”:

Delores is embraced by the man who is not her husband - she is the artist of the metal card! Such a delicate and tiny woman and so strong…

Ann Weiler Brown with Trista and Allan:

I can’t mention our wonderful Yoga teacher Ann with the best yoginia’s:

Susan with Sandra, Kim and the legendary La Berta:

With Margot:

And with Fay:

Logan is the journalist and politician - he helped to introduce democracy in Lithuania and other Baltic and previous Soviet Union countries, not an easy task. He even knows some words from each country he has worked and always greets me with “Labas”. On his teeshirts he always has something peculiar. Good that Lenin here has this punk comb on his head - otherwise it wouldn’t be funny to me, having lived through his established regime:

Robert Perkins with Fay (both artists and neighbors as most of the people here):

The end.

This house was different from the rest. Though there were some similarities with Tierra Colata. It is built on a steep hillside in Stone cliff area. Built in strict clean lines looked more like a museum of modern art than a home till I entered it. But when I entered - the spaces were so light and welcoming, the colors so well matched, the materials so cozy - it was a pleasure to be there. Here it is:

If you enjoyed my story and want to see the Parade next year - you can plan your trip to St. George, Utah in the middle of February - that is when they hold the Parade. During Valentine’s Day and after it - for two weekends and a week in between. During the same trip you can visit Zion NP, Snow Canyon SP and ski in Brian Head. A lot of things to do here in winter. Nights are usually frosty or close or that, but days are usually sunny and sometimes reach 50’s, even 60’s. No snow. But if it happens to snow - then you a very lucky - you can get very beautiful pictures in Zion. Don’t get scared - snow never lies on the roads here, we enjoy some powder on the slopes of the mountains, that is it. While there are quite a few people browsing through the Parade Homes, the parks are very quiet and empty. You can have a lot of peace and solitude in this magnificent nature here!

In mid February St. George, UT, always has the Parade of Homes. Famous for its high end dwellings exposed to the public in “full feathers”. There are usually 26 new houses with exceptional views, built with exceptional materials, fixtures, designs and fully furnished so that all furniture sellers can advertise themselves, too. They are built by different builders’ groups, sometimes - for specific customers, so the styles differ a lot. Most of them are catered for multi children mormon families, therefore they have lots of playrooms, a movie theater, a swimming pool, mostly for jumping, not for swimming, lots of heavy furniture and they are usually rather dark inside. Maybe that protects form summer heat, I have no clue. My point is that I visit the homes out of curiosity, and with each year I am less and less amused. Well, the first time I visited the Parade - I was shocked at how many things I haven’t seen yet! Things I couldn’t even imagine could be incorporated into interiors. But this year I will describe only 4 homes and one feature.

So here is the first house called Tierra Colata - Flowing from the Earth. The Realtor there explained to me that it is designed by some woman designer from Manhattan, so that is why it had lots of modern features and was so different from other houses, except one, that I will show later. As if that woman -Hayley Johnson has designed an apartment for her in Manhattan and included lots of the elements in this house. Whatever it is - this house is waiting for some rich “artsy-fartsy” people to move in. It is on a lava flow in Ivins, on the NW side of St George with the views towards Snow Canyon. Therefore you can see the lava built into its walls. It is also built on a slope with the guest house on the bottom part of property, so that the main house doesn’t even see what is going on in the guest house. They are separated by a swimming pool, which looks beautiful, but is a total energetic disaster…It looks like a perfect rectangular, with high walls and the water flowing down and cooling on them - only for the effect of it…So here is the entrance to the house:

There are showers inside and outside… and while taking a bath one can enjoy the scenery:

And finally - some sinks that looked peculiar. One of them resembles the a canyon, except that it is a white canyon.

There was another feature in this house that we didn’t photograph, were kind of in a rush to see other houses. But I will describe it. One of the shelves in the office can turn around - and you get into a secret place…for whom - an illegal house cleaner hiding from the authorities?.. For one lover so that the other doesn’t see (because a wife would still figure out there is some part of the building not seen)?..it is not just a place but the whole apartment with a bathroom, kitchenette, bedroom, etc. How dare they bring this spoiled New York morality to the pure and pristine Utah!