Adventures with Elaine #7

Hi Family and Friends,

Look who followed me into a gas station near Chelsea, Michigan!! I was pumping gas and when I turned around four Sandhill Cranes greeted me. I looked up the totem meaning of cranes:

"When a crane comes into your life as a spirit teacher or totem you are being asked to use your past as a source of strength in the present.
Cranes appear in the lives of people who are well served by some degree of secrecy in their lives. The crane teaches keeping your own counsel, protection of family and balance in life above all else".

It is amazing how messages of wisdom come to us. The cranes where nowhere in sight when I pulled into this gas station and yet, here they are! They stayed the entire time, and actually I left before they did. The message of balance has significance for me. I have been traveling doing VISTA trainings a good deal of July and August. I realize I am a bit out of balance right now, even though Sedona was so re-vitalizing. I need to anchor more consisitency with my well-being practices and I am grateful to the cranes for the reminder.

It seems so much in life is not in balance right now. If you watch the news, you realize that

immediately. However, even on a day to day basis I am seeing imbalance in our communications with each other, and less reciprocity in our relationships.

I have noticed a lot of would-be conversations sound more like monologues. One person talking and the other person looking kind of bored, if not trapped. I notice many people, whether in person or on the phone, don't even need a response or an affirmation that they are being heard! They just keep talking!!


Think about it: When was the last time somebody asked you how you are doing; what is going on in your life and really stopped to listen to what you had to say?  Are you talking more than you are listening? Are you curious and inquiring of what is happening to others? Are you taking or giving in your relationships ... or both? Think about it!

Stopped in Chicago to celebrate Sophie's birthday. This 6 year old granddaughter left me speechless, yet again! When she was asked to make a wish before

blowing out her birthday candles she said: "I don't need to make a wish, I have a happy life and I don't need an upgrade!"

I will be off to Philadelphia for a training and then to Michigan for some work with parenting grandparents while visiting with my daughter, Laura, and her family part of September. Around the 19th I will head to Phoenix to visit Kimberly and her family and will meander through Arkansas and a few other places that are also calling me. Enjoy the end of summer as it merges with the beginning of Autumn ... a very beautiful time of the year!

With Gratitude,
 Elaine

Adventure with Elaine # 6

Hi Family and Friends,

When I last wrote I mentioned I was heading for Albuquerque to pick up my oldest grand-    daughter, Shelby, from the airport. Well, we headed right to Sedona and Jerome, AZ 
for a couple of days of relaxation amidst the mystical red rocks.

Shelby did a lot of climbing, including Bell Rock and I did a lot of watching and waving to her as she ascended. The energy of this area was palpable to both of us, as it spiraled around and through us.

I realized how important it is for all of us to have a place where we are so comfortable and the beauty is so riveting that the experience is very healing for our mind, body and spirit. I also am clear one must live in or frequent the places where the Earth calls to us. Even though this was only a two and a half-day visit it was filled with peak moments!

The short trip was made more special when we met my daughter Kimberly 

and her family for dinner. They drove up from Phoenix and we met somewhere in between the two cities. As I have traveled this summer I am realizing I am really getting to see my daughters and their families a lot. This is definitely an  adventure bonus!

Shelby and I had a few more days together so we returned to Santa Fe and visited one of our very favorite places, Ghost Ranch. We have established a little routine of having lunch outside the ranch house, then Shelby takes a hike or climbs a mesa and I take more pictures of scenes I have already taken many pictures of!! It was one of those sweet, breezy, sunny days in the light air of New Mexico that makes your heart and soul want to sing!

I am also seeing a lot of wonderful friends along the way. Shelby and I enjoyed dinner with my dear

friend, Rebecca, in Santa Fe. We spent the evening outside, sitting under her ramada, catching up on our lives as we listened to the gentle sounds of water cascading down the rocks of her fountain.We also watched a spectacular sunset.

Our trip was all that it could be for a 'Gramme and Granddaughter!' I am so happy we could take this time together and enjoy heart-felt conversations, smiles and laughs, and the grace of being together with ease in some of our mutually, favorite places.

Now the reverie is over ... Shelby headed back east for her last year of college and I am now in Denver for another VISTA training. I had a brief visit with my pals, Jean and George, who you met in my last newsletter. George's flower garden is even more exquisite and here are the newest blossoms.
Till next time ...

With Gratitude,
Elaine