Longing for Sedona

http://www.enchantmentresort.comSeptember is waning into October. My favorite time of year. And my favorite place this time of year is Enchantment Resort in Sedona. I don't remember how many years ago I first went to Sedona, but as the following story is told, perhaps you will. I was there for a "roundtable" of independent PR firms, and our host took us on an early morning, silenced hike through Boynton Canyon. The canyon was accessible publicly a mile or so back from our property, but we entered via card key in a gate at the end of Enchantment's property. We were hushed upon entrance - about 7:30 or 8AM, and walked single-file through what seemed like six different climates. As we moved back deeper into the canyon, our guide pointed at the cairns by the side of the trail. Two high, three high, ten high, more and more as we went. And as we got deeper, the trees grew higher, the light grew different, and the feeling grew stronger. This was magic. There were places I was compelled to stop. To watch the trees and light shimmering. To feel the earth energy thrumming like I had never before experienced. An hour in, about. Then, turning to go back, peaceful at first. Then the silence was shattered by laughter of people hiking in. Loud, boisterous, out of place. Offensive. And then we met up with them. Men and women in khakis and ranger hats, armed with sticks, striking and dismantling all of the cairns we had passed.

Because we were in a place of silence, we only cast anxious glances at each other on the way out. By the time we reached the gate and could talk again, our guide explained that these were forest ranger hires, paid to knock down the cairns for fear they would frighten people. It was jarring, given the beautiful journey inward.

And then, outside the gate, when we could talk, members of our group who had not accompanied us, approached and told us that the Governor of Missouri Mel Carnahan had been killed in a plane crash, a month before an election he would win posthumously, beating John Ashcroft, later attorney general of the U.S.

It was a stark contrast. Peace and wonderment followed by harsh, glaring, and violent.

But, oh, the splendor and peace of the canyon. Go.