Desert Messenger July 15, 2015 Jul. 2015 | Page 17

July 15, 2015 by Jane Finley writer * artist * teacher (stretching, exercise, relaxation, meditation) Listen to you momma Quartzsite, AZ 6/20/15 Who am I to tell you to “lissen to yo Momma” when I don’t listen myself? By “Momma” I mean that little voice in your head that says, “Don’t do that,” just as you are on the verge of doing it. Sometimes, tho, it says, “Oh, go ahead,” and gives you the courage to do what you need to do. My “Momma” is located somewhere above my spine at the back of my neck. It is, of course, intuition. You see, intuition is not a kind of WOO-WOO thing. It’s a kind of KNOWING based on past experience. Every time I ignore it, I’m sorry. Take recently for example: Every year for 15 years I have known to leave Quartzsite before June when the temperature hits triple digits. In fact, for the past several years I have written myself a note and stuck it on the bathroom mirror: LEAVE QUARTZSITE BEFORE JUNE. Now I am adding, “NO MATTER HOW NICE IT IS!” Here is what stops me: Even when it’s in the 100s during the day, the mornings are magnificent! Imagine this: sitting on my porch having my morning coffee just at sunrise. The sky is an original watercolor painting; there is a cool breeze and before I have cast out the last of the bread pieces, the wildlife appear (through a kind of wildlife telepathy, I suppose.) So that’s why I ignore that small voice in my head that tells me to leave. It’s as easy as turning off a light switch. So this year I left on June 20. I skipped my morning coffee to perform last-minute leaving chores. Even though I’ve done all I can earlier (from the long “Leaving Q List” on my computer), there are some things that can only be done at the last minute, like turning off the water, electricity, and propane. I had boxed up the food I didn’t 17 www.DesertMessenger.com Traveling with Gypsy Jane want to sit in the heat until October, but it still had to be loaded. Not fun! And it was already too hot. But I did leave the earliest yet; by 8:30 a.m. I was on the road. After stopping for coffee, I hit Interstate 10 headed for Prescott and 20-degree cooler weather. With the air conditioner on high, the 120 miles to Phoenix were pretty comfortable. THEN I got to the Hwy 17 exit north to Flagstaff, and it was CLOSED with no instructions as to where to go and a freeway more like a raceway. I was stressed! The next exit put me on the State Capitol campus where I got out of my RV, braved the 113 degree heat, and knocked on several buildings, including the campus police, but it was a Saturday, and no one was around. Add HOT and LOST to STRESSED! I was scared too and realized how really dangerous driving in such high heat is. So, I played the “age” card: I called 911, which I have never done before. I told the operator, “Exit 17 north to Flagstaff is closed with no detour directions. I took the next exit, and I’m on the Capitol campus. I’m XX years old, it’s over 100 degrees, I come from a small town, I don’t know Phoenix, and I’m lost. I need to get to the Flagstaff exit.” She said she would get me directions. I said, “Oh nooooo; I am wayyyyy past directions. I need somebody to lead me to the exit.” Ten HOT minutes later (the air conditioning doesn’t work well enough when you’re idling), the Phoenix police arrived. I repeated my story, and he said two blissful words: “FOLLOW ME.” After many twists and turns and bumper-to-bumper traffic on side streets, we came to the “Flagstaff” sign. It took forever. When the officer came over to my RV to point out the sign and ask if I were OK, I thanked him profusely and told him I couldn’t have done it without him. He admitted it was a challenge. I decided to stop in Prescott which was a lot cooler and managed to take a nap before going dancing at 8:00 p.m. I figured I deserved it! There is a universal, intelligent, life force that exists within everyone and everything. It resides within each one of us as a deep wisdom, an inner knowing. We can access this wonderful source of knowledge and wisdom through our intuition, an inner sense that tells us what feels right and true for us at any given moment. ~Shakti Gawain AA meetings QUARTZSITE Monday, Thursday & Saturday 5:30pm Gloria 316-617-1877 Randy 928-216-7297 BRENDA Tuesday & Saturday 11am Black Rock RV Park behind Clubhouse BOUSE Thursday 11am 27928 S. Evans Ted 308-383-7780. *~*~*~* Jane’s book is WANDERINGS: Living the Ordinary Extraordinarily (Stories from the Road). This column consists of stories from her book email: janefi[email protected], website: janefinley.com Quartzsite Radio KBUX 94.3 FM http://kbuxradio.com • Quartzsite’s Favorite “CLASSIC HITS” • Local Information • Weather • 24 Hours Day / 7 Days Week! 928-927-5111 First locally-owned and operated music station in Quartzsite, Arizona. Proudly serving the communities of Quartzsi є