Welcome to the Wild, Wild West

Around a hundred and fifty years ago, famous newspaper editor Horace Greeley said, “Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.” Based on the traffic here in Southern California I find more than a few people took Mr. Greeley’s advice.

Jaymes and I get on the buckboard.

Growing up in the Midwest, my own impression of the West was largely colored by that great American institution, Hollywood. Either after coming home from school or on Saturday morning, I could be found watching one of the many small screen westerns. There was Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickock, The Cisco Kid, Hopalong Cassidy, Maverick, The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel, The Restless Gun, and my personal favorite Hi Oh Sil…oops, I mean The Lone Ranger.  Sunday nights presented us with a more domesticated version of the so-called Wild West when Ben Cartwright and his three sons gathered around the Ponderosa ranch in Bonanza.

The rock formation on the left, Bell Rock,
contains a strong vortex.

With the swirl of modern technology: airplanes, automobiles, cell phones and computers found at nearly every turn, my friend Jaymes and I jumped at the opportunity to answer the call of Sedona. Tucked in the red rock between Prescott and Flagstaff, Arizona, a short distance from the Grand Canyon and only a few hours to the border town of Yuma or the famous scene of the Earp shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Sedona could pass for the latest incarnation of that bygone era when a man strapped on a six-shooter and rode their horse into town looking for a two-bit shave and a saloon to quench his thirst. If that’s the imagery floating through the corridors of your mind you need not read any further. That’s not the journey we took.

Where does the trail lead?

We did climb up on a buckboard, and there was a horse stable on the grounds where we stayed. There’s a good chance we could have organized a hootenanny were we so inclined, but we opted to leave our lassos and boots behind and capture some of the Wild, Wild West those cowpokes may have missed. According to legend, the area surrounding Sedona not only contains some of the most beautiful mountains, canyons and creeks in the western hemisphere, but deep within these landmasses are strong spiritual forces that guided many natives who lived here for hundreds of years.

All right, this is a satirical blog, and some of you are probably laughing at the idea of conjuring up mythical phenomena instead of just galloping around on a horse or buzzing around on an ATV. I even had a pair of magnets that look like silver bullets. No doubt, I could have put on a mask and assumed the role of my alter ego, but I ask you, where would the masked man be if not for the spiritual guidance he received from his native guide? See you round the bend kee-mo-sa-bee.