The Tree Of Life health/spirituality retreat attracted us to Arizona. So, after several days enjoying Santa Monica, we took a Greyhound to Tuscon. The first thing that struck us on the bus trip was a change of air from California coast moistness to inland Tuscon dryness. Kind of a magical change. The land looked flatter and more desert-like. We saw tall cacti and scrub plants dotting the land, with palm trees interspersed. It was an overnight bus trip, after a hectic time getting across Los Angeles from Santa Monica to the bus depot which spanned from around 4:00 to about 7:10 p.m.. There had been a demonstration which blocked a main artery where we were to take a transfer bus to the bus depot. People were waiting for quite a stretch down that street for the bus, and there was a kind of excitement in the air, and all the people we talked to in that area, which was mostly black, were quite friendly and helpful. A neat experience. There’s nothing like taking a bus across Los Angeles!
We arrived in Tuscon at around 7:00 the next morning, and walked, pulling our two luggage pieces on wheels behind us from the bus depot to the Road Runner Hostel in the center of town, about a 20 minute walk away. It was a nice, cool, sunny early weekday morning, and we saw early commuters heading to their work day. We got a nice little private room and chatted to the other residents who were just appearing for their cup of coffee and breakfast. We met some really nice people there. Frances crashed when we arrived, but I was up and linked up with Luis, a wonderful new friend and young man newly entering the teaching profession. Luis was deciding on where he would like to teach and thought that Tucson might be the spot. Frances enjoyed hearing about Luis's outlook on teaching and sharing her feelings as well. We met a nice guy from Belgium, who was cycling around North America -- quite an accomplishment, I would say! We met another guy from Germany who was traveling around on motorcycle. Also, we connected with a neat couple in a food Co-op which was holding a closing out sale (sob!): Judy, who was into really healthy eating, and Ken who was into survival in what might be hard environmental, political times to come. We hung out pretty closely with our new friend Luis, and it was a great time. Together we met Melissa who was in town to meet up with her boyfriend. They were heading to Mexico for the winter. She had fashioned herself a life in Portland whereby she would make jewelry, clean houses, and other odd jobs in the summer, enjoying the life there, and then head south for the winter. Together, the four of us toured a downtown street.
We told Luis about our interest in the Tree Of Life retreat and he got interested, and offered to take us in his car and join us for a visit there. We went on a nice, sunny Saturday morning, down to Negales and then to Patagonia, near the Tuscon-Mexico border. Patagonia is a very small, quaint place, where we bought some wonderful local medjool dates on the way back and had a tour of a (diseased) local artist’s home. The Tree of Life place was situated in a really neat undulating valley, with golden tall grasses and trees and shrubs here and there. We joined the brunch, which was a raw vegan buffet. I had a mountain of salad on my plate. People sat at tables in a tall golden grassy yard behind the communal kitchen. The atmosphere was friendly and casual. Then we got a tour around, and were shown a path which led to a labyrinth. When left on our own after the tour, we walked to the labyrinth and walked its meandering paths. The experience was magical, and moving for me, especially when I reached the center. It was so nice walking the many paths toward the center silently, with Luis and Frances coming along a bit behind me. We spent a time being quiet in the centre, sort of accessing our souls and the spirit of the place. I got a vision of a native man, hair blown in the wind, facing the sun, sky and surrounding grass lands and mountains, and talking with the Great Spirit. It was so beautiful. There was only the sound of the wind.
In Tuscon, Fran and I found a nice vegan organic restaurant called the The Casbah Tea House where we could do our computer stuff and relax and enjoy some good food and music. Before long, we were rolling our luggage along, heading back to catch a bus back to L.A. We had had a really nice visit with Luis in Tuscon, and left with gladness and gratitude for our time there.
