On a Shirt

This is written on a shirt:

Listen to Your Heart

Follow its Path

Live the Life Only

You were Meant

To Live

Memorials

We went to a memorial service today that was very special. It was the kind of service that I would like after I depart this earth. The theme was "Tea Time" and as people spoke in microphones or at the podium, food was served along with tea and lemonade. There were the traditional cucumber and egg salad sandwiches and various scones. The tea was served in teapots donated for the event by friends of the family and church members. Favorite music was played intermittently between speakers. It truly was beautiful and a celebration of a very special woman's life.

On the back of a photo card was printed this poem:

When Tomorrow Starts

When tomorrow starts without me,

and I'm not there to see;

If the sun should rise and find your eyes,

all filled with tears for me

I wish so much you wouldn't cry,

the way you did today;

While thinking of the many things,

we didn't get to say;

I know how much you love me,

as much as I love you.

And each time that you think of me,

I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,

please try to understand;

That an angel came and called my name

and took me by the hand;

Said I'd have to leave behind,

all those I dearly love;

So when tomorrow starts without me,

don't think we're far apart;

For every time you think of me,

I'm right here in your heart.

Of course I'd want pure Hawaiian Kona coffee served at my memorial service instead of the tea.

A Dream Like I've Never Had Before

Last night's dream was truly odd. I was on some sort of cruise ship, not alone, and we were searching for a place to eat. We ended up at one of those dinner shows and before I knew it, I was up on the stage singing! For one, I don't sing very well, and two, I'd never do it on a stage in front of an audience. I definitely have a fear of giving speeches and singing would be 10 times as scary! But there I was. I don't know what the song was, either. That would have been good to know.

So I looked up what singing in a dream meant on dreammoods.com and read the following: "To sing in your dream, represents happiness, harmony and joy in some situation or relationship. You are uplifting others with your positive attitude and cheerful disposition. Singing is a way to celebrate, communicate, embrace, and express your feelings."

Doesn't that sound good? I like it. Maybe I'm happy because I just had a wonderful vacation. Or maybe I am happy in the relationship with the person that I was with in the dream. In any case, I like to think that I've got a positive attitude and cheerful disposition. But if there's a way to communicate that in any other way besides getting up in front of an audience and singing, I'm all for that instead!

Petrified Forest National Park

We took a detour off of I-40 as we headed east toward home yesterday and drove through Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert. I've always driven straight through this stretch of Arizona but this time thought it'd be great to stop. Unfortunately, it was 100° outside so we didn't walk any long trails, preferring to drive to lookout points, getting out for pictures, and hurrying back into the air conditioned truck. Still, it was worth the extra time to go through.

Currently this portion of Arizona is a dry grasslands but about 200 million years ago during the late Triassic period it was a humid, tropical, vast floodplain that had many streams crossing it. Tall conifer trees grew along the banks would fall and the streams would wash them into the floodplains. A mix of silt, mud, and volcanic ash buried the logs. The sediment cut off oxygen and slowed the logs' decay. Over time silica-rich groundwater seeped through the logs, replacing the original wood tissues with silica deposits. Eventually the silica crystallized into quartz and the logs were preserved as petrified wood.

At the southern end of Petrified Forest National Park is a short Giant Logs Trail. Normally they say the 0.3 mile loop should take 20 minutes but I think we did it in 10 because of the heat. Still, we saw wonderful, colorful petrified wood deposits in the Chinle Formation. The colors of the logs are due to trace minerals that soaked into the wood along with the silica. Blue, purple, brown and black are caused by manganese minerals.

As you drive north along the park road you are driving toward younger deposits. At the farthest north, at Chinde Point on the Painted Desert portion of the park, the rocks are about 205 million years old. Over 10 million years of deposition occurred within the park. The views of the Painted Desert were remarkable. Next time I'd like to visit during the spring or fall when it isn't so hot!

Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

The third national monument we visited on Wednesday was located about 20 miles north of Flagstaff: the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It is located within the San Francisco Volcanic Field on the Colorado Plateau that was active beginning six million years ago. Sunset Crater is the most recent eruption, exploding between 1040 and 1100. The Sinagua lived and farmed the area and so were witnesses to this eruption.

Sunset Crater is a cinder cone, forming when molten rock sprayed high into the air from a crack in the ground. The lava solidified and fell to Earth as large bombs or small cinders. Eruption after eruption occurred in this manner, building a debris pile up to 1,000 feet high. Two lava flows erupted near the vent, the Kana-a and the Bonito, and destroyed everything in their path. The entire event may have lasted 6 months to a year with a final eruption spewing red and yellow cinders out from the vent and onto the rim. The colorful glow from these cinders reminded people of a sunset and led to the volcano's name. The elevation at the summit is 8,029 feet with it's diameter at its base 1 mile. Approximately one billion tons of material was extruded from the vent.

We walked along a trail over the Bonito lava flow to the base of Sunset Crater. The gravel beneath our feet was black and the rocks a chunky, clinky form of lava called "aa." It is the same kind of lava flow that I walked over when on the big island of Hawaii. The rock is also known as "basalt."

The ancestors of today's Hopi people, the Sinagua, witnessed the eruption. In some Hopi accounts, the Qa'na Katsina caused Sunset Crater to erupt after people engaged in a life out of balance. The eruption is a living reminder that if people stray from their religious ideals and life, there may be another eruption.