Solstice

On December 11, 2021, ten days before the Winter Solstice, I took pictures at the Red Rock exit (exit 100) on Interstate 25.

This post is to remind me to get photos from there again. 

Holding my phone compass flat and in front of me, it put the sun at 173 degress south. It was 4:39 p.m.

Coordinates where I was standing: N33.4106821 -W107.2586971

Between my pix are photos Jozien took at noon on the 12th at her home near Mendenhall Landing, Yukon Territory at: N60.764182, -W136.168218

Northwest

North

Northeast

East

Southwest

Lama Foundation

In November of 2010 Jozien rode the bus down from Whitehorse (YT). Somewhere in Washington or Oregon, another passenger had a seizure. Fortunately, all Canadians are trained in CPR and she was able to save the woman. 

Jozien's been meditating for decades and knew of the Lama Foundation. It's where Ram Dass wrote Be Here Now. We arrived after dark and exploring, stepped into a small group that, as we were to learn, was holding a grieving ceremony. Discovering our faux pas, we settled in. At some point I felt it appropriate to teach the eight or ten participants Cat Odor Review. Fortunately, it went over well and lightened the mood a little.

The bell at the top of the flags sounded as I came near. Like a cat it refused to perform after I got my camera out. 

This is what a meadow looks like when it's NOT been grazed by livestock.

Up the hill was this post & beam architecture.

Farther up, inside the building, is Sam Lewis's (founder) grave.

Paolo said they don't have a teacher or guru, it's now more of an intentional community. There is a strong arts dimension with a number of musicians, painters, dancers and at least one performance artist.

Billy came along and gave me a tour.

I was shown the wash room, for clothes, the greenhouse, sauna (wood-fired), the shower (solar heated), library (very cozy)

Library

Another bit of architectural interest. Nate leant his presence for scale

And then there were The Caaaaaaats!!!

As we stepped onto the balcony, a nice rain came. Alas, there was no banana tree to dance around; it was a tad cool anyway, there at 8600'.

912 Greens

On the Tantra Trail

As I've mentioned numerous times over the past several years, thanks to Jozien Keijzer, I have become a devotee of Margot Anand. (It was Jozien who, disdaining Margot's book as too technique-oriented, sent it to me.) Anand's work led to The Function of the Orgasm (link is to a 38-page pdf) by Wilhelm Reich who led to Bronisław Malinowski and his trilogy about the Trobriand islanders.

I have yet to discern the connection (perhaps someone can enlighten me?) between Reich's work and the Trobriand peoples, but I suspect it has to do with the islanders' sexual practices. (Haven't had time to read what with Cook's sciatica and all the cat-sitting.)

But this morning's delving took me to the first pages offered on Amazon of the first volume (of the trilogy), Argonauts of the Western Pacific.

What I found striking is Malinowski's comment (on p.5) about the (white) folks already on the island: "Here were men who had lived for years in the place with constant opportunities of observing the natives and communicating with them, and who yet hardly knew one thing about them really well. How could I therefore in a few months or a year, hope to overtake and go beyond them? Moreover, the manner in which my white informants spoke about the natives and put their views was, naturally, that of untrained minds, unaccustomed to formulate their thoughts with any degree of consistency and precision. And they were for the most part, naturally enough, full of the biased and pre-judeged opinions inevitable in the average practical man, whether administrator, missionary, or trader, yet so strongly repulsive to a mind striving after the objective, scientific view of things. The habit of treating with a self-satisfied frivolity what is really serious to the ethnographer; the cheap rating of what to him is a scientific treasure, that is to say, the native's cultural and mental peculiarities and independence -- these features, so well known in the inferior amateur's writing, I found in the tone of the majority of white residents."

Although I've never thot of myself of scientific bent, (albeit, according to Good Luck Duck by virtue of being a polyamorist I DO qualify as qweer...a form, I'll propose, of bent-ittude), Malinoski's description brought to mind the Bud Lite & Big Tires folk in their gray t-shirts and khaki shorts.

I'm also intrigued by the recent adoption of the beard affect. Hit youstuh be a signature sign of beatniks and poets (think Allen Ginsberg). Wha' happint?

Jozien

Dutch pronunciation: Yo-zeen. Southwest (Hispanic influence) pronunciation: Ho-see-en.

We met in summer of 2010. Enroute to say goodbye to a sweetheart in Alaska who was dying of cancer, a large sign on the highway said ART Lot 64. I made a Ueee and with naught but a glance at the subdivision map, drove to her house.

Over the following weeks our emails grew increasingly intimate. On my way back I stopped to linger. She showed me the beauty of the area, a wilderness that included 2:00 a.m. visits from wolves (they reminded me of prankster teens: "Let's go howl outside his door."), swans flying up/over the Takhini River (where I camped) and sidelong glances from European hikers (the mens' lingered) who chanced upon us en flagrante on the beach of Lake Kusawa.

Dutch, she's one of the most fearless and adventurous women I've known. An artist, she shared an interest in beauty and the figure.



Recently I began an email message with:

I read about this guy in WSJ Magazine. He does nice work don't you think?

http://www.mikaeljansson.com


She rejoined with:

hi, good to hear from you!

How are you!

Maybe this is a hint for me to send you a picture...i will look today:) and oldie from ...i forgot his name...am i starting to be more forgetful?, probably.

(I got tired of waiting and decided to post the one below -- taken by her husband

.)

Kelsall Lake, British Columbia

Article in What's Up Yukon by Jozien

But yes  very beautiful work indeed, is it a magazine?  I love his action women, also some nudity even, that is good.

only.....did you notice that is only very young, some look 14 , only women and only slender bodies, probably also with mostly firm good sized boobs.

sigh. not very good Michael no matter if he is indeed very talented. a loss really for society. if we only want to portray such image in beauty.

beauty can be so much more.

he how are  the women in your life, i mean the relationships. I don't think i wrote back yet about the groceries. of course (here she had her husband's name which I deleted) and I might have discrepancies in that department, but we stick together despite of it, And the groceries do get done.

In your blog i don't always get a picture of what you are up to, but i can understand the vagueness. 

By way of explanation: We'd had a discussion about bears in which she pointed out that bears are bears and they should not be blamed for being themselves. The end result was the aphorism: Do not blame the bear.

So then, after her comments about the stereotypical depiction of beauty I wrote:

Yes, this is fashion photography. It is like any art...not a depiction of the "norm."

But do you not see the irony of YOU, who have the body nearly every woman envies, saying these are only young and with large breasts? Society has always defined beauty, but it is tragic that people compare themselves and feel inadequate...rather than simply admiring those who have the attributes. As we ALL know, beauty is MUCH more than mere appearance. But it is unfortunate that we have so much difficulty seeing and appreciating our own, individual beauty.

Do not blame the bear. ; - 

XXXXOOOOXXX

And finally:

Jun 26, 2019,

lol, i know i do have a certain body, and certainly not typical facial features... and i know it has always been tempting for me to show myself in a way that...appeals to what i think many women envy, or men like to look at... but i have attempted for sure to show myself also in less what i think attractive ways.

but i think all people  are,  maybe secretly, quite happy to have there features. I do believe in the fact that in the end most of us will come to the conclusion, that being stuck in our bodies, we want to be stuck right then and there, just as we are.

Ask your girlfriends, if they would want to trait with me or anybody else for that matter, i think they all say, no i rather be me. And how about you?

And i stick to my point, that due to artists like this, we struggle with our self image.

Am i one of those artist unwittingly...i hope not

J. xoxox  

Margot on Freedom

Several years ago Jozien (yes, that's her in the first two photographs), you've seen her comments on some of the posts, sent me a copy of Margot Anand's The Art of Sexual Ecstasy: The Path of Sacred Sexuality for Western Lovers. I've been exploring Anand's ideas ever since. A few days ago I discovered her blogs and there is a video.


The video....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=361&v=j82AaLIGqxw



This article is about her most recent book, Love, Sex, and Awakening which I read a bit of each morning the way some folks read Happy Aphorisms for the Wan & Ennui-struck. Just ignore the cover; it doesn't have anything to with anything except marketing. Her story includes her philosophy, both a guide to discovery as well as personal accounts of her own travails and delights.

Good reading, Maynard!

Piddling Southward

It was time for a new computer.

I found a 12" laptop in Mesa and ran up to get it.

Now piddling my way southward on highway 79 toward Tucson.

For Jozien

Some pretty country out here and the sideroads are surprisingly well-maintained.

But watch out for the javelinas, they're known to attack w/o provocation.

A Beautiful Poem

                                            http://jozien.blogspot.com/2016/01/swaying.html

The Authoress

Jozien

The sign, six feet tall, read

ART

Lot 33

I made a u-turn and with only a glance at the subdivision's* map, drove straight to her door.

Her welcoming smile and invitation to coffee evoked memories of travels in other lands where hospitality toward strangers is still the norm.

Her art had/has an appealing immediacy (see it here) and we spent the next couple of hours discussing all things of importance, including polyamory.

Vulva  (6-12-11)

At dinner we had bison steaks; the bison having been "taken" by her husband from their back forty.

Three weeks later, on my way back from Alaska (to visit Canice), we, she and I, spent several idyllic weeks (August, 2010) atop a bluff overlooking the Takhini River.

 I got water at Mendenhall Landing, the river so clean it didn't need to be boiled.

In November she rode The Bus to Albuquerque. After introducing her to Michelle, we embarked in Trevor, the Ford Aerostar van, on a six-week sojourn into the wilds of New Mexico and Arizona.

Taking the roads less traveled (the only ones), she guided us over the Animas Mountains to Douglas. From there we followed along the border until turning north to resupply in Sierra Vista. In those days the border was rife with para-military. 

And though we were frequently stopped for questioning, we reveled in having it to ourselves.

Westward across Coronado National Forest to Patagonia Lake, we eventually came up for air in Arivaca. (I STILL cannot find the roads we traveled. At one point we went through a corral (two gates) that was 200 yards from the ranch-house. She was an incredible navigator!)

At home she spends much of her time hiking, weather permitting (or not, as the case may be), wearing naught but a holster with bear-spray. Although nothing of a stereotype, I read not long ago of a Dutch woman who, apparently unaware some people are uncomfortable with nudity, was, while strolling poolside, asked to don a bathing suit.

After we parted, Jozien (pronounced Yo-zeen in Dutch tho I used the Spanish: Ho-see-en), expanded on our experience. Over the following six years she explored the myriad rooms and dungeons of Castle Fetlife. As my karate instructor used to say, the highest compliment was when a student surpassed their teacher.  A woman of exemplary courage!

May 2018

* Subdivision is a bit of misnomer.
Not only is it the only concentration of homes between Whitehorse and Haines Junction, but the smallest lot is 20 acres. Of the twenty or so families who live here, many own several lots. It's 50 miles to Whitehorse and 80 to Haines Junction.

Two weeks ago Jozien came home to find a bear digging in the compost. Ignoring her honking, it continued until having unearthed it's prize, a soup bone, it retired to some nearby bushes.

Kusawa Camp

On a bluff overlooking the Takhini River, we spent several weeks watching swans fly by and reveling in nature's delights. Later, In November, she rode the bus down from Whitehorse and we spent six weeks traveling in Trevor, the Aerostar van.

On the Bluff

Takhini River

Roadkill dinner hit by

Border Patrol

The following was written about a camp when traveling through New Mexico and Arizona in November.

They say travel expands your horizons, but clichés are meant to be ignored, eh?

We had a rule -- regardless of where we were -- at 3:00 p.m. we'd stop and make camp. (Nomads RARELY have rules, but every now and then we try one just for fun.) The rule gave us time to unpack, make supper, enjoy a glass of wine and watch the spectacular New Mexico sunset(s).

So when the clock struck, Jozien slammed on the brakes, yanked the wheel over hard, bounced over the road-side ditch and landed on the two-track with all the Dutch determination used to invent the rule! The road, barely visible, led into some bland hills that looked like nothing more than a bunch of old muffins left overnight on the kitchen counter; not much fun. But hey, a rule is a rule, right?

As it happened, there was an arroyo with lots of dead wood. Jozien the pyromaniac, soon had  ten-foot flames keeping the evening desert chill at bay. Wine in hand, supper on the stove and sunset in full swing, we found ourselves truly entranced (New Mexico is known as The Land of Entrancement) as the local coyote chorus regaled us with a wonderfully polyphonic version of Ode to Sunset.

The next morning Jozien took off up the arroyo. You know how the Dutch can be, and she's no exception. She likes to walk IN the arroyo rather than ALONG it. This can be dangerous if there's a flash flood. But she is, first and foremost (after all), a Yukoner! In the desert the horizon can be 50 miles away. But what often catches your eye is barely more than five feet away....by your shoes. So being IN an arroyo kind of makes sense.

But this was no ordinary arroyo. It's sides began to narrow and heighten. Then, suddenly, she came to a small cliff. She climbed up and found herself in an alcove. Facing her, across a small depression, was an even larger cliff.

She approached the wall with caution. Feeling her way up, her tongue sometimes snuck out between her teeth (a childhood habit) as she concentrated....searching for hand-holds. But she made it.

It was like a cathedral! A huge wall enclosed an area approximately 50 meters in diameter.  And the vegetation was luxuriant! There was a huge oak, larger than any she'd ever seen in the desert; an aged piñon pine, several barrel cacti and through it all, birds flitted about while butterflies danced over a pool of water at the center. It was magical!

She sat under the oak and admired its gnarled bark and huge trunk. It had to be hundreds of years old! The birds were almost tame, but after coming within a few feet they seemed to grow bored and flew off. The silence was so intense she could hear her blood pounding in her ears. The New Mexico sky was so blue and the air so clean each breath was a delight!

And who would have guessed? This place, so magical it brought tears of joy, hidden among hills so bland. You can never be sure what you'll find when you venture onto the paths Less Traveled.

But it's amazing how often magic awaits!