Monthly Archives: February 2018

2018-02-17

Our three day Valentine’s plans have been dramatically changed, but we have been provided with a perhaps more rich alternative. Here is Part I:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/02/23/a-valentine-and-eden-2018-trip-report/

New Explorations:

While enjoying a large cup of apple, cinnamon and almonds concoction that DF had made up, we feel the warm intensity of the sun on our nude backs. It is beautiful. I suggest a hike.  We’ll head north into the desert, just head out.

Shoes on, we slide through the rusty barbed wire fence and off the property. A bottle of water and cameras are all that we require.

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2018-02-16

Valentine’s Celebration for two:

We have three days together to relax over a weekend and we have decided to relax at the hot springs for a Valentines.

The weather report was looking good. We have been in a drought for a year. There had been a brief, but a deluge of a monsoon back in July. It rained once in December, last spring was dry. The weather has been warm and skies blue for months. February is usually Arizona Springtime.

We are surprised, when as our plans approach, rain comes. A huge cloud has sat down upon us and stayed. There are three straight days of rain. In my lifetime’s memory, it hasn’t rained three days straight in Tucson. We are not looking at the best of luck.

Record breakers and extremes are everywhere. I keep picturing one of those circus performers in the glittery vests that spin plates on top of broom sticks. If he doesn’t attend to them, they start to wobble, and then more, and then more, as the drama increases. He saves them in just the neck of time, or they fall off. I don’t know what fall off would be, but this planet is sure getting some extreme wobbles.

So the unthinkable has arrived on us and against the odds. We have to change course for Valentine’s. We will wait it out with a day at my place. We start out with cards and fancy dark chocolate, after a home cooked lunch. After a rest, I go out to stoke up the sweat/sauna. The cold wet weather gives me the feel of an authentic Swedish sauna.

The wood pile has managed to get soaked, which is not usually an Arizona problem. I sort out what is okay, and manage to get a relatively dry pile together. As the wood stove heats, we place some wood across the rocks that are on top of the heater box to dry.

The temperature begins to rise. First it is just comfortable and out of the cold, so that we can disrobe. Then, slowly, like lobsters in a pot, we begin to sweat.

We decide to keep the temperature a bit lower than usual, so that we can stay in the cozy box longer. The table bench gets a pad and towels, so that we can lay down on it and trade massage. Valentine’s is a pampering day, filled with pleasant little gifts. The candelabra are lit for ambiance in the rustic free form structure. After another log, a dash of water is spread on the stones, and before we know it, three hours of pleasure have passed.

We have turned around a lousy day. It is even fun and sensual to step outside, cooling off, as the chilly rain places droplets all over our bodies. I soon realize that I have lost the need of clothing. We prefer to wander around outside naked, comfortable in the cold.

We wash up and go out to an Indian Bistro, then return home to gather the remaining tidbits and pack for our trip. The weather might be good at the springs.  If not, we can always taking refuge in the hot water. We cautiously take robes for the two days.

There happens to be a party invitation texted on the smartphone and we can sleep in a warm cozy yurt with a potbelly stove on Saturday night.

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2017-10-02

Pt.1 can be found here:

https://thefreerangenaturist.org/2018/02/08/walker-basin-trail-136-pt-1-a-trip-report/

The Next Leg:

The next leg of the trail isn’t steep. It runs along the edge of the mountainside and is fairly level. Before noon arrives the vegetation changes. We are on the northern slope, now. We are soon involved in what we call tall pine alley and new growth pine alley.

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2017-10-01

After a day babysitting grand-daughter, we are on our way south to the cute little town of Patagonia. We get ice for the cooler at a Tucson convenience store and immediately strip in the parking lot. Tonight, we will get closer to the trailhead for an early morning hike, high into the southern end of the Santa Rita Mountains.

On the way south, I have DF read an article in the latest issue of “N” Magazine about “naking” or naked hiking. We decide that we are not too fond of the contraction, but the attitude fits well. The authors stated that they have been hiking the Appalachian Trail for years, nude. They don’t cover up, they just act as if they are oblivious that they are naked and hundreds of people during encounters, have treated them in that way in the exchanges. I had written out my thinking on the topic and we share that. I have mentioned before, my intention to take this different tactic in my hiking. I then propose that we both take this weekend in that way, stuffing my sarong and her shirt away into the backpack. We’ll greet others in this manner and see how it goes. We can’t liberate others, if we are not liberated ourselves. We also need to explore our feelings during such encounters and recondition our learned behavior. DF concurs.

We are excited, already feeling a sense of adventure, as we drive down the winding two lane road and dusk turns to night.

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02-14-2015

DF had been sick all week, felt weak and was just playing her hand as it came. I had a cap pop off of my tooth and the only time that the Mexican dentist could cover it was…in the middle of Valentine’s Day. The prognosis was looking kind of bland, but as the day progressed I sensed that there was something perfect in the air.

We headed down to Nogales that morning. As we got nearer to the border, the sunny day, projected to be high 70F’s in Tucson was beginning to get overcast. The elevation down south is higher and the temperature could be expected to be a few degrees cooler. This was not a good sign. We proceeded across the border arriving at the 11:00am appointment at 10:59. Things were somehow working out perfectly. The procedure came out with less needing done, a cavity that would have become a root canal was exposed and so problems were prevented. To top it off, this trip was very inexpensive. We happened to check price on a needed prescription at the local “pharmacia” and discovered another brand at one tenth the cost of the stateside pirate drug dealers that are known as Big Pharm. Things WERE looking up.

We had decided to take the scenic cruise back, going through Patagonia and stop off at the cute little town. We found a spot to park across the street from the “Velvet Elvis Pizza” establishment and strode in through the patio garden hungry and ready to eat. It was way past our lunch time. There greeting us inside, was the large velvet portrait of “The King.” Back before the free trade agreement destroyed the border tariffs, it was always a fun trip to visit the border towns on the other side and shop for curios, Mexican made tourist stuff. One of the favorites that I grew up seeing, were the black velvet sheets for a canvas with oil paint depictions upon them. These classic Mexi-Americana are not to be seen anymore, but not forgotten. This one was prime. I don’t wish to denigrate the décor, it was beautiful, with well-done iron furniture with long sheets of mesquite wood, polished for table tops, tile…well, we didn’t think to take pictures.

We decided that the patio would be the very best. We sat under a trellis canopy of Tombstone Rose. This species of plant was imported from China to Tombstone, Arizona back in the days of Wyatt Earp. The original plant still grows there, a huge beautiful vine all over one of the old original buildings for tourists. Cuttings are available. This former cutting had been trained most impressively above us.

We had a delicious meal. Me, a Sonoran style pizza with a Mexican glass bottled coke. DF had a well-executed curry dish and bright red hibiscus tea. By the time that we finished the special Valentine desert (a smooth vanilla Dairy Queen or frozen yogurt style ice cream in a crystal goblet, topped with brandy, Kailua, and dark brandied cherries) our day was looking very bright indeed, despite the overcast.

Pink Manzanita Blooms

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