Showing posts with label havasupai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label havasupai. Show all posts
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
havasupai | composting toilets
i held my breath, believing the smell would be rancid in there. you see, i have this technique of sparingly breathing with my mouth in any non-flushing toilet scenario. or, in a dire situation when i'm feeling desperate, i allow one deep (nose-)breath in through some article of clothing to help diffuse the stench.
like most normal people, i'm not a fan of the the stank of our collective shit. but it all changed after i experienced the composting toilets at havasupai. seriously. as magnificent as the waterfalls were, i can honestly say that i was nearly equally impressed by the toilets.
prior to the trip, i was reminded of the composting toilets in the grand canyon during the peak of summer when....am i grossing you out yet?....well, when the human waste was baking in the high desert heat. i remember feeling like even breathing through my mouth would be a violation to my human dignity. after that single use, the smell latched on to the fibers of my clothes so that i couldn't even run away from it. it.was.disgusting.
here's what made havasupai's composting toilets so fantastic:
one) it was in a clean space.
two) our duty was to drop one scoop of sawdust into the toilet.
three) it didn't smell. at all!!!
four) i felt like a lil hamster after every use.
rad.
like most normal people, i'm not a fan of the the stank of our collective shit. but it all changed after i experienced the composting toilets at havasupai. seriously. as magnificent as the waterfalls were, i can honestly say that i was nearly equally impressed by the toilets.
prior to the trip, i was reminded of the composting toilets in the grand canyon during the peak of summer when....am i grossing you out yet?....well, when the human waste was baking in the high desert heat. i remember feeling like even breathing through my mouth would be a violation to my human dignity. after that single use, the smell latched on to the fibers of my clothes so that i couldn't even run away from it. it.was.disgusting.
here's what made havasupai's composting toilets so fantastic:
one) it was in a clean space.
two) our duty was to drop one scoop of sawdust into the toilet.
three) it didn't smell. at all!!!
four) i felt like a lil hamster after every use.
rad.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
havasupai | four hours
my right ankle flared up again on wednesday night after our 10 mile hike in. so the next day, i ended up staring at havasu falls for four hours while waiting for the rest of the ladies to come back from picking up our permit in the village.
sometimes the gift of physical pain is that it forces us to be still. our bodies will have it no other way. it's rare these days to be given the luxury to just sit and stare at something beautiful. i soaked in that time by either staring at havasu fall or dangling my feet in the water, thinking much about nothing, just being there, feeling the rays of sun on my arms.
murphy (the campground ranger and local havasupai) eventually came by to chat. (we met earlier that day.) i asked him questions about his life on the reservation, his family, the tribe, the struggles of life on the res, etc, and he shared candidly what he could. from our conversation, i hope to never forget how he responded to my question, "what gives you hope?" it wasn't so much the words that followed, but the intonations in his voice, the blank look on his face, the obvious inward journey he was unexpectedly thrusted into. murphy repeated, "hope?" my heart broke a little bit in that moment.
after he left, i spent some time staring at a couple who stood on solid rock, just holding each other. the husband's gentle caress, the wife's trusting embrace, touched a part of me that longs for a partner like the one they've found in each other. compassionate, not demanding anything, instead generously giving and receiving, and comfortable to just be with each other.
i later talked to the woman by saying to her, "can i share an observation?" a big smile and an open heart said, "sure!" i told her, "you two seem like you're very much in love." this sparked a longer conversation about how she's been married for over twenty years and that it is (as in currently) not easy. they've had many struggles and have been working hard at their marriage, most recently going to counseling 1-2xs/week for a year and a half. "we're still learning," she humbly told me. it was such a gift to be witness to such a real process of loving.
sometimes the gift of physical pain is that it forces us to be still. our bodies will have it no other way. it's rare these days to be given the luxury to just sit and stare at something beautiful. i soaked in that time by either staring at havasu fall or dangling my feet in the water, thinking much about nothing, just being there, feeling the rays of sun on my arms.
murphy (the campground ranger and local havasupai) eventually came by to chat. (we met earlier that day.) i asked him questions about his life on the reservation, his family, the tribe, the struggles of life on the res, etc, and he shared candidly what he could. from our conversation, i hope to never forget how he responded to my question, "what gives you hope?" it wasn't so much the words that followed, but the intonations in his voice, the blank look on his face, the obvious inward journey he was unexpectedly thrusted into. murphy repeated, "hope?" my heart broke a little bit in that moment.
after he left, i spent some time staring at a couple who stood on solid rock, just holding each other. the husband's gentle caress, the wife's trusting embrace, touched a part of me that longs for a partner like the one they've found in each other. compassionate, not demanding anything, instead generously giving and receiving, and comfortable to just be with each other.
i later talked to the woman by saying to her, "can i share an observation?" a big smile and an open heart said, "sure!" i told her, "you two seem like you're very much in love." this sparked a longer conversation about how she's been married for over twenty years and that it is (as in currently) not easy. they've had many struggles and have been working hard at their marriage, most recently going to counseling 1-2xs/week for a year and a half. "we're still learning," she humbly told me. it was such a gift to be witness to such a real process of loving.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
havasupai | campground
it was an unexpected delight to have three wild horses freely roam right next to us! we were all in awe when they would come by to eat & drink. that was also the time when we stopped using that water they trekked through... eep.
Monday, March 26, 2012
havasupai | dreaming
as we hiked deeper and deeper down havasu creek, her glory intensified. at first, it felt like a dream, but after spending all those hours together, it was clear that what i was looking at was as real as life gets.
the word "exquisite" keeps cycling around my head when thinking about my recent backpacking trip in havasupai. i have a lot to share, including a post dedicated to the campground's composting toilet! ; )
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