“When two things occur successively we call them cause and effect if we believe one event made the other one happen. If we think one event is the response to the other, we call it a reaction. If we feel that the two incidents are not related, we call it a mere coincidence. If we think someone deserved what happened, we call it retribution or reward, depending on whether the event was negative or positive for the recipient. If we cannot find a reason for the two events’ occurring simultaneously or in close proximity, we call it an accident. Therefore, how we explain coincidences depends on how we see the world. Is everything connected, so that events create resonances like ripples across a net? Or do things merely co-occur and we give meaning to these co-occurrences based on our belief system? Lieh-tzu’s answer: It’s all in how you think.”
― Liezi, Lieh-tzu: A Taoist Guide to Practical Living
And so the adventure is in full stride! In certain recovery programs it is often said “There are no such things as coincidences, that everything happens for a reason.” Now, as someone in recovery, I agree and personally think we attract positive and negative circumstances as we perceive them. In other words, if I am practicing patience, kindness, honesty, integrity, compassion and a willingness to live in harmony with whatever situation I find myself in (what others refer to as coincidence), then chances are I will be at peace with myself and others around me. The opposite side of that coin is, of course, disharmony when I am of a negative mind frame. So, what the above quote means to me is we all perceive the world around us in our own way. I find I feel more in touch with nature, people, animals and all creatures great and small and THAT for me is where the connectedness not coincidence exists.
As I prepare for my last day of camping in this serene spot outside of Sedona, AZ my experience at the Lo Lo Mai Springs Campground has been all positive. Kip was very kind to assign a site for Calvin & Hobbes which was tucked away at the back of the campground with a gently sloping hillside and shade trees.
DAY 11 APRIL 10, 2017 (MONDAY)
Travel day. Long day of driving from Arkansas to Austin, TX where I timed it perfectly to enter the city limits during rush hour. The last nine miles before reaching my RV site at The Lone Star Cabins and RV Resort (located right off of I-35, ugh) took over an hour. Upon my arrival I discovered the door to Hobbes somehow became jammed during the drive and I was locked out of my our little home. After using a screwdriver to position the door in such a way as to lift it a bit, I was able to thankfully climb inside and get out of the rain that conveniently (sarcasm implied) began to fall as all this was happening.
DAY 12 APRIL 11, 2017 (TUESDAY)
Rainy day. Laundry day. Reading day. Rest day. Due to the weather forecast and a campsite located very close to a busy and noisy highway I’ve decided to move on. But not to Las Cruces as planned. I spoke to my good friend Steve Slade, who I met while working at Maho Bay Camps on St. John, USVI in 2002, and he suggested I come to Santa Fe, NM instead. So after spending a wonderful evening with Mary and Reid Anderson and their two beautiful kids (I attended the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies with Mary and Reid in 2009-10), I am off to Santa Fe (via Big Spring, TX) in the morning. A big thanks to you both for your kind hospitality!
DAY 13 APRIL 12, 2017 (WEDNESDAY)
Driving day. I love this kind of driving! All back (mostly two land roads) through the “heartland” of America. I arrived in Big Spring, TX at Elite Cabins and RV Park which I discovered was solely occupied by workers on a gas pipeline being built-in the area. All the other RV’s were big, well-appointed fifth-wheel rigs pulled by muscular dually diesel pickups. Little Calvin and Hobbes definitely looked out-of-place among all these “Big Boys”! Oh, and after a long day of driving I arrived in the rain and guess what… the door stuck again. A practice in patience and acceptance was my take away message.
DAY 14 APRIL 13, 2017 (THURSDAY)
I arrived in “Dog Patch” which is the name given by the residents who have lived in this area of Santa Fe for several decades. Van (Slade’s old pal) was very kind and gracious to allow me to park Calvin & Hobbes behind his workshop.
DAY 15 APRIL 14, 2017 (FRIDAY)
This morning I met Slade’s longtime friend and fellow “Dog Patch” resident Linda Walrack who has offered to pledged $100 (for me to do a 10 mile trail run) to Animal Protection of New Mexico, a service which provides veterinary care for those who cannot afford it.
DAYS 16-18 APRIL 15-17, 2017 (SATURDAY–MONDAY)
In an effort to catch up on my journaling posts (I dislike the term blogging for some reason) due to poor internet connections in Santa Fe, Sedona and now outside of Zion National Park, I am going to combine the days events in a condensed format. Which will probably be a big relief to those who have been so kind to follow my, at times lengthy, entries.
Here is where the coincidence (or not) begins to become more apparent to me. Slade introduces me to the woman he and his wife Becky rent their home from. Cheryl lives upstairs and upon meeting her I cannot help noticing she is reliant on supplemental oxygen to help her breath. When I asked her why she needs it, she explained to me that she is suffering from
Hypersensitivity Pneumonia or
Interstitial Lung Disease. Cheryl said she contracted it while working in an office (possibly due to mold) in Atlanta, where she worked in the film industry. I share with her the story of my father’s fatal pulmonary disease (
IPF) and explain to her my purpose for my trail running adventure. I asked her if I can honor her by running a few miles for a cause she is grateful towards. Cheryl mentions how the
National Jewish Health Organization based in Denver, CO has been helpful to her. The irony is not lost on her, that the NJH (a pulmonary health facility) is located a mile up from sea level where the air is thinner. And just like that! I have my second trail run set for Cheryl’s cause.
outside of Los Alamos, NM he mentions that he too would like for me to run a trail for the
Freedom From Religion Foundation. I am happy to dedicate another trail run for his cause and again find I feel that somehow there is something happening here that is beyond coincidence. What I mean, is that I have never been comfortable with a specific religion personally, but I respect others who express their deep beliefs in a God of their understanding which brings comfort and peace of mind to them.
How do these trail runs now happen? Well, On April 15th I ran a route Slade suggested which involved following the
arroyo (a dry riverbed) just outside my door.
I am running at an elevated altitude for the first time (7,000’) and the footing in the arroyo is soft sand. After two miles my lungs and legs are burning due to the thin air and tough terrain.
I turn around and head back the way I came, then turn up a side arroyo with a rocky and hard packed dirt path for a little way. When this ends at a road I then find a foot/bike path of dirt and gravel and run a few more miles and find my breath and stride along this portion of my run. Seven miles done!
The following day (Saturday) I hike with Friday and then with Slade at Bandelier for a total of three more miles and with this completed I dedicate these ten miles to Slade’s cause (The Freedom From Religion Foundation) which he has pledge to donate to for the miles I ran and hiked over the past two days.
On Sunday I awake with the plan to take a 12-15 mile trail run, but I have no idea where I’ll find a route near my campsite. I start out running up the dirt road from “Dog Patch” toward the main road (about one mile) and once there turn right and continue for another mile when by coincidence…(I think not) I come to the
La Tierra Trail System. It is an amazing network of well maintained and well-marked trails used by mountain bikers, trail runners, bird watchers, dog walkers and even a miniature horse walker named Gary! As I revel in scampering up one section and down another I am laughing out loud at how much fun it is running these trails. As I pass Gary and his mini horse for the second time we stop and chat for a few minutes and he informs me that he and his wife operate a small organization called
My Little Horse Listener which helps children with learning disabilities by using their miniature horses in an equine therapy setting.
I finish my trail run by getting lost on what is by far the best marked trail running course I’ve ever run. I am no doubt navigationally challenged. But I hit my 15 mile mark which allows me to dedicate 10 miles to Linda’s cause (Animal Protection of New Mexico) and 5 miles to the National Jewish Health Foundation for Cheryl.
On to Sedona!
DAYS 19-24 APRIL 18-23, 2017 (TUESDAY–SUNDAY)
Friday and I start the day with a morning meditation meeting with a few other recovering alcoholic/addicts and then are off to the
Munds Wagon Trail. A five-mile out and back trail with a close proximity to downtown Sedona, this path ends at Oak Creek below an expansion bridge.
The views are amazing and little Friday gets quite a workout!
That evening I meet my friend Linda Trammell for dinner. We became acquainted through mutual friends while living on St. John, USVI and she told me when we met nine years ago how special Sedona is to those who seek a soulful experience with the natural environment. I now know what she meant.
The next day (
Wednesday)
Friday and I again embark on a five-mile hike along the
Soldier Pass Trail.
It is on this day that I meet two more people (by coincidence?) as
Friday and I trudge the happy trail to destiny (wink, wink to those in the know). I meet Tom Winkel and his wife as they are coming back down the trail as we are ascending. Tom notices my shirt honoring my father and after explaining my reasons for
Friday’s and my adventure he informs me of his involvement and dedication to his passionate charity
The Longest Day which raises money, support and awareness for Alzheimer’s Disease. Having watched my Grandmother suffer from this affliction for years and the toll it took on the mother, my heart was touched by Tom and his wife’s dedication to helping support this cause which is recognized around the world on
June 20th each year (the longest day).
As Friday and I return down the trail in the afternoon we stop in the shade to rest and drink water.
A scholarly and wise looking gentleman accompanied by a thoughtful and intelligent looking young man are taking photographs and talking quietly to each other. When they notice
Friday and myself we begin a short, but deeply reflective conversation about nature, spirituality and the connectedness of humans to the natural realm. Timothy Conway PhD is a speaker, counselor and author who specializes in “Enlightened Spirituality.” He mentions Carl Yung and Joseph Campbell, two men whose works I’ve read and identified with, especially the philosophy of
“Follow your bliss” by Joseph Campbell.
Trail running day (
Friday…the day, not the dog)! I’ve selected a route the begins at the Soldier Pass trail head and connects with the
Jordan to Cibola Trail and then onto the
Brins Mesa Trail, then it connects back into the Soldier Pass trail.
A fantastic day for what turns out to be a fantastic trail run! As I crest the top of the Brins Mesa trail I notice a single track trail heading higher up the mountain. I follow it for approximately another mile, where it ends on top of a rock formation offering a 360 degree view!
I am in awe! I don’t want to leave this place. I feel drawn to it, like a magnet is holding me there. I know I need to start heading back to let
Friday out of Hobbes before it gets too hot in the afternoon sun. I find it hard to leave with no other person around and only the bees and swallows swooping by to catch them, combined with the majesty of the surrounding mountains and rock formations. Later that day John Lichterman (my great friend from Memphis) contacted me and asked to dedicate a trail run for him in support of his cause the
American Heart Association. Perfect timing (or coincidence?)! My trail run ends exactly at the 7 mile mark and so this run is for you John and your wonderful support of another worthy cause!
As
Saturday dawns, I attend the morning meditation meeting again and it is there I discover thanks to another recovering alcoholic that today is
EARTH DAY! Now in a town known for it’s “earthy cruchiness” I can’t think of a better place to be today (you guessed it…coincidence…I think not). My last encounter with another wonderful person comes when I finally find the little coffee shop I visited two days prior (and tried to find yesterday, but couldn’t).
Friday and I are hanging out as I tap into the wifi and attempt to catch up on my journaling. A young woman walks up to us and asks if she can hug little
Friday.
This is how I meet Kari Goodnough, the owner of
Theia’s Coffee, Tea and More… Kari’s coffee shop offers a relaxed vibe with mellow live musicians playing acoustic instruments and tasteful artwork displayed throughout the shop. With comfy couches and intimate tables for two, this establishment quickly became my favorite little hangout in Sedona. Thanks for your kindness to me and little
Friday Kari! We wish you and your dad well. (
Parkinson’s Disease Foundation)
This brings me to my departure from Sedona and on to Hurricane, UT where I will explore Zion National Park and the surrounding area. For those who survived this extensive article I say thank you. I do hope some of you enjoyed the content.
HAPPY TRAILS!!
A Sober Run 
Another great read and photography/videos. So love your evolving adventure.
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Thanks so much for following along on the adventure! Hope to make it up your way on my return trip in the Fall!
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Seeing many snakes (or other critters) out thar in the desert?
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Surprisingly not. I keep looking for Rattlesnakes, Tarantulas & Mountain Lions, but no luck…or perhaps I should be grateful 😳😂✌🏼
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What a wonderful journey you are on. Your journal has been a great read. I certainly enjoyed the visit with Slade and me. Peace and safe journey
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Thanks for your kind words Becky. I really enjoyed getting to know you, meet all your wonderful friends & of course reconnect w/ my great pal Slade! May peace, good health & happiness be w/ you & Slade now & always.
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