Out West

How did the early pioneers survive in Nevada? It's beyond my comprehension. It is a desert, folks! If the electricity went out, in 2010, they all would DIE! No kidding. Just coming back from a visit with Ashley in Utah, we flew in and out of Las Vegas. Yesterday, as we prepared to fly back home, the temperature was 110. How can animals survive, let alone people? It wasn't much cooler in Utah. Although it is the high desert, it still was in the 90's and made hiking in the afternoon prohibitive.

The scenery is awesome. Tall, rugged mountains with peaks, and also a healthy mix of mesas (flat top mountains). This area of the country is supposed to be dinosaur heaven for those who like to dig in the dirt. My family does. You can't or shouldn't remove bones if found, but it's fun to look. All we found was some petrified wood, which is pretty cool.

Patrick and I flew to Utah to visit Ashley for a family weekend at Falcon Ridge Ranch. We saw the little colt which she had the privilege of naming (Inferno). Oh, and we all three got to experience equine therapy. It was so cool! Although I was the only one who was thrilled with it. Ashley was too worried about us getting hurt by a horse to really relax. Each of us were instructed to put orange cones arranged on the ground so that we made an enclosure, big enough for a horse to fit inside. So we each made our space. Mine was right next to the white fence, in a rectangle. Ashley's was in the middle of the corral in a large undefined shape. Patrick chose to make a large triangle, using only 3 cones. Next, we were told to work individually, or as a team, to bring one horse into a space, settle it down, and then step out of the space. The goal was to keep the horse in the space. We could not speak nor re-enter the space. All we could do was stand in front of the horse to keep it in place. We had two horses in the corral with us, so on one occasion we had to keep the other horse out of the space, while keeping the other one in! We were to relate the boundaries we had set up to boundaries in our own life. We were each supposed to decide what boundaries are important to us in our family, and don't want others to cross over. The therapist spoke with us as we completed different steps about our thoughts, etc. It was quite fascinating.

Over the course of the weekend, there were a couple of parent-training meetings which were very very good. Also, we had free time with her. We went to Zion National Park one day, and to St. George another. On the day when we had the most time together to freely do what we wanted, it was Sunday and many things were closed! Grrr. I also looked into us going on an ATV ride out in the desert, but it would have been close to $500! Darn. Someday maybe.

Ashley continues to do well at the ranch. She is hoping to come home for another visit in July.

All for now.

If you had any doubt . . .

If you had any doubt about what life is like in Saudi Arabia, have I got the book for you. It is written by Carmen Bin Laden, ex-sister-in-law of Osama. She met her future husband, one of Osama's 20 plus brothers, in Switzerland, where she grew up. They fell in love, married and lived for awhile in the USA. Little did she know what she was getting into when she said "I do." To be fair, her husband, so far (I'm still in the book), is not like many of his brothers. He seems to go along with the barbaric traditions of his nomadic ancestors, and Muslim faith, in deference to his family. Inside, he is not like them. After schooling in the US, her husband decides they should go to Saudi Arabia to live. Carmen knows little about the Muslim faith, let alone the peculiarities of Saudi Arabian culture. At this point in my reading, she has been there about 3 years and is barely enduring the secluded life of a woman in a country where she is no better than property. She is an intelligent and bold woman and is hoping Saudi Arabia will come into the 20th century instead of remaining in the middle ages. After a few years, things did not get better, but worse. Now she has 2 daughters, not a son which would offer her many benefits and protections should her husband die. With only daughters for children, if her husband dies, she would be under the control of one of her fanatic brothers. She and her daughters could never leave the country without his permission.

Are you interested yet?