Tecopa
Hot Springs: Part II
I can hardly believe it has been a
month since I showed up in the small town of Tecopa where I have spent a good
time resting and trying to keep up with the socializing and activities in the
campground; succeeded on some and failed on others.
I tried the
morning aerobics but found it hurt my back too much to continue their program
so I resumed with morning Tai Chi followed by water aerobic exercises. I managed to go to every bingo game; even
winning a private soak on my last week here, which I took this morning at 0800
and to my surprise, the private soak is a lot hotter than the public
pools. It was nice to get away from the
crowds of the main pools but my mind and the time flew before I was out of there,
showering and getting over to the library where my internet half an hour time
slot was due. Another one of those
activities I never missed my appointment with as all of these things filled the
hours in between the unknown, wasted hours.
I did spend a lot of my time here in
Tecopa writing. I have filled far too
many pages of my hand written journal and completed two hundred pages of
editing my story that was recovered for me in Borrego Springs.
I watched a dozen or so movies, most
of them romantic comedies or feel good movies and I read two books during the
slower times of watching many windstorms and weather pattern shifts that take
place over the gorgeous mountain ranges surrounding me here.
The wildlife has amazed me in how much
there is as well as how diversified it is.
A coyote sat in a field and yipped for over an hour in broad daylight
where, with my binoculars, I could clearly see it sitting, nose raised and
howling.The aviary life in this desert oasis is just as surprising as I have counted many birds I already know plus others I have not a clue. Ring neck dove, crows, ravens, harrier hawks, red tail hawks, owls, duck, geese, red wing black bird, road runner, grackles, starlings, quail, vultures, and a pacific parrotlet. Late at night after I was already in bed, I heard the most beautiful songbird sing its song twice before it disappeared into the dark. I wondered if it was the nightingale bird, for if it was, then I now know why their song is amongst the most beautiful songs in the world.
Every month on the second Wednesday, there is a community center pot luck in which my ‘desert’ friend and I contributed corned beef and cabbage that joined many yummy dishes of hot food and tasty deserts, my favorite being the pistachio pudding with cherries and nuts forcing me to indulging myself with a second helping.
At our table that night was one (of three) of the county parks department executives from Los Angeles to evaluate and negotiate a ten year contract that was soon to expire for the Tecopa Hot Springs and Campground, asking people for ways that the springs could be improved upon.
My suggestions were later, but included: water dispensary machines (there is no drinkable water in Tecopa, nearest water machine is in Pahrump 30 miles away or you buy bottled water at the store for $2 a gal.) and a coded gate entrance for 24 hour access to the pools for the paying clientele of the campground. Others brought up WIFI and other activities within the park like shuffle boards or net game areas.
It was during the frenzy of eating and talking that off to my right at another table I overheard the conversation turn towards a sweat lodge being conducted over the weekend at the Shoshone spiritual retreat directly across from the campground. What luck, my Ewok Village friend said I needed a good sweat lodge and here was one right across the street.
I leaned over and asked a man what time the ceremony was to begin and he not only introduced himself to me, he answered my questioned, asked my name and directed me to a posted flyer that gave the details of the event which was to last the entire weekend. He told me he lived there and was looking forward to seeing me in a few days.
I thanked him and then tried to concentrate on the people at my own table and on the Executive and his concerns for the hot springs, but found my mind and my vision blurred by the man who sat at the other table; he was too good looking to be there. His tall frame, dark hair and chiseled features gave him the appearance of a GQ model that came out to the desert to enjoy some sun and fun, not someone who would be working at a spiritual center.
Before I knew it the weekend had arrived and my alarm was set to go and join the sunrise ceremony at the retreat. Having a cup of tea and feeling the need to dress appropriately, I wore a skirt, t-shirt, and my fleece jacket, walked the equivalent of three blocks over to the center I had been aware of, but had yet to visit, and found my way to the early morning fire.
Standing in a circle around the fire pit of lava rocks shaped like a turtle (for Mother Earth) were about a dozen of us sleepy eyed souls that ventured in to hear the Elder speak and pray over the Earth and new day. He spoke so well I felt moved by his words and then he played his drum chanting while we all joined hands and danced slowly around in a clockwise motion, our feet beating out the rhythm of his song.
When the sun finally rose we had already sang four songs and we fell silent until Grandfather rose above the horizon. We once again danced around the fire and then the Elder said a long prayer and they passed out tobacco and sage mix that everyone took a small handful of.
The Elder was followed by a female Elder and she spoke in the native Shoshone tongue and prayed for the new day and the new friends and new ways. She tossed her mixture into the fire and blessed the water as she too picked up her drum and sang a song, again in her native tongue, before we each individually went and put out prayers into the sage mixture and cleansed ourselves with the water, before walking clockwise back to your standing position in the circle.
Mr. GQ came up to me after the ceremony hugging me and saying he was glad I could make it to the event. We walked back to the main building where breakfast was going to be served and where he offered me a tour of the mineral pool and grounds later in the day after some of the classes and events had taken place.
Inside of the building was a large room filled with various couches and chairs, most covered by a hand crotchet or knitted blanket of various colors, all placed around a rock fireplace that took up half of the other side of the room. At the far end of the room was a long table with a mismatched set of chairs that seemed to seat about twelve people, while the kitchen area was hidden off to the right past a serving area between it and the dining room.
I walked into the kitchen and offered to help and was instantly handed a dishcloth to dry dishes and put them away…a task I quickly finished as the breakfast was set out and we all gathered in a circle and the Ms. Elder blessed out food with her Native Blessings and we all dished up breakfast, buffet style. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fruit salad and mini muffins was the choice at the serving counter. Orange juice, coffee and tea if you please and the rest turned into a loud talk fest as everyone enjoyed the wonderful food and conversations.
After the meal I left the retreat and went back to my Herbette and let her be properly woken up also. Feeding, watering, and spending a moment or two with her, I changed my shirt into something cooler and left again for the retreat, hoping to catch the drum making class that was to start.
I threw a small bag over my shoulder of various essentials; water bottle, key to van, money and sunglasses, jumped on my bike and rode up to the retreat and was reprimanded by the Ms. Elder for exposing my bra strap with my tank top, both needing to covered up with an t-shirt or something else.
Embarrassed, I left and went back to my van where I took a two hour nap that I was sure I needed before putting on a t-shirt and going back up to the retreat for the sweat lodge ceremony that really was the main attraction for me.
I had never experienced a sweat lodge, but I had read a book that included a part where the author explained what goes into making a ‘true’ sweat lodge. First, the willow branches must be asked if they will help make the sweat lodge, then they are prayed for, before and after they are cut, then they are strategically placed to form the dome shape of the sweat lodge. They are once again blessed before heavy black wool blankets are placed over the structure, the wool being of a natural fiber that allowed the flow of steam and heat to go through it, while wool rugs cover the dirt floor in a circle around a small fire pit. The top of it is no more than maybe five foot tall and before you can enter it you must remove all personal items except for your clothing.
Women were to have towels and long skirts to cover themselves in a respectable manor while the men were allowed to wear swim trunks. (I thought this very difficult, women had to be covered and sweat, while the men were allowed air to reach their pores)
We had to be cleansed with sage and then get on our hands and knees, humbly enter the sweat lodge in a clockwise manor, women first, men last. I was the last of the women so I also sat next to a man in a tiny space that I could not get comfortable in.
First off, I do not do well with, ‘on the ground’ as it hurts my back and hips, second off, I can’t sit cross legged as my legs knees are messed up and third, there were thirteen of us crammed into the lodge and I could not spread out in either direction except for putting my legs straight out in front of me, which put my feet next to the hot rocks.
Wiggle, wiggle, squirm, squirm, then out of my mouth without asking permission to speak, even before they put the 1st rock into the lodge, I had to say, “How long does this take?” I cannot begin to tell you how stupid the words sounded even to me; as if I had an appointment or something else to do, but truth was I was having a panic attack.
What if I couldn’t do this, what if I over heated and passed out, what if I had a heart attack, what if I can’t breathe? Yes, I was having a panic attack, very quietly in my head and for some reason the Elder seemed to understand and went on to gently explain the procedure and the process of what the sweat lodge was for and that if for any reason we needed to leave, we could. He put my fears to rest and then we continued on with the ceremony.
The ceremony is delivered in four parts: Birth, Teen, Adult, and Elder Years and then the Elder informed us that being it was already 100 degrees outside (and it was…whew, who needs a lodge on a day like that?) he would be using 19 rocks for our ceremony that day.
I was dumbfounded. There was that number once again following me around like an omen, a great one usually, and one of the main reasons I actually made it through the full two hours of the sweat and completed the rebirthing that you feel like you experience while inside of the lodge.
After the sweat you exit the way you came in, on your hands and knees, humbly and in a clockwise manor. I was shocked by the brightness of the light and yet felt so wonderful inside I had no words to describe the lightness I felt, the gratitude for the water I drank and the wonderful people around me, dripping wet as myself.
I wandered back to my little Matilda and Herbette, changing into dry clothes and going immediately to the showers where I did a ten minute soak and a ten minute shower and redressed again before heading back to the center with my ‘desert’ friend for the Indian Taco dinner that was made with fried Indian bread.
After the meal was finished, Mr. GQ gave me his promised tour of the grounds and I was surprised at how big the pool was and at how cool the temperature (95 degrees), with Mr. GQ telling me there was a small hot tub in the back as well as showers.
As we stood outside of the pool he asked me where I was from and when I replied I was from Everett, WA he said he had family in Washington. I asked from where and he said his Mom and Aunt were currently living in Edmonds but had moved from Everett.
I mentioned that my Mom was in Everett but she had been born in Edmonds and we both chuckled slightly until I said that I had gone home for her birthday on 12/12/12 to see her.
“My Mom and Aunt are both born on December 12th. I am December the 5th; they are the 12th but two years apart.” He said softly looking down at me as I stared up at him in disbelief.
We both fell quiet and we walked back to the building where I said I needed to go and put Herbette to bed and we hugged and I left. By the time I did put her to bed I myself was completely wiped out from the entire day, including the sweat lodge and the five or so trips I made over to the property so I never went back to the retreat but crashed out with odd thoughts in my head about the chances of finding a sweat lodge and good looking man with similarities that are too coincidental to ignore, out in the middle of the Mohave Desert.
I had set my alarm and rose early for the sunrise ceremony and found that this morning brought out about twenty people who joined hands and danced around the Elder who sang and prayed the new day’s arrival.
While we waited in the buffet line for breakfast I saw Mr. GQ under the kitchen sink with a plunger in one hand and a plumber snake in the other and then throughout the meal I saw him going in and out while he worked on the clog. I figured this was the maintenance part of his volunteering that he did to be able to stay at the property and use the facilities.
After breakfast I left again to attend Herbette and to just chill for a while until the raffle at 1:00 P.M. where ten drums that were made the previous day and various other items were to be won by lucky ticket holders.
My ‘desert’ friend won a t-shirt with the retreats name; Poo Ha Bah across the chest and the bear and eagle as the totem of the property. I unfortunately won nothing but was given a jar of comfrey suave that one of the classes had made earlier that day. I have been using the suave nightly on my back and it has done wonders and I would highly recommend it for anyone who needs relief from muscle pain and spasms.
Dinner that night was one of my favorites, spaghetti…yum! So, as I am looking around the table for a place to sit there are two chairs, one next to Mr. GQ and one next to it. I sit down next him and after a few bites of food I ask him if he grew up in Seattle being his Mom and Aunt were there and he said that his family moved from New Jersey when he was twelve and he left for California in his early twenties.
I asked him where he went to school before shoveling in a mouthful of food that I almost couldn’t swallow when he mentioned my own high schools’ name and then when on to say he was one of the first students to be segregated in the 70’s and had to bus it to the high school.
I stared at the man sitting next to me in total disbelief. He has really dark black hair, as I have mentioned, and not one strand of it shows grey, while his face with his high straight cheek bones and his angled jaw, reflected nothing of being old enough to have been part of the Seattle bus segregation, because I had been one of those students and he looked twenty years younger than me.
“No way could you have been segregated, you’re too young. I was in 9th grade when that started. How old are you?” I said dumbfounded.
When he told me he was 47 years old I thought I blushed and I believe the Elder saw me do it because he smiled at the two of us as we continued to discover how many other similarities we held.
Needless to say as the evening progressed it was very clear to me I was not meant to leave in the morning as I had planned. The Elder said that God laughs when you say you have plans, and right then I could hear Him getting a really big chuckle out of my supposed plans.
By Monday afternoon I had packed up all of my things and began this blog with the last of my electricity when I my check out time arrived. I put away my computer and put everything else away before going up to the office and returning a 30 amp electrical adaptor that held a $20 deposit I would most assuredly need, mentioning to the clerk that I had been shorted three days because of the month being so short and that being it was so late in the day (2PM) I should be able to stay another night, which to my delight and surprise the clerk said he didn’t care and let me do it.
It would have been a great ending to my last night in the Tecopa Hot Springs and Campground stay had not this overly irritating incident happened when two people decided they wanted the spot I had and the spot next to it, so they crammed two vehicles into one space, waiting like vultures, for me vacate the next morning.
I took a bike ride up to the Retreat center and was
hoping to run into Mr. GQ and talk with him some more but he and the Elder had
spent the whole day chopping wood and going into Pahrump for supplies and both
of them were very worn out. As I was
leaving them to rest and recoup after their hard day, the Elder invited me over
the next morning for breakfast. Going back to the campground and seeing the truck camper and the 5th wheel vehicle crammed up near my van and my space made me want to scream as I just went inside of my van and slept until the alarm at 0500.
I am sure I woke my new nearest neighbors when I started up my van at 0630 and drove out of there and across the street to the retreat where I found the Elder cooking up potatoes and Mr. GQ making coffee.
The Elder told me that a good friend of his needed a ‘sweat’ and they would be having a ceremony if I wanted to join them. My first response was ‘yes’ but then I began to overthink the entire thing and said I would think about it but then decided that I did want to.
Because of this decision, breakfast would be delayed until after the sweat and the Elder went out to start the fire for the stones, while the friend of the Elders’ arrived and we all went to change for the lodge.
I decided at the last minute to use the sanitation can for a last chance bathroom break and posted on the wall inside were the rules of conduct while on the property of this Shoshone retreat. It was there, written in black and white, that if I was having my ‘monthly’ I could not join in any reindeer games. I was not allowed in the pool, in the sweat lodge, in the hot tub, nothing. I was unsure if I was even allowed on the property.
Reading this rule I went to the Elder and explained that the ‘sweat’ the other day had caused my ‘monthly’ to start and I excused myself from the premises, going instead down the road a mile to the ‘mud ditch’ and did an early morning soak and prayer.
I left there and went and visited my ‘desert’ friend before trying to figure out what I should be doing. I was leaving the previous day to head back to Everett and be with my Mom and try to start over again and then I find a sweat lodge and a handsome man, both in the middle of nowhere, and I find that there are too many similarities with this man to just drive away into the desert and wonder my whole life, what if…
So, I moved my van out about a mile from the campground
to a place on BLM land where I can camp for free, next to this small ‘cool’
spring that has a concrete pool 5X5 by four feet deep, running about 90 degrees
that sits below a palm tree next to a pale blue couch that someone left
here. The place has a bad rap as being a
party place but I have only seen three old men and myself here, and I am the
only one camping.I have no idea how long I will stay here in Tecopa now that I have found this retreat that needs volunteers year round and this handsome man who has far too many coincidences with me to just turn my back on. It truly is a dilemma for me.
Until I can figure it out while Traveling Thru The Tonda Zone…Peace.
