Notes from Westwater

The family home near Minneapolis, KS is full of wonderful memories. Courtesy photo
Christmas is family. Those words decorated the plaque that our friends recently gave us, and as I put away the decorations, I pondered the importance of family, both past and present. When I was a child, my family wasn’t rich by any means. My dad worked for Dillon’s Food Chain at their warehouse in...
The remarkable vertical views in China. Merry Palmer photo
Ted always tells people I married him so I’d never get lost again. However, I was in China without him and getting lost in a strange country terrified me, so during the tour I stuck like a burr to our group. When David, our guide, handed out receivers and ear phones, he told us we wouldn’t be able...
Beautiful dancer at the Sheng Zhen training in China.  Merry Palmer photo
The Sheng Zhen participants filtered into the spacious training hall speaking German, French, Israeli, English, Filipino, Norwegian, Italian, Swiss, and Japanese. People visited, laughed, hugged, and stretched. A man walked onto the red stage without saying a word, but his presence commanded...
A beautiful stone bridge in Hangzhou China. Merry Palmer photo
raveling to China had never been on my bucket list, especially not without my adventurous hubby, so how did a country girl end up in Hangzhou, population 10 million, training in Sheng Zhen with 96 other international participants? The short answer is that I’ve been teaching Sheng Zhen classes for...
An isolated cemetery, dominated by a yucca plant, is near Perico Creek in New Mexico.  Merry Palmer photo
“Our ancestors dwell within us, as living psychic forces, shaping our thoughts, our dreams, and even our destinies.”  Carl Jung Ted, Kenidee, and I walked across the New Mexican prairieland, looking for Robert Martin Sloan, Ted’s great-granddad, buried in the Evans Ranch Cemetery. June Lofgreen’s...
A homestead site near Clayton, New Mexico.  Merry Palmer photo
Ted, Kenidee, and I slogged through the grass, scaring up hundreds of grasshoppers and dozens of birds. It was over 100 degrees, but flowers still bloomed on this rich prairie land, including ones with intriguing names such as Chinese lantern, St. Catherine’s lace, and Redwhisker clammyweed. We...
A lone rock wren.  Ted Palmer photo
Last Saturday, September 13, Ted, Kenidee, and I hiked near Recapture Wash. Rain had saturated the desert, filled the rock tinajas, and ran in the wash. Clouds massed over Blue Mountain, the sandstone bluffs, and the eastern horizon, but overhead the sky remained clear. We were looking for...
Oh, Great Creator, we lift our hearts and voices in gratitude for the rain. For many months, we pleaded for relief, months filled with burning sun and burning woods. We prayed when flames ignited near Old La Sal, scorching acres of forest and grasslands, combusting homes and businesses, leaving...
A pencil drawing of Roy Austin bears a very accurate resemblance to the actual man.  Art courtesy Merry Palmer
Hearing a loud knock, Roy Austin, 21, opened the door of his line shack, surprised to have a visitor that far from town. Before he could make out his visitor’s face, he could smell whiskey, a smell that made his stomach churn. “Hello, son.” His dad swayed from side-to-side. “Long time no see. Do...
Braylan giving bear hugs.  Merry Palmer photo
A bald-headed man erupted from his house. “You just let your dog pee on my lawn!” he shouted across his front yard. Startled, I turned to face him. “I’m sorry.” “Look at all these places where dogs have peed and killed the grass.” He swept his hand across the lawn, pointing out the yellow patches,...

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