BY Heather Zollman

Learning from history, as well as our own past is powerful my friend. 
My journal entry on this Sunday…

I sat on my rock (in front of our deck) to sun gaze after a walk to the creek.  It is not easy! 
When I allowed myself to stare without blinking, visions came through and around the sun. 
This was so strange, because my eyes were open! 
Through the red ring around the sun, a Native American woman on a horse was clear. 
Then, many Native American women. 
This happened within seconds. 
The vision was beautiful! 
I truly believe in the power of the red rock and the magical spirits that dwell here!

Bryan and I pulled cards this morning from the new Native Spirit deck I bought from the Mystical Bazaar in Sedona. 
They are stunning! 
I pulled the Elder card which brought me to tears.  It was all about being a leader, stepping into my power and light. 
Every card I have gotten talks about being a leader. 
Confidence. 
Standing strong. 
Speaking my truth. 
Being a leader can be emotionally, mentally and physically exhausting…and beautiful! 
I love what I do and my work in this world. 
I let myself feel everything AND also need to allow release for myself. 
My health challenges, weight gain and hormonal shifts in the midst of menopause have brought up a lot of emotions for me. 
What will people think? 
Why in the world would they listen to me when I can’t get my own shit together? 
I am uncomfortable in my body right now. 
Being TRULY confident in what I know, who I am and in my work and the work around these feelings will help me shed these insecurities. 
Or is it vice versa? 
I have to find a way to release the damaging beliefs and own who I am in this season of my life.  
And this my friends, is why I find pulling cards to be POWERFUL. 
Messages from nature.  They make you think…every time.

Today we went to the town of Jerome. 
There is no way to fully describe this unique, tiny town at the tippy top of a mountain so that you get a visual of what it truly is, but I will try. 
First of all the drove up…scary. 
We started by reading up on the old mining/ghost town in the mansion/museum. 
We were not prepared for what came next. 
We continued to drive farther up to the point, not knowing that there was anything waiting at the top. 
We then entered an actual town, bustling with activity. 
Apartments, houses, restaurants and shops literally hanging off the side of the mountain peak. 
No joke! 
We parked and set out to explore this weird place, built into the rocks of the mountain, totally intrigued. 
You all…It was a BLAST! 
Every shop we went into was more unique than the last! 
Artists everywhere! 
It seemed to be that most shop owners moved there after retiring and opened their place as a hobby. 
Two places stood out most to me. 
One shop had 2 very different sides to it. 
One side was a woman artist show- casing her beautiful paintings all in bright colors. 
The other side was occupied by her husband. 
It was dark and had vintage video and arcade games in it. 
They were artists that previously worked in CA….

The other (my favorite store) was called Ghost Town Girl. 
It was run by a sweet lady with a pair of cute teal Converse shoes, dress and jean jacket. 
We stayed for a while and chatted about life. 
This was her post retirement project as well. 
Her store was filled with tie dyed items, pins with cute sayings, art and what got me the most…an “Ew David!” shirt. 
Schitt’s Creek lovers…you know where I’m coming from. 
I felt like we had just made  a new friend and got my picture taken with her before we left. 
(This was April 2020 and masks were required.) 
We left Jerome thinking…what world had we just entered and left? 
It was awesome!

Next, we traveled back to our home-town (as it felt now), Camp Verde, to visit Montezuma Castle National Monument…a five story, 20 room building built into limestone. 
This was where I fell in love with the Sycamore Tree. 
As a little girl, I used to sing a song about a Sycamore Tree in Sunday School…
Zacchaeus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he. 
He climbed up in a Sycamore tree to see what he could see (which I now cannot get out of my head)…
although I had never seen one in real life. 
Friends, they are regal, powerful and majestic! 
You have to see one in your lifetime. 
Montezuma Castle looks like an early form of apartment buildings, carved into rock that housed many Native American families. 
The Castle sits on the bank of the Verde River, which is lined with Sycamores. 
The pathway leading around these beautiful sites had Native American flute music playing which further led you to feel as if you were in another time. 
You could almost see women going to the river for water, children playing and the men returning from a hunt. 
The feeling of connection and community was overwhelming as we learned about the Sinagua Indians that inhabited this mysterious place. 
We were on this vacation in April of 2020, amidst a pandemic and a time when there was so much divide in America. 
It tugged at my heart and I felt…we need to return to community and connection. 
And not the online kind.

My journal entry portion on the end of this day…

After visiting Jerome and Montezuma Castle, we returned to our little cabin. 
We went for a walk along the creek, over fallen trees, on rocks and came to a water hole down a ways from our site. 
It sat in the middle of limestone and rock and it was BEAUTIFUL! 
There was an extended family having a birthday party picnic. 
We struck up conversation with a young dad and ended up playing with his 2 young children, a boy and girl named Obe and Ava. 
Obe was 3 and Ava 5. 
They were super friendly and picked rocks with us…it was adorable…and made us miss our children who are well past these ages. 
Bryan is so great with kids! 
He also really enjoys learning other people’s stories and asks EVERYONE where they are from! 
This is one of the things that makes him such a great writer/reporter.

We settled in to our cozy cabin for the night after our adventures feeling extremely grateful for…

Learning historical facts about groups of people, how they thrived as communities and did life together.

Experiencing art and hearing people’s stories.

Connecting with a young family…especially Obe and Ava.
Feeling connected in how we are all doing our best to live, experience and thrive in this wild ride of life.

We were definitely loving the vibe and flow of being in this magical place. 
Also excited for tomorrow to have a personal session with Rahelio at his home and visit Chapel of the Holy Rock and Cathedral Rock. 
The spiritual impact felt the next day…I wasn’t even close to prepared for it.
 Continue with us on the journey in Part 8:  SPIRIT.