I couldn’t pass up the chance to stay at Michael & Diana’s again so I offered to cat sit for them again, when I found out they were going to be away for 9 days. The view is just too gorgeous. Sedona has some of the same elements that Saratoga, Austin and Woodstock have – most of the places I’ve lived in – and that made them more enjoyable. It has a lot of tourists, especially this time of year, but it has a lot of the quirkiness and unconventional charm that we had found in those other places. I think I need that to bring me out of the conservative shell that I sometimes fall into. I know now I am drawn to it even though I don’t immerse myself totally into it. I guess I need it to keep me in balance. If you didn’t see my Sedona entry from last year, the most noticeable thing about Sedona is the physical beauty of the place. It is surrounded by mountains of red rocks in all shapes and forms, and Michael & Diana’s house affords views of a large chunk of them.
Diana’s fears about the cats were all for nothing. Lily, who stayed upstairs in the loft for most of my visit last year, never ventured upstairs this year. Lhotse was still pretty leary of Abbey and I, but she got better after several days. Both cats ended up lying on my lap (not at the same time, of course) when I lied down on the couch to watch TV or read. Abbey and Lily seemed to get along pretty well, even drinking out of each other’s water bowls. Diana was really tickled to find out how well the “cousins”, as she calls them, were getting along. We even found Abbey and Lily lying on the couch together a few times, or sharing a nap in the living room chairs. 
When I first arrived here the thermometer was hitting the upper 80s, which is pretty warm for this time of the year. So I started taking Abbey for hikes early in the morning. By 9 it was already too hot for her, but I think we both felt good getting back into a hiking routine. In the afternoons, when it was starting to cool down I would take her to Red Rocks Crossing which has a stream running through the middle and she could go in and cool off when she needed. Wednesday morning we did the West Fork of Oak Creek, our favorite trail from last year. The trail winds through a canyon and alongside the creek the entire way. A good part of the time we’ll leave the trail and just walk alongside, or in Abbey’s case, in the creek. She’s like a puppy again on that trail. It was the last hike we got to take for a while, though, because I came down with a nasty cold or the flu that evening. I had hoped to get out some and get some yoga in, but I pretty much didn’t do anything until Sunday when they came home. By then I was feeling human again. I felt better for a few days and thought I was about over it when I started hiking again on Wednesday and Thursday. By Thursday afternoon, though, I had gotten worse again. I guess I was a little too quick to declare my cold done. I really don’t want to get these guys sick so I plan on taking off and heading up to Page, AZ on Friday after working for the day. I guess I’ll go into isolation for a while until I’m better.
West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon
