Kundalini and the Art of Being ... 9I immediately pulled out of my backpack all the cold-weather gear
I had. My breath was pouring out of me like a smokestack. I was
reminded of something my brother said once: “The nice thing about
being able to see your breath, is that you know you’re breathing.”
The comfort these words of wisdom brought me didn’t last too long,
as I realized that I didn’t have much in the way of cold-weather gear.
Considering that I was making my way towards Texas, I hadn’t been
thinking too much about encountering cold.
At least I did have some thin gloves, an extra shirt, a warm pull-
over and a headband, all of which helped. After re-packing and walk-
ing a short distance up the road to a better spot for cars to pull over,
I sat down my backpack and waited.
A half-hour later, about two cars had passed. I was freezing cold,
and starting to wonder if I was completely bonkers for even setting
out on this ridiculous adventure. I had no long-term plans, I had al-
ready spent most of the money I’d saved before leaving, and winter
was—at least in northern Arizona—already here. But it was a little
too late to change my course at that point, since I didn’t really have
anywhere to go back to. I resolved to make the best of it and trust
that I was somehow on the right path.
I started a ride-calling dance to help me get a ride out of there—
hopping around my backpack, letting out yips and calls, raising my
arms into the air and yelling into the silence, “Please, Great Spirit,
bring me a ride! Please, Great Spirit, bring me a ride!” over and over.
If nothing else, it helped warm me up.
Just as I was beginning to wonder if I should forget the Grand Can-
yon altogether and catch a Greyhound bus straight to Austin where
at least it would be warm, I was rescued by a couple of Deadheads,
Eric and Deirdre, and their cat Ripple (after the Grateful Dead song),
in a Ford Econoline van. I climbed in, shivering but thankful.
Eric and Deirdre were on a road trip back to the East Coast after
a terrible couple of months living in San Diego, and were stopping
by the Grand Canyon for just a few hours. They offered to take
me as far east as I wanted to go with them. But I said that I would