Monday, March 16, 2009

The Place Where He Asked Us To Take Him







Sombrero Butte was one of Dad's favorite places on this earth. He said for years that once he went to be with the Lord, that his body would be just an empty vessel, with no more value, but that he'd like to be cremated and have his ashes taken up to those Galiuro Mountains where he'd spent so much time in his young body, hunting, hiking, walking with his wife, and taking in God's splendor.





Getting there brought back a lot of memories... pulling off the pavement onto that dirt road, Bunker Hill road, one more time, as we had done so many times growing up. Feeling the hard ground crushing, rocks turning under your tires, tensing your whole body in wait for the bounce that would send your head near the roof of the car, even though you are only going about five miles per hour. It's only about eight miles to the butte, but it still takes nearly an hour.



...and Sombrero Butte slowly grows as we approach, sitting where it has for so many generations of appreciating naturalists, miners, hunters, lovers and families to visit and gather and explore its landscape and each other. This was where we brought picnics and camped and hiked and hunted for deer and javelina, with rifles and bows,... and cameras.



Some of the neighbors came out to greet us as we passed by.




.. and we drove, up past the Butte, past the rancher's house, and up to the switchbacks on the big mountain, looking for what we knew we'd know when we found it.





... and we found it! A natural pinnacle, seated on West Face of what I think is Maverick Mountain (according to Google Earth).


A beautiful jutting rock, with a spectacular view of the main point, Sombrero Butte, and the vast Sonoron desert in the San Pedro river valley below. The snow still clinging to Mt. Lemon to the south-west, the town of Mammoth due west, and directly in the middle of one of God's favorite canvas' to paint amazing sunsets.





Gerry and Randy, the eloquent vocalists of the group shared stories, testimonies, and read the words of Dad's best friend, describing him, which we'll probably post on Dad's blog soon, I guess if we get permission from the author. =)



I like this picture. In the valley between the butte and the hill to the left, you can see that mountain off in the distance, where we were today, and where a part of us will stay, directing our hearts and minds as they wander back again in the years to come.





...and we had some more neighbors bid us adieu as we went back home, mission accomplished, and knowing that Dad's essence is not in his worldly, physical remains, but in Heaven celebrating God's Love, we know that still we honored him today. Honoring his wishes, and coming together as a family, and taking in the beauty of this world.



We had a positive, happy day, that concluded with dinner at the La Casita restaraunt in Mammoth, a favorite for most of us. It was always a treat when we got to eat here growin up.
(I forgot to snap some pics in Mammoth, so I borrowed this photo from a Flickr page owned by someone named fuzztooth, which I found on Google Images. It's a nice pic of the La Casita sign with the Galiuro's in the background.)

Now all we need is everybody else's photos, I didn't really get any of those of us that went, but I know we have some great family shots of everyone.

If only there were a centralized place that we could all add our photo's to, like some kind of group website or something.

Mary already put some on the Yahoo group. Cool, thanks Mary!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/14march2009/