Exploration

it really is about the journeyExploration comes in many forms. There is the art of exploring places, people, intellectual studies, and of course products. I feel to best appreciate the “art” of exploring one must first find an intellectual foothold to better understand the complexity of discovery.

Within the confines of “self” there are the many expanding horizons that result in more questions. There’s what we know, what we don’t know, and what we don’t even know to ask.

Jose Silva in his Mind Control classes teaches ways to discover human potential. This takes the form of healing, ESP, and formulating a plan for the future that is crafted by our own design. Each meditative step is a projection of what could be.

Before Mr. Silva began developing Mind Control he was a healer. Each method he experimented with produced varying results. Using your mental screen as you do in problem solving you can become a successful psychic healer. Simply by meditation and visualization you will produce an effective plan to enhance life’s possibilities which will tip the balance into the realm of accomplishment.

After discovering our limitless potential for expanding  horizons, other people will unveil themselves beyond their defensive cloak. This will create dialogue not possible before. With any unearthing of truth there is a sense of well being that is self contained and also projected beyond the conversation.

This realization isn’t only contained in ourselves. Openness to a lack of restriction means that travel can go way beyond the usual tourist paths.  Straying into places just beyond our field of vision can lead to the act or power of imagination.

This imagination results in our delving into history. History of the places we visit add a layer of understanding and interest that connects humanity from long ago to the present experience. The pictures we take of those places and people we meet bridge our “living in the moment” to the past.

Memories are a fixed internal dialague that re-enact that beautful timeless thought to a description that only gets better with time. Like a fine wine the memory ages and the representation or account of a person, object, or event becomes synonymous with a feeling we will never forget.

Scripting our journey to combine that which we can control with that which we can’t is part of the mystery. The first time doing or seeing anything is usually the best. Part of our DNA is the wonder of that which we discover under the vast topic of “exploration”.

Within the scope of this topic is food and wine. Fresh ingredients only available in a certain locale produced by a world class chef unleashes a variety of sensory thoughts. The display, texture, and taste of the meal if properly executed form a bond to the environment as a whole. The place, the skill set, the appreciation of what it takes to accomplish that rare culinary event goes beyond the scope of discovery and into the book of memories.

Equally transcendent is a wine that captivates. Difficult to produce with many layers of production and skill, the template for exceptional becomes rarefied air. Distant from the life and concern of the ordinary this experience is one to applaud and acknowledge. Getting lost for a moment in time and reflecting on the scent, color, viscosity, age, and subtlety of flavor is a tribute to the love and experience it takes to produce such a living, evolving, entity.

As you can see exploration is an acknowledgment of wisdom found. The sagacity of profound discovery becomes a chapter that adds another aspect to our ever expanding repetoire of life.

 

Living in a Park Setting, Hiking, and other Observations

 

a place that lives in your heart

Two years ago we began a build above a little town in Idaho called Orofino. Finding this property was not easy but the journey to discover its place in our hearts was worth every obstacle we faced. We then fell in love with the possibilities of purchasing this wonderful property overlooking the Dworshak Dam reservoir.

Our criteria was simple: 1. The property must have its own water supply (a well). 2. The location must be close to a hospital. 3. The location must be close to a firehouse. 4. Location needs to be relatively close to a Costco and Walmart. 5. There must be a sense of seclusion away from people, immersed in nature, quiet and peaceful.

And so after the Pandemic supply chain issues were navigated the home was finished.  We then made our way from Henderson Nevada to our new dramatic  lifestyle change to begin in June 2022. Technically I was still working at the Aria in Las Vegas as I was on a three month leave of absence. The leave was for medical reasons but really was to determine whether, once we settled in, Orofino was the right place for Nancy and I.

My leave of absence was to expire on September 1st, 2022. We quickly fell in love with the place, the people, and the park like setting. September 1st, 2022 I gave my notice for retirement.

From that point on our new life began. All in, we began the strategy to live here full time. This meant that our beautiful home in Henderson Nevada was going to have to be sold. Managing a property long distance without a property manager but with the headaches that accompany any long distance venture became an excercise in futility.

October of 2022 our home in Henderson went on the market and in March of 2023 it closed. Another chapter (16 years in that home on Pony Ranch Circle) closed and a new story to be written. One of the most beautiful parts of life is living in a story you write and not dictated by others or monetary circumstance.

Yesterday we hiked along a road on our property framed by Birch, Mapple, Pine, Spruce, and Douglas Fir trees with the sound of birds and the quiet solitude of nature around us. We came upon (in the middle of nowhere) a tree fort. This reminded me of the many tree forts we built as kids and so, of course, I climbed and viewed a spectacular view of the reservoir and a herd of Elk grazing below.

Timeless in this moment all persepective became a future fond memory living in natures catalog richly displaying its beauty and serenity . Hiking along the path from our home to the outskirts we experienced so many of nature’s  nuances.

It hasn’t been since I was a kid that I really took the time to enjoy a moment in nature like this. I used to sit on the lawn of our home in Fairfax California and watch the bees land on the clover flowers. I remember sitting there for hours enjoying the dance of the honey bees as they flew back to their hive after pollinating the little white blooms.

Even in the darkness of winter this place is magical. Watching the deer, elk, and other creatures graze in the meadow below our home is mesmerizing. Its like living in an aquarium without fish. Viewing all of this from a solarium captivates our senses and enhances our connection with all those living things that pass along our viewing spectrum.

The colorful sunsets in our field of vision project a band of colors, as seen in a rainbow, produced by seperation of the components of light by their different degrees of refraction according to wavelenght, distance, and scale. The changing subtlety of this display is in full exhibit every night as the sun sinks and the stars rise upon the canvas of darkness.

Travel seems to be on the horizon for us. However, with each trip we come back to the reality of our situation. We are truly blessed to be in a play that we’ve written acted out on a stage we’ve built in an environment we love.

 

 

 

Leaving Las Vegas

This week marks the end of an era as we have sold our home in Henderson Nevada. We had some wonderful times witnessing  world class entertainment which included: Paul McCartney, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Tony Bennett, Smokey Robinson, The Beach Boys, The Moody Blues, David Copperfield, All the Cirque du Soleil shows… and much more.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also include the restaurant experiences: Guy Savoy, Jean George Steakhouse,  American Fish, Bouchon, Fleur de Lys, Fiamma, Craftsteak, Sinatra at the Wynn, Daniel Ballou at the Wynn, Bartolotta at the Wynn, Nine Steak House at the Palms, Hanks at the Green Valley Resort, T-Bones at Red Rock Casino, Prime at the Bellagio, Michael Mina at the Bellagio, Commanders Palace at the Aladdin Casino, and Postrio at the Venetian. There were many more but this gives you a sampling of the hospitality industries commitment to excellence in Las Vegas.

In September 2002 I moved to Las Vegas with Nancy. When we moved there the following structures were built after we arrived: Highway 215, The Wynn, Encore, City Center, Green Valley Casino, The Linq Hotel and Experience, Red Rock Casino, Resort World, T-Mobile Arena (Hockey (the Golden Knights) and entertainment center, The Las Vegas Ball Park (home to the Las Vegas Aviators), The Raiders Stadium,  and a myriad of housing developments too many to mention.

Through-out this experience we were blessed to begin in an apartment and end up in a dream home in Henderson. I worked with world class chefs as a captain/server and even got my Sommelier certificate. Along the way we traveled in close proximity to Las Vegas visiting Cedar City Utah, St. George Utah, San Diego, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Los Olivos, Santa Ynez, Solvang, Buelton, Sedona Arizona, Jerome Arizona, Prescott Arizona,  Scottsdale Arizona, The Grand Canyon Arizona, Zion National Park Utah, and Bryce Canyon Utah.

We lived a wonderful life in the Las Vegas area and were truly blessed to be apart of and witness its meteoric rise in hospitality and entertainment. Walking through the Wynn before it was completed and being apart of its opening was magical. Then I was fortunate enough to open the Aria at the City Center. Along the way we met some incredible people that have added so much to our lives.

Working with world class chefs and master sommeliers was an added bonus. The depth of learning and commitment to excellence enhanced by the lavish surroundings provided by the Casino operators lifted our appreciation of the experience to an unequalled footing with the worlds best. No where else in the entire world could you see an NFL game, have an unparralleled dining experience, and then sleep in luxory befitting any VIP within a 10 block radius.

This, not to mention the energy on the Las Vegas Strip which culminated with New Years Eve. One Million people on the Strip closed to traffic that day with an amazing firework display witnessed by the entire world. People from all over the world came to be apart of an event they would never forget. Truly an experience by which all others would be judged.

Now, for the next chapter Nancy and I have moved to Idaho. There couldn’t be two more extreme environments. Vegas with its selfies and the catch phrase, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” to the solitude of the wilderness.

The next chapter will involve travel, very special time with family and friends, and the hobbies put off due to businesses and work. Actually embracing the secluded spacial consciousness and taking time to enjoy without the thought of anything but peace and quiet. And so it begins.