The Cairns of Sedona

On my trip to Sedona, we hiked through a field of Cairns.

Cairns are a pile of stones set up as a landmark or monument.

My friend and fellow hiker, Christine, says they are little "heaps of intention".

I think she's right.

Each cairn marks a moment in time where a person stopped what they were doing

and intentionally set stones atop one another, sometimes creating a seemingly impossible

feat of balance.  

We walked through fields of cairns!

It was breathtaking!  

Each of us quieted down, stepped more lightly and breathed more deeply.

There was a palpable reverence about them.

I'd have been sick if I'd toppled one while tiptoeing about to photograph their beauty.

Last year I didn't notice the ones set in water . . . I think they were new.

And others that I remember, now were gone.

The impermanence of them is part of the beauty.

Nothing lasts forever.

Cairns are reminders to stay present and to notice what's around us. 

This pile was particularly impressive.

You cannot really gage the size of these three stones below,

but they are large boulders. 

Definitely the largest we'd seen....many of us talked about them

even after leaving the site. 

They inspired this painting below.

I call it "Sedona Glow".

To me, they look like little worlds piled upon one another.

I'm framing it today and will hang it in our home to remind me of

those small intentional moments - which I want more of in my life.