About me.         About nothing in particular.          What I used to do.          What I've been up to.         Next?
...lots to do. I am shifting gears from Creative Director of Skip's Big Ideas design studio to the "Writer / Artist" at my Lonesome Gulch Creative Arts Studio. Moving out of the ad biz, on to finishing my book(s) and to a focus on my Southwest crafts made from sticks, stones, leather and feathers, 
   Looking forward to moving forward! For now, this page / site is still very much under construction. Like I say, "Lots to do." For now, be well, be happy and "Be Peace... and Shine On!"
A quick story about how "Lonesome Gulch" got its name. When I was a little boy I wanted to grow up to be a hermit and live in a small cabin in the woods. I think I must have been a little bit inspired by my friend Charlie Chambers. Well, I finally built that little cabin, but in the New Mexico desert, actually. My wife Zenda and I had bought some "cheap dirt" -- forty acres of remote desert scrubland -- in what is called the "bootheel" of New Mexico, about ten years ago. We had plans to build our retirement home there. But life had different plans. When Zenda was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, we realized that our land was a bit too remote, dry and dusty for us to live there. So I built the little cabin (above) for us, instead. It took me 16 months to build. And during the time I was building it, alone out there with just the stars, a campfire and the coyotes howling, I would park our F-150 about 200 yards from the site, and just camp there while I worked. It was lonely work, and I missed Zenda dearly while out there, so I named the spot where I camped, "Lonesome Gulch." Even made a little sign to go with it! (We have since had to sell the place, but I kept the sign!) We named practically everything back then. Called the cabin site "Coyote Howls," actually.) But now that I spend my working time at my computer at home in my studio, the name kind of stuck, what with the "lonliness" of creative work and all, so that's how the writing and art studio where I work today got to be named "Lonesome Gulch." (I miss those coyotes!)

next ...
home
"We share one sun, one moon and one earth.  Let us live together as one people."
-- John Two-Hawks
... a
work in progress?
home page
writing
art work
email me
Aren't
we all?
Welcome
to the
home page
of my new
website!
My website about art, writing, life, love, family, laughter, nature, photos, creative stuff, and other random musings...
Photo of the moment...
photograph by Jennifer Shetrom
Bring on the healing energy
We hear a lot about "healing energy" these days. Good vibes. Meditation. "Being mindful of being mindful," as my sweet wife Zenda likes to put it.
We try to be as open, peaceful, and attuned to the Universe as we can.

It's all part of our "new normal." Here we are, in our 60's, wondering how it happened so fast, and yet, we have to be focused on present circum-stances more than ever before, and deal with health challenges and tight budgets and just getting by day to day. As Dr. Alan Gettis says in his new book, "It's All Part of the Dance."

Yes, we've had to learn a few new steps over the past several years! And we have learned, too, that, just about the time you get adjusted to your "new normal," along comes a NEWER "new normal!" And there you are... dancing!

As a caregiver to Zenda, as she very courageously continues into the sixth year of her journey with cancer, I've had to make some adjustments... like calling it quits with my freelance ad and web design business. I need to be staying closer to home these days and to be here for my wife.

No problem, really, in the bigger scheme of things. I love her dearly and she is my number one priority. But as I stick closer to home, I am finding new ways to use my creative talents, like gardening, Southwest crafts, writing, and exploring new ways to "work" on the web. It keeps me busy.
  
I've just recently created a page about growing citrus from seed, just as a distraction from other challenges.
(CLICK HERE for my photo essay on
growing your very own citrus trees.)

Meanwhile, let me introduce you to this page, my most recent website, by explaining the odd name, "Lonesome Gulch." That was the name I gave to my campsite during the 16 months it took me to build a tiny cabin on a remote piece of land in New Mexico. I even built a rustic little sign to mark the spot, as you can see in the picture.

The cabin has since been sold and the sign is now leaning against a wall in the garage. So "Lonesome Gulch" has now become more of an "idea" to me than an actual place. Or more of a "state of mind." Although there is an actual "Lonesome Gulch" in Oregon, and another in Colorado. (May want to go visit those places someday!) But...
for now, we need to stick a little closer to home. And focus on healing.

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning."
- Albert Einstein

I learned a lot from the experience of building that little cabin. And from just being out there in the remote "wilds."
It gave me time to think. And it taught me that I could do a lot more than I'd thought I could. (Never built anything like that before. And never spent so much time alone in the desert with just the coyotes and the stars.)

So, now, when I'm "building" some new thing, be it a web page, writing a chapter for my book, or working on a craft item, I remember my experience at Lonesome Gulch. How, if I really applied myself and my energies, I was able to build something that maybe I had never done before, and maybe it took a lot of effort and time to do, but in that focused state of mind I am able to just get into it and get it done.

So, in the bigger picture, my focus is on helping Zenda. Helping her to find healing energy, whether from her chemo, to acupuncture, or in healthy
nutrition or meditation. That's my new "effort." Learning about healing energy and applying what I (we) learn along the way to our growth and health, be it physical, mental, or spiritual.

So this web page is a journey in
itself. Not sure where I'm heading with it, but searching. And learning. I hope that, by sharing my search, it becomes an inspiration to others in their own search for healing and growth. This much I can say: We have both been incredibly fortunate and blessed in our journey to healing. For that we are as thankful as we can be.

Sometimes it's nice to be able to just pause and regroup and remind ourselves how blessed we really are.

(March 2011 -- to be continued...)

Meanwhile, please visit my last years BLOG -- "I'm Goin' For It!" and catch up with my 2010 musings. (New blog coming out soon!)

Please feel free to email me and to share your own thoughts and your experiences. I'm not to busy to write back.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
- Albert Einstein



Healing Energy "image" by Skip Treaster
For some it's a few crystals.
Or maybe a rattle and drum.
Some find feathers "sacred."
Or find it in salt rock crystals.
I find a tremendous amount of healing energy in Nature.
So what is "healing energy?"
For many, healing energy comes from a Higher Power.
And from a Higher Power.
The "chakras" of reiki healing energy. We are energy, right?
My baby shoes... over 60 years old... another healing story!
Blue Collared Lizard
photo by Skip Treaster
(CLICK ON PHOTO)
Copyright 2011, Skip Treaster, Mesa, Arizona. All rights reserved. My new website about art, writing, life, love, family, laughter, nature, photos, creative stuff and other random musings. Read my blog! Skip’s Big Ideas, ad biz, advertising, Lonesome Gulch, Lonesome Gulch Creative Arts Studio, how to, creative, design, Southwest crafts, writer, artist, Peace, one people, website, art, writing, life, love, family, laughter, nature, photos, creative stuff, random, musings, healing, healing energy, Good Vibes, new normal, meditation, 60’s, peaceful, cancer, journey, gardening, growing citrus, building, build a cabin, Einstein, photography, coyotes, stars, desert, experience, remote, wilds, higher power, healing in Nature, photographer, illustration, collared lizard, chakras, Reiki, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, tiny cabin, piece of land, rustic, mark the spot, odd name, sacred feathers, rattle, drum, sign, citrus trees, talents, bigger scheme of things, caregiver, focused, health challenges, mindful, mindfulness, attuned to the Universe, attuned, sun, moon, earth, basics, sticks, stones, be peace, shine on
I had an very early childhood experience with healing, in fact, as I was born with a clubbed left foot. Fortunately, it was corrected while I was still learning to walk.
But I can remember having a lot of difficulty walking up or down stairs. I wore a brace and special "clodhopper" shoes. So I was born "crippled" and went on to be a track star. I'm a lucky "kid!"
Headin' out to Lonesome Gulch.
(Turns out there actually was an historic "Lonesome Gulch" in Arizona, too, near the mining town of Jerome. Had to be, eh?)
Hope.
"No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again."
- Buddha
"Exhilarate in the power and joy that created you.
You are magnificent Beings of  Light who deserve only the   very best."
- The Akumon
Zenda walks the labyrinth at Spirit Tree.
"We are designed by the Creator to walk the Sacred Path of life, and realize that our mistakes are the source of lessons. These lessons give us our wisdom."
- Dr. A.C. Ross (Ehanamani), LAKOTA
"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." - Dr. Seuss
A prayer for Zenda's healing
to Kehci Manito -- the Great Spirit of the Meskwaki tribe,
"The People of the Red Earth,"
her ancestors' tribe.

Speaking of websites... one of my last
Big Ideas projects has been to design
a website for an awesome photographer of horses, cowboys, rodeos and more.
Please check out Ann's photograhy at
www.AnnMulchayPhotography.com!
NEWS FLASH...
September 2011
Lewistown,Pennsylvania,
icon, Charlie Chambers,
known in the 1940's and
1950's for a horse-drawn
"junk wagon" has recently
been seen on Facebook
and the World Wide Web
courtesy of this awesome
photo from Mordine Beers'
old photo collection.
      Charlie used to ride
down the alley behind my
childhood home. Not in
my wildest dreams did I
think I would ever "see"
my old neighbor Charlie
again! (And I'm sure that
Charlie would never have
imagined showing up in
the future on something
called the "Internet.") The
"original recycler" rides
again! You go, Charlie!


"Pioneer Recycler" Charlie Chambers, photo courtesy of Mordine Beers
Excuse my mess! Reworking my website from here down...
stop by again, soon! Thanks!
Check it out!
This website
has been to
almost every
continent!
(This photo overlooking "Lonesome Gulch" was taken from the doorway of our llittle Coyote Howls cabin.)
Native American-style
Medicine Rocks Bag.
Photo Art -- I enjoy working with PhotoShop
to creative fantasy images, such as us on a
"dream" homestead somewhere in Oregon...
I also like to create
my own bookmarks...