Seven Years in Sedona

I have lived seven years in the red rocks of Arizona.  More accurately I (my wife and I) have worked seven years in Sedona.  The hospitality industry is just about the only industry in town, except for real estate.  I have been asked a few times what it's like to live in this area.  My answer always is, "This place is great, if you have money."  Ten dollar an hour jobs in hotels or resorts don't make the nut and food prices can be extreme.  Some items are double in price compared to other parts of the country.

Sedona is a high point in the upper Sonoran Desert.  Pressed against the base of the Mogollon Rim the town is connected to Flagstaff by Oak Creek Canyon.  Strong winds and cold air funnel down the canyon from the San Francisco Peaks.

In Woo-Woo land Sedona is like Mecca.  There are vortexes, sweat lodges, psychics and massage therapists.  A few people still walk down the street in white robes and beads pushed up their derrieres (don't ask). 

Time-share has a large presence in Sedona. There is money to be made and high pressure salesmen to destroy the ambiance of this beautiful burg.  I have it in good stead that Kachina spirits stand over 89A and block all the bad energies billowing from timeshare sales rooms. 

The very wealthy of Sedona live in privilege and seclusion behind gates and the red rocks.  Celebrities such as Sharon Stone and Steven Seagal have homes here.  The Hollywood presence here is always socializing for some important cause.  The last one showing up in the Red Rock News was Jane Seymour mixing promotion for her Camp Soaring Eagle (for children with serious illnesses)with Open Heart Designs at Kay Jewelry.

Above all Sedona is the red rocks.  Some have recognizable shapes like Snoopy rock, Elephant rock, and Cathedral rock.  (There is probably no need to mention the rock shaped like a dildo.)  The topography here inspired Walt Disney to fashion parts of his theme parks as well as segments of his animated features in the image of the red rocks.

The word “Sedona” is not a Spanish term but the name of a woman.  Sedona Schnebly was the wife of the first post master in the region. 

We moved here from Madison, Wisconsin after an illness forced us to seek a warm, dry climate for our daughter.  The big question was what were we going to do after our arrival?  The tentative answer was work for a time-share resort; like everyone else. 

Karin and I both worked as off property concierges (OPC's) which meant we manned booths located throughout Sedona.  Ads stenciled on the booths offered free maps and information.  It was our job to coerce visitors into taking a tour and a sales pitch from a timeshare property.  Personally it was an intense learning situation.  For this job to be profitable a prospective tourist has to be entertained.  Everything must sparkle, especially me.  So it was jokes and information, smiles and rapport.  Most important one has to persist.    

We started in the hospitality industry and unfortunately we are still struggling there.  At least I am.  The hospitality industry can be inhospitable to the people it depends upon for day to day operation.  Management is often coarse and domineering.  Corporations want to make money and they want to pay employees as little as possible in that pursuit. 

Karin lost her job in the great recession of 2008.  She managed to acquire a Pell Grant and went to film school on the government dime while collecting unemployment.  Now great energy is being poured into building a film production company.  We have award winning scripts but no money to produce them.  So we buy lottery tickets and pitch ideas to anyone who will listen.  There has to be money and interest out there somewhere.

I try to stand next to wealthy people in their expensive cars at local music festivals and air shows.  I'm hoping their money will rub off on me.  I haven't seen Nicolas Cage yet.  He lives here and is known to frequent grocery stores in the middle of the night.  Sometime soon I hope to see him while prowling Safeway.  When I do I'm going to give him a pitch and a treatment. 

Until then send us some good thoughts and money vibes if you can spare any.  We're getting old and tired, but miracles happen.