OCTOBER 2008
DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT NEWSLETTER
Well, two things were bound to happen this month: First, the change of seasons. The temperature two mornings ago was the lowest yet of the season: 48. It was cloudy and breezy, red and gold leaves were skimming across the porch, and Boo Radley was surely out there behind one of those trees somewhere.
Boo Radley always comes to my mind on the first cool, breezy Autumn day in October....rustling leaves, swirly clouds of gray and black, and spooky Halloween nights trekking through dark, neighborhood streets to the school gymnasium. The trees of the night harbor the most "fearsome fear" of all: the unknown...and people like Boo Radley. Straight out of To Kill A Mockingbird. 
Yesterday we went for a ride to see the Fall colors in the Chiricahua Mountains, just twenty minutes from DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT. The change of seasons is just beginning, but there should be a good show for several weeks to come.
A rare and unexpected gift! During a little R & R in the Chiricahuas yesterday, Charmayne and a white-tailed deer connected in "spirit and nature."
The second thing that had to happen was this: the Sandhill Cranes have begun to arrive in our area! The first sighting was reported just a few days ago at Whitewater Draw, arriving from their long migration from the northern United States and Canada. And you can see them, too! They will feed in the fields as close as ten minutes away from our retreat, and about 38,000 of them will eventually arrive in the next month or two at the famous Whitewater Draw and all through the Sulphur Springs Valley, and near Dos Cabezas. We are anxious to hear and see them in their annual fly over DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT in the coming weeks. And don't forget the Wings Over Willcox birding festival coming up in January. Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat is very honored to host the next Wings Over Willcox Birding Festival's featured speaker, Dr. Paul Johnsgard, January 14-18, 2009. Visit their website at www.wingsoverwillcox.com or call 1-800-200-2272.
Photo taken last year by Jon at Whitewater Draw
As the seasons change, the green is going and the brown is returning - in the moutains, in the grasslands, and in the trees. The hummingbirds are bidding adieu, and the prickly pear fruit in our yard has dropped its luscious fruit to the ground and the butterflies are not letting it go to waste.
Other items of interest this month: Pumpkin festivals at Apple Annies, www.appleannies.com; and the first annual Willcox Wine and Art Festival in Willcox. For info, visit Coronado Vineyards website at www.coronadovineyards.com; and later in the month Jon and I were invited to an old-timey hayride in the mountains with friends - complete with hay and all that good stuff!
Sunset at Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat ( a few weeks ago)
For more events in the area, check out the Willcox Chamber website at (www.willcoxchamber.com). They are terrific folks and very helpful. Tell them we sent you!
I have included below a part of the blurb from our new website. If you haven't checked it out yet, take a look at www.doscabezasretreat.com.
We hope to see all of you soon and in the meantime, may you walk in Light, Peace and Beauty.
Charmayne and Jon Samuelson
DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT
www.doscabezasretreat.com
520-384-6474
EXCERPT FROM OUR WEBSITE at www.doscabezasretreat.com:
The serene Dos Cabezas Mountains 14 miles southeast of Willcox, Arizona, and twenty minutes along Hwy. 186 to the mystical Chiricahua Mountains, are the home of the Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat guest lodging in the historic ghost town of Dos Cabezas. The village was named after the striking twin-peaked mountains (the English translation is two heads) that rise above the village. The Retreat's setting is secluded and private, and we border thousands of acres of State land.
The Retreat's private guest house is furnished with comfy sleeping accommodations, housekeeping facilities and self-serve continental breakfast supplies. We serve a hot breakfast burrito or scrambled eggs and bagels. You will enjoy complete privacy, as we host only one party at a time at the retreat. The country guest house, casita, and the owner's residence are authentic and historical adobe homes from the late 1800's and are your home base for premier birding and nature viewing, peaceful meditation, astronomy, hiking, photography, picking fruit at local peach and apple orchards and vegetable farms, and ghost towning. Our elevation is about 5,100 feet, just right for picture-perfect spring and fall weather, moderate summers and winters, and for your geo-tourism and eco-tourism adventures. The guest house shown above is dated from the mid-1800's and is rich in history. Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat is commited to the ongoing preservation of the historical integrity of these priceless adobe homes.
Today, Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat is a great home base from which to explore and experience the historical and contemporary treasures of the area. A short 10-minute drive takes you to the famous Willcox Twin Lakes birding site, and home of Wings over Willcox Birding Festival. It's a gorgeous 20-minute drive to the Chiricahua National Monument on the west side of the Chiricahua Mountains, and it's only about a 25-minute drive to the trailhead of historic Fort Bowie. Portal, Arizona, and Paradise, Arizona, known for world-class birding, are just about an hour and a half drive over Onion Saddle to the east side of the Chiricahua Mountains. And 15 minutes into Willcox you will find the rich history of the Rex Allen Museum, the Marty Robbins Museum, the National Day of the Cowboy Museum, and the Chiricahua Regional Museum which document local pre-history, history and the cowboy and ranching way of life. It is also an easy drive to famous Tombstone and Bisbee.
Willcox has become known as the best place in southern Arizona for 'pick your own' fruit and nut orchards and vegetable farms, and is rapidly establishing a reputation for quality vineyards and wine tasting.
All this and much more await your visit! As you browse our website, you will find additional information, birding lists, and tourist attractions. If you are looking for peace, nature, and the opportunity to experience the Old West the way it really was in a rustic setting, you will like our Retreat. We look forward to meeting you and hope that you will have a wonderful stay at Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat!
Dos Cabezas Spirit and Nature Retreat 1-520-384-6474
IF YOU LIKE OUR RETREAT AND THE NEWSLETTER, PLEASE FORWARD IT TO YOUR FRIENDS WHO CAN SUBSCRIBE BY SENDING US AN EMAIL. ALSO, WE ENJOY THE RECIPROCITY OF PROMOTING AND HELPING EACH OTHER BY LINKING OUR WEBSITES. JUST SEND US A NOTE WITH YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS. THE POWER OF WORD OF MOUTH (UMMM, LINKING ON THE INTERNET) IS WELL, POWERFUL! THANKS, CHARMAYNE AND JON SAMUELSON, DOS CABEZAS SPIRIT AND NATURE RETREAT.
