The Sandstorm
Chapter 1
For several weeks now, the road trips that I did with my dear friend Zeffi into the west coast of the United States has been unveiling itself to me. The Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, the Route 66 which is the one that I had wished to visit the most as a child, the truly enormous Hoover Dam and the absolutely amazing city of Las Vegas, had indiscreetly yet surely left their marks into my heart and of course into my camera.
Today, one more majestic destination was coming up. Part of the famous Death Valley, the Badwater Basin, it is one of the lowest places on the surface of the earth. This huge, old, pure and white salt flat looks exactly like the ones you can find in Bolivia. Thank God, I could see one of them from so close. Yes, I could walk on it; capture some amazing images just like the ones I could get if I was on the Bolivian Andes and why not to clear my energy most naturally. Maybe Uyuni-lake was quite far at that moment, but Death Valley was only three hours away from us.
That morning we had left the American city of lights behind us and by taking the 95th to the northwest we continued our journey in the open landscapes of Nevada. Not so weird when you are on the west coast and quiet important to mention it now, that December morning was warm and sunny. The blue sky and the clear from clouds horizon were promising the most perfect day to visit a desert. Zeffi was on the wheel and I was playing with little Chandy. We were listening to our favorite Kali mantras and we were talking joyfully about my previous night in the Gambling Capital. I couldn’t be happier. Some days before in Sedona, when I had asked her in full innocence “Is Las Vegas far from here?” Zeffi smiled at me, packed some basic clothes, grabbed under her arm our eternal Pomeranian companion and before I even said, “Hey, hold on a minute, we just came back from Monument Valley” we were back on the road!
Despite living in the USA for more than 35 years, Zeffi hadn’t been to Death Valley before. This part of the map was new for her too. That made the adventure even nicer. From the moment I had arrived in the USA, she had taken me to several places that she always takes her friends, but today she was also curious about what the day would bring to both of us. The spark of the unknown was glooming into our eyes. We were two travelers on a road trip reaching new paths and that was absolutely awesome.
Some miles before we turned to the left and entered into the state of California she said: “If we spend the whole day in the valley we should fill the car now”. Before she finished her sentence, suddenly and out of nowhere, an enormous sandstorm covered everything around us in 10 seconds. The visibility on the route 95 decreased dramatically, bushes of dry plants, just like the ones you see in the cowboy movies, started crawling very fast around us and the car was struggling to stay stable on the road! In Greece, we call this phenomenon Theominia, which means “wrath from the Gods”. It comes out of nowhere and it can certainly uproot trees, capsize boats and cars or even kill animals and people. It lasted only one minute. It seemed as if we passed through each other... Quiet shocked and before we realized what had just happened a Chevron station appeared one to two miles in front of us.
There was still some wind, but the sky was blue like it was before. We stopped and Zeffi started filling the car. I went inside to browse around and discover new funny things to buy. A week ago in Flagstaff, I had bought a hilarious Donald Trump mini doll and it became our mascot in the car for many days. Before I even said hello to the lady behind the desk, what I saw around had surprised me and at the same time revealed where we were. The whole place was full of little green aliens and several products were kind of welcoming me to the famous “Area 51”. I felt like I was back in the '80s, in Greece, reading those strange magazines with the strange names: “Inscrutable”, “Paranormal” or “Extraterrestrials”!
T-shirts, cups, bottles, hoodies, hats, bracelets, lighters, pens, glasses, everything had the very known figure of that little green alien man who “was found” in that area of Nevada some decades ago. It was amazing. Just like a child, I started touching everything. I could certainly buy some t-shirts for my nephews. When Zeffi entered in the place I was ready to pay with my credit card. Strangely enough, neither the very card in my hand nor the one in my wallet worked. Had already been in the USA for three weeks by then, and I hadn't had any problem before. “Yes, sometimes it happens,” said the lady behind the desk with a lot of indifference in her voice. Then Zeffi kindly invited to pay on behalf of me. She tried with three different cards yet none of them worked through. We looked at each other with our eyes full of conspiracy and smiled. Thank God she had some cash.
I asked her if we could shortly visit the original Area-51-Store, which was on the opposite of where we were. That place was even crazier! Here the little green man was everywhere. I bought some stickers, some magnets, and one more t-shirt. When I was ready, I approached the desk and by giving my card to the cashier, I was truly wondering if it would work... Unfortunately no. There was no way for me to pay anything at that moment. Then Zeffi insisted on trying her cards just to check what was going on. Once again, her cards were denied too. We started laughing. We paid by cash and we came out of the store to take the car and continued our journey. It was still 10 in the morning and what a relief we had fuel and a lot of food in our stock.
Thinking back, even today I cannot say surely what had really happened that day. Was the area simply disconnected for some time from the banking system or it was “the Energy of the place” like everyone hints? And what about that strong Sandstorm? To me, it felt as if somebody or something had suddenly spotted us…
Chapter 2
Well, how to describe the Death Valley… Imagine a wild combination of Iceland and Sahara desert. Think of yourself like playing in that movie with Mat Daemon, where you are lost and forgotten on the surface of the planet Mars. It is one of the warmest and driest environments on Earth. It seemed as if any form of life could survive there. Its name was certainly not given by coincidence. It was also amazingly huge and before we arrived in Badwater Basin we had been driving for hours.
We stopped in several spots. We did our stops and everything without really talking… Silent and mesmerised at the view, every now and then, one could hear us murmuring some “wow, amazing…” but that was all. By the time we entered in the zone of Death Valley, all what had happened in the area 51, the green aliens, the credit cards, even the Sandstorm had almost been forgotten. It felt like Death Valley cut our voices away. Somehow the environment imposed the silence compulsively, yet it was not something negative. On the contrary, it was rather opposite. I genuinely felt home and grounded. How couldn’t I? I was in an archaic, extremely old and pure formation of the planet. It was like travelling to another world where silence means peace with your inner self. It seemed as if I was finally in that “core of the Earth” on which I used to ground myself during my meditations...
One of the first things I learnt when I received my first initiation in Reiki Energy was the importance of salt from now on in my life. Not only as a nourishment but also as one of the greatest natural ways to clear up my energy. There are several techniques to do that. One of them is the physical contact with a big source of salt, like the sea for example.
Just imagine how I felt when, I little by little begun to perceive that we were actually approaching our destination. Impatiently and smiling like a child I took off my shoes and my socks immediately. There were some cars in the parking lot. You could see 10-15 people deep far away on the flat standing silently and exploring carefully the white surface. That natural mechanism which creates repetitive patterns in the world around us had given to Badwater Basin an image of an enormous, snow like, crystal beehive. The Fibonacci sequence at its best! It was not cold or wet. It was as if you were stepping on snow with your boots and you can clearly hear the small cracks of the crystals under your feet. It is like the best Reflexologist on Earth gives you the best therapy ever.
For the next 2-3 hours we did everything. We laughed like children, we sat down to meditate, we took hundreds of photos of us being in full happiness, we made videos for our friends in Greece, Italy, USA of course in India and several times we just split up to enjoy the endless beauty of the majestic environment on our own.
When the sun almost set we were feeling like newborns. The experience on the salt-flat was unbelievably exhilarating. Fresh, light, smiley and relieved, we returned to the car and we started driving to the south by taking a road quiet unknown to come out from Death Valley. We had sparks in our eyes and our minds were clearer than ever. It was dark, we were completely alone in the desert and the road was a bit rough. We didn’t care. We had the windows open but no breeze and no darkness could change the way we were feeling. Fresh air was softly touching our glowing skin and I felt wiser than ever before.
With my heart full of positive emotions I started a small monologue to my dear friend: “The most desired enlightenment would probably feel like that, wouldn’t it? This what we experienced today is a kind of initiation that carries us to the next level, don’t you think so? All these years, we talked again and again about disconnecting with the past; moving forward to a better quality of life exactly as we want it. I feel like this life, my life, is starting today. I feel completed, enlightened and peaceful after a long time of profound suffering. It has taken years to arrive here to this day...”
Like a man drunk of happiness, I closed my eyes and I continued: “I feel the night around me. The rocks, the sky, the colors of the sunset, the breeze, all have a meaning. Now I understand more than ever that is the current Moment we need to live for, not the past, not the future. And this moment is glorious. Ι feel invulnerable as if it was one of those very rare moments that I am part of the universal Energy. I feel connected, grounded and fluid at the same time. I am a channel and the Energy itself. I feel wise and a child at the same time”.
Zeffi was smiling. She was happy for me and of course she was in the same mood. She knew very well that it was an Initiation and that these things happen once or twice in a lifetime. She was very grateful, especially for me, her student. She knew clearly that I needed this like gift from God. My last 10 years were very difficult and although that I had never stopped believing in pure Good, several people around me had put me in many troubles and awkward situations. But today the Energy was so generous with us! Not even an hour after, that day would have the most awkward end ever.
Chapter 3
Shoshone is a tiny dot on the map in the middle of nowhere. Nobody knows it except its 25 inhabitants. If you ever search for it, it is located at the south of Death Valley. Almost lost and quiet far from all the known routes that drive you to Las Vegas, five-six houses, a gasoline station and an abandoned motel welcome you for the very basics. We entered into the small town at that certain moment that we were still reflecting around those incredible Death-Valley-positive-feelings, but at the same time we would so much love to eat something juicy and salty! Maybe a hot-dog or even better a Pizza!
We parked behind a black Van, some meters further from the gasoline station. The location was not bad at all. The palm trees, the neon signs and the orange light from the street lamps smoothly inspired me to take some pictures of that isolated, deserted place, so before we left the car I took my camera with me. Zeffi started walking towards the store. By closing the door behind me I shouted behind her: “Give me a few minutes and I will join you inside”. I had noticed a small wooden toilette next to us and before I would do anything else I wanted to make a quick visit.
At that very moment I saw him…
A strangely dressed man had just come out from the store and he was coming towards us. He probably was the driver of that black Van. Around his late 50s, short and skinny, with grey beard and a long military black coat tied in his waist, with snickers and a funny hat and by walking with big steps, he looked like he just had jumped out from a 40s, black and white, Russian movie. He had his hands almost crossed in front of his chest looking like a Kazak ready to give a dance performance! He was just a few meters away from me so I couldn’t resist raising the camera and press the button. Unfortunately, at that very moment, he turned and he looked at me. I froze and I whispered, “…shit”. With a very questioning way he said “…hello”, I felt kind of guilty and then I replied: “Hello… I am sorry… Maybe I should have asked you before… I took a picture of yours because your appearance caught my attention… But I am rather sure that it’s blurred anyway. It is very dark to have a clear photo…have a look!”
Before I finished my sentence, Zeffi came out from the store. She run to the car most probably to collect something. I could clearly see that she was really excited! With her eyes wide open she shouted: “Alex! Go into the shop now and have a look! Don’t forget your camera!”
At the same time the Russian-looking guy started approaching me and finally came so close that I could see his grey eyes. He gave me his hand and although I didn’t want to, for good manners I did the same. But then he did something strange: He softly grabbed my forearm forcing me kindly with a gesture of guidance to grab his forearm back. Then, by staring deep into my eyes he said with his east-block accent: “No! Never give the hand to a stranger. Always give the forearm. Always greet strangers by giving them a forearm handshake. Otherwise they steal your energy…”
I was shocked! Eventually he was truly Russian and how strange, he was talking to me about energies! I stood there completely surprised, unable to talk, staring back at him and smiling naively. Somewhere behind him, inside my blurry optical field, I saw Zeffi passing quickly back to the store. I wanted to say something like “hey, Zeffi” or maybe “help”, but it was impossible to evaluate the situation. In seconds, hundreds of questions bombed into my confused mind: “Who is this man? Am I in danger? Do I really need help? What are his intentions? He is smiling, but can I trust him?” And even the worst: “Is he somehow stealing my energy right now and laughing at my face by saying it so openly??” I wanted to withdraw my hand, but I thought it wouldn’t be polite… I didn’t want to show that I was scared!
Only when Zeffi fortunately shouted once again from the door: “Alex! Alex, Come! Come and see!” I finally found some courage to say in full of innocence: “Hey, I didn’t know that. Thank you for sharing it. I am sorry, but I need to use the toilet and then join my friend. As you heard she is calling me…” He smiled in full confidence and he released my arm. I said goodnight and by thinking how awkward all this was, I walked to the toilet next to me.
It was a small room made from wooden slabs without a door or electricity. Only the orange light from outside was giving some basic forms to the dark space. There, between a tiny sink and a small cubical, the one with the short doors, there was a urinal where I could finally do what I wanted since we were on the road.
By having the entrance of that little room diagonal behind me I started thinking: “God, what was that? I have to say this to Zeffi, I have to say this to Mrs. Katerina!” According to them I had a very interesting past life in Russia at the end of the 19th century and quiet often they were mentioning it into the group. They even used a Russian nickname to tease me. To make it even more bizarre, I used to have, and I still do, many strange experiences and absurd dreams that compulsively confirm all their theory!
Lost in these thoughts and not even one minute after I left the Russian Energy-Thief on the street I heard somebody approaching the toilet… I froze in the idea that it might be him following me inside that little, dark space. I heard the steps and I felt the presence of a human figure around me. I would swear that I almost saw a shadow on the dark wall in front of me. Totally stoned, I was waiting for the short door of the toilet next to me to open but it never did. I felt goose bumps on the back of my neck. I swallowed and I thought “…now what?” Seconds of eternity after, I heard the steps going out. Frightened, I turned my head around and thank God I was alone. I approached the open entrance and I had a glimpse towards the spot where my boogieman and me were holding each other. Strangely enough he hadn’t moved at all! He was fixed there, looking innocently at my side and to my astonishment in his arms there was something that I hadn’t seen before: A little black dog!
Was it the black dog that had visited the toilet? Was it that little creature that made those heavy steps and brought that big shadow on the wall? Even today it is impossible to tell so. Completely confused, I decided to avoid any other kind of contact with him. I turned my sight away from him and with mixed feelings in me I almost ran to the store where Zeffi was expecting me.
Cozy and warm, rather large and square in shape, low ceiling, made all from wood and half of it in a higher level, that store had a small living room almost in front of the desk. There, around a wooden short table with two small green colored coaches were sitting and talking silently five bald, orange dressed, Buddhist monks!
How could that be possible?!
After having passed through a huge Sandstorm, having some strange happenings in the Area 51, staying in silence for hours in that incredible “core of the Earth”, being cleared, initiated and reborn on the white salt-flat and finally meeting a strange, almost dangerous Russian guy talking to me about the energies (!), here in front of me, there were five Buddhist monks having a gathering at that time of the evening, in a gasoline station of a tiny, more or less thirty people Nevada town, in the desert, acting normally as if they were somewhere in the Himalayas. I was speechless…
Zeffi was trying to spend some time at the desk so that she could watch the surprise on my face! I looked at her and I whispered: “…what the f@#k is this?” but she was smiling back at me, teasingly and playful like Lord Ganesh… “So now you know how the Energy works”, she whispered. I nodded and I silently replied: “And I haven’t even told you what happened out there yet”.
I was so surprised that I couldn’t think of taking any photos of that scene. It was more than sure now that my previous state of being that enlightened had just escaped me. Figuring out the necessary measurements that should suit those light conditions seemed that moment like Nuclear Science. By trying not to disturb the monks any further with our in-and-outs to the store we walked out. The mysterious black Van had already gone. For the next three hours, on the way before we arrived in Laughlin city to rest for that night, we endlessly talked about that odd adventure. Full of enthusiasm and with many question marks hanging in the air we tried to catch every single detail, again and again, starting each time from the beginning. It was only then that we remembered of something that had happened that morning and together with all the rest, like a missing piece of our day’s puzzle, was completing the image:
That morning, back in Las Vegas, after that amazing breakfast in my favorite IHOP Cafe and some minutes before we reached the route 95 to Death Valley, Zeffi realized that she had lost her precious crystal mala from India. We kind of knew that it was still in her room, so we just went back to pick it up. The beautiful mala, connected with the mystic Tantric initiation that she had taken during her last trip in Maa-Kamakhya, was peacefully waiting for her under the pillow. We didn’t worry at all. With so many experiences in the spiritual path we certainly knew that these kinds of “obstacles” happen always for a reason. A delay, a misfortune, an illness or even accidents do always carry a hidden message. We, the human beings, the only thing we can do at that moment is to show our Trust to the Energy and try, if it is possible, to unveil the secret message. Now, it was so clear to us that we were doing this over and over the whole day…
I couldn’t sleep that night. In the dark room, on the bed next to mine, I could hear Zeffi breathing silently, already in the arms of God Morpheus. Without thinking and almost mechanically, I put on my trousers and my shoes, I went out of the room and I took the elevator to the ground floor. Like in most of big hotels around Nevada, in the area around the lobby there was a Casino. I smiled to the pregnant girl in the reception and I entered into an almost empty off people but bright and colourful area with high ceiling. Under the tired eyes of a few American-way-smiling employees, the green tables and the noisy, giggling slot machines were standing alone, almost sad. A type of “Love-Boat” music was escorting the scene and me, almost in a slow motion, tired and a bit sleepy; I started walking around the tables. As if I was acting in some Stanley Kubrick’s movie, I passed through five-six gamblers who were insistently betting their fortunes, again and again, to Mammon, the demon of greed. Empty eyes on tired faces, silent and indifferent, they didn’t even notice that I was there. A sweet black girl with a big smile, standing in the top of one of the tables, like another Siren from the ancient times, started calling me to do the same.
Fulfilled from the day I had, I kindly refused and I continued with my train of thoughts: “Today, the Energy was like a rollercoaster. It showed us its unpredictable face with hundreds of different ways. Fearless and merciful appeared almost everywhere and gave color and shape on aspects I could never imagine. Multifaceted, playful, absolutely divine and ready to unveil secret messages behind every single moment of our lives it is there for us as long as we keep our hearts open and believe.”
Like Odysseus, the unforgettable Homeric hero, I had just made a long journey to the unknown and now it was time to withdraw myself and without any judgments, leave those people, in that casino, have their own experiences in the way they choose. Till the moment I entered into our room and while I was closing the door behind me, I visualised several potential scenarios for most of them:
The black Siren girl finally got the text she was so much expecting and now she was happy to know that someone was thinking of her… That old lady, in one of the gambling tables, that night she succeeded to earn a big amount of money! The next day one of her childhood dreams came true: she booked a 20-days cruise to the Caribbean islands… The young waiter behind me, at the end of that week, received a positive reply from the university of Stanford and he set on a journey in the medical world… The Cowboy man, the one in the slot machines, two hours after I left, he slept for the third time that week with that young blond prostitute from Illinois that he is secretly in love with… The receptionist girl gave an easy birth; the security guy moved to Florida starting a new life; the cleaning woman I saw on the stairs got promoted…
Well, that evening, I could easily go through all that kind of thoughts, all that everyday facts giving meaning to our lives, fill our hearts with faith, hope and love and finally motivate us to keep dreaming and trying our best during our short and most of the time rather challenging passage on the Earth…
Zeffi was still sleeping. Thrilled and fulfilled with my life, I closed my eyes too. It took just a few minutes to disconnect from the real world…
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