"I walk with beauty around me."

The Navajo people have long shared the concept of walking in beauty, the idea of being at peace within oneself and in harmony with the world around us. Here in Kayenta, in the middle of the Navajo Nation, the lines of the Beauty Way can be taken quite literally. Since we moved here at the end of September, we have been surrounded by a rare kind of stark, raw beauty that can be breathtaking. 

In our "side yard" is the famous Black Mesa--famous (at least in this part of the country) because the Navajo and Hopi have both claimed it as a holy place for eons, black for its rich seams of coal. "With beauty before me, may I walk."

​​

With Monument Valley only twenty miles away, we are very near one of the world's beauty epicenters. These images were taken just a few miles from our home:

​​

"With beauty all around me, may I walk."

"I walk with beauty around me."

​​

"With beauty above me, may I walk."

"I walk with beauty above me."

​​

​​

 "I walk with beauty around me."

"With beauty all around me, may I walk. In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.  ...My words will be beautiful."





Susan Aylworth and her husband, Roger, are full-time missionaries serving in the Navajo Nation. They have recently moved to Kayenta, Arizona where they run addiction recovery programs. Susan is the author of fourteen novels with a new series beginning early next year. Find her work at Amazon or on other e-book platforms, also at www.susanaylworth.com. You may reach her @SusanAylworth on Twitter or at susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com. 

A few small adjustments

On the last Saturday in August, my husband and I arrived in Kayenta, Arizona. We have come here, to the heart of the Navajo Nation, to work in an addiction recovery program called The Good Way. We are already learning to love it here, but there are a few differences between our new home in Kayenta and our former home in the Sacramento Valley. We are making some small adjustments.

For one thing, we are adjusting to an entirely different kind of natural beauty. Our former home was surrounded by brilliant green rice fields and peach orchards. Here we are less than a half-hour's drive from both Mexican Hat and Monument Valley.






  In California, our garage was about four feet above street level. We had a nice, smooth concrete driveway that rose gradually from one level to the other.

Here the street above our home is substantially above our home--about fifteen feet or perhaps a little more. Our driveway is somewhat different as well.

The cattle guard at the bottom is also a difference. Here the livestock roam freely while the people are fenced in.



Our little city car is getting used to driving on pitted dirt or gravel roads as well.



Our living space is also somewhat smaller than we had grown accustomed to. How much smaller? We are living in half  of the building shown below. We have decided to call it cozy.

  

Much is different here on the Navajo Nation. We are adjusting to the weather as well. (When the wind blows here, it really blows! Dust storms are common.)


We are getting used to driving two hours in one direction or three in another to get anywhere with major shopping centers, but that's okay too. Everyone here does that--unless they're shopping in the Kayenta Township flea market, open every Wednesday.

Much is indeed different, but people here have been wonderful, warm and kind. We are learning to "walk in beauty," a reference both to the Navajo Beauty Way and the sandstone formation just above our home, known locally as The Toes.

May you also walk in beauty.

Susan Aylworth and her husband, Roger, are full-time missionaries serving in the Navajo Nation. They have recently moved to Kayenta, Arizona. They are the parents of seven and grandparents to twenty-five. Susan is the author of fourteen novels. Find them at Amazon or at other e-book platforms or at www.susanaylworth.com. You may also reach her @SusanAylworth on Twitter or at susan.aylworth.author@gmail.com.