An Accident, A Burglary and Many Knights in Shining Armor, by Johanna Mosca, PhD
As Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times and the worst of times.” After spending a deeply peaceful six weeks in Oceanside, CA, meditating at gardens on a cliff above the ocean and taking long beach walks, I came home to Sedona for a wonderful Christmas dinner with my favorite yoga teacher and some friends. I then led a custom retreat for a lovely lady named Patricia with some great people joining our hikes each day. After one very uplifting hike (Aren’t they all!) on Dec. 29th, I stopped in at the Sedona Chamber of Commerce to visit with the Chamber ladies. While I was chatting with two of them, a woman appeared at the open office door and told me she had hit my car and we had to exchange information.
Well, I was so mellow after my hike and my six-week vacation that I did not register any upset, but simply told her that I would be out in a few minutes. So I promptly finished my meeting and calmly went to see that the back door of my van was smashed in along with the bumper. I did my best to soothe this distraught woman was quite naturally upset over having rear-ended my car when she backed up from her parking space.
We filled out the insurance company information and copied her driver’s license and registration. Then I thanked her warmly for notifying me instead of letting it be a hit-and-run, and I gave her a big hug. When she left, I thought to myself that this was a good opportunity for the Universe to fix those scratches and scrapes I had made on the side of the bumper. I stopped at Vince’s Auto Body and they told me that it would entail at least four days and that her insurance company would pay for it.
I was quite pleased that all I felt was gratitude, and this incident really did not cause a problem. So I went about leading my retreat hikes with more lovely people and said farewell to Patricia. The car accident was on a Monday and it was the very next Monday, January 5th, that I took a lovely family of five from Costa Rica on a hike to a plateau on Bell Rock. I was a little apprehensive about leading a meditative experience when I found that family members had to translate everything I was saying for the mother to understand. I can remember surrendering to God and asking for help as we spread our yoga mats in a circle on Bell Rock.
Well, it was wonderful! I had them scan thoughts, feelings and body tension and let it all go and guided them to breathe in trust, compassion and peace. Then I guided them to ask God what messages they should know about at this point in their journey. We followed this with silence and affirmations. At the end, I had the family hold hands in a circle and each in turn expressed his/her gratitude and prayers for each other with tears streaming down everyone’s faces. I was amazed when the nine-year-old boy said– “I am so happy to be a part of this family” – and started to cry.
So, feeling the bliss and joy of the moment, we all thanked God and headed down the hill to the bathroom. I opened my trunk to put away the mats, and it was a while before we saw that the passenger side window had been smashed and there was glass all over the dash board and seats. I was kind of in shock but still with clients and they helped me call the police and my credit company to cancel my Visa. They were all extremely supportive as we waited almost two full hours for help in the cold air.
I called 911 twice and then the police station, which told me that Bell Rock was not in the policed area so the call had gone to the sheriff’s office. Finally, someone came from the sheriff’s office and told me that it was not his jurisdiction, something about his being a Yavapai County deputy and this was a Coconino County district. Anyway, he took three of my clients to their hotel to get their car and left me with the other two.
In about twenty minutes, he returned and told me that Coconino County was not sending anyone so he would take the information. He was very kind and helped me by taking the glass out of the window and the car. With a blanket covering the window so that glass would not fly into my face, I headed home, shocked. No purse, no credit cards, no driver’s license and registration, no cell phone with all of my contacts, no eye glasses, etc., not to mention the missing cash and other credentials.
It took days to get a new credit card and debit card, purchase a new phone and start to insert numbers, and I kept hoping that whoever did this would toss my purse somewhere so I could get my seamless bifocals back. I prayed to have the pocketbook returned and imagined how happy I would be to have my glasses. While I was grateful to that family and officer, I was somewhat shaken by the feeling of violation.
Funny thing about insurance. It’s a catch-22. The contents of the car fall under home insurance. On my policy, there is a $500 deductible for an incident. My fabulous agent Lori advised me that the insurance company would take away my “no claims discount” and I would then have to pay about $50 more for the insurance. We decided that it was not worth reporting and I would just take the loss.
About a week after this burglary, there was an ad in the paper that the sheriff’s office had arrested two men from Cottonwood, the town below Sedona, who were caught driving away with stolen contents in their car after a car’s rear windshield was seen smashed. The sheriff told me that they two men who were caught had a record of similar prior offenses and would probably be incarcerated for quite a while. I wonder if they were the ones who took my purse. I like to think that they were the ones because they got away with the spare key to my car that I hide in my purse.
While my car was in the bodywork shop, I had a free rental of a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan van with unlimited mileage that I was able to use for a quick run to CA and back without putting the miles on my van—how lucky is that! As life went on, I embarked on another Sunday hike with a group of sisters for Marti’s birthday. We had such a grand time that we turned the 3-hour hike into a 6-hour hike. Part of that was due to a half hour of surgery removing cacti from Marti’s bottom—that’s another story I can tell if you are interested.
When I got home from the full day hike, delightfully exhausted, there was a phone call from a man named Duncan in the Village of Oak Creek. He asked for Dr. Johanna Mosca to call him as he had found a purse while hiking on a trail about 25 minutes from the Bell Rock parking lot. Naturally, I immediately drove to his home to get my bag and found that it still contained my old phone, my $400 seamless bifocals, a checkbook (they are not interested in checks) and some expensive make-up. The strap had been badly chewed up, probably by coyotes. I thanked Duncan for going out of his way to pick up the stuff he had found scattered around my purse and for calling me. I offered to give him something for his trouble and he said that was not necessary for he was happy to help.
Well, I still have to replace my CA driver’s license and registration (which I need to be in CA to do). Lori, my insurance agent, told me to stay out of parking lots on Mondays! I have a sense of vulnerability that was not here before. It was a wake-up call to reality, rousing me from the sweet little yoga bubble I live in—often not locking the house or the car and not thinking that anything bad is going to happen to me. That day on Bell Rock, we went from a sublime feeling of connection to God as we did yoga on the mountain and came down to the reality that there are some people who do bad things in the world. I learned that I have to remember that and be more cautious (but not fearful) in order to protect myself.
Now, I am a bit more cautious and feel much gratitude for the good people in the world. First, I am grateful to the lady who hit my car and showed up to tell me about it. Then I am thankful to that marvelous family of hikers for being so supportive of me as we all stood in the cold waiting for help. And of course, my appreciation extends to the deputy who finally became my “knight in shining armor” for taking such good care of me. I am thankful to the sheriff’s officers who caught the bad guys. And last but not least, I am grateful for the kindness of the hiker who found my purse and was more into helping that getting a reward.
As they say—“All’s well that ends well!” What does it all mean? Am I being tested? It’s easy to be calm when all goes smoothly. The test to pass is to remain calm when the drama comes. These incidents will definitely appear in the Sedona soap opera I am planning to write one day. Is the Universe corroborating my decision to spend more time in California? What is there to learn? Don’t leave anything visible in the car that can be stolen; make a back-up of telephone numbers just in case; make sure you do lock your door every time you go out; remember to focus on the good and heal any bad feelings; and know that not everyone has high integrity, just most of us.
Well, I was so mellow after my hike and my six-week vacation that I did not register any upset, but simply told her that I would be out in a few minutes. So I promptly finished my meeting and calmly went to see that the back door of my van was smashed in along with the bumper. I did my best to soothe this distraught woman was quite naturally upset over having rear-ended my car when she backed up from her parking space.
We filled out the insurance company information and copied her driver’s license and registration. Then I thanked her warmly for notifying me instead of letting it be a hit-and-run, and I gave her a big hug. When she left, I thought to myself that this was a good opportunity for the Universe to fix those scratches and scrapes I had made on the side of the bumper. I stopped at Vince’s Auto Body and they told me that it would entail at least four days and that her insurance company would pay for it.
I was quite pleased that all I felt was gratitude, and this incident really did not cause a problem. So I went about leading my retreat hikes with more lovely people and said farewell to Patricia. The car accident was on a Monday and it was the very next Monday, January 5th, that I took a lovely family of five from Costa Rica on a hike to a plateau on Bell Rock. I was a little apprehensive about leading a meditative experience when I found that family members had to translate everything I was saying for the mother to understand. I can remember surrendering to God and asking for help as we spread our yoga mats in a circle on Bell Rock.
Well, it was wonderful! I had them scan thoughts, feelings and body tension and let it all go and guided them to breathe in trust, compassion and peace. Then I guided them to ask God what messages they should know about at this point in their journey. We followed this with silence and affirmations. At the end, I had the family hold hands in a circle and each in turn expressed his/her gratitude and prayers for each other with tears streaming down everyone’s faces. I was amazed when the nine-year-old boy said– “I am so happy to be a part of this family” – and started to cry.
So, feeling the bliss and joy of the moment, we all thanked God and headed down the hill to the bathroom. I opened my trunk to put away the mats, and it was a while before we saw that the passenger side window had been smashed and there was glass all over the dash board and seats. I was kind of in shock but still with clients and they helped me call the police and my credit company to cancel my Visa. They were all extremely supportive as we waited almost two full hours for help in the cold air.
I called 911 twice and then the police station, which told me that Bell Rock was not in the policed area so the call had gone to the sheriff’s office. Finally, someone came from the sheriff’s office and told me that it was not his jurisdiction, something about his being a Yavapai County deputy and this was a Coconino County district. Anyway, he took three of my clients to their hotel to get their car and left me with the other two.
In about twenty minutes, he returned and told me that Coconino County was not sending anyone so he would take the information. He was very kind and helped me by taking the glass out of the window and the car. With a blanket covering the window so that glass would not fly into my face, I headed home, shocked. No purse, no credit cards, no driver’s license and registration, no cell phone with all of my contacts, no eye glasses, etc., not to mention the missing cash and other credentials.
It took days to get a new credit card and debit card, purchase a new phone and start to insert numbers, and I kept hoping that whoever did this would toss my purse somewhere so I could get my seamless bifocals back. I prayed to have the pocketbook returned and imagined how happy I would be to have my glasses. While I was grateful to that family and officer, I was somewhat shaken by the feeling of violation.
Funny thing about insurance. It’s a catch-22. The contents of the car fall under home insurance. On my policy, there is a $500 deductible for an incident. My fabulous agent Lori advised me that the insurance company would take away my “no claims discount” and I would then have to pay about $50 more for the insurance. We decided that it was not worth reporting and I would just take the loss.
About a week after this burglary, there was an ad in the paper that the sheriff’s office had arrested two men from Cottonwood, the town below Sedona, who were caught driving away with stolen contents in their car after a car’s rear windshield was seen smashed. The sheriff told me that they two men who were caught had a record of similar prior offenses and would probably be incarcerated for quite a while. I wonder if they were the ones who took my purse. I like to think that they were the ones because they got away with the spare key to my car that I hide in my purse.
While my car was in the bodywork shop, I had a free rental of a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan van with unlimited mileage that I was able to use for a quick run to CA and back without putting the miles on my van—how lucky is that! As life went on, I embarked on another Sunday hike with a group of sisters for Marti’s birthday. We had such a grand time that we turned the 3-hour hike into a 6-hour hike. Part of that was due to a half hour of surgery removing cacti from Marti’s bottom—that’s another story I can tell if you are interested.
When I got home from the full day hike, delightfully exhausted, there was a phone call from a man named Duncan in the Village of Oak Creek. He asked for Dr. Johanna Mosca to call him as he had found a purse while hiking on a trail about 25 minutes from the Bell Rock parking lot. Naturally, I immediately drove to his home to get my bag and found that it still contained my old phone, my $400 seamless bifocals, a checkbook (they are not interested in checks) and some expensive make-up. The strap had been badly chewed up, probably by coyotes. I thanked Duncan for going out of his way to pick up the stuff he had found scattered around my purse and for calling me. I offered to give him something for his trouble and he said that was not necessary for he was happy to help.
Well, I still have to replace my CA driver’s license and registration (which I need to be in CA to do). Lori, my insurance agent, told me to stay out of parking lots on Mondays! I have a sense of vulnerability that was not here before. It was a wake-up call to reality, rousing me from the sweet little yoga bubble I live in—often not locking the house or the car and not thinking that anything bad is going to happen to me. That day on Bell Rock, we went from a sublime feeling of connection to God as we did yoga on the mountain and came down to the reality that there are some people who do bad things in the world. I learned that I have to remember that and be more cautious (but not fearful) in order to protect myself.
Now, I am a bit more cautious and feel much gratitude for the good people in the world. First, I am grateful to the lady who hit my car and showed up to tell me about it. Then I am thankful to that marvelous family of hikers for being so supportive of me as we all stood in the cold waiting for help. And of course, my appreciation extends to the deputy who finally became my “knight in shining armor” for taking such good care of me. I am thankful to the sheriff’s officers who caught the bad guys. And last but not least, I am grateful for the kindness of the hiker who found my purse and was more into helping that getting a reward.
As they say—“All’s well that ends well!” What does it all mean? Am I being tested? It’s easy to be calm when all goes smoothly. The test to pass is to remain calm when the drama comes. These incidents will definitely appear in the Sedona soap opera I am planning to write one day. Is the Universe corroborating my decision to spend more time in California? What is there to learn? Don’t leave anything visible in the car that can be stolen; make a back-up of telephone numbers just in case; make sure you do lock your door every time you go out; remember to focus on the good and heal any bad feelings; and know that not everyone has high integrity, just most of us.
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