The Mago Earth Park Statue that's been erected between Cottonwood and Sedona. OK, OK! I 'll comment.

Let's start with some background. Within the outer City limits of Cottonwood, right next to and looking at the new Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, a statue has been erected. The Korean owner of the property explains that she is a representation of Mago, (pronounced "mah-go") which translates roughly as "Mother Earth."

She's huge. The statue and base total 50 feet high. She also has an entourage of numerous other statues, (all comparatively tiny, all slightly ludicrous) of Jesus, Kokopelli, the Virgin Mary, 2 funny headed guys, 3 Disney-esque dwarfs, a Native American, Poseidon, a bunch of brightly colored and sparkly children............ you get the idea, all capering around her feet. I find the Mago circus to be kind of charming and amusing when I drive by.

Nobody that I've spoken to about Mago agrees with me about the whole thing being amusing. The vocal locals are up in arms. We've had weeks of poisonous letters to the Editor in the Verde Independent. The objections seem to be:

She's big.

She's a pagan idol.

There are tentative plans for her to be lighted at night.

She's not a Christian.

She's wasn't there before and it's a change.

She's mostly white, and doesn't blend in with the mostly brown landscape.

Even though she's white with blond hair her features are Asian.

Why is she named "Magoo" when she doesn't look anything like Mr. Magoo? Where are her horned-rimmed glasses?

Why does the Mago Earth Park get tax-deferred church status?

She's different and we don't like different.

If you're not from here, one of the things to understand is that Mago went up shortly after they opened the brand new Catholic Church next door. Like Mago, the Church is gorgeous. Like Mago, the Catholic Church is also huge and lighted at night and much lighter in color that the surrounding landscape and gets tax-deferred status and also wasn't there before. On my own personal hugeness scale, Mago is a 2 or 3 and the Church is an 8 or 9. See the picture, above? That's Mago to the right of the Church.

But you know what? It doesn't matter what my opinion is. If Mago was legally installed then I have no more right to complain than my neighbor has if I paint my house a color that they don't like.

But you know what else? This is my blog and I can say what I want, so I will voice my opinion, whether it matters or not.

We've had months of citizens yelling and almost coming to blows and writing letters to the Editor and showing up at City Council meetings, voicing opinions on both sides of the Mago issue.

Folks! It's a statue! We have hungry children in Cottonwood. We have homeless people. We have abused people, we have people sleeping under the bridge, we have animals dying in the shelters, we have life and death issues around here and YOU SHOW UP TO COMPLAIN ABOUT A FREAKIN' STATUE? Where were you when that baby was beaten into the hospital a few weeks ago? Did you show up then, expressing your outrage? Where were you when The Mission was concerned that they were running out of food? Did you write a letter to the paper? Did you show up with coats and blankets and food for the homeless when it got cold? People are homeless and dying and yet you sing "God Bless America" about THIS? If Mago is the only place that you're outraged then you should be ashamed of yourself.

That's what I think.

I've been pondering humans and our natures. If you had asked me a few days ago if I was a civilized human being or not, I would have told you, "Yes, most of the time." I've had moments in my life where I was not the least bit well-mannered, but I usually do OK in the civilization department.

But then something happened.

My just-turned-5 granddaughter Turtle and I went for a walk. We were moseying along, discussing the weighty question of whether or not a troll could beat a dragon if they got into a fight. We had pretty much decided that the troll would win, but only if he had captured some fairy dust and harnessed its power. I had to bow to Turtle's expertise in this subject and blindly agreed with her reasoning and conclusions.

Suddenly, four big dogs boiled out of a hole in a fence and came at us, snarling and barking and growling and snapping.

Instinct is incredible. Before I even had the thought process that my granddaughter and I were in danger from these dogs, I had hoisted Turtle up onto my back. She was holding on with her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. I suddenly had a stick in one hand and a big rock in the other, and I'm still not sure where those came from. These dogs were going to have to come through me to get to Turtle. I roared "BAD DOGS! NO!" in my biggest alpha-female voice.

The dogs screeched to a halt, surprised to see Turtle and I in the middle of their rumpus - they were playing and hadn't even noticed us. Instead of a pack of carnivorous predators bent on tearing us limb from limb, they were just a bunch of goofy slobbering Black Labs.

Some things are interesting about all this.

• I didn't think about any of my actions. My body knew what to do to protect the child that was with me, with no help or interference from my brain.
  
• I had no conscious thought about the stick and the rock. I guess that as we make our way through our lives our lizard brains note every possible weapon available in each area.
  
• Turtle also had instinct working. That she was on my back so quickly amuses me. (She doesn't normally do anything without at least 15 minutes of discussion first.) Her body knew what to do and did it.

• I had absolutely no thought for my own safety - I only thought about Turtle. Those dogs would have had to go through me to get to her. That instinct was fascinating. I've had my children - survival of the species mandated that I was going to sacrifice me to save the young female. I would have, too.
  

So why am I talking you about this on a real estate blog? Well, first of all, we left strict real estate behind months ago on this space - it was boring. Besides, what taps more closely into human nature than shelter, and home?


The only difference between the Neanderthal that I might have been thousands of years ago and the woman on Mingus View Drive last Saturday is the quality of our clothes.


Once I stopped shaking I noticed how many of Turtle's and my actions during that 5 or 10 seconds were pure instinct and reflex. I did what I did, and Turtle scurried up my back like a spider instead of stopping to explain that she can talk to the dogs, or that she's Wonder Woman or that she should just fly away.

When we got home to family dinner I paid attention to how much of our interactions follow old prehistoric paths. Pecking orders are strong, yet fluid. (Jess, my youngest son, stepped aside to let his older brother to fill his plate first. But then when a child screeched we all stepped aside so that Jess, the medic, could get down the hallway. Like that.)

The next day I showed property. The Buyers and I talked about leverage and investments, but the driving force was shelter and roots. This couple wanted safety and their own territory and their own place to be, inviolate from the rest of the world. We all want that - a safe, warm cave.


I showed them a bank-owned repo, and we saw some more primal human fallout. The previous owner had not only taken everything of value from the property, but he had fouled this nest to the point that nobody else would ever want to live there. This previous owner had literally marked the corners of his territory.

So the next time somebody brags about how civilized they are I'll remember what happened with those dogs. I'll remember that my "civilization" is just a thin veneer over a cavewoman that would have taken those dogs on with her teeth, if necessary to protect a dearly beloved child. I'll remember that we all operate from truths and patterns that are identical to the truths and patterns of our ancestors, with very few alterations.



I realize that I am not a fully evolved, civilized human being - I am a cavewoman who wears Reeboks.

Christmas musings

I hate what I sometimes do to myself during the Holidays. If I’m not careful, ‘Tis The Season To Be Jolly becomes ‘Tis the season to be stressed, overwhelmed, snappish and broke.

I find myself snarling at Christmas Carols, saying inappropriate things to the Santas and planning middle of the night forays on Wal-Mart. (In case you ever wondered, Santa seldom has a coherent answer to “Hey, Santa! What are you wearing under the suit?”)

This is not a good thing. No matter who or what you believe is the reason for the season, growling at songs and then harassing the Santa is not congruent with the Holiday Spirit.

Just about every religion has a place for a celebration around this time of year. Whether we’re celebrating Winter Solstice or Jesus’ birthday or Hanukah or Kwanza or any of the thousands of other reasons for a smile and a party, let’s remember why we’re doing it. I celebrate because I like to be reminded that I’m part of something way bigger and way more important than my own little corner of the world.

Whatever your preferred deity or symbol, I’m sure that we can all agree on a philosophy of “Peace on Earth, Good will towards all.” I hope that we can all agree that the pain of one human diminishes everyone. We can agree that nothing is more important than family, no matter if it’s the family that you were born into or the family that you’ve gathered around yourself through the years, or the family of humanity.

Maybe this year I can better triage my time and energy. Maybe instead of spending half an hour getting the ribbon on a present just exactly right I could take a coat and a sandwich to one of the people who sleep under the bridge.
Maybe instead of getting up in arms over something that really doesn’t make any difference I’ll remember to get excited about real stuff, about life and death problems. Maybe instead of showing up to yell about somebody’s decorating scheme I need to be showing up to help serve dinner at the Mission.
Maybe instead of trying to get every Barbie Doll known to man for my granddaughter I need to remember the little kid who doesn’t have any toys at all.

I’m just saying - maybe we need to check our priorities.

My friends, Happy Holidays. Remember to count your blessings, and remember to be a blessing. (You are, you know. You are a blessing to this world. Don’t forget it!) In the midst of all of the Holiday hustle, remember to stop and smell the fruitcake.

Aaron

I sometimes train the new agents. My plan for training is to tell people what works for me, explore what might work for them, introduce them to resources that can help and then throw them to the winds. I’m not real big on structured instruction agendas.

I helped a woman that we will call Rosie. My haphazard training and Rosie’s fastidious brain did not mesh.

The first problem was that she needed to know exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, and precisely how to go about it. If I said, “Rosie. Every day write a letter to a FSBO or an expired listing,” she wanted to know what time she should write it, (“3:31 PM, Rosie.” “Okay!”) should it be handwritten or typed, if handwritten then what color of ink should she use, on letterhead or not, which sort of stamp would be best……………….
Then she would finally write it and I would red-line it and she would re-do it and then bring it to me and then to the Broker and then back to me and then back to the Broker and the silly letter never did make it to the mailbox.

We made each other crazy because I don’t think like Rosie. (I confess that in my secret brain, and in my most private thoughts, I called her Rainman.)

The second problem was that I had competition for that meticulous mind of hers. One time I got exasperated and snapped “Quit thinking about it and just go bring me a freakin’ letter!” Rosie stumped away and then circled back with a marvel of a farming letter. It was awesome! Amazingly, she also had 3 other letters, all of them dealing with different real estate situations. These were wonderful letters. I coveted these letters.

Rosie did not write them. I knew that she didn’t write them because they started out:
Dear [Recipient Name]: My name is [REALTOR® Name], and I am associated with [Company Name].

“Rosie! Where did you get this? It’s perfect!”
“Aaron gave it to me.”
“Wow! Well, get it in the mail! Wait – fill in the blanks first.” She did, and good things started happening for her.

So one day I asked Rosie to do something and I told her how I thought that she should do it and she pops off with “But Aaron says that I should do THAT in my 5th week of training. Aaron says that I should do THIS in my 3rd week.” Pretty soon it’s “Aaron says this……..” and “Aaron says that……...” and tiny puffs of smoke are coming out of my ears.

My gripe is that Aaron’s suggestions are excellent, and certainly better thought-out than mine. This Aaron guy is starting to irritate me. He seems to have unlimited resources, unlimited time, and unlimited patience for Rosie. Aaron is making me look bad.

One day “Aaron said” something brilliant and I noticed that my left eye was twitching. “Rosie. I would like to meet this Aaron guy. Could you go call him right now and see if he would come to an office meeting and share his wisdom with all of us?”

“Oh, I don’t know Aaron.”

“Then how did you get all of this information from him? Where did this letter and all of this good advice come from? Why is Aaron giving you things? What have you done, Rosie?”

“Aaron is in my computer. He has all of this stuff, and he likes to help me. Some of it is free and some of it costs. I only get the free things.” Rosie showed me where Aaron is in her computer.

Turns out that Aaron is aaronline.com.

Rosie had gone to the Arizona Association of REALTORS® website and from there accessed NAR’s “Right Tools, Right Now” and found free letter templates and downloaded them.
http://www.realtor.org/archives/website200505021?presentationtemplate=rmo-design/pt_articlepage_migratedcontent_print&presentationtemplateid=06ad608049e7ba93ab3dab87f8d337ee

She had been watching training webinars at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/OnlineTraining?OpenDocument

she was starting a free REALTOR® blog at http://blogsignup.realtor.com/learnmore.aspx

she was learning about short sales at http://www.realtor.org/prodser.nsf/RightTools/ShortSales?OpenDocument

she was figuring out Facebook and Twitter at http://www.realtor.org/rmotechnology/Articles/2009/0909_socialnetworking_virtualrealities

and pretty soon Rosie was doing the right things without any input from me at all.

Rosie started doing really well, which relieved me immensely. She became a self-starter, or at least an Aaron-inspired starter. She established a farm area and got some very well priced listings, which sold.
Once Rosie developed some confidence, she was able to stop clenching quite so hard and she started specializing in short sales. Once she understood the process, we found that short sale listings suited her linear brain.

While I taught Rosie a few things, she showed me something, too. She didn’t introduce me to Aaron, but she did make me decide to get to know him a whole lot better.

Aaron is a good guy to know. Go to www.aaronline.com and see.

I got installed as President of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® last Thursday. They made me write a speech, and then I didn't give it because everybody who went before me said everything that I had planned.
But it's a good speech! So here it is.
*****************************************************

We were talking about this installation around our dinner table a few weeks ago. My 4 year old grandson was tearing through the kitchen just as Mike said that I would get sworn in. JackJack screeched to a halt and said “Grandma! No swearing!”

I was conflicted about this installation. Kim and Jamie were asking me questions and wanting my participation and I was resisting. I had a problem, but I hadn’t figured out exactly why I had a problem.

This is a huge honor. I will do my best to do a good job. You all know that and we didn’t need to get you all together to hear me say it.

We were in an education meeting a couple of months ago and I blurted out, “I’m cancelling the installation!”

Kim got big eyes and then pointed out that this is important. We need to recognize the award winners, the Board of Directors and I need to be sworn in, we’ve got a new MLS Chair to introduce, and a lot of the members really like to have a party. She asked me why I was being stubborn. “Carol Anne, this is your moment! We’re trying to make this special for you!”

And there was my problem. This Association is not about me. SVVAR is about you. I am one of 713 REALTOR® and affiliate members. I had a hard time about asking our members to come watch “my installation” when we are here to serve you.
We decided to do a free breakfast, and Jamie and our affiliate members agreed to cook.

Then Kim tells me that I have to make a speech. “But it’s breakfast. No speeches at breakfast.” She pointed her finger at me like she was JackJack.

OK. Speech.

For about the first 10 years that I was licensed I went about my business, listing and selling real estate. I never thought about the Association, except to pay my dues so that I could have MLS. “They” ran SVVAR and “They” were doing a fine job and it never occurred to me that “They” could use some help.

I did figure out pretty quick that being a REALTOR® means a lot. Then I noticed that as a member of AAR and NAR and SVVAR we get some really awesome perks. I get convenient and outstanding education, I get access to Professional Standards instead of going to court, the webinars and podcasts and articles are wonderful, and we are a force to be reckoned with in politics. Everywhere you look is a reason to be a member of SVVAR, besides MLS. Then they put me on the Board and the world opened up. Y’all should try it.

When we go to the National conventions, I realize that Arizona is the elite as far as state associations go, and SVVAR is regarded as one of the best Arizona associations. People look at my name tag and say, “Ooh – Sedona.” I say, “Yeah, can’t get enough of those Red Rocks.” They say, “No. Youse guy’s Association. We use youse guys as our model.” They’re 5 or 10 years behind us. We belong to the elite, and we have Holly and Ron and Kim and Beth to thank for that.

So how do we stay there? We stay there by not being stagnant. We stay there by inviting and entertaining new ideas.

My wish list is that more members would get more involved. It used to be that if you raised your hand to volunteer around here you were committing yourself to years of servitude on a committee. Not anymore – Beth changed that with the Quick Response Teams – the QRTs. Now it‘s safe to raise your hand. That’s what I’m asking for from you. Raise your hand. Talk to me. Talk to your Board members. If you’ve got an idea, share it. If you’ve got a gripe, share it. We want to and we need to hear from you.

Every time I write my Bits n Pieces I get feedback. I love your comments! It’s human to think something positive (“Ooh! I like that!” and then go on.) but to say the negatives (Ooh! She made a mistake! And grab the phone.) Occasionally I’ll get disgruntled when I feel picked on, but that’s OK – I can take it.

I have an old friend who is one of our REALTORS®. Robert never hesitates to criticize at me, and I never hesitate to swear at him. I treasure Robert’s input because we need to know what you guys are thinking and he never hesitates to tell me.

That was my wish list. Now I want to take a moment to thank all of the volunteers here. A lot of people don’t know that what we do, we do for free. I especially want to thank Beth Adams and Jacque Weems, and we certainly need to point out Holly Mabery and Ron Volkman and all of the other past Presidents that have served you on your Board. By the time you get to be a past President you have donated literally thousands of hours to our Association. That’s a huge contribution, and it is appreciated. Thank Tahona Epperson and Tod Christenson, our President-Elect and Secretary-Treasurer.

Will anyone who has served on the board or on a committee, either for SVVAR or AAR or NAR please stand up? Next year I hope to be able to recognize a gigantic group of new volunteers.

I also need a moment to thank Kim and Mary and Linda and Diane, our staff. Everything that happens is due to their efforts. Without these 4 women the whole shebang would just fall apart. We take it for granted that when we pick up the phone or shoot out an email to SVVAR our question or problem gets taken care of. We have the best staff in the state, if not in the nation. I know this because whenever we go to a conference the other associations try to steal them from us. I shudder to think of trying to operate without them. Let’s also thank Lisa and Jack Frost, who have forgiven me for some rash words that I spoke once and came to play for us.

There you are – the speech. Done. Please get involved, please talk to us, and please remember to say “Thanks!” when one of your staff helps you. Especially, be proud that you are a member of the Sedona Verde Valley Association of REALTORS® because we truly are the best of the best.

Thanksgiving musings

The Tuesday before Thanksgiving is the anniversary of the day that my youngest son came home. Jess went to live in a Buddhist monastery in China when he was 15. I was not enamored with this idea, but he determinedly sabotaged every alternative that I came up with and I finally capitulated and sent him. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. When he left he was a self-centered child. When he came back he was barefoot because he was ashamed to be wearing shoes whose price would have fed a family for a year over there.

China was awful. There are lots of stories, but the one that I think the most about is this: When Jess would go to town, people would sometimes run up and throw their girl babies at him. When he caught the babies and his hands were full with them, other children would swarm over him, taking everything that was in his pockets. This happened repeatedly because he is not capable of not catching the babies. He finally let one of those kids take his shoes.

I was thinking about this when I bumped into an acquaintance and wished him a wonderful Thanksgiving. He replied, “Bah on your Thanksgiving! I have nothing to be thankful for.”

I wanted to smack him.

I replied, “Well, you’re standing upright. The sun is shining. You have clean clothes on your back and shoes on your feet, you’re obviously well fed, and you don’t have to throw your children at people as your means of making a living.”
We talked for a while and it turned out that he had tons of things to be thankful for – he decided on the spot to go his daughter’s house for the Holiday and visit his grandchildren. He loves his daughter and her kids, and he was looking forward to spending some time with them.

This man was so focused on all of the circumstances in his life that had not gone as planned that he had forgotten to see his blessings.

This is what Thanksgiving is all about. It’s an entire day devoted to noticing and appreciating the good things in life. Wow! What a great concept!

When my boys were small, every night I asked them to tell me 10 things that had happened that day that were good. Even after the most horrible day we could still always come up with 10 good things.
One of MY good things every night is that they still count THEIR good things at the end of each day, and they’re teaching my grandchildren to do the same thing. I think that this habit is one of the 3 the greatest gifts that I’ve given them, along with music and reading.

So they were all here Saturday night for dinner, and I asked the grandchildren what they had that day for good things. Allow me to share.

Binko, 8 years old: Waking up to the smell of bacon and waffles cooking – Led Zeppelin – smelling their puppy Guinness’ breath – TV - the bubble bath that they all 3 just took – my homemade tamales – football – hiding with his brother and cousin to eat the candy bars that I sneaked them - seeing his family.

Turtle, 5 years old, almost: playing Girl Games on the computer – chocolate – her new sparkly hair ties – pondering (Yes, she actually said “pondering.”) what kind of birthday cake I should make her – the pink bead that she found in the driveway – butterflies – shiny hair – getting her weekly toe nail painting - flowers.

JackJack – 4 years old: Cheese - SpongeBob SquarePants - Being a ninja – Cheese, again (the boy does like his cheese) - Farts - Wed Zeppwin – Fishes - Candy bar, (whispered, with big eyes and a giggle.) New shoes – this party – that big bird that we watched.

Now you’ve met 3 of my blessings. At the end of the day when I list my blessings and then when I list 10 good things that happened I forget about the economy and the market and all of the other plagues of our lives. I’m reminded that money and stuff are just that – stuff. Stuff is replaceable, but our blessings are not.

Try it now – it’s fun. Tell yourself right now your best blessings, and then think of 10 things that happened in the last 24 hours that were good things. If you don’t come out of this exercise in a better mood than when you started it then you’re not really trying.

Happy Thanksgiving from me and my family to you and your family. May we remember to make every day be a Thanksgiving! Blessings upon all of us, everyone.

Letter to Chairwoman Krisin Mayes, Arizona Corporation Commission

3 October, 2009

Chairwoman Kristin Mayes
Arizona Corporation Commission
1200 West Washington, 2nd Floor
Phoenix, Arizona
85007

Dear Chairwoman (Chairperson? I don’t know,) Mayes;


I’m writing to urge you to please vote to re-instate the electricity providers’ “free 1000 feet” policy.

As you know, APS and other electricity providers always and forever have not charged to run lines to a new residence, up to 1000 feet. In 2007 they did away with this “free 1000 feet.”

This became an issue just as we were seeing vacant land’s flat line starting to blip. A Buyer’s reaction is to lower their offering price by the amount that the provider (pessimistically) might charge them. The Seller either rejects their offer and again, nothing sells and no money moves into the community, or he takes it and we now have an abysmal comp and property values fall some more.

The developers are shaking their heads and turning towards higher density parcels, the contractors and their subs get another month in the soup lines, the small towns that depend on them and their flow of money continue to fold.

The first problem is that the amounts that the electricity providers charge are completely arbitrary, following no discernible rhyme nor reason.
Neither the developers nor contractors nor property owners can predict and budget for this expense – it has to be a surprise, apparently. Nobody can know what the charge will be until they pull a building permit.

As an example, I have 5 large parcels of land listed in Cornville. Each one of these parcels could be legally and prettily subdivided into smaller parcels, developed, and nice custom homes built on them. It’s not going to happen. It’s not going to happen because my Sellers can’t reduce the price any further and the 1000 feet charge just tipped the balance from a doable project into an idea that failed to pencil out. It can’t possibly pencil because nobody can know what the APS charge will be, and developers are not gamblers anymore.

Let me try, please, to show you the consequences of this sale going belly up.
The Seller couldn’t sell the property and so he has no money to spend in the community – the money didn’t move. Neither I, the lenders who would have funded the deal, the other agent, the title company, not the excavators nor the surveyor made any money – the money didn’t move. The architect, the contractor, the roofer, drywallers, landscapers, plumbers, electricians, painters – all of the trades involved in the building of 43 homes, none of them got a break from this horrible economy because the money didn’t move. They have no money so they won’t be going out to eat or buying new shoes or making their house payment this month.
I re-read this last paragraph and think how dramatic it sounds, but it’s true – every word. APS’ policy of charging some arbitrary but God-awful amount of money for their 1000 feet of lines killed this deal. It affected all of these people and our little community horribly.
My prospective developer buyer bought a property in the Phoenix area instead – 1000 feet of electric lines is not an issue on the property that he bought there. Again, Maricopa grins while the rural areas cry.

Rural areas are being economically pummeled by this policy change. We realize that the providers are counting on the fact that this doesn’t much affect the Great State of Maricopa, so maybe they can just continue and maybe nobody who can do something about it will understand or notice. “1000 free feet no more” does impact your outlying areas greatly, but we’re neither as visible nor as vocal.

Kristin, please. See us. Hear us. Let us also be visible. Help us, please.

Thanking you in advance for your time and attention,


Carol Anne Warren, REALTOR ®
Associate Broker, Arizona Adobe Group Realty
GRI, ABR, e-Pro, AHWD, CNE
direct to me: 928-300-9031
carolanne@adobegr.com
If you shovel the manure diligently, sooner or later you are sure to find a pony. ~Anacoana~