big franco from the coast

when the park ranger, who looked like a very experienced girl scout, came tromping bruskly up to our picnic spot, i was certain she was going to tell me to clean up all my potato chips. i began to think of endangerments to local animals such as the tassle eared squirrel and i glanced up at the looming trees wondering if the rangers somehow had cameras in the park. as she strided quickly up to us i tried to block her view of the cascade of cherry tomatoes and avocados i had missed putting on my sandwich. fortunately, it was just a flash flood warning. no worries!

i wasn't alone in my phobia. my mom thought the same thing, but hilary thought we were big dorks as usual. franco came for a long weekend on the fourth of july and it was so wonderful to see our favorite gal. hils and i took her to bandelier national monument to see the anasazi ruins of frijoles canyon rediscovered in the 19th century by the swiss banker turned passionate anthropologist, adolf bandelier. meag and i had gone there last summer. it's incredible and full of stories and storied apartments carved into the tuff, which is whitish, pinkish, yellowy volcanic ash. long ago when there was mucho volcanic activitiy gasses got trapped in the tuff and made crazy holes which were easy to expand into comfy dwellings.

there is a beyond groovey feeling there.

after being warned about an impending monsoon hils insisted franco and i climb the 140 feet of ladders to go up to see an old kiva. of course hils couldn't do it herself, but kept telling us to hurry up so she didn't get washed away at the canyon bottom. no pressure. when we finally descended after scurrying up and down cliff faces on age-old, smooth ladders, franco declared that she did not like the experience at all. sorry, franc.

were proud of you, though. be all that you can be.

there are some amazing petroglyphs there. franco and cho walked right past this guy! can you believe it? what is he? a parrot or an ardvark? i vote for parrot. the pueblonians traded many goods with mexico some of which were parrots. there are lots of parrot bones and feathers excavated at many sites in the southwest. they worshipped them, but they usually died in this climate. sad.

i highlihted some stuff here for ya. click on picture for better viewing and helpful interpretations of ancient grafitti. the roadrunner is the state bird, mind you, but i'm not sure about the robot.

ah, bandelier. the more i see you, the more i like you. ya'll need to take a visit!

but more than day hikes and ancient settings, i love my franc. it was a short, but sweet weekend. she got to do hours of crossies with her favorite guy, and n has her totally hooked. they call each other almost everyday with clues as she now has her own crossword puzzle books, too. so cute and such a blessing for n to have a buddy who doesn't get frustrated with questions like: okay, babe, what's a 5 letter word for "to sling mud" the 3rd letter is "e"and the 4th is "a"?

...um, i have to go now.

superfriends.

supefreak!

critter control

sorry it's been a while but we've had a few bugs to work out on of every level of life. sheesh! i was looking forward to catching you all up on my mom's visit and a fun weekend at the folk art market, but alas here's the latest...

first, the good news is that the monsoon season has finally set and that the garden is a refreshing retreat for all forms of life including us!

the not-so-good news is that we've had a flu virus invasion. poor juan was the first victim. i think he got in california and is still recovering. cho got it bad this last weekend, but has turned the corner with much prayer and lots of high tech home remedies. i've been staving it off with excessive cleanliness and my favorite homeopathic antiviral-- the awesome oscillococcinum. i highly recommend picking up some this flu season. you can get it at any pharmacy or grocery store. take it at the first sign of flu. of course ask your doc, too.

since we are ultraparanoid about tubbery picking this thing up-- he hasn't yet and we're still praying he doesn't!!!-- i have a plethora of signs posted up all over the house to remind us all about germ spreadage. i top this off with strong doses of oregaspray on anything that sneezes or coughs or any surface that has been touched by one of the infected. that's all of us, but N. around here it's been non-stop turkey stocks and soups, scubbing and washing of surfaces and laundry, buttloads of vitamin C (N's favorite dosage), agrisept (another terrific, but expensive antiviral-- GSE is also good and cheeper), oil of oregano and much, much more!

i am quite the germ nazi. someone should hire me for something important!!! any ideas?

another summertime activity has been cleaning out my ginormous, dusty closet. hils asked if i felt guilty about my excess of clothing after seeing it all piled on the bed. sort of. but i have lots of excuses for not getting rid of it,and a third of it is n's and cho's for the record, and another third is vintage which is art so how can i be blamed? it is pretty ridiculous and i hope i'm not always like this... or that i always have a big closet:).

this was just the beginning. as many of you know i end up sleeping in my closet on my rollaway bed most nights. this is because n kicks me out of the queen bed because of his sensitive sleep, or because i can't handle how much he's up and about. sounds sad to some couples, but it is such a blessing and we're just glad to be in the same room again-- and that's another story. in short, i am so thankful for my closet!!! our friend tom, who so graciously helped us haul all of our crap from california, said my closet was ridiculous and he could live in there. hey, tom. check it out. God knows just what we'll be needing! here are oogie and i just back from narnia.

here are some other recent shots. as i said monsoon season is thankfully upon us and it's awesome. if you're going to visit northern nm, this is the time of year to come-- late summer, early fall. the sky does spectacular things.

as do the flowers...

echinacea in it's purest form! take a chomp this flu season...

speaking of flu season recommendations, here are n's top five preventatives just for you (he looks so tired and he is, but still cute as ever and so nice to indulge me in this interview question):

1. lots of vitamin C 2. lots of rest 3. lots of fish oil 4. lots of fresh air and sunshine (sorry washingtonian buddies-- but you do have good air!) 5. keep everything clean. sounds simple, but nothing is, right? if you do get the bug, i recommend all these things plus the oscillo and major vit c and agrisept or GSE and oil of oregano (so powerful)-- don't know about kiddies-- as always talk to the doc! i'm not sure what kind of flu we have, but it's definitely no bueno. we're not getting tested for H1N1 yet as we three seem to be pushing through by major prayer on the part of many. i truly feel God's grace to uphold the household and it's been a lot! i am so worried about my N, but i know i can only do so much. he is so sweet and an amazing sport for all he's gone through and continues to go through. he has had a rough summer losing some weight and feeling yucky. but he is making major efforts to get stabilized and has a GREAT attitude. i am afraid to think how i would act if i were in his body! he is an inspiration to us all...

well, it's time to take off!

hey, was this really once a caterpillar? hilary thinks that is disgusting, even though she took this photo and doesn't like butterflies. what?! yes, but she has fantastic taste in everything else!

that's all for now. i am sort of wired on lots of vitamins and chicken salad, and my hubby keeps telling me to go to bed (and clean up that kitchen again!). praise God i have a kitchen to clean and a wonderful family to do it for. let's hope i'm saying that tomorrow. ONLY by His amazing grace!

love you and miss you! hope to have some gooder news soon... especially that N avoids this bug!!! thanks to those who are holding us up in prayer!

chirp chirp fly fly

uno.

dos.

tres.

hello my name is wally boo bear and i'd like to tell you something did you know that in june my sister fee bird who picked me out when i was little at least that what she sayz came to visit me for her vientenueveth birthday on 12 de junio and it was berry fun cuz she did somethin' with me everyday

when fee bird came she had to study a lot for her bigfat math class and tubbery tried to help her and everyone said can you believe those two are doin' math together but i could not help out cuz i was huntin' lizards and my dad sayz i'm wreckin' his garden so he makes me sit in my time out chair all the time so i guess that's why they call him the psycho gardener do you think that's berry nice

fee bird made everyone a salad with papaya and mac nuts i did not eat it cuz i do not like lettuce

one day fee bird took me to the top of a mountain and it was the best day of my life but rockie got really short of breath and had sore legs and couldn't walk all week and my dad said she's kind of feeble i agree

we ran down from that mountain as fast as we could cuz fee bird had to get to the airport but rockie could not keep up with us and thats okay poor rockley she is not in shape like us and fee bird kept sayin' hustle hustle and rockie just said i'm comin' but we could not see her through the woods but no problema cuz they got to the airport just in time

like i said it was the best day of my life

fee bird makes life more fun for everyone and i wish she could come over everyday because she is my best sister ever so don't tell rockie cuz she sayz we're best friends forever and ever but she doesn't do everything i want like chunk olympics and hide the cookie but that's okay

i love you fee bird you are so pretty and fun fun fun please come back okay

bye bye

the lawrence tree

bravo, lauren superbrain. it is indeed the lawrence tree! you win first prize, but a close second goes to me own poppy nick the greek. happy birthday and father's day also! and thank you for the explanation in my comments and for the beautiful quotes from o'keefe herself. take it away, dad...

From Nickipedia:
The Lawrence in "The Lawrence Tree" is author D.H. Lawrence. He had a ranch near Taos, New Mexico, and O'Keeffe visited. In her words:"...There was a long weathered carpenter's bench under the tall tree in front of the little old house that Lawrence had lived in there. I often lay on that bench looking up into the tree...past the trunk and up into the branches. It was particularly fine at night with the stars above the tree."But the most authoritative source regarding the painting's orientation is O'Keeffe herself, in two letters included in the National Gallery's catalog:"I had one particular painting -- that tree in Lawrences front yard as you see it when you lie under it on the table -- with stars -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head..." (Letter to Mabel Dodge Luhan from Taos, August 1929.)"...I also got a painting of the big pine tree as you see it lying on that table under it at night -- it looks as tho it is standing on its head with all the stars around -- Pretty good -- for me..." (Letter to Rebecca Strand [James] while on train from New Mexico to New York, 24 August 1929.)


there you have it, folks! a little art history for ya...
and now lamy has dsl so this whole blogging thing will not be as labor intensive. yay!!!
ciao!

trip out

hello there.
i started off my summer vacation with first trip out of town in two years. weird... and fun! hilary and i went to taos which is about 60 miles north of santa fe. we drove on the old high road which is many winding miles of alpine peaks and valleys scattered with trailers, cabins, farms, moo cows, tire biting dogs etc. we drove up an old road in truchas (espanol for trout) to check out the landscape.
we found a crumbling adobe just like the ones i remember seeing in mora when i was a kid. i remember my mom and my aunt deni scaring my cousins and me by driving up to them in the black new mexico night and wandering around inside with flashlights under their chins. it doesn't help when your grandma has just told you stories about keeping brujas out of their houses with garlic in the old days. i remember jasmine and i sobbing in the back of the volvo begging them to get back in the car. still not funny... i took this picture quickly and ran back to the car!

my favorite spot on the high road to taos was el santuario de chimayo. it's nestled in a verdant valley with a rilling river behind it. it was the first real river i'd seen in forever. how i miss water, but i've traded it for air and sky so i won't complain. el santuario is a popular tourist and pilgrimage site for thousands as many believe that it is built on holy dirt with curative powers. the grounds were very peaceful and ideallic until our service dog in training discovered the wildlife.

me and my service terrier. not very focused ....

we arrived in taos on tuesday evening and pulled into the quaint rural town of arroyo seco. it was refreshing compared to trafficky taos. yes, i am completely spoiled. all californians, washingtonians, bostonians, nigerians, and others would scorn my impatience at sitting 10 minutes behind a row of cars to get through a small town. i was actually pretty disoriented for 2 days being around so many people and cars. don't know what'll happen when i return to california for a visit. kind of pathetic, but i'm really blessed to live where we do. i now appreciate how much it helps my nerves.

this is apple hill farm where we stayed. it was a straw bale green home with mud floors and all recycled tiles, stones and broken glass. sorry i didn't take photos of the inside-- i was actually very overwhelmed for the first two days of the trip and couldn't adjust so i spaced out on a lot of stuff. the house was crowded with a collection of colorful rugs (since the sealed mud floor can't get wet), books, nichos, nicknacks and a variety of handmade ceramics on which to dine and drink. i thought of meag, aunt deni and uncle big mike a lot. it was very cool and cozy behind those one foot thick undulous brown walls.

johnny and n graciously allowed us to stay an extra day. after all that packing and unloading of human and doggie equipment and food our hearts sunk at the thought of reloading and driving home after two nights away. so yay... we stayed one more night and had a great day on the third day. we went to mabel dodge luhan's crazy home. she was the wealthy new york socialite who brought all sorts of positive artistic and political attention to the beauty and cultures of new mexico. she hosted famous friends like georgia o'keefe, ansel adams, martha graham, and d.h. lawrence and even bought land for some of them. nice. she married a tiwa man named tony who had all the hook ups including another wife and family on the pueblo. pretty weird crowd, but they did a lot to preserve new mexico. view from her kitchen window.

mabel's land borders the taos pueblo.

we visited the taos pueblo on our second day in town. it was pretty intense, but an important place to visit. we paid up for parking, admittance, photos taken, five minute tour, baked bread etc. felt like an amusement park, but not quite as fun. sorry to be negative, but it was a sad mix of commercialism in a run down, yet amazing historical and natural setting which included many dogs in need of medical care. that probably describes a lot of the world. interesting points: it's the oldest continuously inhabited pueblo in the u.s.-- 1,000 years! there are 15 families still living there, the land in the background was signed back over after a 60 year battle thanks to.... nixon! they can now go once again on annual hunts there and get unfiltered water from their sacred blue lake.

the setting was incredible and the people were more welcoming than i expected. it's weird to pay to walk through someone's land while bored teenagers are texting on crumbling adobe, echoes of growling dogs threatening to fight cause you to continuously jerk around, cars are driving in and out of ancient roads, and a renovated catholic church is in the center of it all. it was a mind-bender and if anyone knows more about it let me know...

we also saw the rio grande gorge which spans 60 miles. imagine riding your horse up to that back in the day...

we also stumbled upon the d.h. lawrence ranch which is now owned by the university of new mexico and this here shepherd.

overall, it was a great trip. i am very grateful to have gotten out of town and to have seen something new. thanks to all those who made it possible.

does anyone know the story behind this famous tree? accollades for the winner in the next post... counting on you, geoff, if no one else figures it out.