Jun
20

Painted Hills

A few days ago (you can see I’m somewhat behind in my photo editing), I visited the Ochoco National Forest and took a trip to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument - Painted Hills Unit.

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is a 14,000-acre (5,700 ha) park in eastern Oregon. Located within the John Day River Basin, this U.S. National Monument is world renowned for its well preserved, remarkably complete record of fossil plants and animals, a record that spans more than 40 of the 65 million years of the Cenozoic Era (also known as the Age of Mammals and Flowering Plants). The monument is divided into three units: Painted Hills (named for the delicately colored stratifications) northwest of Mitchell, Sheep Rock which is northwest of Dayville, and Clarno which is 20 miles (32 km) west of Fossil. Blue Basin is a volcanic ash bowl transformed into claystone by eons of erosion, colored pastel blue by minerals.Visitors can follow trails into the badlands and examine fossils displayed at the visitor center while scientists continue field investigations and the painstaking analysis of the monument’s vast fossil record.

It was somewhat of a “quick trip” in the early morning, but still spectacular.

My friend Terri has been asking for a photo of my girl, so here she is relaxing in the Ochoco National Forest.  If you have a chance, go visit her and her hubby Ray who are camp-hosting along the beautiful Maine coast with their furry ones at Land Yacht Safari.

Cali

Today, I’m off to Florence to meet up with the WIN RV group…

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Category: Journal, Travel  4 Comments
Jun
19

Photobucket

Only the Good Friday is hosted by the eclectic, but multi-talented Shelly.

Chimayó Gate El Santuario de Chimayó

Recently, while in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a friend and I took a drive up to Chimayó to visit the chapel and the surrounding town.  Whether or not you are Catholic, (or even Christian) it’s a beautiful area and peaceful and serene.

The Potrero plaza of Chimayó is known internationally for a Catholic chapel, the Santuario de Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas, commonly known as the Santuario de Chimayó. A private individual built it by 1816 so that local people could worship Jesus as depicted as Esquipulas; preservationists bought it and handed it over to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 1929. The chapel is now managed by the Archdiocese as a Catholic church. For its reputation as a healing site (believers claim that dirt from a back room of the church can heal physical and spiritual ills), it has become known as the “Lourdes of America,” and attracts close to 300,000 visitors a year, including up to 30,000 during Holy Week (the week prior to Easter). It has been called “no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.” The sanctuary was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Chimayó is also known for the weaving traditions of the Ortega and Trujillo families, who have been weaving in the Spanish Colonial tradition for many generations and now operate weaving businesses near the Plaza del Cerro and in the placita of Centinela. Their traditional craft is but one of several still practiced in the region, including tin smithing, wood carving, and making religious paintings.

My friend Luz and I toured the chapel, walked through the town sampling the chile, and visited the old cemetery.   We even met a local woman who turned out to be the wife of the maker of the cross that Luz purchased (and the maker of a bracelet she bought).

What heals?  Is the “dirt” really holy and a conduit of special powers, or is it the faith of the person seeking?  The site itself is anticlimactic – a small hole with uh, “dirt” (tierra bendita) with plastic scoops like one would see in a child’s sandbox.  Nevertheless, people flock to the site and apply the dirt to themselves as well as take it in various packages to loved ones.

For me, the “miracle” was to visit a beautiful place and to be attuned to “the Divine in nature.”  Somehow, that seems enough…  The entire Flickr set of Chimayó is here.


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Jun
15

is hosted by my chica Fleur-de-Lisa

What is the last song that was stuck in your head and how did you get rid of it?

  • Ride a White Horse” by Goldfrapp.  What do you mean “get rid of it?”  It’s there again now!  ;-)

If you had to say what one thing in your life best represents your freedom, what would it be?

  • Travel.  The ability to “go where your desire” takes you, explore new places, commune with nature, etc…

If you were invited to the White House for dinner tonight, what would you wear from your current wardrobe?

  • A simple little black cocktail dress – you can never go wrong with a classic…
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Category: Manic Monday  5 Comments
Jun
12

Photobucket

Only the Good Friday is hosted by the eclectic, but multi-talented Shelly.

Momma Had a Baby...

When you’re a child, your world is filled with nursery rhymes, jump rope jingles, and sometimes the seemingly “strange” action and verse.

As a child, I was part of a strange game, ritual, etc… Every time one of my brothers or sister found a “dandelion puff,” we would chant the following:

“Momma had a baby and her head popped off.”

When we got to the “head popped off” part, we would flick the puff off with our thumb and watch the seeds fly off into the air.  Where in the world this childhood “ritual” came from I’ll never know.  What I do know is recently I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico hiking and photographing with some new friends.

You know what happens next…

Yep, I saw a dandelion puff and felt encouraged, compelled to pluck it and repeat my childhood ritual.  It felt like I was transported in time back a few years, decades, eons to my carefree childhood summer days when it seemed all I had to worry about was to not get sunburned.  My friend Luz remarked that she had never heard that rhyme.  So I ask you gentle reader, have you ever “popped the head” off Momma’s baby?  Is this a midwest ritual?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Nevertheless, it’s good to go back in time to visit our childhoods – if only for a few magical moments…


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Jun
12

La Luna

I’m slowly editing photos from the “Fanmenca” weekend in Santa Fe.  I tried to get the “fickle moon” (it kept moving behind the clouds) but don’t quite have the hang of getting the crater definition yet.

It’s a beautiful day in Moab and today J. and I are hiking one of the arch trails in Arches National Park.  I’m hoping to get a better photo of one of the arches.  The only problem is at the end of the hike you have to walk about 200 feet on a narrow ledge with a HUGE dropoff.  That “fear of edges” thing will get you every time…

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Category: Journal  3 Comments