Desert Diva

Killlashandra over at Full Time in New Mexico has awarded me the Arte y Pico Award. Gee, and I thought no one really read my blog! ;-)  Thank you Killlashandra - I’m truly honored!

“Arte y Pico translates literally to ‘art peak’. It has been passed on as meaning a creative and interesting blog.” To learn more check the website.

She received the award from Sheila at My Memories, then, The Scholastic Scribe, Blogstalker, Dreams in the Dark, Writing Quiets the Voices in My Head, and there we stop the origins of this particular series of link backs.

There are rules for this award and they are….

1. Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award based on creativity, design, interesting material & overall contribution to the blogger community.
2. Post the name of the author & a link to his or her blog so everyone can view it.
3. Each award winner has to show the award & put the name & link to the blog that has given him or her the award
4. The award winner & presenter should post the link of the “Arte y Pico” blog so everyone will know the origin of the award.
5. Post these rules.

It’s difficult to read and choose five “creative” blogs. Like Killlshandra, I’m going to choose one - even though I could easily recommend several. However, I think I’m going to send this award “across the ocean” to Julie at Teacher Julie. Julie is a special education teacher in the Philippines. (We have this is common since I was a former special education teacher.) Even though she works long hours, she still has time to nurture and support her family, as well as explore her creative side. She blogs about special education topics, her life, and photography.

The “Fire on the Mountain” that I’m familiar with is a fiction book based on a true story by Edward Abbey.

Abbey based his plot around actual events in which a New Mexico rancher named John Prather who fought government attempts to confiscate his land to make it part of the White Sands Missle Range. Considering the time when this book was written, following the era of McCarthyism and the onset of the Cold War, Abbey was especially bold in putting forth the philosophical preposition that an individual has a moral and ethical responsibilty to protect the land against its despoilers, whether corporate entities or even the US government.

Check it out sometime - it’s an excellent read.

The onset on autumn has been a busy time for me. I just printed, spray mounted, and matted twenty photos to enter in the Southern New Mexico State Fair. The cost incurred was much more than I would ever recoup if I even won, but it’s a great learning experience to “take your photo” all the way through the process. I’m also working on submitting a few photos to the annual New Mexico Magazine Photo Contest.

Saturday evening, I attended a gallery opening of an El Paso Photo group entitled “Megapixels.” As I stepped from my car to go the the little coffee shop where the exhibit was, “Fire on the Mountain” is what I saw. A few minutes earlier I was driving over Transmountain Road, (a faster shortcut to get to the other side of town) and stopped and photographed the twilight sun over the city. I wanted to stay longer and get the sunset, but I had somewhere to be. Sometimes, I get so wrapped up in my job and personal “trauma” that I forget how beautiful life is - if only we have “eyes to see.”

The current tragedy is that my teenage nephew in Indianapolis was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. I’m not going to lie, my youngest brother and I are like “oil and water.” We disagree on many issues, and just don’t see “eye to eye.” However, I’m so sad that he as a father has to see his son go through this trauma.  Still, he’s my brother and in our own private ways, I know we care about each other. Please say a prayer or send positive thoughts for my nephew J. I think he’s going to need them for the battle he’s facing ahead.

is hosted by Fleur de Lisa

What is the most useful gift you’ve ever been given?

• I think it would have to be the “gift” of friends who were there when I really needed them.

Name the most terrifying moment of your life so far.

• I’m at best a “nervous” flyer.  Once, when attending a conference there was a storm brewing.  I was on a flight that connected somewhere in the south.  The pilot asked passengers to put up their lap tray, put anything we were eating or drinking on the floor and hold on!  There was air traffic above and below, so we didn’t have any choice except to fly through the storm.  I was hysterical when I got off the plane - I though that was “it.”  Another time, I was in Salt Lake City (from Seattle) and was going to take a flight that went to Albuquerque and then home to El Paso.  There was a long delay and much “whispering.”  Finally I heard someone say “We have to put them on the plane.”  Uh, they took the plane out when it arrived in Albuquerque due to “mechanical problems.”  I rented a car in Albuquerque and drove home - it actually took less time than to wait on another flight.  The month before 09/11 I flew out of Dulles Airport on a very turbulent flight.  I haven’t flown since…

One hot summer afternoon, while walking through a parking lot at a large shopping center, you notice a dog suffering badly from the heat inside a locked car. What would you do?

• This actually happened when I was in Oregon on the coast.  I called 911 and asked around at a couple of shops near where the car was parked.  Finally, a little old man tottered to his car and drove away before the police arrived.

I think I’m a gypsy in the truest sense of the word. I’m happiest when I’m traveling in my twenty year old RV with my dog Cali. Just yesterday, I was talking with a co-worker over lunch about retiring. While I don’t want to “wish my life away,” I’m certainly looking forward to not being tied to the everyday stresses of work.

Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do but it’s really stressful. If I’m not careful, I get too “connected” and forget how to “go out and play.” Sometimes, it’s so difficult to find the correct balance.

This “view” is taken from my side mirror on my RV as I was re-entering New Mexico after traveling the Pacific Northwest for the summer. How I long for those carefree, happy days…

are hosted by Janet

1. The Southern New Mexico State Fair, going on some El Paso Flickr photo shoots, and beautiful weather in Southern New Mexico are some of the things I’m most looking forward to in October.
2. Sometimes I wonder about the futility of life. (My nephew in Indianapolis was just diagnosed with lymphoma.)
3. Life is full of surprises, and that’s why there is a saying, “never say never”!
4. When I’m down, I tend to be introverted and try to work things out on my own.
5. Work is where you’ll find me most often.
6. A rainy day is good for seeing the world in a fresh different way.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to working on my last minute submissions to the New Mexico State Fair, tomorrow my plans include catching up with my friend Sally and attending an amateur photo exhibit in El Paso, and Sunday, I want to clean my house but it’s pretty low on my priority list! (It’s “picked up” just not deep cleaned!)