Friday Foto

Sunday Stills (03-20-11 Canine Companions)

These two photos came from my archives. They were taken on the day that Sandy came to stay with us. Isn't that true love?

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Garden of the Gods

The other day we drove down this road on our way to Santa Fe. Instead of ending at the foot of the mountain, it curves around the mountain and there's a very scenic, very curvy, downward slope to drive down, on the other side.

 Along the Turquoise Trail, a specially named section of highway, so named for the many turquoise mines in the area, there is a place with "holey" rocks, the Garden of the Gods.

  Notice the tree growing out of the rocks at the top? This large formation, known as the Dakota Wall, is part of a continuous sandstone wall, part of the Rockies, running north to south, from Canada to Mexico. This area is known as the Garden of the Gods, so named because of its similarity to the well known region in the Colorado Springs area. About a mile north, are ruins of the ancient San Marcos Pueblo, one of the most populous pueblos at the time of the Spanish explorers in 1540.

Ancient peoples revered this area. Here is a beautifully carved pole, possibly religious in nature or at least spiritual. Also known as Ambush Rock, this area was often used by masked bandits to waylay travelers on foot or horseback and to rob stagecoaches and wagons carrying silver and gold from the local mines.

There is a delightful little outdoor art garden in this area but it is behind locked gates. Later this year, it is anticipated that there will be a residence, studio, and gardens open to the public.

I love this sculpture of the Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Peeking out from the trees is this life sized black horse.

Here is a distant shot of the origami horses to give you perspective of the area.

Friday Foto

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today is St. Patrick's Day, one of my favorite holidays. It is the day to wear green, eat wonderful food and have fun! I always make boiled corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potatoes and baking soda bread. Yummy!

From Wikipedia:
Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.[1] It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died on 17 March, 461 AD, and was buried at Downpatrick, so tradition says. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing of green
According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.Originally the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew. Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.


History in Ireland
It is believed that Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland since before the 1600s. It was also believed to have served as a one-day break during Lent, the forty day period of fasting. This would involve drinking alcohol; something which became a tradition. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of theWaterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland.

St. Patrick is also believed to have chased all the snakes out of Ireland too. However, there never werr snakes on the isle. It's probably meant as symbolism for chasing the Pagans away when he brought Christianity to the Irish.

Erin go Bragh!

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.

Murders on the Heels of Love

The ravens are having a gathering. Is this like a spring celebration party? A mating up mixer, perhaps?

I still have a pair living in my barn. I would love to see a nest of little ravens this spring.

Murders on the Heels of Love- song: '87 and Cry, artist: David Bowie, album: Never let Me Down

Sunday Stills (3-13-11 letter "P")

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was a real puzzler. 

I thought and thought about it but I couldn't come up with anything. I had to get my mind set on things that started with the letter "P". Finally, something clicked and I came up with dozens of ideas for photographs beginning with the letter P. Hope you enjoy the picture show.

Here's a playful Sandy.

My son is posing for pictures here.

Isn't this picture of pine trees and pink sky pretty?

I love the interesting architecture and, oh yeah, palm trees.

.

Here's some poles in my barn.

There are petroglyphs on the rocks around here.

And of course, my pudgy, pinto pony boy Scout.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Friday Foto

Murders on the Heels

This is not what I'd expect to find in my horses water barrels but it's happened several times since the farrier came a few weeks ago. Sorry about the poor quality. The water was iced over and I broke it to see what it was. I had to fish it out with bare arms and the water level was past my elbows. Brrrr!

I blame the ravens. It's like seeing golf balls in my pasture, miles and miles from any golf course. They think they're eggs so they take them and then drop them in nowhere land, miles later. I'll bet they think this is a snake. What do you think?

Murders on the Heels - song: '87 and Cry, artist: David Bowie, album: Never Let Me Down

Someone Sees it All

 Sandy loves to go out with me in the mornings and run around while I feed the horses. This morning we had a surprise- snow!

Sandy dug her face right in

and came up frosted.

While my poor wet horses ate their grain

Sandy bugged the neighbor's horse, 

but Apache didn't care. She just wanted to roll in the fresh snow!

And roll again.

I like this photo of horse and dog looking off in the distance from over the other horses' backs.

But this last one is my favorite. 

Someone Sees it All - song: Goodbye Mr. Ed, artist: Tin Machine, album: Tin Machine II

I'll Roll your Ball

Inspired by the Dennis Reis clinic and his great big ball, I pulled out the exercise ball I bought for my horses ages ago but never used. I expected them to get really excited about it.

When I went out to the barn, Scout and Yalla! were laying down napping in the warm sun. I put the ball down out of sight and hurried over to them. Yalla! quickly stood up and I jumped on Scout's back just as he was getting up. He was startled and walked around a bit. I wasn't afraid even though I'd never done this with him before. After a few minutes, he walked back into the barn and I jumped down off of his back.

I went into the barn and brought out the big ball. Yalla! was immediately the most curious and came running up to me and the ball. I let the ball bounce away and she ran off chasing it down the length of the arena. She was suspicious of it but had no problems trying to eat it.

Annie tried her very best to ignore it. She only moved / ran when it threatened to touch her.

Scout and Nadia didn't seem to pay any attention to it at all.  Only when I actually threw it up in the air at them did they run. Maybe Scout was still sleepy. I never did succeed in actually bouncing it off of them but it was good that they were so tolerant. Maybe next time.

Yalla! and I had fun playing soccer. I even made the goal!

I'll Roll your Ball - song: Betty Wrong, artist: Tin Machine, album: Tin Machine

Sunday Stills (3-6-11 My Favorite Places)

This week's challenge was to show some of our favorite places. The first one is my barn and horses.

Growing up a military brat, I love traveling. So of course, I like seeing new places. Here's the Grand Canyon.

This one is from a canoe trip down the Green River in Utah. This is part of the Labyrinth Canyon.

 I must have a thing for high, remote places. Here I am at Canyon de Chelly, one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

 I love hiking and so the mountains are on my list of favorite places.

 Any place I go with my mom is easily my favorite place to be.

 There are some trails in the city that are lovely in the fall.

And, of course, I love going into the world of cyberspace.

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.