Take it on the Road, part II

This sign is hanging over the front door of the office I went to visit yesterday. It is not the name of the business but rather, a traditional Navajo saying.Four of us traveled from Albuquerque to the Gallup office for a meeting. We spent over five hours in this room with several others; 16 total were in attendance for the meeting. It was great to be able to put faces to the names I already knew. We had boxed lunches brought in and I felt like it was a very productive meeting. I know it looks drab but it's actually a large room.
I won't bore you with the details of our meeting. However, it appears that we may be returning for more meetings in the future. Hmmm, letterboxing along the way??

Afterwards, I was able to go explore the office. There are even workers upstairs in one of the back rooms
and this lounge area is also upstairs. You can just about make out the placement of the paintings if you look at the above photo at the top of the stairs and peek through the rails. It's very deceptive how big the office really is.
This bowl is the real deal, handcrafted by a Native American artist.

The main part of the office is like a two story great room. There is a ledge at the top where various pieces of art have been placed, paintings
rugs, pottery, and this painted wooden screen.

This is a close up of the painted wooden screen. I do not know who these are but I'm sure they have great meaning in Native American legends.

I love, love, love all the artwork!

This is the company president's desk. I believe the wood paintings on the ends are of corn maidens and the inside is a painted "pottery" bowl and corn plants surrounding it. The top of her desk is glass over a Navajo rug. I've never seen anything like it before. Very beautiful!
They moved offices in late December so there are still a few pieces of art to be hung. I just adore this horned toad painting she has. Doesn't it look real? Like it should be on the ground? Notice the printer at bottom right for a size perspective. Amazing??

This is an Indian Wedding basket. It is hard to tell from the picture but it is at least three feet wide.This metal statue is a deity but I cannot remember who he is.
But look how big he is! Isn't this a most unusual office? With a kiva fireplace even?
But I think my very favorite pieces in the whole office are paintings by B Blacksheep. Here is a traditional marriage painting. Notice the horses in the background?
Just look at this one. I am in love! The horse's head and neck are arched like an Arabian, my breed of choice ;), it's high stepping, and it's a pinto! The woman is riding and has her baby on her back in a papoose. I love the swirley yellow (favorite color) flowers and the birds flying along.

That about wraps up my tour of the Gallup office. We headed back to ABQ, arriving in the early evening hours, a total of eleven hours!

One of these days I'll have to show you around my office. There are so many lovely paintings hanging that it's (almost) a pleasure to go to work. ;)

Take it on the Road

Today was a very different day at work for me. Usually, I sit at my desk and work through the day, sometimes taking a short lunch break to run errands. Today, we went on a road trip, to our other office, in another city, for a meeting.

Four of us drove to Gallup in one of the company cars, a Jeep Cherokee. Since I wasn't driving, I brought along my camera. It's about a two hour drive so while we talked, I took pictures. I'm sure the others thought I was crazy for taking so many photographs. ;) I considered it a great opportunity to practice taking landscape shots from a fast moving car. Be prepared for a lot of photos. I know many of you are not familiar with New Mexico landscapes but I hope I don't bore you. Also, do keep in mind that our average speed was 65 and these were shot through the window glass.

Here we go, heading west.This is one of the Native American pueblos along the way.

I like this little homestead. What a view they have!Here's an old adobe house.
The morning shadows were striking on the sandstone formations.There were small homesteads all along the way.
The blurry black stuff in the front is lava rock. This area, near Grants, is the outskirts of the Mal Pais, the Badlands.
We saw lots of very long, colorful trains that didn't quite fit in the picture.
Here are some more houses out in the middle of nowhere. It's hard to tell if they were abandoned or still lived in.

Just look at the size and color of these bluffs! Magnificent, aren't they?

The distant rock formation in the top right hand corner is Churchrock. It's too bad I couldn't get a picture without all the power lines.

Here is the other office. I love the rainbow effect down by the planter.This sign is over the front door.

It has special meaning:

O you who dwell In the house made of the dawn,

In the house made of the evening twilight . . .

Where the dark mist curtains the doorway,

The path to which is on the rainbow . . .

I have made your sacrifice.

I have prepared a smoke for you.

My feet restore for me.

My limbs restore for me.

My body restore for me.

My mind restore for me.

My voice restore for me.

Today, take away your spell from me.

Away from me you have taken it.

Far Off from me you have taken it.

Happily I recover.

Happily my interior becomes cool.

Happily my eyes regain their power.

Happily my head becomes cool.

Happily my limbs regain their power.

Happily I hear again.

Happily for me the spell is taken Off.

Happily I walk.

Impervious to pain, I walk.

Feeling light within, I walk . . .

In beauty I walk.

With beauty before me, I walk.

With beauty behind me, I walk.

With beauty below me, I walk.

With beauty all around me, I walk.

It is finished in beauty.

It is finished in beauty.

It is finished in beauty.

Traditional Navajo Prayer

Tomorrow, I will show you the inside of our office, definitely not the traditional working environment.

Take it on the Road - song: Always Crashing in the Same Car, artist: David Bowie, album: Low

Friday Foto

Friday - song: Friday on my Mind, artist: David Bowie covering the EasyBeats, album: Pinups

But I'm still getting educated

I thought that when school ended last week I'd have lots of time to blog and do things, but strangely, I feel sort of empty inside. I am trying to keep my depression at bay and focus on positive things. I am undecided now whether to continue on to University of New Mexico or University of Phoenix for a Bachelor's degree in business or just concentrate on work for a while. I could get a degree quicker with Phoenix but it's very expensive. UNM is going to take me years and, if I consider all the time and money spent on books and classes, will be very costly too. Either way, do I really want a student loan?

I sort of feel like these guys, tired.

Here's Simba looking kind of comical and cute


and Terra, with her beautiful, expressive eyes.

I noticed in the photo of Terra that in the background you can see a stack of movies and a book called The Daily Book of Art: 365 pages that Teach, Inspire, and Entertain. I am really enjoying it. The book has an interesting format. Each page focuses on one particular thing: art history, a famous painter, an art technique, a museum, a painting, "step by step how to draw" lesson, etc. and these repeat all through the book so you can read just a page or an entire series at one sitting. There are 365 pages with photos generously scattered throughout. The pages are short and easy to read, about 4-5 paragraphs with references for more information if you want to research further. Each page of this book falls into one of the following categories:

Art 101 with Elizabeth T Gilbert
Philosophy of Art with Colin Gilbert
Art Through the Ages with Amy Runyen
Profiles in ARt with Rebecca J. Razo
A pictures worth 200 words with Dylan Gilbert
Art From the inside out with Sharon Robinson
Art Around the World with Sharon Robinson
Unexpected Art Forms with David J Schmidt
Artistic Oddities with Gabriel Guzman
Step by Step Exercises

For example, this book covers Van Gogh, tattooing, Faberge eggs, the Louvre, how to draw a goldfish in a bowl, cave paintings, Rococo art, the Sistene Chapel, etc. etc. etc. It's an easy way to learn more about the fascinating world of art and I highly recommend it to everybody. The only complaint I could have is that the photos are small and there can never be enough although the book would become a tome and very, very weighty with lots of additional pages. There is even a ribbon to keep your place.

I guess I cannot give up on learning- there is too much I just don't know yet. However, I don't know whether to continue with classes or just do it on a personal basis.

But I'm still getting educated - song: Fantastic Voyage, artist: David Bowie, album: Lodger

Sunday Stills (Controls 5-2-10)

I thought about this Sunday Still's challenge for quite a while. Finally, I went to my archives and came up with these:

We use a steering wheel to drive the car.
We use leashes to control our dogs.
We use bits in a horse's mouth, a noseband and martingale to keep the head down, and reins for controlling direction- forward, back, or sideways.
A whip is sort of a control for making horses go although Nadia is less than impressed.
Here's a hot air balloon basket turned sideways so you can see what's in it. The four round cylinders are propane tanks for the burners which are the two square metal things at the bottom left of the picture. The big fan is used to blow air into the balloon. When the balloon is inflated enough, the burners heat the air and the balloon goes up.
This is looking up into the hot air balloon with the burners at the bottom.
This little gadget gives the pilot readings on air speed and altitude.

And lastly, who in this day and age doesn't have at least one of these, to control the TV, DVD, VCR, DVR, etc?

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

In your snow storm, freezing

We had incredibly strong winds all day Thursday and by Friday morning it was snowing. My lilacs are almost blooming now in spite of the white stuff. Check out my Friday photo from a couple of weeks ago, almost the same scenario.
Scout really looks surprised here, with a mouthful of hay and all that white stuff on him, doesn't he?He had to go outside and look around. Then he decided he'd rather be in the barn eating his hay, warmer and drier.
It was so cold that my girls (mares) were shaking. I put a sheet on Nadia and a full blanket on Annie. Silly girl, after wearing her blanket multiple times this past winter she still got squirrely and didn't want it put on. I had to bribe her with some grain.

In your snow storm, freezing - song: Sweet Thing, Reprise, artist: David Bowie, album: Diamond Dogs

Beautiful Blog Award

I was recently bestowed this little award from my good friend Tammy over at HorseTrailRiders. She always has great and inspiring posts about trail riding in Nebraska and her family life with horses and cows. I always look forward to seeing her Lucky Shots photographs because she is actually very skilled with the camera- not just lucky!

I was fortunate to meet her last year in person when she invited me to ride along with her on her Friday before Mother's Day Trail Ride from Valparaiso to Loma and back. It was so exciting to ride over real bridges out on the trails. It was such a wonderful experience for my daughter and I. (Thanks Tammy!) I even enjoyed the loooong two days drive there and back because I got to spend quality time with my mother and my daughter. What more could anyone ask for on a perfect Mother's Day?

Anyway, back to the award.

One of the conditions of the award is to provide several unknown facts about me:

1- I feel like I've graduated from two high schools. I moved in the last term of my Senior year and because I was 1/4 credit short in English, I couldn't get my diploma unless I enrolled in another school and earned it. When I went to enroll in the new school, they said that I couldn't get my diploma with them because I needed to attend at least a semester of school there. Fine, I would get my diploma from my old school. When it came time for graduation, the new school sent me my diploma. And I get all the reunion notices from my old school. Crazy, huh?

2- Which brings me to point #2. I've never graduated. Well, I've never walked down the aisle and received a diploma. Because of the mix-up with my high schools, I never bothered. Then, a few years later I graduated from Vocational School with an Accounting Certificate and never went to graduation. Last summer, I received my Associate's Degree in PreManagement, and still, never went to graduation.

3- I gained a half inch in height several years ago when I was in my forties! Always, I was five feet, four and a half inches. Now, I am officially five feet, five inches. Go figure! I attribute it to the fact that I like to lay on my back at least part of the night when I sleep and I never use a pillow when I lay on my back.

4- I was always very shy as a child and through high school. Then, in my early twenties, I decided that I was wasting precious time not being/doing what I wanted so I decided to quit worrying about what others think of me. I live for me, not to please others. Given opportunities for things, I always try to accept, to experience all that I can in life. I want to live my dash.

5- I don't consider myself a selfish person. I always try to think of what other people are feeling and usually put others before me. In my later years, I have learned to listen well.

6- I lost my husband to cancer three years ago. We would have celebrated our 29th anniversary last week. I miss him terribly and feel cheated from life whenever I see old couples together. My husband died at fifty and my dad died at fifty-four. Often, I think of my Mom and wonder how she has managed all these years by herself. My greatest fear nowadays is losing her. She's eighty-two.

7- I want to travel to Europe and Africa and Australia. If I were to win a lottery, I would buy a round the world cruise with my sister.

I feel like this award has been around several times and I tend to break rules so I want to name just a few of my favorite blogs. If I didn't name you, please don't take it personally, I'm just picking the first five that come to mind:

Brown Eyed Cowgirls She loves barrel racing and has a whole herd of beautiful horses!

Fern Valley Appaloosas Breeders of the beautiful Appaloosa horse and cattle, Sherry, I always want to call her Fern, writes a beautiful blog about her never ordinary life in Canada.

Ride a Good Horse Puppies and foals and Beamer, oh my! You gotta check her blog out.

Malfunction Junction More than enough adventures to satisfy the adventurous reader, Paige always has something worth reading

HorseCentric I had the pleasure of meeting Winter this winter. She writes a good blog about the trials and tribulations of horse ownership.

There are many other blogs I read regularly that are just as deserving. Just visit my blog list on the sidebar.