"X" Marks the Spot

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. Our Host, Mrs. Nesbitt hails from Great Britain. We started with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. We are now in our second year, round 4! This week's letter is,"X".

Xenon

Xenon is an inert gas whose "name is from the Greek word ξένον [xenon], neuter singular form of ξένος [xenos], meaning 'foreign(er)', 'strange(r)', or 'guest'. In 1902, it's discoverer, Ramsey, estimated the proportion of xenon in the Earth's atmosphere as one part in 20 million." Suffice it to say that its natural occurrence is RARE.

"In a gas-filled tube, xenon emits a blue or lavenderish glow when the gas is excited by electrical discharge. Xenon emits a band of emission lines that span the visual spectrum, but the most intense lines occur in the region of blue light, which produces the coloration."

Thanks to Wikipedia for this lovely image and information. You can read up on more obscurity on Xenon here.

Xray

A form of electromagnetic radiation. Well, you all knew that, didn't you? If you are one of those knowledge hungry folks, find out more about it here.

I'll bet more than 50% of us ABCer's will have xray listed as our word! This is from my stash of xray films that I have (I will not disclose how I acquired them).

Xanandu

It's been a Broadway play, but I also know it as an art gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. I just took a webinar with them this past Saturday. It is a high end gallery that is very successful in spite of the fact that there are 60 other art galleries on the same street that they are on.

Xenophile

I'll bet you never gave it a thought as to what a xenophile might look like! The definition is listed as: "A person attracted to that which is foreign, especially to foreign peoples, manners, or cultures." I almost got stumped as to, "what image would I use with this word?" Then I thought of Marco Polo, the explorer. Most certainly a xenophile, don't you think? His explorations changed the world forever.

So, there you have it, folks. "X" marks the spot. You didn't need a treasure map as all the treasures were unearthed here!

Sequel to the Summer Solstice

5:52 a.m. Sunday, June 21, 2009

The summer solstice.

You remember the post I did last week about Chaco Canyon and it's connection to the summer solstice? Well this is sort of a sequel to that. Early that morning on the day of the summer solstice, a bunch of us met us at the City Hall here in Rio Rancho. In front of the City Hall is a commissioned piece of art called, "Chaco Rising". It is a beautiful sculpture that is an interactive sculpture. Interactive, that is, only on the days of the solstice: summer and winter.

Artist, Jaymes Dudding came out to see his work interact with the sunrise that day. He also teaches a Humanities class at the local community college, Central New Mexico Community College (CNM for short). He encouraged his class to come out for it too. Here you see him with some of his students and other hardy people like ourselves who wanted to witness this remarkable event.

The sculpture really captures the geologic feel that is unique to the Chaco Canyon area and to the greater area that it is in, the Colorado Plateau.

When you peer into the slits of the sculpture, you can see the 'sun dagger' making it's way across the diochroic glass that his wife made. A tribute to the cosmos and the universe and to the ancient civilization that created the site that this sculpture's inspiration came from. This is a 'panoramic' shot that I took so that you could get a sense of the light making it's way across the glass. My husband shot some video of this and interviewed the artist. He also used some of my images that I took that day and from a recent trip I did to the Chaco Canyon area. You can view that video here.

Our city of Rio Rancho is only 27 years old. It is a very young city with no history, no old buildings, not even a downtown. It is growing faster than we have the resources with which to keep up with. And, we are faced with the haphazardness of just being a bunch of subdivisions. Public art such as this brings cohesion to communities and gives a sense of identity. I think most people don't stop and think about whether or not public art as a thing to be valued. I say it is. Perhaps I'll expound more on that in a future post.

For today, though, it is really all about the SHADOWS! Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse by stopping by to see what others have posted!

Welcome the Whacky, Wild, Wet, Wonderful W's

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. Our Host, Mrs. Nesbitt hails from Great Britain. We started with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. We are now in our second year, round 4! This week's letter is,"W".

Water tower. You'll find this one along the roadside next to the Taos creek on the way up to the Taos Ski Valley. I love what some creative spray artist has done with it! I'm sure it wasn't 'commissioned', but what a wonderful and wild visual treat this is!

Waffle. Call me whacky for getting up the other day to make waffles for my husband just so that I could photograph them for today's meme!

Windows. I love windows that speak of antiquities of the past. This one is no exception. This is the building for the Visitor Greeting Center of the Bandelier State Park (also a National Monument) which is located near Los Alamos, here in New Mexico.

Waves. Hawaii has a worldwide reputation for it's waves; especially amongst the surfing crowd. That's my seventeen year old son, John paddling out in hopes of catching some of those said waves. The location for these waves is the Honoli'i Park in Hilo, Hawaii.

Well, I've gone wonkers with the W's. Feel free to join in with your "W" words!!

Summer Solstice

Early morning shadows cast on some boulders in the Chaco Canyon area in the northwest region of New Mexico. Behind me, as I took this photo is the infamous Fajada Butte.

All I had to do was to turn around to take this shot of the Fajada Butte.

I can't think of anything more appropriate to post for this week's Shadow Shot Sunday since it occurs on the summer solstice in this region of the world.

Fajada, in Spanish, means belted or banded. This refers to the black seam or layer of lignite coal exposed midway up the butte.

Many of you have probably never heard of Chaco Canyon except in the references I've made to it in past posts. It is a State Park here in New Mexico. It preserves what is left of an ancient civilization, The Chacoans. You can find out more about the Chacoans and this ancient site here.

There is a 'movie'/DVD production made about the mystery of the Chaco Canyon because scientists somewhere along the line started to unravel what looked like a very complex site that aligned with astronomical occurrences, such as the solstice and equinox. Initially, it seemed that the astronomical observation point was limited to this butte. Over time, a research team revealed that the entire site marks different occurrences. The geographical area that this center spans is extensive. The Fajada Butte has three rock slabs on the top of it slanted just so. It captures a dagger of sunlight on a spiral drawing on the day of the summer and winter solstice. You can find out more about this at the site called The Solstice Project. The section with all the relevant info on this butte can be found here.

This is from the sign that faces the butte. I've included it so that you can see just where on this butte the site is that marks the solstice events.

I do hope that you take the time to check out the links I've provided. There are no repeat links on this page. Every single link is different (to assist you in this info treasure hunt!). It really befits our meme for today.

Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse by stopping by to see what others have posted!

Volleying with Valiant V's

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. Our Host, Mrs. Nesbitt hails from Great Britain. We started with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. We are now in our second year, round 4! This week's letter is, "V".

All vernacular put aside, we shall commence with the "V's"! I call these, "Violet Stones". Not being a geologist, I have no idea what they are except that they are stones and that they are violet (some folks might want to call them purple).

I have one of these but couldn't find mine to photograph. This vernier scale image is from Wikipedia's page. The instrument that has this vernier scale is on referred to as a caliper. The measurement on this instrument is the vernier scale. Have I totally confused you?

Vinegar. Cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, white balsamic vinegar...I could go on and on. One can NEVER have too many kinds of vinegars!

Ugh!!! I saw these at the Natural History Museum here in Albuquerque. Vinegaroon. They seem a bit vile, don't they? But, they are not. Sigh...I didn't have my camera with me, so this is from the Wikipedia's page again. It looks like a scorpion, but it really isn't. They are also known as whip scorpions (to make matters more confusing). Go to the link to find out more about these sci-fi like creatures.

I wasn't sure a few weeks ago if I could come up with V's, so I am feeling rather victorious that I have!

The Moai's of Kaunakakai

Shadows from concrete pilings along the Kamehameha Highway near the town of Kaunakakai on Molokai. This is all at sea level, so I am inclined to think that the pilings purpose is to act as a buffer should there be a tidal wave. The shoreline is only 1/8th of a mile from this spot. It almost seems like a moot point, but perhaps it does make a difference. These have never been put to the test, thank goodness.

This was taken on a previous trip home. Unfortunately, I will not be going home this summer. : (

But, don't these shadows remind you somewhat of the large stone statues on Easter Island called moais?

Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse by stopping by to see what others have posted!

And, since Tracy was too under the weather to get out and look for bike shadow shots for the World Naked Bike Ride, this one's for you, Tracy! I cannot imagine riding a bike bare butt and naked!

Undoubtedly Undaunted by the U's!

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. Our Host, Mrs. Nesbitt hails from Great Britain. We started with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. We are now in our second year, round 4! This week's letter is, "U".

Umbrella

I have no idea why, but this image seems surreal to me. Is it just me?

Unimog

Don't know what a Unimog is? Click on the word above to find out! My husband always wanted one. Instead, he bought a four wheel drive ambulance on EBay. This one belongs to a friend of ours who lives up in Angel Fire and we put the graphics on the "Mog" for him (we put all the graphics on for him). He bought it on EBay too. Nuts, huh?

Urn

You know, as in coffee urn, guys. Of course, there is the other one too, but I'd rather post this one.

Usnea

It grows everywhere up in the mountains. Perhaps you never noticed on your hikes, but it is in the lichen family. It has incredible medicinal properties (the constituents need to be drawn out by a distilling process). It can kill the bacteria in the strep family. Usnea contains potent antibiotics which can halt infection and are broad spectrum and effective against all gram-positive and tuberculosis bacterial species. Works wonders on strep throat; far better than ANY anti-biotic out there. No, there is no double blind study to back that up with. Just good old empirical evidence for the past 1,000 years. Tinctures can be easily bought at your local naturopathic stores.

So, there you have it boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen. Today's lesson on Unimogs and Usnea!

National Drawing Day

Jessica Wesolick's Cre8it Art Blog notified us that today, June 6th is National Drawing Day. She put the call out to do a drawing and post it in her comment section on her blog. I hadn't drawn anything in a long time and this is really more of a sketch than a drawing, but I did want to participate and get motivated to get back to drawing again.

I worked from a photo I took of my son when he was about four or five years old pretending to be a 'muscle' man!

And, for the sake of sheer entertainment, you have just GOT to see this brilliantly executed animation done by Alan Becker called,"Animator vs. Animation": http://alanbecker.deviantart.com/art/Animator-vs-Animation-34244097

I hope you go on over to Jessica's Blog to see what others have posted and perhaps YOU will be inspired to draw and post too!

Happy National Drawing Day!

A Jemez Retreat

Shadows cast from wrought iron that surrounds a grave in Jemez, New Mexico.

This is the source of the shadow. Note the lovely (and very 'blingy' heart wreath).

You can see the church which is where this graveyard is, in the window of Linda's mini-Cooper.

This past Tuesday, Linda and I did one more road trip before she heads off on a month long trip. It was her goal this year to go and take pictures anywhere in New Mexico at least once a month. I get to tag along!

It was a much needed trip for me since a very close friend of mine, Delma Petrullo went into hospice on Sunday (see previous post, Titillating "T's"). I needed to do something to clear my head and gather strength. You can get a pretty good idea about how Delma had affected so many people by reading the comments that were left on the web page that was created to keep everyone up to date on her status: www.caringbridge.org/visit/delmap. Or, just Google her name and you will see pages and pages of her name.

The comments are amazing and none of them are an exaggeration. She passed away early Wednesday morning at the age of 60. A living legend and a living legacy even when she was alive. The memorial service will be this Monday and it will be held at the Rio Rancho High Scool Performing Arts Center since it seats 600. I imagine it will be at near capacity as we celebrate her life. There will be a police motorcade from the mortuary to the Performing Arts Center and the Rio Rancho Fire Department will also have their ladder trucks present. She was an activist for the arts (especially visual arts) in our community and was very proud of being a city councilor. I cannot even begin to tell you what an amazing person she was, but if you do go and read the comments left by people, you will get a sense of who she was.

She will be pleased to know that she has made a lot of grown men (which includes a lot of politicians and very successful businessmen) cry these past few days. That's how well loved and respected she was.

Anyway, the trip to Jemez (and Bandelier State Park) was a trip to clear my head and it certainly was what the 'doctor had ordered'. It gave me the strength to get through this part of the journey in letting go of a dear friend.

Every week, a group of us from around the world post our shadow shots over at Hey Harriet. Entertain your muse by stopping by to see what others have posted!

Tiltallating T's!

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. Our Host, Mrs. Nesbitt hails from Great Britain. We started with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. We are now in our second year, round 4! This week's letter is, "T".

Taro

A staple food in the Hawaiian and South Pacific Islander diets. Did you know that feeding an infant who does not tolerate their mother’s milk or other formulas can be fed poi? In Hawaii, lactose intolerance is common so many turn to feeding their infants poi (made from the taro root).

Tapestry

Texture

Oh, be still my heart!

Toad

One of the many that live in our yard. I nearly stepped on this guy the other day when I went out to pick roses. We love them because they eat many insects every night all summer long. Who says you can't love a toad?

Tears

This is an excerpt of a painting that I've done for a juried show. I'm only using it here because I needed an image of tears.

Someone that I am very close to is loosing her battle with cancer. This Sunday, she was placed in hospice. This is all happening so rapidly, that those of us close to her are bewildered. Shocked. Stunned. But all the same taking care of what needs to get taken care of in the time that is left. I am doing my best to hold myself together to get through it all. I will collapse when it is all over. In the meantime, the tears are accumulating somewhere within me, waiting for the floodgates to open.

Post Script on Wednesday, June 3rd: My dear friend, Delma Petrullo has passed away. She left us quietly and peacefully this morning at 12:05.