Big K, Little k, what begins with k?

KIWI

Is your mouth puckering yet?

KNOT

Oh, how often do I feel tied up in this? (figuratively speaking folks, not literal!)

KAUNAKAKAI

Say that one five times REALLY fast! It's the 'capitol' of the island of Moloka'i. And, yes, this is a fairly recent photo. The appearance of this town hasn't changed much since I was little. And that was a loooong time ago!

The KALAPANA lava flow. Of which I had the privilege to witness and photograph last summer (to see more, go here).

The primal energy is amazing to witness first hand. The event occurs in silence. Silence even from those of us watching it.

Do stop by ABC Wednesday for other postings of the letter "K"! It's always fun to see what others have thought of.

Best Fishes

I have a lot of wind chimes hanging everywhere in my yard.

These don't often catch the wind even when it's howling outside I think because they are kind of sheltered by the tree that it hangs from and that it is so close to our wall. I go by the philosophy that you can NEVER have too many wind chimes in your yard! They are everywhere and every kind imaginable. It makes the wind bearable when it is howling outside (and it does so with great ferocity during the vernal equinox). I hear the little metal chimes, the bamboo ones, the ones that have a deep, temple ring, the little brass bells...it all makes me happy.

There's a saying that I love and I forget who wrote it: "in the midst of winter I saw that there was a summer within me". Well, it's not the exact quote, but that is the gist of it. For me, it has more than one meaning. Like the year that my mom and and father in law died within two months of each other. 'Winter' seemed to hang heavy for so long. But, these words gave me the courage to move on.

And, it is the bare branches of winter that give these fish the feeling that they are indeed swimming through the warm skies of summer. Melting every last ice crystal around.

Do go on over to Traci's place at Hey Harriet to see what others have found in their Shadow Shot Sunday quest.

Defined Fitness for Ms. deux!

Hey, you'll be happy to know that I finally got Ms. Michele Deux (of the Flat Doll Project) to get outta the house and really DO something! She accompanied me to the gym the other day (Defined Fitness) for the total body conditioning class. Here she is with my teacher, Cathy and fellow fitness mate, Marin. Can you say, "yay"?

Kalae Flowers

And now, for a little bit of a change from New Mexico scenery...

My other home is on Molokai, Hawaii (most of you know that). I don't live there anymore, but we rent out the home that we grew up in. This is in a village called Kalae. I still call it my home as my heart will not choose where I live now over where I grew up. So, I think of both places as home.

This is looking out of the window in the spare bedroom located in the washroom which is a separate building from the main house. My oldest brother Robert, who still lives in Honolulu, commutes home every so often to tend to his garden. It is a labor of love. The following images of flowers are pretty much right outside this window. Can you feel the cool breeze blowing through? By the way, according to the topo map of the area, the elevation is around 1300 feet.

This is a very large red heliconia. The plants grow very tall; maybe about 10-12 feet? When picked, these flowers do last for about a month or so in a vase of fresh water.

Oh, yes. The dahlias. I swear, one of these days the agricultural police will come after us! Having plants mail ordered and sent to Hawaii is nearly impossible. The plant companies just won't do it for various reasons. So, my dear brother orders his bulbs, has them mailed to me and then has me repackage them to send to Hawaii. That would make me an accomplice...

Obviously a pink dahlia. I have no knowledge of the hybrid names. Perhaps if my dear brother (cue the sister clearing her throat sound) reads this blog, perhaps he will add comments and enlighten us as to the names of all of these flowers!

I'll call this one the orange dahlia! How creative of me.

And, perhaps, one of the most scrumptiously colored day lily I've ever seen.

Let's call this one the 'big heliconia'.

And this one the 'little heliconia'.

I have no idea what this one is. Rob, is it a ginger plant of some sort? Help me here!

OK, this one I know; it's a blue ginger.

My brother says this citrus fruit is really really sour. I forgot what he called it, but it had something to do with the Philippines. Do you know why I can't remember even though he has told me the names of these things? It's because interjected with the names are really long, detailed dissertations of something or other stories that may or may not be related to the plant in front of me (too much information). No, it's not a tangerine (but it sure looks like it, doesn't it?).

So, there you have it. A small tour of just one corner of that beautiful yard in Kalae.

Last, but not least, don't forget that there is still time left to bid on a cigar box shrine to benefit the children of Oaxaca! The auction ends on Tuesday the 31st. It's not often that a mere fifty dollars can change the path of someone's life so positively and profoundly.

Big J, Little j, What Begins with J?

Jack-O-Lantern...

Jar...

Jam...

JACKSON!!!

Juniper (which is causing many of us grief here right now as our senses are overloaded with their pollen)...

And, of course, the ever lovely, JJJ!

Here I thought I wasn't going to have enough "J's" to post. What was I thinking? : )

Go on over and see what others have done with their J's at ABC Wednesday.

Hoodoos and more

I call this the Daddy Hoodoo Shadow

It's the shadow cast by a very tall hoodoo. How tall? I'd have to guess, but maybe about 30 feet? Linda Laitner and I headed up north to a wilderness area near Chaco Canyon called, Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah. It's within the Bisti Badlands area all within the range of the northwestern corner of our state. Finding the area was an adventure! We had BLM (Bureau of Land Management) maps and what looked like some pretty specific directions. Both of us have GPS contraptions, but neither of us know how to use them! Which would've made it a cinch to find since the GPS coordinates are given. But, we did find it!

Although this hoodoo is not really from Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah. It was near Nageezi which is the way we left the wilderness area.

So, here's the standing formation that cast such a shadow. There's some smaller ones in the background in the shadow picture. The 'smaller' ones are about five feet high.

And then, there's this little iddy biddy guy! I was lying on my tummy to take this shot! I think the red rock on top must be no more than three inches in diameter, just to give you a sense of scale. The big ones are formed in the same way, it just starts out with a bigger rock!

Now that you've enjoyed these, head on over to Traci's at Shadow Shot Sunday to see more shadows!

What's Ms. Deux up to???

She rests yet AGAIN!

Our visitor, flat doll Ms. Deux is still here enjoying New Mexico. She was invited to join Ms. Linda and myself on a road trip earlier this week to a wilderness area called Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah, but alas! The word, "wilderness" frightened her, so she opted to stay home to look after the cats.

The weather was beautiful enough this week for us to consider putting away our winter sweaters (almost, but not quite). Ms. Deux here enjoying our hammock in the patio will attest to the lovely spring conditions.

I is for...

I is for...

Icicle

Iris

Iris

For more "I's" go to ABC Wednesday.

A Blade of Grass

An example of beauty even in death...

It is usually a rare event for us to find a dead bird in our yard. However, last summer and fall, it got kind of creepy as we sometimes would find a dead bird in our yard about once a week. They have almost always been the mourning doves. I've since found out that this is due to the Nile Virus spread by the mosquitoes.

One morning last July, I found yet another dove on our lawn. For me, it is a bit of a horrific encounter. I accept death as the inevitable, but I cannot bring myself to touch these creatures, let alone look at them once they have passed on. But, the early morning light made me look closer at the creature and appreciate all the nuances there was to see without interruption. I ran back into the house to get my camera and put my macro lens on it and came back out to record the details. I have to push myself to do this. I have to fight the urge to not look.

But, you see, in doing so, I end up with something like this. The shadow of one blade of grass cast on the edge of the wing. The iridescence was unexpected.

So the lesson here? By all means, do leave your comfort zone on a regular basis. You just never know what gifts fall into your lap as a result.

Want to see shadows posted by others throughout the world? Go to Tracy's place at Hey Harriet and look for the Shadow Shot Sunday posting.

Ms. Deux goes to the Esther Bone Library

Ms. Deux with Albuquerque photographer, Pat Berrett

Oh, we've been busy, Ms. Deux and I. I get to see my life through the eyes of our flat doll visitor, Michele Deux. Yoga, ballet, cardio dance and salsa aerobics classes. All of the mundane activities such as straightening up the house, doing laundry, cleaning out my 'stuff' (that'll take centuries to complete). Going on photo shoots. Making dinner for the family. Working in the yard. Whew! Ms. Deux is a bit inexperienced to help me with my work, so she does have a lot of 'resting' time!

Last Saturday, we hosted an art reception for my good buddy, Pat Berrett at the Esther Bone Library. He does commercial photography and most of the artists in the area take their work to him to photograph. This exhibit is of a subject matter close to his heart: dancers in the New Mexico Landscape. It is an on-going project and this body of work spans a time period of ten years. The images are breath taking with these beautiful dancers out in remote areas of New Mexico. I wish you could see it!

Shoot for the Moon!

If you miss, you'll land among the stars...

Last night's moon rise. Linda and I were out trying to get better at taking full moon shots. We found some great instructions on this blog and gave it a try. I have a Nikon. She has a Canon. We did our best to get everything set up according to the instructions. Here came the moon (99% full; it was full on the 10th). Cameras on tripods. Cable releases set up. We followed the instructions, but this is pretty much what we were getting. When all else fails, explore as a child would and try other things. FINALLY, Linda has success. We found that just putting your camera on shutter priority; for the Nikon that's all I had to do and for her Canon, she adjusted her aperture along with the shutter priority setting.

Vuela! The moon (click on the image for a larger view). Of course, now I'm wishing I owned a longer lens...

H is for...

BIG H, little h. What begins with H?

Heart. Corazon. Or, in Hawaiian, kuuipo. Oh, yeah, H is for Hawaii. Where I'm from (even though I consider New Mexico my home too). Home of my heart.

How about HEAT? Or, is this not hot enough?

Heavenly hats for honorable heads.

Did you know that the pineapple is the symbol of hospitality?

What about HOPE? What kind of image would one use for HOPE? I'm still mulling over what would be a good image to conjure up hope. But first, I must share some thoughts (I hope I don't loose you here).

This is an observation. Nothing political; merely an observation.

Since last November, I’ve heard the words, change and HOPE quite a bit. Within 24 hours of an election, all of a sudden people are filled with hope. I thought it odd. Where was their hope to begin with? How can it have magically appeared as a result of an external event?

I thought hope was something that we have within us. You know, like love. Happiness. Anger. I mean, isn’t this something that we have control of?

And then I flashed back to my undergrad days in Psychology; it was a Social Psychology class, I believe, where we covered the topic of internal versus external validation. Some people rely on external validation, that is, validation from others as a measure of their self worth. Others do not seek external validation, but find validation of themselves from within. It’s the difference between the personality that constantly seeks approval from others versus one who never relies on approval from others. Along the same vein, it is the difference between those that believe that external events control their behavior versus those that believe that they control their behavior. Of course, this is not a black and white situation; there are various gradations within these extremes.

And the observations that I made were that so many people had quite the attitude change; jubilant and giddy. Which is fine, but I think what made me stop and think is how one can switch their perspective in so small an amount of time. Which made me think; couldn’t they have done it without it being hinged on an external event? Which made me think some more about what is it that we need within us to have hope? When does despair come in and take over? How do we hold on to hope regardless of what is going on on the ‘outside’?

Now I’ve thought about this long and hard and I don’t profess to be right on this. It is merely MY observation. I think that in order to have hope, one has to have faith. Whenever that faith falters, other elements creep in. With enough faltering, that hope becomes dimmer and dimmer.

Gosh, and I’m still thinking that then the thing I need to hang onto to is faith. How can I have hope if I do not have faith?

Remember Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz who wanted nothing more than to go home? My gosh, all the things she went through to get home! Only to find out in the end from the Good Witch, that she had the way home all along within her. She didn’t need a Wizard to get her home! All she had to do was to close her eyes...and believe.

Be sure to stop by ABC Wednesday for other "H" sightings!

Kissing an Angel

Don't you wish that you could kiss an angel?

This is the time of year as we are coming up on spring where I head out into the yard quite early every morning to get some yard work done. Our property is roughly 7/8 of an acre and although the yard design is low maintenance, it is certainly not 'no maintenance'! The light changes very quickly in the early morning and as I passed by this lovely little angel, I couldn't help but notice the shadow cast by the birdie perched on its fingers. And that it seemed as though the shadow was reaching over to give the angel friend a kiss.

I have a lot of friends and family members right now that have various physical and health issues. I thought how nice it would be to send them all angel kisses to help them feel better and heal better. Along with beams of white light-healing white light full of love and positive energy.

I can only hope that they all feel this coming their way.

You simply must go visit at Tracy's place to witness other shadow sightings done throughout the world!

Ms. Deux

In case you're wondering what Ms. Deux aka Michele Deux aka Flat Michele has been up to...

She's been very busy! Very, very busy! We think she's acclimated to the elevation here quite nicely (we are a mile high in elevation). And, it seems that she is quite comfortable here with us. We are glad that she feels at home; so much so that here she is taking yet another rest on our bed! She was spending some quality time with Mr. Bear (he is quite soft and fuzzy and has great 'cuddle' factor).

I love reading stories to her at night. I think that is something that we both look forward to each evening after a full day of activities. What could be better?

G is for...

Every week when I do this particular post, I have Dr. Suess's lines running through my head. "Big G, little g, what begins with G?"...

Eerie, jeerie, glowing trees,

Glamorous, glitzy, glitter,

Golly gee, a glass blower,

Gazing through the glass door,

Grim yet gracious...Grandma.

G, G, G!

And now, it is good evening!

For more fun and frolicking of the letter "G", go to ABC Wednesday.

Ms. Deux and Yoga

Most Sunday mornings you'll find me headed out the door at 7:55 a.m. for yoga at the nearby gym. I invited my visiting friend, Michele Deux (aka Flat Doll) to join me. Being shy about going to a classroom full of adults doing yoga poses (after all, she is in 2nd grade you know), she decided to stay home. She found one of my yoga books in my library and tried some moves on her own. Very resourceful young lady, I must say (and she found my extra mat too)!

When I came home, I found her in the Relaxation Pose (Savasana) [sah-vahs-anna]. Click on the link provided to find out more about this pose. I must say, I love that pose too! We always end our yoga classes with that pose.

Later on that day, I headed off to the Kimo theater located in downtown Albuquerque for an afternoon matinee of Ballet Repertory Theater's "Sleeping Beauty". I was sad that I could not take my friend with me as I only had one ticket.

I had some extra time before the performance to wander around the downtown area looking for interesting things for my pocket Nikon to snap. That is what this is.

Quite the weekend!