Zia and Zuni

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "Z".

WOW!!! Last letter for Round 8!!

ZIA

The state flag of New Mexico contains a symbol from a native tribe called Zia Pueblo. Here is an excerpt from what I think is their site (or someone using the Zia name) that explains more about this symbol and it's meaning:


"The symbol originated with the Indians of Zia Pueblo in ancient times. It's design reflects their tribal philosophy, with its wealth of pantheistic spiritualism teaching the basic harmony of all things in the universe.

The flag of New Mexico was designed with their historical background in mind. It shows the ancient Zia Sun Symbol in red on a field of Spanish yellow. The symbol's proportions are fixed by legislative act.

Zia is a name used in several cultures. Zia means aunt in Italian, is a common name in Pakistan, and is the name of an Indian Pueblo located 35 miles northwest of Albuquerque, NM.

The Zia pueblo in NM is situated in the steep mountains slopes and canyons of the Sierra Nacimiento Mountains. The gently sloping flood plain of the Jemez River, and the large Pajarito and Jemez Plateaus establish the setting for the Zia Indian Reservation.

The striking scenery creates exquisite cinematography. The films Dead or Alive, Desperado II, Earth 2 and New Eden were produced in part or entirely on the Zia Reservation."   

Here is the link from which this information came from to view it in its entirety: http://www.zia.com/home/zia_info.html

And, New Mexico boasts of another native tribe called Zuni. You can find out more about their tribe by visiting their site.  Another nifty site designed for home schoolers has some very good general information about the Zuni tribe.

It seems like we just zipped through the alphabet on this round!

Yankee Doodle Dandy

Nearly at the end of Round 8!!!

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "Y".

YANKEE

 Pop quiz-don't cheat!!! Who wrote the tune, "Yankee Doodle Dandy"?

Give up?  George M. Cohan.  One our great, all American songs! And, a pleasantly catchy tune, too (if I don't mind saying so myself).  His life and music was depicted in the Hollywood film, "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

Yankee:
"The meaning of Yankee has varied over time. In the 18th century, it referred to residents of New England descended from the original English settlers of the region. Mark Twain, in the following century, used the word in this sense in his novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, published in 1889. As early as the 1770s, British people applied the term to any person from what became the United States. In the 19th century, Americans in the southern United States employed the word in reference to Americans from the northern United States (though not to recent immigrants from Europe; thus a visitor to Richmond, Virginia, in 1818 commented, "The enterprising people are mostly strangers; Scots, Irish, and especially New England men, or Yankees, as they are called").^[2]
Outside the United States, Yankee is slang for anyone from the United States. The truncated form Yank is especially popular among Britons, and may sometimes be considered offensive or disapproving.^{[3] 
(quoted from Wikiedia)}

YEOMANRY

 An AP photo of Prince Edward

 " Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles." (from Wikipedia).

This photo was taken at at a Service of Remembrance for the Iraq War and here, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, is the Royal Honorary Colonel of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry.



YCLEPT  (ee clept):

–verb

a past participle of clepe.

• While clepe is obsolete, yclept is still occasionally used for humorous or archaic effect; as in the set phrase aptly yclept, which is an idiomatic expression.
• A holdover from Middle English, yclept is one of the few English words where 'y' figures as a vowel at the beginning of a word. Others include yttrium and yngling.

I've read this definition over and over again and I STILL can't figure out what it means!! If any one of you out there in blogsophere 'gets it', leave a comment here explaining how to use this word (even if it is archaic) in a sentence, please!!!

It's a Xeric World (at least it is here!)

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "X".

Xeric

I'm pretty sure we all know what xeric is by now! After all, we are on round 8 of ABC Weds and there aren't enough "X" words to go around! However, I found a site dedicated to those who love all plants xeric, called the Xeric World Forum. This image is from a member of that site, but it does not say who took/added the image to give credit to (not that I can easily find anyway). So, whoever you are, I thank you for this image. I have images of xeric plants that I can use, but I love the color combination on these.

But, yes, it has been DRY here, so it is a xeric world. I don't remember when the last time was that we had rain. And, more fires seem to erupt around us. We here in Rio Rancho are in no grave danger, but the entire city of Los Alamos (it's a small city) was evacuated. Of course, there were a few who insisted on staying. Are they out of their minds????? They must be.

XYLOPHONE

>
I can actually claim to have a xylophone in my life! My dad's youngest brother, Uncle Teddy (he passed away a few years ago) had a xylophone. He lived with Grandma in her 3 bedroom one bathroom house, which was (I'm guessing here) less than 800 sq. ft. Tight quarters, so I don't know how there was room for this instrument as it is large! Uncle Teddy had a really nice xylophone and it was fun to  watch any body play it. I still wonder to this day as to why he choose to play a xylophone. I mean, if you think about it, a really small and remote island out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Xylophone??

Wallow Wildfire, Whacky Wordles and Wonderful Wine

http://www.flickr.com/photos/molokaigirl/sets/72157594246523946/
ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "W".

  Whacky Wordle Cloud Tag

   

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide.  Or, a URL and it will pick up the text from within the site. It is a web toy, really. This one is from my blog. It's whacky, I think!

WINE

By the glass OR

By the bottle! Either way is fine with me!!

WEEDS

I don't know about you, but even though these are considered weeds, I think they add beauty to the landscape.

These were all in a dirt lot by a shopping center.

I wonder if we should shift our perception of weeds and welcome them?You can view a few more weeds here.

And then, there has been the Wallow Wildfire. Wow, has it affected us here in NM! There have been so many smoky days. Gratefully, this past week was much better than the week before, but it still continues to deposit ash everywhere. Yesterday it smelled like smoke again. There were some days where it looked like we were socked in a heavy blanket of fog.

Some days the sun looked like this:

It was so eerie that I did a short video of it to show my family:

Veni, Vidi, Vici...I Came, I Saw, I Conquered

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "V".

VENI

  

VENI, Creator Spiritus is a hymn used at vespers which are the evening prayers. It also emerges during Pentecost and other occasions when the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked.

Veni, Vidi, Vici...all three are Latin verbs in first person perfect form of: "venire", "videre", and "vincere". Wikipedia says that it is a sentence coined by Julius Caesar in reference to a short war, hence the, "I came, I saw, I conquered."

I don't think you'd hear this phrase being said at vespers, however.

VIRIDIAN

You know, I don't know why we don't just use the names of colors we see in our crayon box. It is really much more descriptive, don't you think? I mean, to say that you were green with envy, what shade of green pops into your mind? Olive green? Grass green? Sap green? Thalo green? How about VIRIDIAN green? Such a lovely color, I think. Gosh, not even my spell check here had that word in it's 'vocabulary'! Well, it didn't have Thalo green either. You can find out more about viridian green here.

Yep. I suggest that the next time you feel yourself about to use the word, 'green' in a sentence, insert viridian instead and see what happens to your conversation!

Upswept Urchins Ululating

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "U". All images posted here today are from Google's public domain image gallery.

UPSWEPT

Too precious for words, this image is! I typed in "public domain images of windy hair" and this is one of many that came up. This certainly meets the criteria for, "upswept" don't you think? Notice too, that I am not using identifying names here as I don't want Google alerts to pick this one up! They might make me take it down and that would be upsetting!!!

ULULATE

Ululate: to howl, to wail. Coyotes are known to do that and they most certainly ululate here every night! I usually don't hear them, but from time to time, they are close enough (one year they created a den in our neighbor's yard). I think we could all stand to do some uluating from time to time, can't we?

URCHIN (of the SEA)

Beautiful, but their spines are not very friendly, these sea urchins! The top two are without the dreaded spines. Walking along the reefs and shores of Hawaii, you need to watch out not to step on these as their spines contain enough venom to make you miserable.

There is also an on line auction going on right now that is very dear to my heart. 28 artists have created 'shrines' to sell on line and all proceeds go to the street children of Oaxaca. The auction ends on June 12th. Even if you can't bid on anything, please pass the word along to others so that they might bid (and win). Face Book, email, etc. Each creation is so very unique from the other. Last year we raised $4,000.00 for the children. The premise of this grassroots effort is to end poverty through education.

The name of the site is the Gallery of Hope. Once you get in to the website, all of the artist's names and thumbnail images of them are on the right side bar. From there, you can view each of their works. And, bid, bid, bid!!! If you haven't yet and want to view what I created (while you are awaiting your email confirmation), go visit my other blog, Molokai Girl Studio.

I enjoy reading your comments, so I hope you leave me comments! I nearly always comment back unless there is a problem with my getting a comment posted at your site (sometimes it happens).

Totally Tiltillating Tactile Textures!

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "T".

Tree Trunk

This "T" post is totally about my love for textures. Just think of it as a tribute. Pure and simple.

Gosh, I took this image a while back and now I forget what it was! I think it was a wall of some sort made from an unusual materiel. We'll just have to make up our own stories to anyone who will listen.

Macro shot of a rusty and old surface.

And, another macro shot, but this time of a surface from my artwork. Mostly acrylic as far as what medium it is.

The third annual auction to benefit the Oaxaca Street Children is about to take place. All proceeds raised for this auction benefit the street children of Oaxaca. Please visit my Molokai Girl Studio blog to find out more about this auction. Share it on Face Book. Tell all your friends and anyone else who will listen! Viewing starts June1st. Auction begins June 5th and ends June 12th.

The Sounds of S's

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "S".

SSSSHHHH!!!

Can you hear that?  Silence.

I don't know what got me thinking on this train of thought (most likely the one I was developing for today's post got derailed), but the letter, "S" has a lot of words that are SOUNDS. Did that ever occur to you too?


Shazam. Smack. Swoosh. Sing. Scrape. Sonar. Slap. Swoop. Scratch. Song. Shout. Scream. Squeak. Speech. Squeal. Screech. Splash. Scrub. Scuff. Steam. Snap. Slurred. Shriek. Snarl. Soliloquy. Sob. Snarl. Squawk. Suck. Salsa (I count that one because music automatically pops into my head when I hear it).

I'm sure there are more that I have not thought of. Feel free to leave them in the comment section as I'd like to know of the ones I couldn't think of!

Oh, and I almost forgot to explain the image. Since I really didn't have an image of a sound, this is just an 'abstraction' of an old wood door that has red paint peeling and cracking off of it. Merely visual entertainment!

Really Ravishing Ruby Red Rheostats Rumbling Respectufully

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "R".

RIO GRANDE RIVER BY THE ROADSIDE

There seems to be a lot of R's in where I live and my daily life! I live in Rio Rancho, NM.

Which is not too far from the Rio Grande river.

The state bird is the road runner.

ROCKS

Whether you live in the greater south west area or not, I would contend that it is not hard to find rocks of any kind.

Especially RED ROCKS!

REAPING THE HARVEST

This is what I reaped last fall from my Braeburn apple tree. They were all delicious and I'm proud to say that they were bountiful and pesticide free! This was one of three baskets.

Sigh...and I'm feeling a need for some rather obscure R words too-such as, rock-ribbed. Which means 1) rockbound  2) firm and uncompromising in one's views. Now you can step out today and refer to your favorite hard headed person in your life as being rock-ribbed!

And, you know the Roebuck in Sears Roebuck? That's a male roe deer.

Here's a doozy: roistering.

Do you know what it means?

Merrymaking noisily.

So, all you ABCers-go forth and be good roisterer's!!

I think I'm getting rather rambunctious...

Quivering Quarks Quickly Quelled

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "Q".

QUEEN BEE

When I sat down to do this post, I had no intention of using "Queen" again as I used it in the last round. That all changed in a matter of moments. I received an email from a friend in my inbox with the following images of the Queen of England over her 59 years of reign with each of our presidents. And, it also made me think of queen bee, so I Googled that and found this tattoo image of a queen bee (this is from a tattoo parlor located in Las Veags, NV called Jime Litwalk-now you too, can have a tattoo of a queen bee upon your person). I'll stop digressing. Long live the Queen!

"The Queen Of England – her anniversary is coming up. May 12, 1952 she ascended to the throne, 59 years this week!

 

I (not me, but the unknown author of this series of images) was a little shocked by the  pictures when it penetrated my brain how long she's been around. She  gives new meaning to the  phrase "Long Live the Queen".

 

How old does this one make you feel? Keep scrolling...

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AMAZING, isn't it???

Those "Q's"...so unique YET they almost always have to appear with the letter, "U". Quite the relationship, isn't it? I can't think of any other letter that has this requirement in order to be used. It seems unfair. Nor could I find the origin to this practice and why is it necessary?  I would like to have an explanation if anyone out there has found the answer!

And, since the quivering quarks were quickly quelled, we need not worry about them.

Peanuts, Popcorn, Pinwheels and Poppies

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "P".

PIXELATED PINK POPPY

As the image heading implies (I think it does), this is an image that is photography based; whose pixels then got manipulated.

PINWHEEL

Such universal appeal, this whimsical garden toy has. 

I researched the origin of the pinwheel via Sir Google (as Sylvia refers to it as!), but I really wasn't happy with the scant information. It seems that it was used in gardens to scare off the birds and perhaps other critters. Also references to it's name coming from the pin being the center from which the wheel spins around. And, another reference about it also being called the Catherine Wheel (whose modern day use is in regards to fireworks). And, when you Google "Catherine Wheel", it talks about it being a wheel of torture that St. Catherine was subjected to. So how it got from being a tortuous device to this whimsical garden toy...well, there are many gaps. Roger? Help? Anyone? Is there an Anthropologist in the house?

PRECIOUS POTTERY

You might think this broken pottery is a cast off; neglected and rejected. But, it is really part of a grave site 'decoration' in a cemetery in Jemez, NM. I suspect that the deceased must've have had some connection to the pottery-perhaps a potter. And, perhaps this broken pottery is theirs which would be an easy and obvious explanation of its significance at the grave site. I can only speculate and ponder.

PERPLEXING PATTERNS

Can you guess what created this mysterious pattern? Let's just say that it involved algae, water, a concrete block and  a plastic bottom to a planter.


Give up?


We use a plastic bottom from a planter pot (you know the faux terra cotta kind). The bottom is designed to retain the water the seeps through the soil in the pot. Are you with me now? OK, so that piece serves as a bird bath for the birds and it lives in our garden. Because of the high winds and sometimes other critters that are too heavy to sit atop that tray, we place a concrete block in it to weigh it down. Over the span of several years, the algae stains the sides of the planter tray and the concrete block acts as a 'resist'. The tray sits up high on a wooden post, so it does not come down for a regular scrubbing. Which, over time, this neglect made for a really cool pattern.


And, as you might have discovered by now, no peanuts or popcorn was used to create this post with!

Odelia Occupies One's Self While Oogling Olympia's Olive Oil

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "O".

OLIVE OIL

Olive oil of Olympic proportions as far as the image is concerned! It's Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO): cold pressed. If you feel so inclined, read up on the history of it and how it is made. You may as well, as I know all of you have a bottle of it in your kitchen! I know that is about all I cook with unless I am cooking with a high temperature; then out comes the Safflower oil.

And let's not confuse this Olive oil with the cartoon character from the Popeye cartoon series of days gone by!

Odelia is an Anglo Saxon and a Teutonic name. It means, "little wealthy one", or in Teutonic, "wealthy".  A pretty 'rich' name. I never knew.

Ah, yes. And then there's Olympia-the ancient site for the Grecian Olympic games.

And then there's:

OLYMPIA

Edouard Manet's, "Olympia"

(image source was from Google images)

When this painting was exhibited, it was considered shocking. But, not for the reason you might think. Nope. It wasn't the nudity issue. It had to do with her demeanor and the content within the painting. You can read more about it here.

Obiter dictum. Have you used that one in a sentence at least once in your lifetime? Here's what it means (from Wikipedia): An obiter dictum is a remark or observation made by a judge that, although included in the body of the court's opinion, does not form a necessary part of the court's decision.

Fascinating.



Oh, and I hope you can help our local high school students (Rio Rancho High School) win this year's van Shoes Custom Culture Design contest. They need your vote by May 2nd! They won this contest last year and what a life changing experience it was for these students. They have now made it into the 50 semi-finalist category and the prize this year is a much larger prize.

I made a You Tube video that tells you all of the info and also shows the shoes that were submitted in this design contest.

Help them out! Vote for them! Tell all your friends! Put the link on your Face Book page. Send your friends an email with the link. Tweet it on Twitter. Well, you get the jist...

Here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX8kKaHyEnU

The Noble Gas of Neon and it's Natural Abundance

ABC Wednesday is a word meme with participants from around the world. This fabulous meme was created and hosted by Mrs. Denise Nesbitt who hails from Great Britain. Over time, others have joined in to help host this wonderful and informative meme. We are now in our EIGHTH round! Some of the participants have been with this from the very first round; others have joined in along the way. Each week we are taken across the globe to see the varied and exciting contributions people have taken the time to discover and capture. We start with the letter, "A" and each week we post something in regards to the next letter of the alphabet. This week's letter is, "N".

NEONS

 

Neon signs-if you live in any kind of urban environment, these are everywhere. So much so that we hardly give them a thought. Personally, I think that often they take on an art form of their own.

OK, so you might care if neon is the second most lightest inert gas. It is one of the six noble gases: they are all odorless, colorless, monatomic gases, with very low chemical reactivity. The six noble gases that occur naturally are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and the radioactive radon (Rn) (from Wikipedia). It is also the second lightest noble gas right after helium.

Neon signs that actually use the noble gas of neon are the ones that are reddish orange. The other colors are obtained from other gases and fluorescent. However, we all refer to this genre of signs as neon signs. At any rate, I love them!

Sylvia might recognize many of these signs as I took them when I was in Seattle in 2007. You can always find lots of neon signs in downtown anywhere.

I love this one.

 

If you can't find the restrooms with THIS sign, then you are outta luck!  ; )

 

Fresh fish doesn't get any fresher at Pike's Fish Market

 

If you're seeing double, then perhaps it's time for a checkup!

Hungry??

 

And when you pick up your lunch, you might want a Kirin 

to wash it down with (well,not me, but maybe you!).

 

SMILE!!!!

 This one was taken in Port Townsend as was the first one called "Sirens"

 

And, as we head into Easter week, I thought this one was a 

good one to end this series of illumination with!