Pumpkin Carving

Tonight Thomas and I invited a few friends over to carve pumpkins, have dinner and roast marshmallows over the fire and make s'mores. Diane, John and Chris came over and we chatted for a while and had some wine. Then we sat down for dinner of salad, chicken alfredo and garlic bread. Then after dinner we moved to another room and started carving pumpkins. Chris chose to draw his own design (a Jack-o-Lantern face), Diane and John carved a pumpkin together (a skeleton) and I started working on a design I got off of the internet (Frankie). While we were doing that Thomas was outside starting a fire in the firepit. I guess I was moving slow because everyone finished their pumpkins and I had just barely started.
Thomas called us outside to start roasting marshmallows and make the s'mores so Diane, John and Chris took their pumpkins outside and lit them. I left mine inside to finish carving after we ate the s'mores. I had carved a pumpkin the night before and we put the three of them together to take pictures. So we sat around the fire and roasted the marshmallows and ate s'mores until we had had enough of the cold and wind. We then came inside and relaxed and talked for a little while. We had a great time and I really enjoyed the s'mores - it has been a long time since I had them. Once everyone was gone I finished my pumpkin. I think they all came out great.

Detached Retina (Update #12)

I had a follow-up visit with Dr. Wyant today. It has been a year and five months since my retina detached. My last appointment with Dr. Wyant was back in March. Since that time not much has changed. My vision is pretty much the same - blurry with lack of peripheral vision on the left and bottom. The only real complaint I have is that my eye tends to get red. When it is really red I use Optive or Systane (over the counter eye drops) and that usually helps. I had to renew my driver's license this summer and when they checked my left eye alone it was pretty bad. The DMV looks for 20/40 and my left eye is at 20/60. So I am okay for normal driving but I would not qualify for a license to drive a bus or 18 wheeler. I don't want to drive either of them so there is no problem. My depth perception is really good now. Not sure if I learned to compensate or if it is actually better - all I know is that when I reach for things I can get them. Dr. Wyant doesn't expect any changes one way or the other. He thinks that there is a very miniscule chance that the retina would detach again in the left eye and that makes me feel much better. So all in all things look really good and I don't have to see the doctor again for a year. Thankfully things are looking up.

Detached Retina (Update #13)

It's State Fair Time!

Expo New Mexico started on September 11th and runs until September 27th. Thomas and I usually try and make it to the Fair at least once. Today we had to pick up a friend at the airport so we decided to do a little letterboxing and then go to the Fair.

We arrived at the Fair Grounds early afternoon and it was a good time - it wasn't very crowded yet and that made it easy to move around. When we first entered we passed by an area with stadium seats and notice a crowd in the stands and someone talking. So we stopped and watched the Marcan Tiger Preserve, Tigers of India. It was a neat show and I especially loved the white tigers. After the show we wandered for a little while and then stopped to see Dock Dogs Big Air. This show incorporates the locals. It is a competition between dogs to see which can run down the dock and dive to catch an object - the goal is to see who can jump the furthest. It was okay but we got bored soon so we started walking around again. We next stopped in to see the Fine Arts Exhibit. Now I am not an educated art critic but I was seriously doubting the judges abilities. Some of the winners were awful and some of the nicer pieces (at least the ones I thought were good) didn't win anything. It was still and enjoyable exhibit. After the Fine Arts exhibit we went to the Creative Arts exhibit - I liked this much better. More arts and crafts type stuff here and some very talented people entered their creations. I really enjoyed seeing everything here and left with quite a bit of inspiration.

Next we did a little shopping at the Manuel Lujan Building - they were selling anything and everything here - it was a little overwhelming. So we left and went to the barn to see some baby animals - this was more enjoyable and relaxing than the shopping area. We spent the next half hour or so just walking around and watching people. We saw a live bronze statue, a puppet parade with kids and their parents and a food booth where everything was fried (moon pies, oreos, twinkies, m&m's, cookie dough, snickers and cheese cake). Then we wandered over to the rides area. We didn't ride anything but we walked around and enjoyed the sounds, sights and smells. I took lots of pictures of the midway and we enjoyed watching people on the rides (I wasn't getting on any of them).

Well, we had a great time at the Fair but we were all tired and hungry. As we were walking to the exit we passed this gentleman sitting on a curb, he apparently was more tired than we were because he seemed to be napping while sitting. Anyway, we left and went to find a place to eat and made our way back to Santa Fe. I really enjoyed the Fair this year and I might make another trip this coming week.

Burn Him! Burn Him! Burn Him!

Today begins Fiestas de Santa Fe, a celebration of the "peaceful retaking" of the city by Spanish colonist that goes through the weekend. There is food, music, arts & crafts, processions, religious ceremonies and the burning of Zozobra. Tonight Thomas and I went to a little party at Diane and John's house. They live about two blocks from Fort Marcy Park where Zozobra meets his doom. Zozobra (aka Old Man Gloom) is a marionette that stands between 40' and 50' tall. He is made of wood and muslin and is stuffed with shredded paper. That paper contains the worries and troubles from the previous year. Some people even put in divorce papers and other legal documents to burn. We started the night with appetizers and drinks and conversation. Then we had a great dinner that Diane and John cooked and more conversation. While we had dessert we watched what was happening with Zozobra on TV and when it got closer to the time for him to burn we made our way to the field. The crowd seemed more subdued than in past years that I have attended the event. But there was still a kind of energy in the air and when the lights went out and the ceremony started the crowd livened up a bit. There is a fire dancer and gloomies. The fire dancer drives the gloomies away from the base of Zozobra so that he can burn and take the gloom from the previous year with him. Then the crowd starts chanting "Burn Him!" and eventually he starts to burn - it only takes a couple of minutes for him to burn completely - but that is enough to give the crowd a fresh start for another year. Then there is a pretty good fireworks show - we watched the fireworks as we walked back to the house. We then sat and talked for a little while so we could let the traffic lighten up a bit before we headed home. We had a great time and I really enjoyed seeing Zozobra again. Click on the picture to see a slide show of the event.

Addendum: The Santa Fe New Mexican ran an article on September 11 about the burning and they called it Zozo's Last Stand.

V¡Va! santa fe - Happy 400th Birthday

In 2010 Santa Fe turns 400. The city has decided to have a year long celebration. That celebration started this past weekend. The city launched V¡Va santa fe (Santa Fe 400th Anniversary - Opening Weekend).

There was an Arts and Crafts Festival on the Plaza. This lasted through today. There were artisans there selling hand made products and it was much more affordable that Spanish or Indian Market. I spent almost two hours walking around looking at all the artwork. There were some really interesting things. But after two hours I needed something different to look at. So I left the Plaza and headed up to Fort Marcy Park. I stopped at the New Mexico Tourism area and picked up a Tour NM Card (aka The Enchantment Card). This card gives you discounts at places all over the state and it was free to sign up. They also had a converted RV there with an exhibit about The History of Travel in New Mexico. It was pretty interesting. From there I stopped by the Legacy Arts Stage and watched Bailé Folklórico. They did a great job and it was so colorful. When they finished I made my way to the Legacy Artisans at Work. This was pretty much a hands on exhibit where you could learn different things from the artisans. Here is a quote from a handout I had . . .

"Guests will explore the artistic and architectural legacies of Santa Fe through the eyes of artisans, musicians, dancers, architects and homebuilders and hands-on demos."

It was really nice. They had people teaching salsa dance, how to make adobe bricks, wood carving and lots more. I didn't get a chance to stop at every booth - there was just too much to do. Next I went to the Tapestry of Taste booth. Unfortunately they weren't open yet so I didn't get to taste any food. After that I just wandered around and enjoyed the celebration. I think it was a good start for the city in celebrating 400 years. I am looking forward to all the other activities they are planning for this year. This weekend was also the start of Santa Fe Fiesta - well not acutally the start but the Court was present. As I was heading back to my car I passed by the Cathedral and watched the Fiesta Court procession to the Plaza - very festive! There is another activity this coming Thursday and that is the burning of Zozobra. It has been a while since I attended this event and I am really looking forward to it.

A Day of Rockhounding

Today Thomas and I joined our friends Diane and John for a day of rockhounding. Last night I got everything together and packed into a backpack and this morning I put together some things for lunch. We arrived at Diane and John's house and loaded up our things into Moby (their Land Crusier) and headed out.

Our first destination was the Harding Mine between Dixon and Penasco. So we headed up Hwy285 - driving through Pojoaque and Espanola and making our way to NM68 to NM75 and then to CR63A to the caretaker's place. To visit this mine you have to fill out a relaease form and notify Mr. Griego. Once the preliminaries were out of the way we could head out to the mine. We made it to the parking area, got our things and headed up the trail to the mine. We stopped at the "purple room" first. This is a shallow cave that is covered with lepidolite - it is purple and white - and really beautiful. Thomas and John spent quite a bit of time searching for rocks there while Diane and I explored a little further up the trail. Mr. Griego showed up and spent some time giving Thomas and John a little lesson on the minerals available in the area. They all eventually joined Diane and I and we all continued on the trail. Mr. Griego showed us were to go to find some calcite. John and I walked up the hill and looked around the area and were able to find a couple of nice pieces. We then returned back down the hill and met Diane and Thomas - they were just looking around the area and collecting a few samples of different types of rocks. I really had trouble keeping up with the different types of rocks but I still had a great time. We did find a medium sized rock that I loved. It was mostly white with some purple and black intertwined on it and it also had some lichen growing on it. It now sits in our garden and is beautiful.

We retruned to the car and then headed toward our next destination. That destination was the Hondo Canyon to look for staurolites (aka Fairy Crosses). But on our way we decided we were hungry and decided to stop off of NM68 and sit near the Rio Grande and have our picnic lunch. We ate and talked and John even took a little walk in the river. We had a nice relaxing time near the river but we also wanted to go and search for staurolites. We packed up our lunch and made our way up NM68 and just a few miles north of Pilar we turned right onto a gravel road. We saw a couple of cars parked just a little ways up the road but we were driving further up the road and closer to the area where you find the crystals. It is about two miles in to a meadow where you can park and then you just have to walk a little ways up the road. The road is quite rough with a few big rocks along the way and you definitely need a 4WD vehicle with pretty high clearance - and Moby fit the bill - it did a great job getting us up the road - as did John and Diane with excellent driving. Anyway, this put us in the Hondo Canyon and right in the area where we could look for crystals. Diane stayed on the path and planted a letterbox while John, Thomas and I went up the hill to look for staurolites. As we made our way up the hillside looking for an area to search Thomas found one right away. We walked around for a little while trying to find the best area but ended up just searching all over the place. We each found quite a few pieces of the 60/120 degree ones (some better than others) but we didn't find any 90/90 degree ones. We stayed in the area for about an hour and then headed out.

On the way back home we decided to stop at Embudo Station for dinner. We had a nice meal and drinks and relaxed and talked about the day. It was a really intersting day and I got to see places that I didn't even know existed. I love exploring and learning new things. Thanks John and Diane for introducing us to some great places here in New Mexico.

Art Walk (August 2009)

Today was a very stressful day at work. After working nine and a half hours I needed to do something relaxing. So after work I headed to my favorite place to walk - Canyon Road. I love looking at all the art (and looking is all I can do - it is so expensive). Things constantly change and there is always something new to see. So I try to take a walk at least one a month and a lot of time I make it there two or three times a month. I ended up spending about an hour and a half walking up and down the street and I think I took about 115 pictures. I decided to make a slide show of the pieces I liked the most. So click on the picture if you would like to view the slide show. Now that I am home after that relaxing walk I feel much better. I hope you enjoy the pictures.