Brightwing RV

Ben Brown's Labyrinth

2006-05-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Ben Brown's Labyrinth ... West Belen Mesa, New Mexico
Ben came to town and some members and friends of the Harmonious Earth Community gathered at dusk to walk and honor Ben's beautiful marble labyrinth down Twining Lane to Socorro County towards the observatory and up on the eastern hill. What a sight to behold.
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I first met Ben Brown in October of 1995 ...

... when we both arrived in Albuquerque at the same time to view the land we had bought in New Mexico while still in California, sight unseen! What an adventure. Ben had a friend with him and I had two. We 5 hung out together for 3 days then enjoying the sights, exploring our future homeland and hospitality of our host, Nathan. Even though we have emailed over the years, yesterday was our first on site contact since then. So it was a joyous reunion. Ben has been to New Mexico often, but since I travel a lot our twains have never met until now.

After introductions and get acquainted talk, the smudging began.

(Smudging picture with Betts here).

This is Steve Saunders traveling with Ben.

(More pictures here)

For those of you who are new to labyrinths (different from a maze) it can be described as a walking meditation, going to the center of the self and back out ... a path, one way in and the same way out. For more information, Google the word "labyrinth" and you will get more than you bargained for.

Ben's particular labyrinth is a Chartres Cathedral 11-circuit design, located near Paris, France.

It was rediscovered in the mid-1980s and since then there has been a huge resurgence of interest in labyrinths. I have been very fortunate to know and to be acquainted with the folks involved in this movement from the beginning. Names like Sig Lonergan now of England, Nicolas Finck, Richard "Feather" Anderson, Alex Champion, the Rev. Doctor Lauren Artress of Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, Taffy Lanser of Cave Creek, Marty Cain of the Northeast Kingdom, John Wayne Blassingame .... and so many others.

You can see more pictures of a labyrinth and story in my past blog of around March 12th, 2006, from Cave Creek, Arizona.

So until the blog site wants to cooperate with more pictures ... see ya later

2006-04-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Goodbye Jay ....

Jay Roper, hanging out with my sister for the last 20 years, made his transition today, April 27, 2006. He had just finished a game of golf, one of his most favorite things to do, when lightening struck ... his heart failed. He left behind his two adult children and their families and Sister Sue's pretty good-sized clan, and many friends. A Celebration of Life BBQ will be held in Lodi, California, on Sunday, May 21, 2006.

(I have a picture of Jay that will not download right now. Come back later.)

See you at the next station, ol' buddy. Your catching smile and high energy will be missed.

2006-04-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Truth or Consequences, New Mexico ..... a stopover on my way home to Belen.

Found the highly touted White Coyote Cafe before settling in for the night. Oh, yum!

Will be home in Belen by tomorrow. G'nite.

2006-04-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

Silver City, New Mexico ... high atop the world!

After living in New Mexico for four years, I have finally arrived in Silver City, (29 miles north of City of Rocks) a town that sprang to life during the summer of 1870. I checked into the Rose Valley RV Ranch and settled in for a few days.

Early morning view from Brightwing ....

The discovery of silver brought thousands of miners. Merchants followed in their footsteps to provide services and goods. Tents and shacks that initially housed commerce were rapidly replaced with buildings made of local brick. Building continued for several decades, leaving behind a wealth of brick Victorian homes, adobe structures and solid commercial buildings. The railroad arrived in 1883.

I heard that Vicki's Eatery had my kinda food ... and I was not disappointed.

Across the street from Vicki's is this painted building.

And next door ....

A series of devastating floods beteween 1895 and 1906 (because they cut down all the trees and the Monsoons came, as they do every year in the summer, duh). What used to be Main Street is now known as the Big Ditch, named after the Panama Canal. It lies some 55 feet below street grade and is now the watercourse for San Vicente Creek.

Unfortunately several streets are closed due to street renovations and it is very hard to get around. Now it's time to head for home tomorrow with a stopover in Truth or Consequences.

May you all be blessed with Peace!

2006-04-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico .....

This weekend the Los Lunas (New Mexico) Willowbenders, a chapter of the American Society of Dowsers (ASD) met here for their 2006 spring campout, to attend the park's Star Party, to check out special energy spots, special time portals, to find hidden pipes for the ranger, teach the ranger to dowse, for comaderie and good cheer. Eight of us showed up.

Approaching the park.

Dianne Murphy, Gary Plapp, Betts Richter and Trudy Clawson working on first breakfast.

Big Rock!

The Bathing Beauties! Enjoying the mineral baths at Faywood Hot Springs just down the road.

(Sally McClure, Trudy, Gary, Dianne, Betts)

Sunset Friday Night.

A highlight in this state park are their Star Parties held throughout the spring and summer months. One is scheduled for this weekend on Saturday night. Lucky us. Unfortunately, the night sky was clouded over and there were many (someone counted 100) disappointed people. Being the observant dowsers that we are, some of us noticed chemtrails overhead all day Friday. So we asked the question: Is the cloud cover due to chemtrails? Answer: Yes. So we asked for divine help to clear the cover for two hours and prayed that it would be so. It didn't work. It always works when we ask for help with rain. This time the answer is the cover was man made and not a natural phenomenon. So there you have it, believers and non-believers.

Such is the world we live in ....

More to come .... stay tuned!

2006-04-23T05:29:00.000-07:00

City of Rocks, Volume 2 ....

The View from Brightwing ....

Tom Fessenmeyer doing breakfast ...

Reiki session to fix Sally's sore shoulder ... Betts, Dianne and Sally with Tom giving his overall blessing.

View from the visitor center ....

Tom and Blitz

A good time was had by all. Happy Trails!

2006-04-19T06:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Sister Sue!

2006-04-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Bisbee, Arizona ... what an interesting place.

At the Life on Wheels conference in Tucson in mid-March I learned about other RV clubs and discounts and decided to join Passport America and the Escapees (SKPs). So I finally uprooted myself from Tucson and headed east on I-10 going into the Benson, Tombstone, Bisbee area of Eastern Arizona. Well, first of all I did not know it was rather mountainous and that Bisbeee is/was the largest copper mine in the world in its heyday ... closing in the mid 1970s. Duh! I just never knew.

This one is called the Lavender Pit. There are many more. I thought it was named the Lavener Pit because of its seeming color. No, it's named after William Lavender.

Here is what the countryside looks like, devastation all over the place in my opinion. The consequences of open pit mining. Notice the size of the car in the lower righthand corner.

So I decided to park about 10 miles out of town in a Passport America RV park at 50% off (such a deal - $8.75 a night) and am beginning my exploration. The RV park is a lovely country club only a couple of miles from the Mexican border in a town called Naco AZ. Border Patrol everywhere. Hmmmmmmmmm. Their literature assures us there is nothing to worry about. Immigrants are not interested in stopping around here. They want to get as far away as quickly as possible. If you look at my Datastorm map, I AM on the border. So Hola from Mexico.

So I went to town to find the post office and it was just across the street from the Bisbee Coffee Company, a bustling place if I ever saw one.

Main Street winds up a hill with shops crowded along both sides of the street.

I stopped in the Prickly Pear for a Cuban ... oh, yum ... a grilled concoction; you get to pick and choose. I chose a Philly Steak with the works.

I came back a second day and continued exploring up Main Street. The High Desert Market and Cafe is just that, full of organics, yes! and cool desserts and Italian kitchen imports.

Across the street from the market is a statue of The Copper Man, a tribute to the copper miners of years long past and to the heyday that once was. Bisbee is now a historical site, the entire town, and entrepreneurs of all types have arrived to entice you to visit ... including some fine restaurants.I don't want to leave Bisbee without mentioning the Queen Mine ... both an underground and land tour. Friends have said, "Don't miss the underground tour." Haven't made up my mind about touring any of ths. Destruction of our land and earth is disturbing for me. I felt the same way when I traveled to Vancouver Island in Canada in the mid-'90s and my heart was ripped open with all the clearcutting I saw up there, the destruction of all the FORESTS .... and I still have nightmares about all of that. I'm just a pussycat, but I love Gaia, our grand Mother, Mother Earth!

More later ...

2006-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

Announcing Christmas 2005 pictures and December house redecoration are now posted in the archives for January 2006 and December 2005, Enjoy!

2006-04-02T08:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Today, Adam .... BIG 25!

Roaming around Costa Rica this spring exploring his world. Love you so much .... Gramma JoJo

2006-03-29T09:22:00.000-08:00

Life in Tucson for a couple of birthday weeks ... I love to CELEBRATE!

Arrived back in Tucson after the Life on Wheels conference plus 5 days with Cousin Otie.

We celebrated my birthday together with dinner at Sweet Tomatoes in Tucson.
Oracle is 30 some miles north of Tucson, so we drove to the big city, woohoo.

Friend Doris Walenta and I celebrated our two birthdays a week apart with a smashing dinner at Bazil's up on Sunrise in Tucson. That yummy dessert was a gift from Bazil's. (That's a glass of vino there in my left hand .. you can hardly see it)

The view from Doris's condo at Kachina Hills near Sabino Canyon in Tucson.

Happy Birthday everyone!

2006-03-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

Settling down in Tucson .....

Enjoying the fantastic body work by Benita Gettel. This lady is awesome. Here she is with her family in front of her darling home near Old Town ..... including her ocotillo fence ...

four little Japanese Chin (hope I got that right ....)
.... and Jackie, age 15. Trying a hi-grain effect on this picture. Hmmmmmm, not sure about that finish.

And a Tucson sunset, ahhhh.

~ Goodnight ~

2006-03-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Visiting with friends .....

Suzy Seay (See) and I caught up on things at dinner at the Eclectic Cafe out on Tanque Verde in Tucson. I met Suz on the Copper Canyon trip in Oct. 2003. We have stayed in touch ever since.

Here she is with her cat BAT.

Lots of love 'n light .....

2006-03-21T14:11:00.000-08:00

Chilly in Oracle, Arizona, visiting with Cousin Otie ...

... am learning Picasa, a free photo program from Google and am about to surprise you with more recent pictures, woohoo!

On February 9th I left Belen and the winter weather with a small supply of "winter clothes." This past six weeks has been more on the chilly side ... but at least the ground is not frozen. It snowed here in Oracle all day Sunday ....

It's 5500 feet elevation ... melting as soon as it hits the ground. These are the front stairs and side deck on the left to his new house. Cannot believe I did NOT take any more pictures.

Cuz and I have been burning up the midnight oil getting caught up on family and lots of picture sharing. We figure it's been 20 years since we last were together at mom's in Modesto. His mother and my father were siblings. Otie is remodeling an abandoned Baptist Church on his property here as his latest home and hopes to move in in July. It will be a stunner. He does all this by himself, even making all the cabinets in the wood shop of a nearby school.

He has this cute little car ....

More tomorrow ... we are going to the big city of Tucson to celerate one of my BIG birthdays. Stay tuned!

Spreading light and love all over this earth ... me and Brightwing.

2006-03-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

Life on Wheels ... Pima Community College, Tucson ...

What a great week with old and new friends at the RV LoW Conference. I met Larry and Orene Brown out on the Miracle Mile and we caravanned into town so we could park together in the parking lot ...

...dry camping it's called.

Larry and Orene, Mary and Dave Gardner from San Francisco

John and Joline

John is a friend of Larry and Orene's (he has a DataStorm, too) and they met down in San Carlos, Mexico (near Guaymas) where they were all spending the winter.

[Reminder: Larry and Orene I met at my first DataStorm Rally in 2004 in Kerrville, Texas. They bought an RV lot in Tierra del Sol in Florence, Arizona, last November and are staying there now after the winter in Mexico. Ah, the good life. We have been rendevousing ever since.]

There were probably 100 rigs all piled in together while we attended classes, and learned a lot. The Gardners were parked next to me, the Browns in front of me. We hung out a lot together.

On the first day I took a class entitled "Batteries." Isn't that exciting? It is a precursor to the second class on solar and I knew from the first class that my system is not/has not been operating correctly. The instructor was swamped with questions, but fortunately through his wife I enticed him to pay my Brightwing a visit ... and sure enough, we needed some new powerful wiring. Greg Holder's the name, from Portland, Oregon, a real pro and full of knowledge and expertise. He lined me up with Ron, a roving RV doctor and student of his, and the next day I missed classes in the afternoon to await Ron's arrival. Arrive he did. There sure was a lot of tongue clucking over my battery install. All was righted ... and golly, gee whiz, my solar now works like a solar should.

A lot of the fun in RVing is meeting up with the people you meet on the road, and over the years with the aid of email and cell phones, it becomes part of life finding and meeting up with the folks you know. DataStormers have our "map" that locates us wherever we are and that helps us find each other. If you click on the above word "map", you can find my location any day. You have to scroll waaaay down to me, I'm # 865.

There are sooooo many classes in the world of Rving, that the next really big shew is in Moscow, Idaho, beginning on July 8th. I have a zillion unanswered questions ... and how long have I been RVing? Well, since Feb. of 1989. Amazing how much you don't know and have yet to learn. I have paid plenty of $$ through the years for not knowing enough and have just kept plowing on .... well, it's never too late to learn. Now, on reflection, if you think these seminars are expensive to attend, I think over the years you could save a bundle by doing this stuff up front. My two cents. [Alas, with Brightwing I, I didn't know such things existed. Too busy working for retirement, hehe.]

Sending out my love and light to you and to the cosmos!

2006-03-13T08:58:00.000-08:00

A Day in the Labyrinths ... Cave Creek, Arizona ... the Phoenix dowsers are having their monthly meeting.

Taffy and her main labyrinth at her home in Cave Creek.

A gorgeous day with snow capped mountains. Chris and Jim Guld passing each other in the labyrinth.

Thoreau is the name of the center stone in the labyrinth. There is a firepit nearby ....
Taffy's wonderful geodesic dome house. There is a second, smaller labyrinth in the front of the house to the left. She is now planning a third. If you want to know more about labyrinths, Google the word and you will be busy reading for hours. [The system won't let me download any more pictures .... hmmm-m-m-m. Will continue this to a new day and see what happens.]

2006-03-13T07:45:00.000-08:00

More Labyrinth Pictures from Sunday in Cave Creek ... on the way to Carefree, hehe

Jim is learning to dowse and Chris is sitting in a fairy ring that I dowsed (Yes, Virginia, there are really such things). Chris also found her object (a yellow/purple golf ball) by dowsing. And she won a prize .. a diamond clip ... [dime-in-clip, get it?]

This is a full-sized pic of the firepit. Nice to have for nightsky ceremonies, etc. Or just tellin' each other ghost stories.

2006-03-12T07:06:00.000-08:00

Chandler, Arizona .... Sunday ... lots going on and I keep runnin' outta time ....

Am taking the camera with me today, hooray, so maybe we'll have some pictures. It has rained here in the Phoenix area for 2 straight days. Reminded me of California. But this morning, ahhhhh, the sun is gloriously shining once again, the world is green, fresh and alive!

Jim and Chris Guld (you gotta visit their blog. They inspire me no end) will be picking me up at noon to drive to Cave Creek where the Phoenix chapter of the dowsers will be meeting to learn about labyrinths and to walk Taffy's labyrinth. Taffy Lanser is someone I've known for many years and I've always wanted to see her geodesic dome home. She gives workshops on labyrinths. So today is the day! So need to get a movin' along here and will post pictures tomorrow.

I am making a resolution to take pictures, post them and keep up with this blog, which is my way of journal keeping. See you tomorrow.

Love 'n hugz .....

2006-02-22T19:40:00.001-08:00

Quartzsite, Arizona .... ooh, boy, a looooong time since I posted here.

Well, the entire month of October 2005 was spent in Arizona with friend Marilyn ... remember her? ... attending the dowsing conference in Flagstaff, then moved on to Scottsdale for a "What the Bleep" conference, and then visited in Phoenix and Tucson, arriving home on November 2nd. And Marilyn flew back to the East Coast.

Housemates Diane and Lea had moved to Prescott AZ while I was gone and the house seemed so empty upon my return. So the brilliant thought was to unpack from my California move four years earlier, decorate, buy some furniture, paint, paint, paint ... and, voils, it all camae together by mid-December just in time to go to California for the holidays.

New Mexico's late fall and early winter weather this year was so spectacular ... warm days, cold nights, windless, bright blue skies each and every day ... it was very nice to be there, so was in no hurry to "leave for the winter." I did, however, shove off on February 9th headed back to Arizona and have been here ever since ... well, except for a little foray into So. California along I-10 to visit friends in Idyllwild ... that was a real adventure with the rig .... narrow, unpaved roads and Dale and Jane live way, way out thar at the top o' the world. And I don't have any pictures, dratz. Am out of the habit of taking them. The Christmas pictures are still on the camera.

Cousin Otie Millen and I connected around Christmas time. To my surprise he has been living near Tucson for the last 2 years, building a home in Oracle. We figured it's been at least 20 years since we last hugged ... so he came by today right here in Quartzsite on his way to L.A. What fun! And I had the camera right under my nose ... and again didn't do it. For shame! Oh, the wonder of cell phones to help folks do these kinds of things. At least with ease anyway.

Well, am closing for today and wonder if this will keep up. Stay tuned.

Blessings to all ...

2006-01-07T07:25:00.000-08:00

Happy were the Holidays with lots of pictures with family in California .... ...

Adam ... Alex ... Andrew with Brent ... Gram with Sophie

Forrest and Karyn ... together 30 years. Lookin' good!

Sophia and Brent, age 5 ... they really do love each other!

Grandma Frances with Drew and Brent

Sister and Brother ... Sue and Fori

Christmas Eve Dinner at Karyn's

Christmas Dinner at Francie's
Adam ... going to Costa Rica in the Spring.
Kiss Me!
Brothers!

That's my family. We were all together for a change. Nice.

2005-12-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Present to Myself ... a new house ...

Pangs of domesticity hit around mid-November. Moving to New Mexico in January 2002 I was in a hurry to hit the road and I never really unpacked. So here's how it unfolded.

Painting and redecorating is such a mess. A lot of scrubbing and elbow grease. That's a Murphy bed on the right side that got moved to the end wall ... wow, what a good idea. In the very back you are looking into the large bedroom/office area ... which did not get touched this go round ... that room housed all the stuff from the living area while we were arranging things.

A father and son did the whole paint job in one day ... 16 hours. The Murphy bed is now moved, didya notice?

I decided on a red wall ....

The new furniture and rugs arrived and the place is transformed.

The pictures from California got unpacked and laid out ....
The last picture is looking into the kitchen area. The bathroom got the works, too, and the kitchen got freshened up with paint and new curtains. I am so pleased with it all that I might never want to leave .... well, not for awhile anyway.

2005-10-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

Belen, New Mexico ... My How The Time Flies ... When You're Having Fun! .... there's no way to catch up. Briefly I arrived home the last week of August from the summer trip around Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Highlights were the Young Living Convention in Salt Lake City. Friend Trudy Clawson of California joined me for one heckuva week of lots of new information, reuniting with old friends, a joyful annual occasion. Trudy flew home and I went over to Evanston to visit with son Greg and family. They were busy and excited getting Son No. 1, Gregory, (Grandchild No. 5) off to college in California.

I needed to backtrack to Salt Lake for some satellite repairs/update and so after a week of that headed south to I-70 and then south some more through Moab and over to Ccrtez CO, Durango (had dinner with Louise Garnett) and then Pagosa Springs to revisit from 10 years ago when I fell in love with the place. Friend Susan Junta moved there a year ago so reconnected with her ... and stayed more than a week (time melds into one long rolling space) and Pagosa just suits me to a T. If all goes well, I shall return next summer for a longer stay (when it gets hot in NM).

After Pagosa I moved on down to Taos, New Mexico, and just hung out for about 4 days. Then Angel Fire was only 26 miles away and my Chinese restaurant friends from Belen had moved their operation to this top of the world place, reminiscent of an Alpine ski area, the Yu family, mom, dad and 3 kids. I found them happy, thriving and their restaurant packed every night. Jack Yu is such an excellent chef and I so enjoyed visiting with them and being properly fed, yum!

A Belen/Albuquerque/Harmonious Earth friend, Robert Griffin, moved to Mora/Cleveland, New Mexico, earlier this year. He joined up with a community by the name of Hummingbird Ranch and I wanted to see what he/they were up to. I really enjoyed my two days there and spending time in the highlands of Northern New Mexico. Still lots more to see and do.

Stopped in Santa Fe on my way home to Belen and enjoyed a meal with friend Judy Barrett and daughter Jennifer. It all passed by so quickly and then, voila, I found myself going through my back gate with the rig and, plop, we landed and have been here ever since.

September was filled with community activities and houseguests, plus Katrina and Rita .... Patricia Burke and Diane Moriarty came out from California, and so did Daughter Karyn and husband, Forrest ... their frist trip to New Mexico. They all seemed to have a good time. There were visits to the mesa, lots of good food, an Equinox ceremony at our community center site (on the mesa), a Tom Kenyon (sound healer) 3-day event ... a group of 267 ... pretty impressive ... a yummy buffet at Nathan's in Albuquerque ... the Godfather of us all ... such exquisite fun!

And housemate, Diane, has decided to return to Prescott, Arizona, and so there will be changes, a new chapter ... a new trip headed for the dowsing conference in Flagstaff, leaving Oct. 6th ... and friend Marilyn (co-pilot on my 2 Mexico trips) will fly out from Baltimore on Monday, Oct. 3rd, to join me in a romp around Arizona for at least a month.

And no pictures were taken. That's just the way it is.

Except for the sunset during the Equinox ....

(will post pic later) so you have to come back.

2005-07-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Good Sunday Morning from Monticello, Utah ... Day 3
Am on the road again, hooray, for a spin around Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Northern New Mexico. Time? 6-8 weeks.

Left Belen at 12:45 p.m. on Friday, July 8th, after stopping for new trailer tires at Big O. Crossed the Continental Divide and arrived in Bloomfield NM exhausted at 4:30 p.m. and slept for 14 hours. Whew! Preparing to leave on a road trip is somewhat tiring.

Woke up a new woman and proceeded on through Cortez CO and into UT for the night, here at Mountain View RV Park. A nice little oasis where my satellite went up without a hitch and we're on the way to Salt Lake City to attend the Young Living Essential Oils annual convention. Trudy Clawson will fly in from California to join me on Tuesday, the 12th.

Meanwhile, to catch up .... I flew to Oakland CA on June 22nd, rented a car and drove to Marin to spend a week with daughter Karyn and family, and friends. The week flew by, naturally, and I ended the week with Harmonious Earth friends in Livermore and Alameda before flying home on the 28th. Took lots of pictures and here are just some. It's hard to choose.

Here are my 3 grandsons, boys of Karyn and Forrest Craig.

Adam ...................... Andrew/Stephanie

........................and Alex.

Daughter Karyn with THE TWINS, Sophia and Brent, age 4-1/2 (father Andrew)

And tucked in for the night .... (my blog program has made some changes to the format and I don't know the drill yet)

One morning old, dear friend, Clyde Brehm, and I met for brunch.

Friend Cindi (see picture below Clyde) remodeled an old house into a spanking new little cottage in Novato. The prices are still steep ... will you believe $679,000 for a thousand sq. feet?
Next is Shakira. We met in around 1987. Met for breakfast at the Golden Omelette in Novato. On my last morning Karyn and I went to the Half Day Cafe for a breakfast only they can prepare, omigod, and sitting right next to us is Kristiina and Michael, my former tenants in the little house out back in San Rafael. We were a family on that piece of property.

I left Marin after a wonderful week and drove to Alameda to pick up Patricia Burke to continue the drive to Livermore for lunch with hostest Barbara Rawles, and other old friends, Gloria Kasdan and Diane Moriarty. We all began our journey together with the Harmonious Earth Community back in around 1995. Many of us have moved to New Mexico since then and some remain in California, always such fun to get together, break bread and have a grand ol' visit. (The pictures won't download/upload? just yet. Later.)

The flight home was normal, except now one has to change planes in Phoenix, a drag ... but BW-2 (my awesome truck) was waiting for me at the Park 'n Fly.

One more highlight in my life before signing off and preparing to move on out .... several of us gathered at Gary Plapp's for the 4th of July ... a potluck supper and fireworks. Gina Polsinelli (Gary's sig. other) was visiting from California, Tom Fesenmeyer, Cecelia Downer, Sally McClure, Sharon Mayo and me all showed up for a glorious 4th. I forgot my camera, for shame.

And another highlight (with no pictures) We have a focus group in our community named the grantwriting/reforestation project. We are learning to write grants and the initial project is to reforest New Mexico (once a forest of 38 species of oak and redwood) and we intend to start with our West Belen Mesa with one million trees. Yes, one million! I did manage to attend a number of their twice monthly meetings during the 2-1/2 months I was in town.

All for now. Time to shove off for Moab UT (one of my favorite places on earth), then Green River, Salida, Provo/Springfield and the KOA in Salt Lake City by tomorrow noon. See you next time.

30 for today.

2005-06-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Belen ... a lazy Saturday in June ... almost the full moon and Summer Solstice
The trip to Kansas City was a delight. Travel went smoothly both ways, though long with all the terminal waiting and early arrival to catch the terrorists, egads!

Albuquerque to Kansas City has a weird flight schedule, two times daily, 6:10 a.m. or 7:35 p.m. either way. I chose the early flight going and the late one coming back. Char, who was driving from Nebraska City, Nebraska, picked me up at the airpot on her way into town and we met Kay John Helms at the hotel and off we went to the Elephant Bar for lunch. That began a fun, hilarious weekend with women I have known since 1942. We continued on together through high school, scattered for college and marriage with family ... but we (9 of us) stayed connected through the process of a Round Robin letter ... it goes around and around like the Energizer Bunny ... you take out your old letter and put in a new one. From time to time we would have a live reunion and lately they are more often as we get older. We don't want to miss a thing! Six of us made it this time and here we are:

..........Me..........Joanne.......JoAnn.......Kay.......Jean..........Char

The garden view from our rooms ...

Our departure date was Monday and everyone had a flight home at a decent hour. Mine was 7:35 p.m., remember? The suttle to the airport was $45, so I decided to rent a car for the day and did just that and drove myself to the airport. It was a fun, wonderful day. I found a large regional library near the airport and spent several hours there checking email and doing a little business. Mimi's Cafe, one of my favorites, was right around the corner for a delicious lunch. The car seat folded flat so an after lunch nap was in order.

I have to say that Kansas City is a beautiful metropolis. The trees are magnificent. The natives are most friendly. Shopping and food? You'd think you were in the SF Bay Area. Drawback? Weather, of course. We did experience some rain and the frequent tornado watches, ho-hum, but that doesn't compare to what happens in the winter time. Shhh-h-h, I know. I grew up in Nebraska, remember? Well, maybe you don't.

I had intended to go to a movie in the p.m. but had so much fun just driving around that, poof, it was time to return the car and head for the gate.

Will end this by saying that I have a ticket for California for Wednesday and will be flying out there for a week. This is support the airlines month. Looking forward to it.

This is home now and the memory I leave while traveling, the West Belen Mesa with the Manzanos to the East. Photo courtesy of friend Jim Van Hoose.

2005-06-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hola from New Mexico ... looks like I got blogged down in "stuff" here at home. So will touch on the highlights with some pictures. I arrived home to Belen on Saturday, April 23rd.

Spring did not happen when the calendar said it should. We jumped right into HOT summer. But then the tables turned and now spring/early summer is here like it's supposed to be. Wonderful cool mornings, warmer afternoons, and cool breezes again at night. Glorious sun, no wind, just lazy days.

On April 26th Doris Walenta and Mary Ryan came to town to visit their land ...

(still looking for their picture ...)

... with dinner after at the Luna Mansion.

I am remembering a fun day on Saturday, April 30th in Albuquerque at The Pit(a huge indoor colliseum) where Gary Plapp and I went to the Gathering of Nations, my first, where the Native Americans gather for dancing ...

... and eating and socializing. The "dress" is breathtaking together with the dancing.

The male ...

The female ...

... and the child.

The Harmonious Earth Community garden is planted this year with a Goddess Garden overlooking it all. This statue of Quan Yin is gifted from my garden to theirs, since I have two that came all the way with me from California to New Mexico.

The community greenhouse.

Betts and Barbara working in the Goddess Garden.

Chief Gardener, Carol Hart, is holding one of 25 bare root poplar trees gifted to the community by Betts, plus 25 hackberry bushes, that will become part of the windbreak in our experimental garden on the mesa. These plants are planted in mesa soil in new containers to give them a gift of life on the mesa while becoming established.

And here is the King of the Garden ...

... HRH Pierre Peacock!

In May our community was invited with others to the Michael Melendrez (Trees that Please) annual Arboretum Open House ...

... and here's Mike, always teaching, and we are always learning.

He told us all about making humus for the soil (earthworms and other beasties) and how to plant trees in New Mexico, and we bought the video .... which a focus group of our community is in the process of learning all about. We have an ambitious plan to write a grant to buy and plant one million oak trees to help return New Mexico (at least our Mesa) to its native forested state. I am a member of this group when not traveling.

I am also charged with researching and teaching others how to bring in the water the Hopi way, a process that I am familiar with. I wrote an article on this 10 years ago, imagine that. It involves labyrinths, water jars ... meditation and other-worldly things.

On May 14th, as a group we visited Ben Brown's labyrinth project on his land.

That's Dianne Warshak and me walking the labyrinth.

On the same day we visited Mesa Tom's property where Tom proudly showed us his new well, pump, his gazebo and water feature for all to enjoy. Here we are filling water jugs to help Tom water the thirsty plants. Remember this is high, 5,000 feet, dry desert.

And the water feature that Tom is building. There is a pool for circulating water on the far side.

Somehow I missed a shot of Tom's wonderful gazebo up on the top of his little hill. Folks gather there for gorgeous sunsets aplenty.

Seemingly always busy, I flew to Salt Lake City on May 27th, rented a car and drove to Evanston, Wyoming, to attend grandson Gregory Stone's high school graduation on the 28th. Grandpa (Pops) Bob Stone and wife Dorothy (good friend, too) drove up from Riverside, California, and we all had a grand time. Mom Cathy Stone was under the weather with pneumonia and was supposed to be on strict bedrest, but nothing was going to stop her from her son's graduation.

The graduate's family ....

Get the red shoes!

Paternal grandparents ... Joline and Bob.

Other paternal grandparents ... Dorothy and Bob.

Just friends ... Greg and Suzie off to college together.

Am now preparing this week to fly on Friday to Kansas City for MY high school buddies (the Round Robin 9 group) 75th birthday celebration. Later in the month a flying trip to California before preparing the rig to hit the road again on July 9th. Whew!

Take a deep breath and smell the roses.

## 30 for today