Happy New Year!

I know this evening at midnight is just an insignificant spot on the time continuum but as a calendar aficionado (or freak) I want to wish you a Happy New Year.  I have many calendars.  I don't wear a watch but time is important to me.  I have one calendar on my kitchen wall, a small one on the dashboard of my car, one hanging in my office, a fake leather bound one which I carry everywhere at work, an electronic one connected to my email at work, and a teeny tiny one attached to my computer monitor.  I might splurge on one of those page a day calendars next week when the prices go down.  Anyway, it's time to take down the old calendar and put up the new one; start a clean slate.  I wish you a happy and prosperous new year.  2011 has been a good year for me.  If I, like the newspapers, put in my personal highlights, I would include the following:  that moment when I was ziplining in the cloud forest in Ecuador when I thought I was going to slam into a tree and die, that moment when a 5 foot Galapagos shark swam underneath me and I screamed into my snorkel, that moment I saw a waved albatross, that moment when I knelt behind a HUGE Galapagos tortoise for a photo and hoped this ET looking fellow would not notice me, that moment when I saw sap had collected into the jug below the maple tree, that moment our bird class watched a night hawk sitting in a tree, that moment when I saw and heard my red-shouldered hawk had returned in the spring, that moment I saw a Blackburnian warbler splashing in a puddle in my driveway, that moment when I saw my beans and pumpkins and potatoes had sprouted and were pushing their green stems out of the ground, that moment I rode neck and neck with a horse while I was on my motorcycle, that moment a fish jumped into my lap as I kayaked under a bridge in St. Paul, that moment when I saved Meredith from being eaten by a gray fox, the moment I ate the first ripe tomato out of the garden, that moment we canoed across a lake in the Boundary waters and the wind took us really fast, that moment when I had two black admiral butterflies sitting on my hand, that moment I fell backward while trying to land a canoe and landed safely on a rock shaped like a chair, that moment I held a loved one's hand as she died, that moment on Thanksgiving when my house was full of people and noise and smells and merriment, that moment we watched thousands of sand hill cranes take off at sunrise, that moment we saw a road runner, that evening we spent in a hotel room in Taos with a fire burning in a fireplace, that moment a car struck me from behind during a blizzard on a Colorado mountain pass, and this moment where I realize I am so incredibly lucky to have so many friends and family who love me.  Happy New Year!

Pantyhose Struggle

Tonight I will be struggling with the panty hose.  Getting them on is an aerobic exercise for me.  But it will be worth it.  I am so happy to be going to a wedding of two amazing people who have been through thickest and thinnest.  They deserve every happiness.  I am glad they have something to celebrate.

The Land of Enchantment

State Flag

The license plates in New Mexico proclaim "The Land of Enchantment."  Enchantment can be delightful and attractive or to cast a spell over.  I think both definitions apply to my experience there.  The nature and the beauty of the landscape was delightful and attractive but I also felt it was a spiritual place.  When we toured the museum of pueblo Indian art, much of the spirituality of the art was explained for us.  We toured one room with paintings and sculptures of only one gruesome topic - the crucifixion.  Each  of the 17 tribes of pueblo Indians had a different painting and/or sculpture of the crucifixion.  I found it really strange that every piece of art in that room had the same difference from other depictions I have ever seen before - bloody knees.  In every painting and every sculpture done by the pueblo Indians, Jesus had the skin torn off his knees.  Why would every tribe show the same difference?  I understand that the pueblo Indians were exposed to Christianity by the Spanish in the 1700's.  They incorporated the Christian beliefs into their own spiritual practices. Maybe the Spanish people in the 1700's showed the tribes art that included bloody knees on the crucifixion?  I don't know much about religious art but I couldn't get over the difference.  The crucifixion is gruesome even without the knee damage and after seeing that many pieces of art of the same subject, I had to get out of that room. 

Project Feederwatch Update

Downy woodpeckers-4, Hairy woodpeckers-2, Black capped chickadee-6, Junco-2, Goldfinch-6, Northern Cardinals-2

Things I Liked About New Mexico

I liked the land.  Without an abundance of foliage and plants, you can see the land.  In the span of one viewing, you can see the rocks and dirt vary in 5 or more colors.  The colors varied anywhere from off white, gray, tan, brown, pink, red, peach, and black.  In one spot I saw dirt on the side of the road that was actually an olive green.

I liked the mountains.  Hills and gullies are exciting.  Viewing the landscape that is so different from home restores my soul. I think I'll make it through the winter now.

I liked the colors. I saw a lot of reds, oranges, and yellows in the landscape.  Even the license plates on the automobiles were attractive.  Some were a blend of red, yellow and orange.  Others were an intense yellow or turquoise.  I asked a store clerk why the license plates were a different color.  She said the auto owner gets to choose.  With my blue car, if I lived in New Mexico, I'd choose the yellow plates.

I liked the yards.  No one has to mow their lawns.  No lawn mowers in New Mexico.  I did see some snow blowers but no lawn mowers.  And most yards are fenced in.

I liked the houses.  In the desert, the houses are pueblo style.  I think they're attractive. In the forested hills, the houses were wood framed and looked more like the ones in Minnesota.

I liked the permeable surfaces.  Aside from the roads (which I thought were all in good shape), the parking lots and driveways were sand or gravel.  Rain, when there is rain, can soak right in.  Sometimes this lack of asphalt made it hard to tell if a business was actually open but I think that is something I could get used to.

I liked the people.  On our trip, we didn't speak to many people outside the tourist industry.  But the people we did meet were kind.  Several people we met were originally from Minnesota.  New Mexico has a lot of dollar stores.  Even small towns will have two dollar stores and they have quite a few customers.  We stopped at one store to pick up some dollar gifts I needed for a party.  Their dollar stores carry items that cost more than a dollar.  The clerk commented on out items and asked us questions about how we planned to use them.  People are very friendly at the dollar store.

I liked the plants.  The species varied quite a bit as we drove from the southern end of the state to the northern end.  In the Chihauhuan desert, I was happy to see yucca plants.  We also saw creosote and mesquite.  Along the Rio Grande river we saw cottonwood trees and maple trees.  In the northern end of the state we came upon juniper forests.

I liked the animals.  We saw a lot of birds. The highlight of the birds was the road runner, the burrowing owls, the flocks of sand hill cranes, the black billed magpies, the flocks of pin tail ducks and the wood ducks.  We saw a couple rodents around a bird feeder.  And we saw mule deer several times.  I didn't see a single reptile or a any bugs. 

I liked the way the drive sober warnings were worded.  Instead of saying, "Don't drink and drive-it's the law,"  in New Mexico the signs read, "Don't drink and drive-it's our law."  The difference is subtle but I liked it.  The sign implies that if you are a good citizen of this state or "one of us", you won't be drinking and driving. 

I liked the sky.  Gone were the gray blankets of Minnesota winter clouds.  In New Mexico the clouds had interesting shapes and made for colorful sunrises and sunsets. 

This was my first vacation where I just picked a state and decided to explore it.  I think I'll do that again. 

Picture of That Ford Expedition on My Harrowing Ride

A Christmas Gift

Meredith laid an egg today.  This is her first egg since the fox attack in July.  What a nice Christmas gift!  I told my chicken sitters they did a really good job taking care of her while I was gone on my trip.  They confessed to giving her some Romaine lettuce while I was gone.