Birthday celebration

My birthday was last week. To celebrate I bought myself a fruit tart.

Birthday tart

It was delicious and oh so sweet.

To celebrate I decided to go to Ojo Caliente last weekend. Early in the morning Ojo is practically deserted and you can get a pool all to yourself. It was so magical with the steam coming off the pools.

Ojo Caliente

It may be cold but the desert is so beautiful in the winter. This is the view up from the Iron Pool.

Ojo Caliente

But why would I want to go to Ojo so early? The Tibetan Monks were in town to bless the waters.

Tibetan Monks

These Tibetan Monks were from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta. You can see official Ojo photos here.

Tibetan Monks

Hearing their chanting was beautiful. And magical too-it was cloudy but during the chanting the sun came out and shone down on them.

Tibetan Monks

In college I worked at the Snow Lion which is a Tibetan restaurant owned by the Dali Lama’s nephew. I learned a lot about the Tibetan situation and was lucky enough to see the Dali Lama speak at Indiana University.

When my alarm went off that morning at 7:15am it felt pretty harsh. Getting to see the monks blessing the waters was worth it though.

Taos Open

The Taos Open was back in September. This fall has been busy and I have so much to blog about! Here I am outside the reception:

Taos Open

And here’s me with my art up on the wall. So exciting!

The Portal at the Taos Opening

The embroidery didn’t show up in these pics but it’s there. More pics of The Portal soon!

The Portal at the Taos Opening

Here’s me, Grant and Abbey at the reception:

Taos Open

Peaceful Skies Coalition

Gorge Bridge

Peaceful Skies is a grass roots group dedicated to keeping the airspace above us free and safe from military intrusion.

We are currently organizing against the Low Altitude Tactical Navigation (LATN) planned by Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. Their aim is to have low level flyovers (as low as 200′) at night over wilderness and populated rural areas in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado.

Although our initial imperative is concerning New Mexico & Colorado, we welcome all peaceful people to start their own chapter of Peaceful Skies locally.

You can read Taos News stories about this here and here.

Want to help? To voice your opposition please contact:

Senator Bingaman
800-443-8658

http://bingaman.senate.gov/

Cannon Air Force Base
(575)784-4131
27SOWpublicaffairs @ cannon.af.mil

http://www.cannon.af.mil/

http://www.cannon.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100820-041.pdf

Taos News
(575)758-2241
editor @ taosnews.com

If you’re on Facebook check Peaceful Skies Coalition’s page.

Next meeting is October 11th from 6:30-9:00pm at the Kit Carson Board Room.

Hedwig in Taos

Hedwig and the Angry Inch was playing as part of Taos Gay Pride. I love Hedwig and of course wanted to support Taos gays so I had to go. But two of my friends canceled out on me. Thebes couldn’t go because they serve popcorn when showing movies.

Going out to events alone is one of my biggest social anxiety fears. I get all nervous, my stomach knots and I often cry. But I was determined to see Hedwig. So I put on my big girl panties, grabbed my knitting and headed out the door.

Hedwig flyer

And I did it! I had the typical stomach butterflies but I did it. I even saw a couple people I knew at the event. My favorite aunt gave me a necklace of my Uncle Marvin’s when we visited during our Midwest vacation. He died of AIDS when I was a little girl. Though I didn’t know him long he had a huge effect on me. He was a gay man so I wore his necklace to Hedwig in his memory:

Uncle Marvin's necklace

I brought along my Sugas Lotus Blossom top to work on. Two women came up to talk to me about it. Knitting in public is a great conversation starter. Knitting really helped calm my nerves while sitting all by myself.

Sugar Lotus Blossom top

Hedwig was awesome to see on the big screen. The drag show beforehand was fun as well. Yay for Gay Pride in Taos! My friend Bevin said they may play Rocky for next year’s Pride and I said I am so in. Thebes said he’d buy a gas mask to come for that, bless him. (The popcorn in the air makes his throat swell up.)

If you haven’t seen Hedwig I recommend it. I laughed, I cried, I sang along. Goddess I love this movie!

Silver City

After El Paso, Thebes and I drove back to NM.

Silver City trip

There’s some fun gas stations in this state.

Silver City trip

We had heard Silver City was a cool town and decided to visit.

Silver City trip

Northern New Mexico was still snow covered in March so we were looking forward to warmer temps in the southern part of the state.

Silver City trip

Yeah I know!

We still had a fun visit. We went to some art galleries.

Silver City trip

And visited some thrift stores. This jacket was super groovy and reminded me of my friend Ellen:

Silver City trip

It was quite the arty town.

Silver City trip

This cabin was by the visitor center and was used in a movie that was filmed there.

Silver City trip

After Silver City we drove back home.

Knit day at El Gamal

A gang of us met at El Gamal for lunch and knitting.

El Gamal restaurant

I had heard good reviews of their food. I had an eggplant sandwich, a side of baba ganoush and a drink of lemonade with mint. Inspired by Ellen’s great restaurant reviews I took a picture of my meal.

El Gamal restaurant

It was delicious and I look forward to trying more of their menu.

Meredith and Abbey posed for a pic.

Meredith and Abbey

Laura joined us too but I didn’t get a picture of her. The four of us had a lovely lunch.

Meredith brought along some of her spinning. Isn’t it lovely?

Meredith's yarn

Las Cruces Roadrunner

In March Thebes and I went on a road trip. We drove down to El Paso so he could get dental work in Mexico.

On the way down we drove through Las Cruces, NM. One of the rest areas has a giant roadrunner made of trash.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

A close up of the head.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

It’s quite large. Definitely over ten feet high.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

A view of the back wing:

Las Cruces Roadrunner

I loved it! It’s so funky and cool.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

Thebes took a picture of me taking a picture.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

The roadrunner was so big Thebes could stand underneath it.

Las Cruces Roadrunner

More info about the roadrunner can be found at Roadside America.

Bigger pictures can be found at my NM TX Road Trip Flicker set.

Gorge walk

Last month I wanted to take Sieben somewhere new. There’s a nice trail by the Rio Grande Gorge rest area. Here’s a classic shot:

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Sieben strikes a pose:

Sieben posing by Rio Grande Gorge bridge

On the walk we encountered some tourists who complimented Sieben on his handsomeness. That’s my boy!

There was some spring snow in the Gorge.

Gorge spring snow

We had a fun walk. Then we drove to the Taos Cow and shared a sandwich and chips.