mysteries of the forest
August 28, 2022
•
6 Comments
A thick overcast blanketed the mountains, opened only by the aspen. Near 10,000 feet, fog, mist, and then rain enveloped us as we walked up the Aspen Vista Trail near the Santa Fe Ski Basin. It was a day to breathe in the rarified air, and enter a dream-like state, surrounded by moisture and growing things. The "fix" is as important to us as walkin...
Read the Full Post »
100 years and counting
August 21, 2022
•
3 Comments
In the pouring rain fifty years ago, roughly twenty-four hours after our wedding, Fred and I literally stumbled onto an arts and crafts fair on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. At the time, we had no idea what it was, but there were crowds of people peering in the booths and strolling the streets. There was more Native American art than we had ever...
Read the Full Post »
the power of art
August 15, 2022
•
4 Comments
The third Monday in August. A time when many students are headed back to school while some in the northern hemisphere are enjoying the final days of their summer vacations. But regardless of where you are on this planet, it has been quite the week as far as politics, climate change and the world condition are concerned. Perhaps some solace might be...
Read the Full Post »
optical illusion of pick and pick
August 08, 2022
•
6 Comments
Although the fun of working on the Blurb family reunion book mentioned in last week's blog continues, cameras emerged to photograph Fred's latest Navajo-Churro wool rug and details of it. He used a weaving technique called "pick and pick" exclusively throughout the piece. I searched the web and found an explanation of the process.
"With Pick and P...
Read the Full Post »
joy and organization
August 01, 2022
•
3 Comments
There is a reason (many, actually) that businesses and organizations as well as families, hire "event planners". To coordinate any party, wedding, or other event, and pull it off seamlessly, takes certain skills. In last week's blog, you read about and viewed a few of the photographs from the Aufleger family reunion near Taos. It was dedicated to t...
Read the Full Post »
reunion
July 25, 2022
•
3 Comments
Yesterday's sky and combination of overcast skies with thunderstorms in the distance and dappled sunlight provided a near-perfect backdrop for the family reunion I photographed near Taos. This was the third reunion I was lucky enough to photograph for them. There was one member of the crew missing but celebrated, one who had grown up so much that I...
Read the Full Post »
continual curation
July 18, 2022
•
2 Comments
As summer progresses and heat soaks the earth, life slows down to a snail's or, perhaps, a beetle's pace. Before writing this, I watched a darkling beetle (family Tenebrionidae with some 20,000 species) taking its morning stroll, following the base of a stucco wall. Perhaps it slowed or fell and could not correct its position, but it caught the att...
Read the Full Post »
season of the arts
July 10, 2022
•
10 Comments
The summer art festival season began mid-week in Santa Fe with the International Folk Art Market on Museum Hill. It will be followed on July 28-29 by the traditional Spanish Market in its 67th year on the Plaza, and the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts (SWAIA) Indian Market August 18-19, also on the Plaza. We attended our first Indian Marke...
Read the Full Post »
Independence Day
July 04, 2022
•
3 Comments
In these United (and some days not so united) States of America, the 4th of July is celebrated as the day a huge North American land mass officially declared its independence from Great Britain. The Second Continental Congress voted for the Lee Resolution on 2 July and adopted the Declaration of Independence two days later in 1776. John Adams wrote...
Read the Full Post »
raindrop joy
June 26, 2022
•
6 Comments
It has been a miraculously rainy week in northern New Mexico, which, for the most part, has helped firefighters working on the two biggest wildfires in our state's history. During the monsoon season, rain can be a mixed blessing as it pertains to forest fires. There is always the risk of flooding in the burn scar areas, and the soil can become satu...
Read the Full Post »
made in the shade
June 19, 2022
•
4 Comments
As everyone in the Southwest knows and appreciates, the shade of a big tree, even a healthy yucca, calms the eyes and keeps the shaded area from heating further. Shade trees actually reduce the peak temperatures by 2-9 degrees, and more on some surfaces, through evapotranspiration, according to the EPA. But like a sturdy wide-brimmed hat, the shade...
Read the Full Post »
red enough?
June 12, 2022
•
12 Comments
It is that time of year again to assemble entrants for Shadow and Light Magazine 's Color It Red contest. So this particular blog is photograph-heavy. I am never 100% sure if all "reds" qualify or if it is fire-engine red, tomato red, or wine red that the judges are considering. Most of those are included here. Are they red enough?
If you have a m...
Read the Full Post »
crenation
June 05, 2022
•
3 Comments
It was some years, probably decades ago (and I have no idea how long), that I first heard or read the word crenulation, in reference to fabric. It was a nice piece of literary license. Because when I searched the word, there were several spellings, meanings, and uses. The first - crenulation - is geological in context. Crenulation cleavage is a fab...
Read the Full Post »
the churro factor
May 30, 2022
•
19 Comments
Andrea Harrell of iiidogfarm
People who raise animals are perpetually busy and in motion. Attending to their basic needs, including feeding, watering, and exercising, are only part of the day. Procuring food, giving vaccinations, and in the case of Navajo-Churro sheep, shearing once and sometimes twice a year are part of life. Andrea does her ow...
Read the Full Post »
Pecos National Historical Park
May 22, 2022
•
12 Comments
A short drive this week to Pecos National Historical Park was in the "we have not been there in some time" category. In point of fact, we had not visited this wonderful part of the National Park Service system since the mid-90s. Which is ridiculous because it is only 30 miles away from our house. In addition to the site, I was curious if we could s...
Read the Full Post »
© Daryl A. Black