Moab Utah and Thai dinner

 Instead of domestic work which needs doing, I'm starting this post.

I need to take the rest of the plants out to the porch soon, but am going to wait a week or so, to make sure no more frosts are coming! The pansies kind of wilted, but Mellie Mac said just cut off the bad blooms and yellow leaves, and water water water them!

Where would you like to go with me this morning? How about Moab UT?  We drove through on our way to Arches National Park, and then stopped to shop a bit on our way back. Oh, and had a lovely Thai dinner at one of my son's and wife's favorite restaurants.

Early in the day there wasn't too much traffic.

We checked a couple of outfitting stores to get rubber tips for a walking pole for me to use. This one didn't have any. But the next one did, and off we went to the National Park (where we'd purchased our ticket at 7 pm the night before according to their directions.) 

A mural to share with Monday Murals!

After an extensive car tour of the Arches Natl. Park, and a side trip along the Colorado River, we returned to Moab.

A place to NOT stop!

This same water of the Colorado River will flow through the Grand Canyon and then towards the Gulf of California. (more later)

By the afternoon the traffic was higher. This is a popular "side by side" vehicle used in off-road travel. But there were also at least a few hundred jeeps with variations  of wheel sizes (sorry no pics of them!)

We shopped a bit (I had to bring some things home, after all, for friends.) Here's my son without sunglasses, and my new hat (which helped immensely with the sun!)

 We did enjoy looking around a co-op gallery of Moab artists. The other shop we stopped for a while was the Back of Beyond Bookstore, which had a bit of UFO tinge to it. The clerk at the counter was a North Carolinian too (like me). We didn't mention aliens!

But neither did I go to the far back or the store!

Thai Bella is in a very old building, once a residence in Moab UT with a stone saying 1896 over the window.

My Massaman Curry was delicious, and of course was good as left overs the next day!

Today's quote:

 Reality lives somewhere between matter and meaning. One makes us, the other we make to bear our mortality and the confusions of being alive. Meaning arises from what we believe to be true, reality is the truth that endures whether or not we believe in it.  Maria Popova in The Marginalian 

Happy Easter

 ...to all my Christian friends!

The Wheel of the Year for pagans and pantheists

Us pagans have just celebrated Oestra's spring equinox on March 21, and soon will celebrate Beltaine on May 1st.

And we do claim the practice of hunting for colored eggs and a rabbit, which have been brought into the Easter practices!

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The tradition of Easter eggs actually has roots in both Christian and pre-Christian customs. In many ancient cultures, eggs symbolized new life and fertility, representing the arrival of spring. Early Christians adopted this symbolism, associating eggs with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During Lent, a period of fasting before Easter, eggs were historically not to be eaten, so they were often hard-boiled and stored for later consumption. When Easter arrived, people would decorate and share them as a celebration of Christ’s resurrection and the end of fasting. Over time, this tradition evolved, leading to modern Easter egg hunts, and the decorated Easter eggs we use today.

While Easter eggs did come to have Christian symbolism representing Jesus' resurrection, the tradition actually stretches back much further. Long before chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks took over store shelves, cultures around the world were using eggs in celebrations of fertility, renewal, and the changing seasons. Ancient Egyptians, Persians, and Romans all viewed eggs as powerful symbols of rebirth, often exchanging them as gifts during spring festivals.

Some historians even believe Easter eggs came from Anglo-Saxon festivals in the spring to celebrate the pagan goddess Eostre. The goddess, who is also believed to be the namesake of Easter, represented the dawn in spring. So, in order to celebrate her, eggs were buried and eaten during the festival as they represent new life after winter. Many other pagan traditions from the festival of Eostre, such as hot cross buns and the Easter bunny, were adopted by Christian missionaries to celebrate Christ and encourage conversion.

Believe it or not, Easter egg hunts hatched in Germany back in the 17th century! Some researchers say the tradition is linked to the German folklore of the Osterhase (Easter Hare), a mythical creature that would lay colorful eggs for well-behaved children to find. Sound familiar?

Though the practice of hiding and hunting for eggs likely stems from older European spring fertility rituals, protestant reformer Martin Luther would organize egg hunts for children, with men hiding the eggs and women and children searching for them—possibly representing the discovery of Christ’s empty tomb.

By the 18th century, German immigrants brought the tradition to America, where it became widely popular. In the 19th century, European candy manufacturers began to make egg-shaped chocolates and candies to celebrate Easter. In 1878, the White House held its first Easter egg roll and the tradition still continues today!

Source: Pioneering Woman

Having a nice conservative Christian upbringing, I loved coloring eggs as a child. Then with more artistic bent, I made little people's faces with hats on "blown out" eggs, which sat in little collars. I certainly dyed eggs with my children also. 

And then I learned I was really a pagan at heart, loving nature completely...without anyone dying on a cross before celebrating life.

By Welch artist Jackie Morris

Whisper in the Wind (circa 2018) by British textile artist Fiona Gill

Springtime at my son's home in Cortez CO

 I love taking photos of the places I visit (in case you haven't noticed!) Warning...this post has a LOT of photos!

Today I'm going to be a bit domestic, and focus on the home and garden my son and his wife put their energies into...and reap some great bounty, as well as a lot of comfort and healthy living.

Perched on the edge of a canyon, a mostly unassuming house offers just the right blend of new craftsmanship with the original building...and a huge kitchen garden.

They just started waking up the garden, enclosed in an 8 foot fence to keep the deer out. Nearest neighbor is a good distance away. Mountain in the distance to the west is "Ute Sleeping Indian" mountain. Beyond it is Utah. Next photo was taken just past those arches looking back in this direction toward the house. 

This is the short side of the garden. It is probably twice as long as this.

Tai is raking some hay in the beds.

Here Kendra is putting in some early seeds. Tai is turning the compost (out of frame). 

Their cat, Shiva, stalks invisible things near the compost, with the shed beyond sheltering the bags of pressed-sawdust used for their wood stove in winter.

Across the back of the house is a large patio with the view over the canyon.

I loved looking out my bedroom/Kendra's office window to see this huge cedar. 

And beyond the cedar is one of their Ponderosa Pines.

Tai and Zora playing ball...you can even see the blue ball in front of the dog. She sometimes misses and it goes over the edge and down the slope a ways, usually stopped under some bush or cactus. There's an electric fence which keeps her in the yard.

Tai's art work hangs in various places throughout the home. And Kendra's green thumb is also evident, with plants everywhere.

A wonderful corner window in the kitchen overlooks the vista through the jade plant. (I'm going to use one view of this for my header photo for a while!)

A large well equipped kitchen keeps the good food coming.

Wednesday is bread making day (here two sour-dough loaves are cooling). Tai makes the bread, and yogurt weekly, since he's at home during the day to check on things. Kendra is pretty much in charge of the garden, though he helps as she needs, and she cooks most meals while he cleans the kitchen.

The front yard looks toward the back (north side) of Mesa Verde.

While the dining room looks over the canyon.

And the living room provides a quiet place for conversation or reading.

Though of course Zora thinks anywhere Tai sits is a place to play.

OK, I'll quit now. There were so many more photos...they took a vacation to visit with me and take me everywhere. Let's see, we still have a lot of pictures from Moab UT and the Arches National Park. I'll give them to you in smaller batches!

Today's quote:

Be a true representative of the goodness in your heart, and don’t expect it to be easy or even noticed.

Adyashanti

PS, while I was loading these photos, I was "taken back to Colorado" and a phone call shocked me back into sitting in North Carolina...wow, I'm still somewhat there!

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week - as I took a lot of photos but avoided this position to do so. But there are a couple of photos included of my family members squatting down!

Durango visit April 10

 

The La Plata Mountains

Our first stop was the gallery, "Studio & Gallery"  - a co-op of different artists from the area.

Kendra and I liked this art book, with an interesting new story line. I wanted to buy it for her, but missed my chance. Don't go away (I now say to myself) and think you'll go back to get it! I left the money for it with  my son, and hope he has a chance to purchase it for me, since he works in Durango sometimes. Most of his work is from home these days.

Kendra (daughter-in-law) window shopping. But ahead is one of our destinations in Durango, the Artisan Ice Cream Shop with their own concoctions. I had Belgium Chocolate, while my son had Espresso ice cream in espresso coffee. Kendra had the Belgium Chocolate and something pink. (see below)

I kept our table while they did the orders, and I spied an old sign, the La Plata Jewelry store.

Durango had lots of shops, but my breathing was limited, so not much strolling that day. It's about 6300 feet above sea level and I had had pneumonia 2 weeks before. So most of my tourism was by car.

The Strater Hotel is from the early days of this mining town.

There were many beautiful old houses to be seen as well.

I was curious about this very grey ridge, with no vegetation on it's sides. Tai has gone mountain biking on part of it and he said it's all shale...very slippery to bike on.

Sharing with Skywatch Friday

Today's quote:

Everything changes when you start to emit your own frequency rather than absorbing the frequencies around you..

..when you start imprinting your intent on the Universe rather than receiving an imprint from existence.

~Barbara Marciniak