A few images from our FYB SPIRIT Of The SOUTHWEST Tours, autumn 2008!

hello friends! check these out!!

...then kindly stay tuned... after Xmas we will release a more detailed posting of our enchanting trip to the fascinating American Southwest...

until then, please enjoy a few of the visual highlights of our 6 week adventure...

oh! and... we hope your holidays are wonderful!

hugs... A + S

tech-note: to view any individual image larger, simply click on it... then hit your back-button when you are ready to return to the rest of the images...

the virgin river in zion

bryce canyon

bryce sunrise

rare sighting of a california condor (apprx. 9 ft. wingspan!!!)... angels' landing, zion!

wild horses in mesa verde

our 73 year old navajo guide Ray Redshirt leads us astray near 'amanda ruin'

Ray gets steeped in the spirit at the rarely visited 'amanda ruin' - so nicknamed because amanda was the first in our group to spot it on a distant sandstone fin...

pictographs in canyon de chelly

desert bighorn sheep in zion

red tail hawk above hovenweep

zion

zion

bryce

canyon de chelly

zion sunset

thanks for taking the time to take a peek!!

Po'pay - Pueblo Indian Hero

this is what i do late at night, on weekends while shaun is out of town... i wander the internet and sometimes youtube... occasionally i even find interesting information! i was checking out some hopi dances and videos when i stumbled onto this one about the unveiling of a statue honoring Po'pay in the national statuary hall in washington, dc. the short story about Po'pay is this - in 1680 Po'pay coordinated the successful revolt of the pueblo indians against the spanish...

according to legend they coordinated the uprising by sending runners to each pueblo with knotted deerskin strips... by untying one knot each day they would all begin the revolt on the same day, the day the last knot was untied. two of the runners were arrested so it was decided to speed the revolt by two days... the pueblo indians were successful, completely surprising the spaniards. the spaniards took refuge in santa fe and the indians cut off their water supply... eventually they let them go.

this led to the king of spain recognizing the sovereignty of the pueblo people - thus allowing them to keep their ancestral lands, languages and customs to this day.

birds!!

this morning we had a heavy fog which veiled hundreds of snow geese in the fields behind the house. i couldn't see them, but i could hear them gossiping! eventually the fog lifted enough that i could begin to see the acres of white birds standing in the newly plowed corn, and see others coming in for a landing.

as i was looking at the geese from the bedroom window i spotted movement closer to me and looking in the right edge of our yard, where the corn field meets the weeds... and there was a male ring-necked pheasant! he was talking, i assume, to the ladies that had not come into the yard yet. his legs and lower feathers were wet from the grass and he was preening them and waiting for the females. what a beautiful bird!

and hello late autumn in the north country!

travels with shaun

shaun is in utah now... experiencing snow at bryce canyon, which is a lovely sight. i'm sure he's taking lots of photographs! he sent a great photograph to me last night, taken by howard (with shaun's direction!) shaun knew i would LOVE the shot - first of all, HE's in it! and second... well, i just love an old car or truck. and this one has such a wonderful patina!


shaun and howard will be home early next week!! i am psyched! he'll be just in time to start photographing all the migrating snow geese in the back field.

Mr. President (Elect)

Wow!! i stayed up late (for a work night anyway) to watch Barack Obama's acceptance speech... and i'm hitting the espresso now to make up for it!

i am so excited about our country electing the first african american president!! i could have told you when i was 12 that this would happen. living in california in a family where prejudice of any kind was discouraged... and being young and idealistic... i just thought that by the time i was an adult things would have changed for the better in our country.

somewhere along the way i started to seriously doubt that optimism. i see people's fear more in this rural area of new york state. there is not a diverse populace, and i see how many people react with fear and negativity when they are exposed to anything slightly different. and i saw what happened during hurricane katrina.

so, although i thought it possible, even probable, when i was 12 - i would never have believed it two years ago. i am so happy now!! and what a great voter turn-out!! there are so many mind-opening and wonderful possibilities!