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Well... this was the weekend of the "Full Super Moon"... when the moon is the closest to the earth... and will appear the largest and brightest... in fact... the biggest since 1993. It was also the Vernal Equinox... a time for spring!
This is a major thing for me... as I love to watch the moon. So... I spent most of the weekend... up and about... celebrating... cooking... making art... making jewelry... and taking LOTS of photos. It is a time for cleansing... and so I took this opportunity to do some cleaning and airing out of the house... smudging and such... rejuvenation.... and the starting of some fresh projects... (see more HERE)

*photos by Elaine A. Russell

(the top photo was taken at 3am; Sunday morning... from my backyard. The bottom shot was taken Saturday evening... just at moonrise. My daughter and I went over to St.Pius school... and stood on the cliffs just west of the Rio Grande... to watch the moon come up over the Sandia Mountains. We can see most of the whole city from there... )

19:365:2011

Artist dates are a wonderful thing.

Today, my daughter... a friend... and I went on another artist excursion in and around Old Placitas.

And over the course of the time there... we saw gorgeous mountain views... and tracks in the dirt of "wild things"... We put out some fresh hay for the wild horses that run around there (just to help them thru the winter a bit)... and explored a very old cemetery (dates back to the 1860's)...

We also had some fabulous food at a local restaurant... and drooled over lots of interesting art magazines for ideas...

The end of the "date" came all too quickly... and yet, that glorious moon was beckoning to us all; a night of sweet dreams...

...And of course... I took some photos...

*photos by Elaine A. Russell

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I went up into the mountains late this afternoon in celebration of Summer Solstice.

I was trying to clear my head... as I've been feeling really "off" lately.

Many traditional celebrations on this day include hiking & camping... generally being out in nature... and bonfires.

"Solstice (pagan) festivities in Europe were "Christianized" when the Church set June 24th as a holy day celebrating the birth of St. John the Baptist. Jesus referred to John as "A burning and shining light" and so traditional pagan customs of lighting bonfires were easily appropriated for the Christian holiday."

"In Summer Solstice (Native American celebration) --we enter the Season of Shawnodese, the summer, the time of the Noon-day Sun. This is the time of the Coyote - the trickster aspect of Creator. During this season we are again presented with an opportunity to heal the doubt and fear blocking our heart's function. Growth, Trust, and Love make up the spirit path, the path of power of Shawnodese, from the outer circle of the Wheel of life to the inner circle where the power of life is focused in the elements of Creation..."

Links about Summer Solstice:
here
here


--------------> photos by Elaine A. Russell

aint no mountain

*photo by Elaine A. Russell

...that song is running though my head as I edit this photo from yesterday. Love the song. So glad the hubby is home.... hate it when he is gone. After almost 20yrs of marriage... we still don't like to be apart.

Have alot going on this weeked-- places to go, people to see.... stuff to make :)

I have been working on my garage/studio a little. It has been in total chaos since the remodel began (actually-- it was in chaos long before that... but).

Sold a couple of items on Etsy, and just found out that one of my photos is being published in the NM Free Press; a newspaper out of Santa Fe (http://www.nmfreepress.com/).

The remodel project has run into a slight glitch with the installation of the bathtub... apparently the wrong size panels were cut... so it'll be a few more days before they come in. And ... we are waiting new cupboards to come in before the demo starts on the kitchen. So-- a little bit of limbo for a week or so.

I know. Not an interesting blog post. Sometimes life is just like that...kind of a "hurry up and wait." Here's a song while we hang out .....

Cholla cactus sunsets

photo by Elaine A. Russell

The other night, my daughter and I went over towards the base of the Sandias. We were picking up a camera that someone was giving away on Freecycle... so we stopped to check out the view. It was quickly getting dark... so I wasn't sure that any of my photos were actually going to turn out.

This one, I was happy with.

I will miss the massive sunsets when we move from here... but in the meantime... I'm thinking I need to get out more and do some scenary shots. Anyone want to come ?