Final NM posting Bandelier part 1

Notice the caves at the base of the rock, right above the tree line I loved these rock formations. The structure below is a replica I think of their central meeting place Our last day we went to Bandelier National Monument where the Ancient Pueblans lived (not Anasazzi- not the correct name) The folks were able to dig out homes in the rock because it was formed by Tuff. Very cool

Cloud pictures for Bry from Sandia peak

Albuquerque with a cloud shadow Ok, so I snuck in a non cloud picture

NM vacation powwow

The Powwow starts with some drumming and then a bald eagle is brought out and greets each of the four directions of the crowd in the arena. It was quite a site to see his blind taken off and for him to arch up an spread out his wings. It really was very respectful and dignified and was honoring the bird. The elder (70 years +) women dance with such dignity. All the dancers begin entering with the chiefs leading, followed by the head dancers Check out the little kid dancing as well The powwow was a euphoric experience. I really enjoyed the variety of dances. The shawl dances were beautiful and made my legs hurt. There was a contest and 3 of the girls ended up dancing 3 seperate times in a row for the competition.

Vacation in New Mexico- Day 1A

Last Thursday, Wood and I went to New Mexico with some friends primarily to see the gathering of Nations Powwow in Albuquerque and to play tourist. First of all, I really don't care for the desert at all, but I really liked New Mexico. The gathering of nations celebration was fantastic. I loved watching all the dances and hearing the drumming. It was held inside a stadium at U of NM. Bry I got some fantastic cloud pictures. I'll include those in the next set. Ok so we arrived Thursday night and went to old town Albuquerque and hung out. Somehow I escaped without spending any money.... which was REALLY hard because there was tons of stuff for the house that I loved and some fantastic tourquoise jewelry. Friday morning we went up on at tram to Sandia peak and then went to the powwow in the evening

Etowah Indian Mounds

Sunday Bry came over and he and Wood and I went to the Etowah Indian Mounds. A group of Indians from the Mississippian era (900-1200 AD) lived here near Cartersville. There are 3 large mounds and a couple of smaller ones. All and all pretty interesting. I stupidly wore sandals and had to watch out for ANY place I stood still for more than 2 seconds because there were ant hills EVERYWHERE. I also included a couple of shots of the river behind the settlement with which was the southern border including a fish trap (the big darker v thing you see in the water) One more shot of Jenny too

Lots of nature

We have just had lots of fun lately with birds and such. Have been going for walks regularly at Red Top and saw an itsy bitsy snapping turtle that I actually thought was a brown leaf the other day. Had the luna moth on the porch along with lots and lots of others. Then at the bird feeders we have had the tons of golden finches, a couple of rose breasted grosbeaks, some blue birds, house wrens, hummingbirds and indigo buntings . I actually could sit in the back yard watching the birds ALL the time. Oh we also had a hawk glide through the yard last night but wonder of wonders because we were higher than he was I couldn't identify him (most of the books show them from underneath). Another source of joy, is taking Jenny on walks at Red Top and watching her pretend to be a waterdog. She was chasing water striders this Sunday and kept gulping water and then coughing, pretty funny actually. I didn't really capture any great pictures of her fun, but here is one