The Creative Exchange: After the Holidays

In Memoriam, Magdalena, NM, Jan. 2012

For today's Creative Exchange I offer a photo and a confession: I don't really enjoy the winter holidays much anymore. The decorations are beautiful, and with two young kids I do my best to make a festive environment and build their anticipation and all that. But in addition to it being winter, which I just hate despite my best efforts to appreciate its quiet dormancy, I usually feel overwhelmed by the expectations, other people's and my own as well. I unexpectedly spent New Year's Eve alone this year (well, except for two big snoring dogs at my feet and two purring cats in my lap) because of a misunderstanding with the kids' dad; they were supposed to be with me but he took them to a gathering and didn't bring them back till after 1:30 a.m. As midnight approached, my Monkey Mind kind of freaked out because everyone knows you CANNOT be alone on New Year's Eve -- what happens at midnight sets the tone for the ENTIRE YEAR, right?? And there I was, all alone (except for my menagerie), and I was pissed off that not only were the kids not with me as expected but I could have made other plans, and really I was terrified because oh my GOD this means 2012 will be a huge disaster and I'll be alone forevermore, woe unto me.

Last year, I had a similarly quiet time; I was pretty deep in the process of mourning my mom, and the kids were with their dad, so I burrowed into my bed and watched movies all night. That part was okay, but it was very, very cold out and the water pipe from the village main to our house froze that night, so I had no running water for three days. That's definitely a sucky way to start a new year, and yet as 2011 unfolded some really amazing things began to happen, and I ended the year in a place far better than I could have imagined.

Expectations are rich fuel for Monkey Mind; as some people say, an expectation is a premeditated resentment, I think because it sets us up to be disappointed and to feel like we've been deprived of something. That said, I still hope my next New Year's Eve is a bit more exciting -- say, lounging in a tropical paradise with the love of my life -- just so I don't have to work quite so hard at convincing myself that it will all be okay. I am getting better at it... it only took me nine days to process all this and write it out so I could let it go and get on with the new year, a day at a time.

The Creative Exchange: Snowfall

Midnight Snow, Magdalena, NM, Dec. 2011

I'm linking up with Lisa and friends at The Creative Exchange, always a showcase for amazing and unique photography. We've had storms blowing through one after another for the past few weeks now, which wouldn't seem unusual for most people this time of year. But I live in New Mexico, and when I tell people in other parts of the country about our snow they exclaim, "But how is that possible??"

I'm no fan of winter weather, but if this recent trend signals the end of our wretched La Nina cycle of the past year and some, I can live with it. For a while.

The Creative Exchange: Chile Season

Chile pequin ristras at the Hatch Chile Festival, Hatch, NM, Sept. 2011

Farmers roasting green chiles; red chile ristras drying. Hatch, NM, Sept. 2011

Time for the Creative Exchange; my theme this week is harvest season. Here in New Mexico I find the chile harvest especially enchanting because of the sight, smell, and taste of the various chiles grown here. New Mexico green chiles have a flavor unlike any other pepper; the mild ones are sweetly aromatic, and the hot varieties have a sharp heat tempered by that same aromatic flavor I've never tasted in any other pepper. Once the harvest begins in late August, vendors set up roasters like the one shown at right to blister the skins and give the chiles a smokey-sweet flavor. The scent is out of this world, and whether you thought you were going to buy some or not suddenly you find yourself craving them. Some chiles are left on the plants to ripen, then dried (in Hatch we saw roofs covered in chiles -- what a great idea) and woven into traditional ristras to be hung in the kitchen for easy reach when making red chile sauce, posole, and other dishes.

The Hatch Chile Festival draws people from all over to southern New Mexico to try the various chiles in salsas, relishes, sauces, and, my new favorite, hand-cranked ice cream with green chile. It's definitely the best place to buy ristras both for quality and for price; I only bought two of the multicolor pequin ristras shown above, but of course now I wish I'd bought some of every kind and color. Vendors sell lots of other goods too, including cookbooks (I've been wanting one with lots of green and red chile recipes, including chile jelly for canning), knick-knacks, fine art, jewelry, and chile-themed accessories. I really wanted a pair of the chile sunglasses this girl was wearing, but she had the last pair, so I asked if I could take her picture instead and she happily agreed -- her mom offered to sell me that last pair but I couldn't take them from this sweet kid! All in all it was a fun day, even if chile harvest does mean summer is almost over.

The Creative Exchange: In This Moment

Blaze contemplates the setting sun. Magdalena, NM, July 2011

I'm rejoining The Creative Exchange, having lapsed not because I didn't enjoy it but because spring and summer activities have distracted me from regular blogging. But we all need creative time, right? So I hope to get back into the weekly routine and thank you for visiting. It's been a quiet week out here in western New Mexico's high country, where we're anxiously waiting for more rain. I'm especially anxious because despite last week's downpour the Stage 3 restrictions continue in the Magdalena Mountains, which means no hiking. So I feel all the more fortunate that we have property just north of town that, while not mountainous, offers some open, rolling space for stretching our legs and airing out our minds. Having a friend's horses and mule out there makes it even more enjoyable to visit; if I bring carrots or other treats, I have not only canine but also equine walking companions. We're a bit of a motley crew, perhaps, but a happy one.





I see more riding in our future, perhaps this week -- I'm still riding Blaze, Dad rides Damacio (above on the left), the kids ride Goliath (above right), and their friend rides Prescita (below right) and is thinking of buying her but keeping her with her "herd." Our friend the hunting guide rides Ed (below left), who is sweet-natured but a bit feisty and thus not yet a suitable mount for me or Dad till we gain more confidence and skill. Also part of this herd is Drago (not shown here; he was shy yesterday), who is also sweet but a bit undernourished at the moment and needing some riding rehab. The goal is for Maggie to stay on Goliath and for Laz to move up to Damacio, who is currently Dad's mount... well, in good time. For now, we're all getting to know each other, learning or relearning how to ride the range, and waiting for rain.

The Creative Exchange: Garden Sentinels

One-eyed frog watching over the front garden

I'm trying to get back to a regular blogging routine, a task made easier and much more pleasant by collectives such as The Creative Exchange. Getting in this year's veggie garden interrupted my routine, and photography of flowers and leaves and my usual close-up subjects has been out of the question lately because of the winds, incessant and harassing, which should be long gone by now. Then I remembered that I do have some fixed objects out there: my garden ornaments! It's a rag-tag collection of things I've picked up or been given over the years, some of which, like the frog above, have seen some wear and tear over the years. (I just found a blue glass marble that will fit that empty eye socket perfectly, so he'll soon be two-eyed again.) Every so often I see lizards or other creatures inspecting the ornaments, or perhaps just posing as one of them so the cats and puppy will leave them alone. This lizard has found a comfortable home in an old stump that anchors the "Mothers Day Garden," a perennial garden I planted for my mom last year and is maturing nicely into a haven for birds, insects, and, yes, lizards.


Lizard on a stump, May 2011, Magdalena, NM

Copper mantis from Mom's garden

  

Terracotta mouse cachepot given to Mom in 1983 or so



My collection also now includes some treasures I brought home from Mom's Philadelphia garden after she passed away last summer. Even after Dad decided not to sell their house (my brother and his wife live there with a friend now, and Dad lives out here with me and the kids), I just had to take a few of her pretties home with me. They look much different in my casual Southwestern gardens than in Mom's formal, lush, cool townhouse garden, but they still fit, and they remind me of Mom's endless creative energy and great aesthetic talents.

The Creative Exchange: Keep the Home Fires Burning

Dad's work boots, Feb. 2011, Magdalena, NM

Over at The Creative Exchange the ongoing theme is "camera in one hand, heart in the other," and this image, simple and quotidian as it may seem, totally embodies that for me. Like much of the U.S. we got more than our share of foul winter weather last week, and here in New Mexico we got a weird (and thankfully rare) double-whammy of snow and bitter cold with Tuesday's near-foot of snow and temperatures below zero(F) all day Wednesday and -25 Wednesday night. Through all of this, my dad kept the wood coming in (I did learn a few years ago to keep a good stash in the garage for wet storms, and he has kept that well stocked) and even kept the bird feeders filled not just for our and the cats' entertainment but because their regular food sources were suddenly buried. I hope we don't have another storm system like that -- ever -- but if we do, I know we'll be okay. Thanks, Dad.

The Creative Exchange: A January Garden

Kale Sprout, Jan. 2011

Here's my offering for a new meme I just joined in on, The Creative Exchange, hosted by Lisa and focused on "photography from the heart." I love these round-robin things because not only do they get me thinking creatively, they also get me blogging regularly. And I probably would not have taken this photo were it not for some prompting to think about what, at this moment, is my heart's desire, and is right in front of me. I look over from my desk and see the lettuce and chard sprouts soaking up the sun, and I feel happy that I can garden, if only a tiny bit, right here in the dead of winter. I'll need to transplant these soon, or eat at least some of them as microgreens, which sounds like a great idea now that I think about it. Thank you, Lisa, for being another source of creative inspiration, and thanks to everyone who stopped by to see what I've been up to today. As always, I hope you were able to get some creative time today, too.