embellish and empower

I have more tattoo pictures for you. But first, I want to send you to someone else's website. Right now, go look at Blue Poppy. I used to babysit for the sisters who are now making this beautiful jewelry. I love the clean designs. I'm going to order some for myself and my own sisters. There's a real feeling of personal connection in their work, and hey... I'm just really, really proud of them! Go see! You can come back here after you shop!

... OK, now for the tattoo pictures. Many thanks to my pal Karena, for coming along to document for us. I certainly couldn't have done it myself! I think I'll let the pictures tell the story...












I kind of like that while I was waiting for Rick, two different people came in and asked me if I ran the place. How cool is that? I'm so hip for an old girl... If you want the best tattoo in Taos, come see Aries at Talisman Tattoo. He's really good, and as gentle as a guy with a hand full of needles can be. His wife is also a tattoo artist, and their kid spends time in the shop. A family thing. Not your typical drunken sailer tattoo parlor!

tattoo you too!

Here's a little of the Tattoo Day we had yesterday. I LOVE my new tattoo. It's like a love note to myself... Chaos is my friend. I love Chaos... something like that. More to come... Karena came along to document the whole event. No doubt there will be some good pics! I only have to be patient, and wait for her to send them to me. Oh, that... patience...

Do YOU have a tattoo? I wanna know who the Tattooists out there are!

house tour

Our realtor friend, Amanda, came by yesterday afternoon, to take a good look at the place and get ready to help us sell it in a few months. We're not going to list it until February, but now seems like a good time to take pictures, when the leaves are green and the sky is blue. I thought you might enjoy taking a tour as I get these sorted out. Who knows... maybe you'll want to buy it!

Follow me...
We'll start in the driveway, with the sunflowers smiling as you drive in, and the red studio door peeping out from under the portal, which is made of latillas. There are new words to learn! A "portal" is an entry way or covered awning. "Latillas" are slender poles, usually young aspen trees, which grow in the mountains like weeds here.


While the studio door is in the front yard, it's actually the back of the house. To the left of the studio is a gate...


...and a little shady lawn area...


...and a nice, cool, wooden porch with pretty spiral supports and latillas to match the studio portal.


A few steps farther, and you're on the patio, with an adobe wall, fireplace, and wood burning oven. On the fringes are the hot tub, labyrinth, goat yard, and casita (the little guest house). More on all this tomorrow!

off to join the circus

First, I want to thank all of you who actually read this garble on a regular basis, especially those who leave comments. Thank you. You encourage me more than you know... and I hope that doesn't stop you!

And now... on with the show...



You know how sometimes you feel a Big Shift in your life? That's what's happening here right now. All the talk and planning surrounding our move to Oregon has had me kind of in a bunch about the "details"... like how in the heck are we supposed to find Home from such a distance? Ridiculous! What kind of self-respecting nomads feel the need to have a safe place to land every time they jump? Maybe it was something about the flow of the rio the other day that started to shake things loose. After we got home that night, I announced that it was "time to get my next tattoo". I already have two. They're small, and significant to me, and I didn't start decorating my skin until I was 40, so there are no regrets. Look around my world... nothing goes unembellished! This new one has been incubating for months. It's a simple, brush stroke "Chaos" character from the I Ching. Loaded with symbolism and courage, and really speaks to me in these turbulent times.



So, today's the day. Rick and I are both getting this tattoo, because while we'll never wear matching jogging suits, we agree to be "in this together", and to embrace the Chaos. "Where great dreams begin".... indeed.

But that's only part of the story. A "visual learner" like myself needs those little notes and drawings to navigate by. And as soon as I decided to get the tattoo, other things began falling neatly into place. Yesterday was a big one. In the midst of selling beads, we also decided it would be beyond brilliant to cash out here in the spring, stash the "nest egg" someplace safe, put our beloved stuff in storage, buy a travel trailer, and take our time scouting around souther Oregon before we buy our next Home. Why didn't we think of that before? It makes total sense, even for crazy nomads.

Next, Rick got fed up with the TV disk thingy being on the fritz, and canceled the service. This is huge for him. He loves all the news programs, and I never thought he'd be able to detox from them. Well, well...

And then there was the fancy Panda antivirus software I paid a bunch of money for a couple of months ago. It's been a problem from the start, and I finally dumped it yesterday, and reinstalled the good old AVG that's always worked so well... for free!

Talk about taking control. Boy do we feel powerful right now. Time to get things done, even if it looks nuts to some people. We're used to that! So by this time next year, we'll be off running around in our own version of a Circus Wagon... And we'll take our "act" on the road too. Torch, camera, computer... all the necessities to keep the show going. It's no accident that I can do my stuff anywhere. I set it up this way from the start.

And one last circus connection... I obsessed for hours over an old Screaming Yellow Zonkers Circus Poster I had back in high school. I couldn't find a picture of it anywhere, although there's a lot of reverent discussion over this particular poster on the internet. Finally, at the end of a really long day, I found it! If I still had mine, I'd put it up on the ceiling of our yet-to-be-purchased trailer, to remind me that I'm in good company out here on the road, surrounded by friendly freaks and misfits.

New Mexico, USA

This is pretty funny...
I'm in charge of ordering yellow balloons for the Studio Tour in September. So last night I went to balloons.com, found what we need, and clicked the "checkout" button. After jumping through all the usual hoops, I was sent back to correct an error. It wanted me to select a shipping option, but the only choices were various sorts of "international shipping". After going around the same circle several times, I finally realized that something in their software thinks New Mexico is somewhere other than the United States! I sent a note to the company, and found another place to buy my balloons. This morning there was a nice reply from the CEO of balloons.com, assuring me that he is aware of New Mexico's statehood, and that he'll check into the software glitch. Bet he'll be chuckling over this all day like I am...

I've heard of this happening, but it's my first real experience with it, other than people asking me if we needed to learn to speak Spanish because we live here... I guess there's a good reason our license plates clearly say "New Mexico, USA".

a day on the rio

Rick, Karena, and I all went down to Embudo Station yesterday, for a little lunch, a bottle of wine, and some river time. We stayed for hours. Didn't go home until after it got dark. A practically perfect day. I feel better now.

where's my sword?

I think I suggested before that you buy this book. I'm glad I have it! I'm going to keep it with me at all times for the next few days!

Lauren left yesterday, but she'll be back today. Heidi is still here, but they'll both be leaving again tomorrow. Lauren's stuff is all over the house. Her room looks like an explosion. I'm having a helluva time getting any work done. Next week should be calmer... Meanwhile - we must be fearless!

back to school...

What did I tell you? As soon as July is over, we're out of the safety zone. Lauren is heading back to school today. What??? So soon? I didn't realize it was sneaking up quite so fast. She has Greek Recruitment stuff to help with this year, so she goes back extra early. I just didn't know it would be this early until.... well, yesterday.

I thought I felt a hint of fall in the air a couple of days ago too. Maybe not. Can't be sure. All I know is I feel the passage of time too clearly. I want to shut down, go sit by the old Rio Grande, and just breathe. Feels like I'm holding my breath, trying to hold back time. What a silly girl. I guess I'd better go make something beautiful. That always helps. So does sitting by the river... or dancing! Wanna dance? I'll be in the studio, rockin' out...

the last day of July...

I love July. I'm sad that it's over already. July has always been a safe haven in the summer. It's firmly planted in the middle of the season, protected on both sides by June and August. School couldn't come anywhere near it, and it always meant fun, rest, vacation, bike rides, fresh peaches, cute boys, silly summer love songs, and giggling sleepovers........ guess I miss being 14..... maybe I'm a little extra nostalgic this year, having just turned 50 and all...

July still feels same to me in most ways. It still feels like the best month of summer, but now I don't see the endless ocean of possibility out in the distance of "someday". Now I'm more in the middle of that deep blue sea, on a sailboat of my own creation. I depend on the wind, but know how to steer the thing by now, and all the time I spent learning to sail was important, because now it's time to get someplace. All the things that freaked me out about this recent birthday really boiled down to one important message from the Universe. There's no more time to dink around. Now is "someday".

I woke up at 5:00 this morning. Not because I wanted to, but because a dog was barking outside my window. After a while, I decided it was a sign from God, which it Dog spelled backwards after all... I figure Dog is God, looking in the mirror, and so maybe we should pay attention when Dog speaks... Anyway - I got up, left Rick snoozing, started the coffee, and sat in my Favorite Chair with my simple notebook and pen. And with the just-less-than-full-moon still peeking through the window, on this last day of my favorite month, I started to write a book...

I've had false starts on this all year. It's hard to get going, but this time it felt different. I won't talk about it much as it goes along. The risk of embarrassment is too great. But if I finish it, you know I'll tell you. Getting published isn't even a concern. But I've always intended to write something... "someday"...

Welcome to the last day of July. What might you do with it?