Here we are...es mucho calor verdad!  Ya bastante...waiting for some rain.  The ants are marching profusely, looking for food. the plants have produced seeds and have dropped awaiting the arrival of rain....There comes a point when the humidity agrees with your system and I am actually cooled off  wearing jeans when I go riding or cleaning up the manure, watering and feeding the horses...that' sounds crazy but the sweat from my body actually cools me off. I always wondered when I first moved here how the Mexicans wore jeans or long sleeved shirts when working outside in the heat...hmmm, ..what a concept. There has been little to no breeze until yesterday evening...awe.  Thank you... phew. ..now today back to nil.  We have been sitting on the edge of lands end waiting for the arrival of rain, preferably life giving rains,...but at this point, I hate to say it...so I won't.  Any rain won't do...still holding out for the life giving rains.

The munchkins are back to school, so we are back to the daily coast rides, always a beautiful view.  They both have great teachers and we are so pleased with the community of La Playita/ La Playa.  It is obviously getting darker earlier and light comes later.  Fall for some folks up north must be near.  Down here we are waiting for our hurricane season.  You are celebrating labor day weekend and we are preparing for the big Aniversario de la Independencia on the 16th of September....200 years, should be a big fiesta.

Lastly I would like to share with you our yellow corn maiden we brought home from the Taos Pueblos made by a Hopi relative of one a beautiful woman in the Pueblos.  Her presence is a prayer for corns, she also honors Mother Earth and her continuing ability to feed her children.  She reminds us always to be thankful for the gifts we receive daily from Mother Earth.  On that note, bout time for a rain dance........anyone up for it?  May your lives all be blessed with good seeds, life giving rains and a bountiful crop.  May we always have respect in our hearts and give thanks.
 
 
I would like to take you on our journey.

From the Trail of Tears, the Sante Fe Trail, the Dust Bowl Days and the Taos Pueblos.  Amidst the cultures in this mountain region and home on the range. 
A sense of Hispanic, Indian and Cowboy culture a.k.a. three bean soup creates a diverse unique culture unlike any other.

We have seen a heard of buffalo, snow on the mountain peaks, antelope on the open range, a rodeo, a trail days parade, the dust bowl museum.  Drove and hiked to the top of Mount Capulin, an inactive volcano.  Spent some time in a 55 year old western store with a collection of hundreds of old worn out hats on display.  Visited the Taos Pueblos, went to the 9,200 elevation of the Taos ski area founded by Ernie Blake.  Witnessed and took part in the Taos Indian dancers just outside of the pueblos, crossed over the Rio Grande and fished along the mountain streams and Eagle Nest Lake...It was heartwarming to partake in these activities with my husband and children that my great grandparents, granparents and parents introduced to me 40 some years ago.  It was beautiful to see our Gama Hazel and Great Aunt Ina Mae...icing on the cake.

A family vacation taking me back in time where we would spend time with our elders in our youth...a full circle finding our grassroots. Many of our elders and family have passed, but their memories and blood pump through my veins...to pass this experience on to my children is priceless.  Gracias A Dios

In light of our journey I would like to share this with you...



http://taospueblopowwow.com/about-taos-pueblo/blue-lake



"In 1906 An injustice was done in which...48,000 acres was taken from..the Taos Pueblo Indians.  The congress of the United States now returns that land to whom it belongs...I can't think of any more appropriate or any action that could make me more proud as President of the United States" 
1970 President Richard M. Nixon

On September 17th and 18th of 2010 The Taos Pueblos will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the return of it's Sacred Blue Mountain Lake.

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt established Carson National Forest taking 50,000 acres without payment to them. 

The following information is fragments of notes I read in an article in High Country magazine summer 2010 ...  an excerpt from Frank Waters  Blue Lake Interview...

After a series of events and years of broken promises, It became obvious that the Pueblos 1940 use permit was worthless.  They were once granted a 50 year permit after waving a $297,684.67 payment from congress.  The children were sent away to a white man's school instead of being taught at home the traditional religious beliefs of his people.

The struggle of the Taos Indians to regain Blue lake helped enlighten much of the general American public about Indian Religioun.  December 15 1970 Senate passed the bill it was the first land claims case settled in favor of an Indian Tribe based on freedom and religion.

In the words of Frank Waters 1902-1995...
"I am convinced that this is something that we must learn from the Indians-their holistic way of thinking.  We must must realize our relatedness to all other forms of life.

One of the things that most helped the Indians in their quest for Blue Lake was the growing public understanding of the concept of ecology.  As the tenets of ecology became more widely appreciated, beginning in the early 1960's, so too did an understanding of the relationship between ecology and the basic principles of Indian religion.  The public began to grasp a little rudimentary thinking about Indian religion because ecology is the basis of Indian religion.  And this growing appreciation for ecology led the public to begin thinking holistically, to begin understanding the unity of all of nature's kingdoms-whether animal, plant, or mineral.  And this growing appreciation of Indians as the first ecologists helped Taos Pueblo in its struggle to reclaim their sacred land..."