Idy in springtime

Spent an immensely satisfying week with John at the cabin. Happy to share some pix for our 3 or 4 friends who read this blog.

Pondering spring growth on our favorite trail (Ernie Maxwell)

Manzanita blooms in front of blue sky

Budding evergreen 

Silver lupines

Strawberry Creek

Sunny wildflowers

Memorial Day in Idy also means yard sales on every street -- literally hundreds of them. We found some real treasures to add to the cabin.

Lithograph by Maurice Jacques from the Barbizon School in France.

Can't see the new travel posters, but we created a wall featuring a variety of Western-themed art, including a pastel from Steffi (top right), travel posters, a Remington print and and two ink drawings of Idyllwild by Dave Schenbaum's mom. Dave gave them to John for his birthday last year.

A yard sale mirror, some green paint and a new rug transformed this old bathroom into a pretty place to pee. 

Plus we enjoyed afternoon tea and strawberry-rhubarb crisp at Shala Tea Company. Nice addition to downtown.

Not East, but fun anyway

So much of this blog is about our travels, but we also have fun at home, too! Since returning from New Mexico, we've been busy hosting dinners for friends and family, celebrating Dave Shenbaum's retirement, making art, and walking on the beach. On May 11, we celebrated Mother's Day at Alta Laguna Park with the Osmani family and some friends of theirs from Afghanistan.

John and Taha both look rather serious about making soap bubbles.

The boys are really growing up! Yusuf is 9, and Sina is 6.

Playground smiles.

Celebrating mothers and grandmothers with Sayed and Steffi.

Sina and Avina are the cutest!

Wait, who's that big kid?

Happy Mothers' Day with lots of mothers!

Seriously adorable.

The newest Osmanis: At two months old, Subhan and Iman.

May 20th: Dinner with Bill Koenig at Newport Harbor.

May 22: Bare Bones at SusiQ senior center.

Ben Farrow and Ava Burton in Bakersfield Mist. 👏

After-show dinner with Ava, Ben, Marrie, Jeff, Jason and Susan.

Good friends = good life.

R and R

Spent our last few days of vacation enjoying each other’s company in our beautiful rental and at Ojo Caliente mineral springs. We will miss it here, but oh, the memories we made all together! I will savor them forever. 

Beautiful and inspiring homes

On a trip with so many highlights, it’s hard to designate Georgia OKeefe’s Abiquiu home and studio a highlight, but the tour we took with docent and artist Frank Shelton was super informational and inspiring. He explained how O’Keefe came to build her home here after her husband Alfred Stieglitz died. With the help of a friend, she spent three years renovating a ramshackle adobe on top of a mesa overlooking the Rio Chama valley. She lived there from 1949 until she moved briefly to Santa Fe at the end of her life.

The view from her property.

An interior courtyard. No color enhancement necessary.

The living room, where the artist and her two Chows listened to music every evening. 

The door that inspired many paintings including this one

All of us also have been inspired by the beautiful home in which we’re staying for our days in Espanola. Sharing some morning images below.

Doesn’t get much better than this: beauty, sunshine, peaceful days, quiet nights, blue skies, family and, oh yeah, lots of great food. 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Ancients and angels

Bandelier National Park cliff dwellings inhabited by the ancient Pueblo people about 1100 AD.

These spaces inside the cliffs are the only remaining parts of these ancient apartment buildings. At one time, the cliffs were fronted by large adobe constructions. Some of the interior rooms still contain petroglyphs and blackened ceilings from campfires.

Access to some of the dwellings via ladder.

Always time for a picnic…

This is Sanctuaria Chimayo, a sacred Catholic Church where it is said that the dirt can heal, much like the waters at Lourdes. We rubbed some dirt on us and are awaiting the results. In the meantime…

We were happy to be there in such a beautiful place.

Crosses carried by pilgrims who walked to Chimayo for Good Friday. 

The connection of Anglo, Spanish and Native American cultures.

One of several statues carried on worshippers shoulders for special events. They are surrounded by photos of people who need our healing prayers.

Chimayo feels like the first step on our pilgrimage to Rome this Jubilee year. May it be a blessed journey.