Dedication of Peace Pole on 9/11

Today we attended a wonderful interfaith events at a local United Methodist Church. They invited the leaders from their neighborhood synagogue and mosque to help lead a service dedicated to peace among all. It was a beautiful gathering with people who were old and young, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish.

One of the readings said:
We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm conviction that violence and terrorism are opposed to all true religious spirit and we condemn all recourse to violence and war in the name of god or religion. We undertake to do everything possible to eradicate the causes of terrorism. We commit ourselves to promote the culture of dialogue so that understanding and trust may develop among individuals and peoples as theses are the conditions of authentic peace.

Having this truly multi-cultural/mutli-religious gathering of good people committing together to work for peace….that was truly a blessing.

My peace fill the earth.

Bandelier and Los Alamos

One of the side trip days took us north and west to Bandlier National Monument and then on the Los Alamos. Bandelier is one of the numerous places that the Ancient Pueblo people built homes and huge building complexes between 600 and 1000 years ago, throughout the South West.

Bandlier was peaceful and very beautiful. We were very pleased to have a lovely walk through a valley, and then had the chance to climb up a number of ladders to get to a place where there was a powerful kiva there. We climbed (and climbed) and were then very grateful to have a chunk of time without anyone else around. You could feel the ancient spirits.

Although we noted that the fire danger was rate as extreme, we had not a clue that a few days later, this whole area would be engulfed in flames.

Our visit with Los Alamos was interesting, but in the end rather creepy. We spent a couple of hours at the main museum in town there, had the chance to see a fabulous movie about the town's role in WWII and the secret development of the nuclear bomb. It was super top secret, even people in nearby Sante Fe had no real idea what was going on there. Actually, some of the people were worked there had no idea.

One woman said when she asked what they were doing, she was given the official line that they were developing windshields for submarines;-) Seeing some actual bombs like the ones that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were very sobering.

A couple of hours were as much as we could handle, and we were both ready to leave. the whole area of the laboratory had these signs about explosives....scary!

Can you say MUSEUM?

Two history majors on vacation, armed with a family membership to a consortium of Santa Fe museums....we took full advantage of the opportunities. We made it to the Palace of the Governors, The new Mexican History Museums, The International Folk Art Museum, Georgia O'Keefe Museum, New Mexico Art Museum, the Museum of Indian Art and Culture.

So many beautiful pieces of art, and interesting a provocative displays and videos. We especially enjoyed seeing the huge collection of folk art from around the world, and the actual O'Keefe paintings (after our field trip to the landscape areas.) And at the Indian Art and Culture Museum they had astounding oral interviews of New Mexican native peoples talking about their culture, and lives. We could have sat for hours and days longer listening to some of these articulate people sharing.

We also took advantage of being around Santa Fe on a Friday evening which gave us the chance to go down Canyon Road for the gallery crawl with many of the galleries having openhouses or openings. Some really beautiful and fun art, as well as the chance to interact with the artists and gallery owners. Artists generally LOVE to talk about what they are doing and answer questions and we were so glad to be able to be in such an art rich environment!

Joining our friends who work with the Navaho People

We were able to join our dear friends, Tomi Folk and Hank Bruce on a trip to one of the Navajo Chapter houses (a local government division of the Navajos). This one was Ojo Encinas, quite a ways away from the larger cities of Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Tomi and Hank do work on eliminating hunger and helping to teach gardening in some really wonderful, therapeutic and sustainable ways. They have worked with many of the New Mexican Indian people on projects, including this group. Often there is an intergenerational component, with elders getting the chance to teach young people about the traditional ways of growing food and stories about plants.

It was a pleasure to meet some of Hank and Tomi's friends, and hear some presentations about the work that is happening in that corner of the Navajo nation. One of the really impressive things was a project where young people in high school and college get the chance to work and become erosion specialists. They earn money, gain expertise and protect the land. Win, win, win!

We joined them for a delicious potluck brimming with food like mutton stew (butchered the day before), elk posole, Indian fry bread, and some amazing corn and squash. No one left hungry! We were sorry that we didn't get to try Hank's famous tumbleweed soup (the plant below the what tumbleweed looks like before it tumbles...it's supposed to taste great!)

We drove back through beautiful red rock scenery, in the monument area. Everywhere you look it is gorgeous!