A Study In Dead Wood

Georgia O'Keefe apparently had a dead juniper tree on her ranch that she liked to depict in paintings. We learned this at her Ghost Ranch the other day. (See the photos in the last post which were taken there.)

I am no art critic, but I will go out on a limb and utter the blasphemous statement that O'Keefe is over-rated as an artist. Her admirers are, in my estimation, a bit cultish.

But I will also admit that there is beauty in dead wood.

Here are way too many photos of dead trees and a couple of photos of Leon and I and Benni. (Click photo to enlarge)

Location: Galisteo Basin Preserve, NM

No Service: Beseeching the Cell Phone Gods for a Signal

Benni Thinks Dead Wood is Beautiful, Too

No Captions Needed

I haven't been motivated to write much lately, but if pictures are worth a thousand words, here's at least a few paragraphs:

Interesting Report on Marriage Cases Before the 5th Circuit and Panti Bliss TED Talk

Link to Buzz Feed Report here.

The ever articulate and to the point Panti Bliss

New Year

Happy New Year.

I guess doors are symbolic of New Years and New Beginnings and Looking Forward...

Being in a different time zone may have something to do with it, but it just doesn't seem like New Year's Day. After all, the ball dropped at 10pm and we missed it.

I remember the last time a New Year was a big deal. Y2K. The millennium, 2000.

That was when everything was going to come to and end, all the computers in the world would crash, the whole universe would be in chaos. Or not.

The agency I worked at was using a database provided by the State Health Department that actually DID crash. Luckily there was warning from the database designers, so we (I) were (was) able to transfer all our date into an Access file - so nothing was lost. On returning to work after January 1st I was curious to see whether the predictions were true. They were - the program was essentially zilch.

But this year is low key. Just going out to see the sights.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 5 fireplaces, 4 courtyards, 3 bedrooms, 2 parking spots and a ...... fill in the blank.

And a Mortgage with lots of Bank Fees

Deja Vu - Road Trip

Benni was such a good doggie and didn't complain until the very last hundred miles.

Five star motels were not in the budget. Not even ONE star.

And, given a chance, once inside, some are not SO bad. That is, if you can stand the colors and the guy in the next room watching TV all night. My guess is that he was passed out and couldn't care less about the blasting TV. I am a light sleeper and EVERYTHING keeps me awake. 

Not quite the leaning tower of Pisa. Amerika.

We went from this:

To this - in a matter of a hundred miles east to west. This is when Benni whined so much we had to us make a pit stop.

Today is cold. Can't get away from it. But Benni always seems to make the most of it and always finds a stick to play with.

Our current digs. Thankfully, quiet and cozy.