2011 
was
a very good year.
Here it is, wrapped up in some meaningful quotes, comments, events
Clockwise photos: Amelia, Jeb (Sweden), Amelia (Sweden), Jean (8 Hours in Bratislava), Jeb, Alan (Lama woodcutting)

January ~ "I'm the boss. My wife said I could be." 

Relationships deepened as Alan and Amelia became more important in the Admires' lives.

February ~ "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof." Richard Bach, Illusions 

Good fun: Dede and Chris, longtime friends from southern VA, ski Taos and visit Santa Fe with me. 

March ~ The dream of my life
is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees —
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention. Mary Oliver, "Entering the Kingdom"


Quiet month in Taos included a week of silent meditation retreat. You could say that for a short time I was a lens of attention. Rich? Not sure about that!  Jeb meets Alan and me in Moab, UT, for a weekend of hiking, slickrock biking, and fine dining at our rental house. Then Alan and I camp/hike at the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park. FUN! 


April ~ "Do at least one thing that scares you every day." Eleanor Roosevelt


Alan house sat in Taos and renovated east wall of dining area with new window and door. Meanwhile I travelled through Eastern Europe with best girlfriend, Barbara. We started in Vienna, moved on to Czech Republic, Berlin, Estonia, Berlin, Denver, a ski day at A-Basin close to Breckenridge(CO), and home. WHEW! Check earlier blog posts if you'd like to see a few photos from that trip :-)


Leaving a contractor to tear out and replace windows when you're a continent away - now that's scary!! Hope you'll visit Taos to see Alan's magnificent craftsmanship.


May ~ "There were four million people in the colonies and we had Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton, Monroe, Washington. Now we have over 350 million and several top noisemakers are Hillary, Bernanke, Bachman, Petraeus. What can you draw from this? Darwin was wrong!"
Mort Sahl


Jeb and Amelia visit her family in Sweden. I'm happy to be home, listening to water run in the acequia (irrigation ditch) and admiring Taos Mountain view through new dining room window.


June ~ "Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul upon another." George Eliot 


Busy month in Taos ~ lots of gardening, reading, writing, hiking, and commitment to landscaping improvements: patio, redwood deck, raised beds, gravel walkways, and the best-ever birdbath. 


July ~ "You learn the rules. You learn the discipline. And then you break the rules to find your freedom." Marco de Luca, mosaics master quoted by Terry Tempest Williams


Steve Aldrich, friend from early Taos days, stops by Taos on visit from Denver. Now here's a man who's followed Marco de Luca's maxim: master magician. accomplished dancer. skeptic supreme. Steve can always evoke a laugh and/or inspire deep thought. 


August ~ Birthdays galore: me, Julia Child& E.E.Admire (both gone but not forgotten), and lots of Ertels (that's Barb's family). Great Walling campout at Jackass Meadows. Jeb shows two-year old cousin Elyssa how to juggle.  Amelia plays cribbage and teaches me to make a g&t with campari....yum-yum!


September ~ "On dit que les bons amis peuvent passer de longues périodes sans de parler et sans se voir, sans jamais mettre en doute leur amitié. Quand ils se voient, ils se mettent á jour comme s"ils s'étaient vus la veille, sans considérer le temps passé et combien ils ont été éloignés." 


Absolutely true insight about friendship sent by former colleague at Rabat American School. You can translate it here. 


Michael Storey arrives for three weeks from Wokingham, England - highlights include hot air balloon ride with Barbara (quick overlap visit), Florrisant Fossil Beds in Colorado, lunch on the Rio Grande RR drive through Royal Gorge, dawn photo-ops at Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Guess it's time to past-post blog entries from this wonderful reunion.


October ~ "What do we wish? — To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather what we are separated from." Terry Tempest Williams, one of my favorite Utah-based writers


On retreat (silent, meditation, reconnecting withred rock) at Professor Valley Field Institute



November ~ "If the United Nations had a house band in 1962, then hopefully we'd be that band." Thomas Lauderdale


Sister Sue visits - great outings to Georgia O'Keefe land in/around Abiquiu and memorable concert at the Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe. Spent the night at charming B&B before returning Sue to airport in ABQ.


December ~ "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." C.S.Lewis


Quick trip to Mom's in Sunnyvale in early December. Highlights: Alamo Square walking tour with Mom and cousin Phyllis and Maharaja Exhibit at Asian Art Museum + grand small-world-story. When I returned to Taos, my front pasture had been plowed: beautiful black earth awaits spring planting. 


Jeb and Amelia spend a white Christmas in Taos: lots of lamb dinners and great skiing along with stockings, presents, games, bonfires at Taos Pueblo. WONDERFUL!

Wishing each of you 

all the great beginnings of a new year.

Where is it?

When I showed Mom the tipi photo from today's earlier posting, she harumphed. "So where is this place, anyhow!!??!!"

Encountered this dashing fellow — I call him StoneTurban Sheik —

 on a walking break from campsite meditation.

THANKS, Mom, for reminding me that not everybody knows Utah so here's a map: 

wish I had included it in first posting, and more photos are coming - but not today!

The Professor Valley is about 1/2 way along the road marked in red, east of Castle Valley but not as far along as Fisher Towers.

Similar terrain - stunning! - all the way. 

Canyonlands Field Institute

October 2011

Pretty good place to practice being silent, doncha think?

Dining "room" view

view from deck of meditation yurt  - almost sunset

from pit toilet area looking toward Manti la-Sal Mountains

from pit toilet area toward meditation&kitchen yurts. 

I slept in the cream-colored tipi at photo-center.

Yes, you are looking at somebody washing up - only cold-water at that sink!

from pit toilets toward monoliths enclosing the Professor Valley,  named after Sylvester Richardson. Professor by nickname only, Richardson added to Moab's colorful history - you can read a tidbit here or the whole story while you sit in the john at Canyonlands Field Institute.

no words needed by now

Blogging Backwards
a bit behind~times from Professor Valley, Utah

October 2011

Crescent moon flecks dawnrise over tipis at Canyonlands Field Institute on Bijou Creek.

That lunar smile readied me for departure after a weeklong retreat led by favorite dharma teachers, Susie Harrington and Eric Kolvig. The time was right for leaving those red rocks I embrace as second home. Truly awesome place - more photos soon.

Pre-winter chill can't fend off sun's warmth. But, oh, it was cold in late October's frosty dark with no campfire to warm my first-ever tipi sleepover. I was grateful to have an extra sleeping bag to fend off nightime's near-freezing temperatures.  No cold could still my midnight mind-walks -  wild dreams careened far outside this double-down cocoon.

Sitting meditation along creek or walking meditation among silent stone deepened my practice, and I'm back on the cushion again - almost every day. Awareness opened to new dimensions that are best shared in person. If you want to know more, let's talk soon about mops and ants and awareness that might just be infinite.

Must admit that my body welcomed return home:  to savor long shower, hot tub soak, and root-deep hairwash after eight days in near-wilderness.

Sent loving-kindness (metta) far and wide while on retreat - maybe you caught some?

Annual family camp-meeting in high Sierras - south fork of San Joaquin River and Infant Buttes set backdrop for lots of fishing, hiking, Scrabble, cribbage, and conversation.

Baltic birds soar, swim, sup, and strut their stuff.

We watched and listened to massive flocks of lesser white-fronted geese travelling to summer feeding areas. Two scout-geese led the vees to safe ground. From what we saw, we would never have guessed that these geese are considered an endangered species. Nearby, storks guarded their nests which were perched atop utility poles. We guessed that one might be sitting on eggs as it spent most of its time with only its head visible above the nest's rim. After lunch at Altja Kõrts, we walked along the beach and watched swans preen and feed in the Baltic waters.

Michael, Barbara, and Peter in the watchtower - bog in the background.

Bog-walking is a natural park pastime at Lahemmaa National Park, not far from Tallinn. Peter was good enough to find us a lengthy bit of bog with a boardwalk and a watchtower -- no need for special racket-bog shoes or a guided tour. If we wanted to feel the bog underfoot, we merely stepped off the boardwalk to bounce on the drier mounds. In the background, you can see Peter's shoe sinking into the moist vegetation that varies from trampoline bouncy to super-soaked sponge. At some places, we tiptoed on boards that seemed to float on crystalline clear water, touted to be some of the cleanest in the world. Estonia ranks right up there with Finland as one of the boggiest lands in the world. Lovely at this time of year, but maybe not so pleasant after a mosquito hatch!