Monday, June 6, 2016

Pink Hills and Wildflowers




 New Mexico---I spent most of my time in the countryside, taking in the mysterious landscapes--red hills, pink hills, black hills, mountains and mesas, buttes and canyons. This most memorable place, Tent Rocks, a short steep hike up a slot canyon, was otherworldly. Truly, as though I stepped onto another planet or a Star Wars movie. The trip was a cliche--me following the Georgia O'Keeffe trail, but it was also a trip of epiphanies and learning. Geology, Pueblo Indians, the atomic bomb, there was much to think about.



 Then home, where I try to hold on to what I learned, 
and not let it all slip away,



 It's wildflower season in the Catskills.
 I savor the familiar landscape, the creek, the frog pond, 
the crisp starry nights.
I walk downstream, among the ferns.


I hope you are enjoying the season, whatever it is,
wherever you are.

xo, Jennifer






26 comments:

  1. I've never seen a photo of those formations. Lovely. You'll never stop being a westerner, you know. It's in your blood.

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    1. It's true. I'm a big believer in personal geography. I was lucky to have been raised in the Virginia woods, a Maryland River, and northern California.

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  2. sounds like an amazing trip. I'd love to visit those places. and beautiful flowers. we're sinking over here. rain. rain. and more rain. but this too shall pass. and then I will go flower hunting too :)

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    1. That rain you are having is crazy! I hope you are soon able to enjoy early summer in Paris. Corsica this summer?

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  3. So many brides would love to have that arrangement.

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    1. These wee ones aren't hardy enough for a bouquet but would be so pretty on a table. I know jam jars went out of fashion. Are they coming back?

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    2. Ha! I'm doing Ball jars for a corporate 'barbecue' theme party 8 floors up in downtown Boston this week. I guess they're not over yet.

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    3. Too bad they can't leave the building for a real bbq!

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  4. Jen..such amazing formations...great photo! I think deep down in our soul we recognize "land memories"... Perhaps from past lives...tied to our inner most being. I did not see the ocean until I was a teenager, but when I did I felt I had come home. The red clay of my childhood home in Southwest Georgia brings the same kind of comfort and sense of place. Hold on to those memories...there's a panting or two in the making!! Smiles...Susan

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    1. It was one of the coolest experiences I've ever had, Susan. The highlight of a great trip. I love the phrase land memories and believe in it. When we first visited the Catskills I know it touched the part of me that was a child in the Virginia woods.

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    2. Hi Susan,
      "Land memories" is such a lovely phrase & idea; thank you for that. Our
      years on the St. John's River in JaxFla
      were indeed memorable and I carry the beach sand, ever-present shore birds and Spanish Moss within me, still. Poetry helps, too.
      Cheers,
      Diane in Denver

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  5. I hope you are still holding on to what you learned in New Mexico. I've just returned home after being away for a little over two weeks and I'm hoping to hold on to what I learned too. x

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    1. My life got crazy busy after I returned, but finally I can breathe again, and it's still there. It helps to find a quiet place and have small momentous to hold onto.

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  6. New Mexico is a magical place, looking for a smidgen of time to get back out there again. That picture is a traffic stopper. There is nothing sweeter than little delicate wildflowers, I have some tiny vases that I keep putting them in. Jam jars are so de rigueur! We went to some trendy bar in the East Village last week and the wine was served in jam jars :)

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    1. I get so excited for wildflower season, Amelia! And I was thinking of mason jars when I responded to Shelley. I think mason jars are out and jam jars are in. It's all so confusing!

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  7. ...one more, can't wait to see what you paint from those New Mexico landscapes!

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    1. Me too. I've got to let it simmer for a while, first!

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  8. Hello Jennifer, The grandeur of New Mexico is phenomenal, but I think it would become overwhelming if one were exposed to it constantly. The smaller scale of New England (and also Ohio) is just as powerful and moving, but you have to look at it in a different way.
    --Jim

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    1. I agree. The tiny forget-me-not is as much of a marvel as Mt. Fuji!

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  9. mmm beautiful relaxed post :)

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  10. It's an incredible landscape. Rock shapes are amazing. The color of the sky is impressive.

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  11. Oh Jen, you're in my world now -- or were. I do hope you got to Bandelier National Park as well? The desert Southwest is so haunting; my trips to Mesa Verde N.P. are always accompanied by the ghostly presence of the Anasazi...thank you for these beautiful photos and your always evocative, carefully chosen words. Cheers,

    Diane in blazing hot Denver
    Looking enviously at your Middlesex County
    Temps & cool skies

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    1. Hi Diane,
      I did get to Bandolier, which is magnificent, though Tent Rocks was the most transporting. One day I want to see the gorgeous scenery of Utah and Colorado.
      Happy summer!

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