Self-portrait

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Space Ships at Eagle Peak?

Today, my husband Steve and I went for a magical walk. The last few days of stormy weather made it difficult to really enjoy being outside. The air was brisk, and the sky clean and clear except for a few clouds off in the distance. This is a shot of Eagle Peak which juts above the horizon a few miles north of where we live. It’s impossible to get a shot from our home because there is a major hill in the way. Over the years, I have heard stories about eagles nesting there, as well as space ships mysteriously coming and going.

We have an adventurous group of people who, once a year, hike up to Eagle Peak and camp out. They hiked there this week, and I suppose they got soaked—we’ve had a bunch of rain the past week or so, enough to fill our pond and create lots of runoff. Our seasonal stream is flowing merrily, and we’re able to use our hydro system to produce electricity.

Eagle Peak

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Turkey Day

Tomorrow is Turkey Day! Traditionally, Thanksgiving has been the beginning of the “Stuffing Season” for me. I love sharing all the rich foods with friends and family at Thanksgiving.

I just calculated that I would have to walk 17 miles to compensate for my Turkey Day Dinner. Wow, I think that I will reconsider how much I will actually eat tomorrow.

Wondering just how much walking you'll have to do to burn off that Turkey Day dinner? Find out here.

White Deer Gang Seen by Side of the Road

A dozen white deer loitered nonchalantly in the shade, and apparently entertained by folks driving by. When I jumped out of the car to take their picture, they just stared at me. Finally, when I started moving toward them, they reluctantly sauntered away.


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My Favorite Cranberry Dish

One of my greatest joys is preparing fermented foods. I enjoy making kefir, sauerkraut, kim chi, and other fermented dishes. Last holiday season I created Cranberry Chutney and I continue to make it whenever I can get my hands on organic cranberries. Recently I found a group that is as crazy about fermenting as I am. You can reach them at Microbial_Nutrition@yahoogroups.com.


SkyWatcher’s Cranberry Chutney

3 c. cranberries (organic preferred--regular are grown with lots of pesticides)
1/2 c. nuts (pecans are my favorite)
1/2 c. rapadura sugar (if you can't get it use regular sugar)
2 t. sea salt
1/4 c. whey (drained from kefir or yogurt)
1/2 c. prune juice
1 t. cinnamon (or 2 drops of cinnamon essential oil)
1/2 t. cloves (or 1 drop of clove essential oil)
Juice from one orange (or 2 drops orange essential oil)
Juice from half a lemon (or 1 drop of lemon essential oil)
I lightly pulse the above ingredients in my food processor. I like it
chunky.
Stir in 1/2 c. raisins (that have been soaked)

Let ferment for 48 hours--then refrigerate. The biggest problem with this is that it gets eaten so fast that I have to make more.

Ocean through the Trees

Yesterday we went to Mendocino and visited one of our favorite spots. Located at the north end of the village of Mendocino, this magic vista forms part of the headlands there. More times than not we have seen a wedding or memorial being celebrated.

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White Buck and Harem

This is a shot that I took on the way to work this morning. I feel so blessed to live in Mendocino County where beauty abounds!

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Hard on my Feet

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Sexy Shoes Hard on Feet

Last weekend we went out and I wore a gorgeous new top that my friends, Lee and Mike, had given me for my birthday. Usually I dress casually, but this evening I wanted to dress up. So, I wore some slinky pants, and some sexy high heel shoes. The outfit looked terrific! I thought that I would surprise my sweetheart, Steve, because he hardly ever sees me wearing anything but sensible shoes.

My daughter, Christina, and I met Steve and our friends at the restaurant. It was about a twenty minute drive wearing those “hot” shoes. When we met everyone at the restaurant they commented on how great my outfit looked! Cool—I always like complements. A few hours later, after a delicious leisurely dinner we got ready to leave. As I walked to the sidewalk I became aware of how much my feet ached. My left foot felt like the outer bone was warped. All I could think of was getting out of those damn shoes. I told Steve about how I wore them to impress him and he said he hadn’t even noticed my shoes (they had been under the table during dinner).

So, now I remember why I wear sensible shoes—they support my feet. Even though the high heels looked good Steve couldn’t see them, and so they didn’t have the effect I intended. I guess that I will save my sexy shoes for “special” times when I am not really walking in them—just for decoration in the bedroom.

Dreamy Pink Clouds in Santa Cruz

Last weekend, we celebrated our daughter, Christina�s birthday a few weeks after her actual birthday (October 23). I took this photo Sunday evening after walking along the beach in Santa Cruz. Pink clouds accented the almost full moon that hung low in the sky.


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Firey color outside of my classroom. In a matter of days, all the leaves may be gone.

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Teaching Art is One of My Passions

I may not have mentioned what I do for my day job. I am an art teacher at Ukiah High School in Northern California. In fact, that is how I came to the Ukiah area in the first place. In 1971, I received my life teaching credential in Physical Education and Art from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. After living in Cayucos (a cozy little beach town on the central coast), I vowed that I would never move back to a big city (I grew up in San Diego).

In 1971, I was hired by Ukiah High School to teach Physical Education while Nadja Larson was having a baby. At that time, I went by Ms. Stone (Dirk, my first husband, never moved up to Ukiah, which broke my heart). I was young and fresh out of college. Oh yeah, part of the agreement to get the job was that I would coach girls’ volleyball, basketball, and track while also teaching full time. I didn’t realize I wouldn’t have a life outside of school, though it turned out to be a great year!

I didn’t get hired the next year—Nadja got her job back. I went to Europe for the summer and had a blast hitching with my younger brother, Eddie. When I came back I taught PE part-time through the Adult School in Ukiah. I won’t go into all the different jobs had over the ensuing years, but I started teaching art at UHS a little over ten years ago. The last few years, I struggled with lyme disease and had a difficulty working full-time. Last year, I taught at 80%, and this year I am working at 60% and I’m better able to deal with the stress of working with teens and dealing with lyme disease.

I get a large quite a range of students in my art classes. Some students are incredibly talented, others aren’t interested. One of the things I really get off on is showing their art to the community. We have an art display window (which I helped manifest several years ago, but that’s another story) at the high school in which student work is available for viewing by everyone passing by.

Five years ago, I came upon a site, Artsonia.com, that displays student art from all over the world. Artsonia inspired me to get a digital camera so I could take pictures of student art and started posting it. I thought you might want to take a look at what some of my students are doing—I hope you will be impressed—I know that I continue to be!

Soggy but Still Precious

I went for a walk in the rain late this afternoon. While I was in the garden, I took a picture of this wet peace rose. Well, everything was wet including me. We still have almost three more feet until our pond is full. At that time, we will feel comfortable turning our hydro on. Until then, we are running off our batteries that are filled by our solar panels that aren't doing very much in the rain. Thank God/Goddess that we have a propane generator for back up.

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My Honey is a Heart Channel

It has been raining on and off this weekend, and I have been spending most of my time indoors. Besides making tasty winter-type foods (like steaming hot squash soup with a dollop of crème fraise on top), I’ve been helping my sweetie, Steve, with his book, Awakening to the God Within—Wisdom Teachings from the Ocean of Joy. He’s been getting the book ready to send to the printer. Steve is a heart, or essence, channel of a being who calls himself Arondoho. Most of the book comes from Arondoho’s perspective.

Steve’s blog, What Would Love Do, is once again active. He has been too busy even to think about blogging for several months. He plans to make posts once or twice a week.

If you would like to be notified when I post a new blog, you can now sign up by clicking on the sidebar where it says Subscribe to Living My Passion.

The Other End

I took this shot a few minutes after the previous photo, looking over the west end of the pond to the north--where it is shallow enough to wade in on a sizzling summer day. The glassy pond perfectly reflected the swiftly moving clouds chasing sunset into the night.

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Salmon Colored Clouds on my Pond

I went for a walk this evening just after the sun dipped out of the sky. As you can see, the water was so still that it looks like salmon colored clouds are floating on the surface.

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White Buck Needs Driver's License

Do you think that this white buck was trying to hide behind the tall grass. Yesterday, he was actually walking down Orr Springs Road the same direction that I was driving, but in the other lane. I passed him on the right. He was huge! His antlers were taller than my car. I wasn't able to take a picture in the dark, but I was able to get this shot this morning.

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Moonlit Path--only I will know for sure!

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From the Garden

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Christina's Miracle Birth

Today, October 23, twenty-nine years ago today, I had one of the most incredible experiences of my life, I gave birth to my daughter, Christina Grace Turnwall. A little over two years before, I had given birth to my son, Calvin, in our local hospital. I vowed at the time that I would not have another child in the hospital, because they would not let me hold and feed him when I wanted to.

So, I was in excellent health, and we decided to have a home birth. All that night, I sat naked and every time I had a contraction, I became one with the light a candle flame. It was a method I discovered that night, and it worked incredibly well (even though I experienced intense contractions) I felt no pain. I let myself relax by breathing in to the candle light. The midwife who we had arranged to help us wasn’t able to make it. Another midwife, who hadn’t had much experience yet, came and assisted towards the end.

I tapped into my female essence, deep into my animal nature. It was as if I was a cat or dog that wanted to hide from the rest of the world. I was non-verbal, focusing on relaxing with my breath. I reached a point in which I was almost spinning with energy because of how quickly the contractions were piling on top of each other. My midwife came over and I guess that she was looking at how still I seemed on the outside and said that she thought that I was five centimeters dilated. Not agreeing with her, my inner voice told me that I was ten centimeters dilated, which is all the way opened up, but since I wasn’t talking I didn’t say anything.

A little while later, I felt like I had to pee. So, I walked outside the yurt and squatted down to pee on the ground (I didn’t want to walk all the way down to the outhouse). Nothing came out. Again, my inner voice told me that I had better be careful because the baby might fall out. That seemed reasonable to me, so I returned to the yurt and when I walked across the threshold I screamed because it felt like someone had stabbed me. Lynn (the midwife) told me to lay down, and Phyllis (her helper) and her washed her hands. Lynn told me to push hard on the next contraction, and out came Christina’s head. I pushed again on the next contraction and out came the rest of Christina!

That was how my sweet daugh, Christina was born.

Christina Grace Turnwall's first picture during the first few minutes after her birth.

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Colored pencil self-portrait recreating Christina's birth--29 years ago today!

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Once a Little Brother, Always a Little Brother

I SO love to garden. However, I am not the greatest gardener in the world, just in the top 15. Unfortunately, our water is limited, and I am afraid of running out. Or maybe it’s that it gets so dog gone hot in the summer garden. I can hardly stand being in there except early in the morning, when I would much rather be sleeping. I have lots of excuses for being a just so-so gardener.

My little brother, Eddie, is a fabulous gardener! He has incredible yields with potatoes and other vegetables that he grows on his forty acres outside of Winslow, Arkansas. I am sharing a picture of him in his garden taken this past summer. See how lush his garden looks! He is standing next to a tobacco plant that he grew, and he doesn’t even smoke tobacco. Go figure.

Isn’t it funny how I will always see him as my little brother, and there is nothing little about him. I love him so much, and I hardly ever get to see him, or even talk to him on the phone. Call me, little brother.

My brother, Eddie Butler, in his garden outside of Winslow, Arkansas.

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Mare's Hill

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Creeping Virgina Creeper

This beautiful Virginia Creeper has crept over one corner of my house and covers most of my bedroom window. In the last 24 hours, it has almost turned all red. In a few more days, there won't be any green left. Then, a good wind will come and blow it all away.

I used the posterize effect on Photoshop to intensify the colors.

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Shy Wild Turkeys not interested in sticking around for dinner.

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Poison Oak Dancing with Oak

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Unresolved

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The Arms of Mother

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Naked Tree Climbing

Visitors pass within 30 feet of Spirit Tree and without ever seeing it, even though it is huge (the front right crotch is over my head when I stand next to it). I have climbed on it, and sitting on its shoulder with blue mud scraped out of our sacred pond and smeared artfully on my and my friend’s body. As we danced around and on the tree (we actually climbed on that limb), I was riding it like it was a horse. Its hide was rough and with the stiff mosses dried in the summer sun. My friend and I seemed to go into a timeless realm. I think it was because somehow the blue clay freed up our spirits and allowed us to dance with the spirit of this exquisite California Myrtle. Some people see them as weeds because happy Bay trees (another name for this tree) make lots of baby Bay trees. I live on the edge of a forest which Bay trees abundantly frequent.

Some of the other old growth Bay trees in our neighborhood had large pieces cut out of them, probably in the fifties. I feel sad when I come up to an ancient one and find that it has a rectangular block of it removed—maybe 8 cubic feet—two by two by two. I love it when they look like Spirit Tree with arms outstretched--for me, another manifestation of God/Goddess.

The photo that I posted on Friday was taken in July of this year. I have a few more that I have taken over the years. This tree begs to be touched. My kids and extended kids loved to climb and jump off this tree. I have also drawn it and painted it from observation. When I draw or paint, I like to show how I see with eyes of spirit. Many times, I don’t “see” what came through until I look at it at later through different eyes. It is my intent to connect with the spirit of everything I photograph. Not trying to capture the soul, simply connect in a way that allows a peek into a different realm. I guess that would be allowing spirit to work through me. Or is that the same as being the God/Goddess that I AM? Or seeing the God/Goddess/Goodness wherever I look. I walk in beauty. May you walk in beauty. We are at choice as to how we perceive the world, and how we be and act. As both Mahatma Ghandi and Challenge Day say, “Notice, choose, and act.”

Drawing of Spirit Tree that I did with colored pencils this summer.

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Spirit Tree

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Clean-up Time in the Barn

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Here again is the view I will never tire of.

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Battery Found

Yipee! My husband, Steve, was walking down the driveway and found the battery for my camera. So, I don’t have to figure out how to use my other camera. However, I am having a problem getting a photo uploading this morning;-(.

Camera Blues

Wow, I haven’t posted since last Friday. Let me share my excuses with you. Saturday and Sunday I took a “Watercolor on Silk Class” taught by Susan Moyer. I got to experience many different ways to paint dyes directly on to silk. To save money, I drove around an hour on a winding road each way. So, I didn’t have time or energy to do anything for my blog on the weekend. After I came home from work last evening I felt like I was still recovering from a weekend on the go.

Yesterday morning I pulled my camera out of my purse and out on to the car seat. To my surprise, the little door on my camera’s battery was open, and nothing was in the chamber. That afternoon I went to our local camera store and ordered a battery. The camera lady said it would be 2-3 weeks. Today, I went to Walmart thinking that they might just have a battery for my camera. Alas! They don’t carry it.

One my options would be to play with some of my other pictures using Photo Shop, and then post them. Another would be to find a place online, order another battery and maybe get it sooner. That way I will continue to be able to take pictures. Or, I could use my other camera which is more cumbersome, and yet has more features. For example, I could shoot in the raw format if I knew how, but would take time reading directions. (Yuck!)

While picking up my Minolta Dimage A1, I accidentally turned it on. I tried taking a picture, but couldn’t remember how the camera works. This camera is counter-intuitive for me. Around a year ago, a got a smaller point-and-shoot Minolta. Since then, I haven’t picked up my big old clunky camera.

Equipment in the Barn

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Still Hanging On

Steve and I went to one of Dale's memorials on Sunday. Steve called me over to scope out the barn. I loved the way that the light was playing on different surfaces. This photo is one of the entrances to the barn area.

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Evening Light

When I looked out my studio window the light was in contrast with the sky filled with heavy clouds. I almost didn't go in to the house to get the camera. I am so glad that I followed through and got the camera, and was also willing to go outside.

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Sun Setting in the Yurt

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Molten Sky-- The sky was filled with incredible firey clouds last evening. The sky is framed beautifully by a madrone tree. We could hear thunder and it started to sprinkle.

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Half-Hearted Sun Setting

This is the last picture that I'll share with you tonight that was taken last evening. It started to rain and I noticed that my camera created this circular pattern on the photos.Can you believe thatI didn't adjust the color? I didn't.

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Naked Ladies Dancing in the Light

This is a test to see if having the words "Naked Ladies" in the title draws more attention. Last time that I showed some Naked Ladies, I got eight comments, and I believe that it was because of the title.

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Charred

This is a view of where the fired burned on Orr Springs Road looking back towards Ukiah.

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Death and Rebirth

This is a view of the recent fire on Orr Springs Road. It was taken looking to the northwest. If you look closely, you can see the bridge at the far bottom left corner of the photo.

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Fires of Fall

When I got home last Tuesday earlier than usual, my husband, Steve, was still in town running errands. I got a call from him saying that there was a fire at the bottom of Orr Springs Road, and that they weren’t letting traffic through. He ended up finding a back way home. It took one and a half hours to get back here (usually it takes about 20 minutes). So, I had to see for myself if I was in danger and drove back towards town. I found the fire raging pretty close to Ukiah, about six or seven miles from here. Fortunately, for my neighbors and I, the wind was blowing from the west, and not driving the fire our way. My son called because he had seen the smoke, and told him I was OK.

The next morning, the fire still burned. The road was choked with all kinds of firemen and equipment. Only one lane of traffic was open, but I was able to get to work. It took two helicopters, two firefighting airplanes, over 30 fire trucks, and a multitude of firefighters to get it under control. It ended up scorching over 111 acres, though, no structures were lost. I heard that the cause of the fire had to do with someone cutting fire wood. I take my hat off to the firefighters who help knock it down and put it out.

By the way, it was earlier that same day that I took the picture of the turkey vulture on the telephone pole, just across the road from where the fire took off. My understanding is that no turkey vultures were harmed in the burning of this fire.

Golden Light

This picture was taken of the view looking north from our front yard as the sun was setting. I love the long shadows and the goldish-orange colors that are so unique to this time of year.

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Sunbathing Vulture

On the way to work this morning, I noticed a turkey vulture airing its wings while perching on a telephone pole. I took the picture through the windshield because I didn't want the vulture to fly away. Then I used Photoshop posterize adjustment to create this effect.

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"Hot" Summer Eve

This is a different view of our "view". I walked about 100 steps north of our yurt, and then took a picture trying to shield the lens so the glare wouldn't be too much. I love the way the rays of light beam across the Big River. In Photoshop, I used Rough Pastels for a stunning effect.

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Lone Buck

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Alien Flowers

When Stars Dream

When stars dream
Planets form
Carrying cargoes
Of treasure
Beyond measure

When stars dream
Galaxies sparkle
With light
Scattering seeds
Like stardust

We are stars dreaming
Come to life
Laughing and loving
Across all boundaries
Of space and time

We dance together
As Beloveds
Lifetimes cocooned
In our embrace
Lovers stardancing

Stars dreaming
Through the great
Wheel of Being
Birthing universes
Dancing as One –

Steve Ryals
09.13.05


Today is my birthday! Two of my favorite gifts were both of these poems that my Beloved, Steve, wrote for me on this special day.

Love & Adoration

How can I tell you
Of my love and adoration
On this glorious day
Of your immaculate birth?

How can I begin to describe
Just how deeply I feel,
How the scent of your hair
Brings me to rapture,

How the look in your eyes
Tells me I’m home in your heart
As the taste of your soft lips
Makes me sing like a robin in spring –

How inadequate words seem
To reflect the feelings
Dancing in my heart…
Your magic touch,

The miracle of your tender smile,
All wrapped in the
Tawny glow of summer skin –
How can I tell you?

Steve Ryals
09.13.05

Sun Drenched Clouds over Fog. I had to slip on some warm clothes to take this photo. I am sorry to say that this captures less than one tenth of the beauty that was here this evening. Oh well, that is the way that it is with the vastness of nature.

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