happy memorial day

A very happy Memorial day it was. We had 5 adults at the house...just what was needed to complete the covering of the greenhouse. The structure has been up for months, the raised bed ready for weeks, the soil loaded and plants installed for days. It felt so good to finally see my plants happily settled in their bed.

The crew

I found myself the odd man out for most of the process so I focused on filling my new compost pile (formerly the shell of our little practice garden) with layers of chips, dirt, and compost. The compost pile is conveniently located inside the greenhouse. The bed runs the length of the East wall. There is room for 3 or four more beds as well as hanging plants in the future. My plants are getting a late start for Arizona gardening but I'm praying the greenhouse will allow them to continue to grow and fruit bearing.

may flowers

May 2011, along with the months leading up to it, have been abloom with ministry opportunities and events that have demanded my time and my required my attention. The resulting consequence is a puny handful of blog posts this month.

Again today my list if full to overflowing with tasks needing checking off before our departure for the women's conference on the Hopi reservation on Wednesday. This morning I snuck out of bed early, deliberately ignored the outdoor chores of dogs, chickens, and plants, and instead grabbed the computer mouse, determined to post these pictures and leave my footprints here where someone who might be looking will be sure to discover them.


As they should say in Arizona, don't forget to stop and photograph the cactus blooms.

Kol Dodi

This morning we were invited to worship with a small church on the other side of the city. They invited us to share our Messianic style dance. There were seven dancers but the last dance was choreographed for only four so I put down my tambourine and picked up my camera. I wanted to see what I could capture without using the flash so I would not disrupt the anointing.


The song, Kol Dodi (the voice of my Beloved), from the Song of Songs is a beautiful piece of music. As the song builds the dancers pick up two elegant pieces of cloth and continue the dance. When the last cords of music plays the dancers move to form the shape of the cross with the cloth.

t4 *

*too tired to type

mexico children's festival, part 2

The Princess Pageant

After the promenade around the park all the little girls in their fancy dresses were seated under a large canopy.

My lack of knowledge of the Spanish language made it a little tricky to determine exact specifics of the event but I was able to piece together some of the details. The girls were grouped by the towns they represented and each group stood when introduced. There were council members from each town present at a head table and last years princesses whom were also honored.



Several teen girls, dolled up in prom-style dresses, helped the pastor and his wife managing the pageant. Each little girl drew a slip of paper from a cup that determined their title. I'm not certain all the categories but did find a photo that included a slip of paper that indicated the owner was a princess. Depending on the title the little girls were presented with a combination of sashes, capes, tiaras, and wands.






What a delightful day for a photographer, all those cute little girls dressed in frilly dresses.

mexico children's festival, part 1

RAINBOW PARADE

This past weekend we celebrated Children's Day along with the people of El Diamante and the surrounding communities. The event began with a colorful parade featuring little princesses all dressed up in bright colors. Cars were decorated with flowers and balloons and little girls. Then the whole procession circled, parade fashion, around several blocks of dirt roads ending at a small park in the middle of the farming community. Friends and neighbors gathered under trees along the parade route to watch the rainbow roll by.