Memorial Day

"What is thing, this sense of duty? What tugs at a person until he or she says "Send me"? Why, in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of the narrowest self-interest, have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others? Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden?

Whatever it is, they felt some tug; they answered a call; they said "I'll go." That is why they are the best of America, and that is what separates them from those of us who have not served in uniform -- their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met".

From Obama's speech today at Arlington.

I come from a long line of military family. Thanks Dad, Grandpa Hebert, Lester, cousin Pete, Uncle Dan, and Uncle Richard for your service.

O'Keeffe Country

"In my mind, I was always on my way back to New Mexico" -O'Keeffe

Balloon Museum

This is a shot of the first hot air balloon that made it from North America to Paris. Pretty cool. My mom has been dying to take us to this museum for years. We finally made it. Thanks Mom!

Madrid, NM

Madrid, NM

Pasquals

Santa Fe

Some shots from the train station in SF.

Happy Hour by the Rio Jemez

This is Branden & Stosh's little patio overlooking the Jemez river which runs along the edge of their property. It sure makes for a lovely afternoon happy hour.

Jemez River

DIY

Not only does Branden have a day job, but she also cares for her farm, the soon-to-arrive chickens, cooks, paints, sews awesome bags & clothes, creates everything by hand, gives back to the community and manages to make it all look so simple. She is incredible. I had a glimpse into her little sewing workshop. For those of you who have a calendar from this year, her colorful spools of thread were featured in it. It is a dream workspace.

Chicken Coop

Here it is. We have all been anxiously awaiting the arrival of chickens at Chicken Arm Farm! Branden says they are in route and should arrive this week sometime via snail mail. Yes! The mail man will deliver them!

H20

Javier and Stosh watering. Take note of the agent orange tank top. It's hard to miss. Any tank top is a must-have according to Stosh...

Branden & Javier in the garden

eyemuse books

Everybody needs to go to eyemusebooks.com to check out elisa's book New Mexico: A Guide for the Eyes. Click on "Books" and check out the "see inside" link at the bottom. amazing. Congrats elisa on the launch of your very own publishing company and its first little gem!

Awesome.

Victoria!

My friend Victoria, who is an amazing designer, is graduating from the design program at Cal State Long Beach in a few short weeks. She brought over some of her work for me to photograph (I will post later) and brought me this wonderful little print she made on her letterpress. What a treasure!

Engrish

Here is the photo I promised from Elisa & Jordan's trip. "A perfectly rendered Engrish inscription found outside a bar in Tokyo's raucous Kabukicho district."

Jesusita Fire, Santa Barbara

Despite the fires, Javier and I headed north to Santa Barbara this weekend for a half marathon we were running in Santa Ynez (40 miles outside of SB). Lucky for us, the air was clear and the race was on. The course was gorgeous-winding roads and rolling hills through wine country (followed by a full day of aches, pains and slow recovery). We did get evacuated from our hotel in SB, and ended up staying in Lompoc the night before the race.

We were hoping to get in some house hunting along with other preparations for the move, but the fires put a halt to all that. Luckily when we left yesterday, things seemed to be getting back to normal around town, with evacuations being lifted in most areas.

Ash-covered cobweb...

Elisa & Jordan's Abode

Stayed at Elisa and Jordan's place in Silver Lake on our way up to Santa Barbara this weekend. Got to hear great stories from their recent trip east to Japan (will post funny engrish photo from Elisa later). Here are some snippits from around their cozy casa...