Autumn Glory

 
     Here are some photos from around northern Arizona this October.  Northern Arizona looks a lot different than some of you who have never visited this state might expect. This is going to be a bigger post, photographically.  It will also have a couple different 'takes' on autumn interspersed.

    There is also much more "human activity" in some of these pictures than what I typically include.  Some of this couldn't be helped in order to "get the shot."  But it's a reminder that, despite how radical environmentalists frame things, our world is a human-natural world cooperation.  To even enjoy it involves a human imposition. 

     After the flood, God gave Noah a rainbow.  Christians think of this mostly as a promise that God would not destroy the earth again by a flood.  There is also a promise that seasons will follow each other in order until the end of time:

"Through all the days of the earth,

Seedtime and Harvst,

Cold and Heat,

Summer and Winter, 

Day and Night 

Will not take rest [cease, pause, have a 'Sabbath']."  (Genesis 8:22)

San Francisco Peaks

Trees 🌳:

Arizona Walnut

"Quaking" Aspen, a type of poplar;

usually the leaves go golden, 

but soil conditions allow some as this

to go reddish

Locust, pea family

A Non-Native Maple 🍁

A Native, Western Maple 🍁

Basswood/Linden (?)

     When you're young, you often just admire Fall for the beautiful change of colors.  As time passes, you are more likely to have the haunting sense of 'death' arrive.  The leaves are actually dying.  While the deciduous trees aren't dying, their dormant state looks dead.  Even perceptive children will pick up on this, as in this poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, an English Jesuit priest:

Spring and Fall

to a young child

Márgarét, áre you gríeving

Over Goldengrove unleaving?

Leáves like the things of man, you

With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?

Ah! ás the heart grows older

It will come to such sights colder

By and by, nor spare a sigh

Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal* lie;

And yet you wíll weep and know why.

Now no matter, child, the name:

Sórrow’s spríngs áre the same.

Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed

What heart heard of, ghost guessed:

It ís the blight man was born for,

It is Margaret you mourn for. (1880)   

*Leafmeal, akin to "piecemeal"; term coined by Hopkins  

The Bible gives up hope in this, though.  Job, who was plagued by disaster and lived thousands of years before Christ was born, said in faith:

"For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last [day], He shall stand upon the earth.

And after my skin is destroyed-- this,

And in my flesh shall I see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold,

And not a stranger. *

My heart yearns within me!"  (Job 19:25-27)

*this is more accurate to the Hebrew.  Martin Luther made a similar choice, translating it into German, using the word Fremder, "stranger."

Mountain🌄Hike 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️:

solitary aspen leaf 🍂

Aspens Interspersed with Blue Spruce and Douglas-Fir🌲

Conifer Seedling with Aspen Leaf

Rain 🌧🌦🌨off in the Distance

Sweeping Vista

The Pinnacle Humphreys Peak 🗻

"Aspen Corner"

part way down the mountain 

Flowers 🌸🏵🌼💐 :

I was frankly surprised to see this many flowers still blooming, especially the 'last' lupine and all the black-eyed Susans, especially considering how cool it was already getting. 

Purple False-Clover

pea family

White False-Clover and Yellow Clover

(why one is a true clover and the other is not seems some botanist's whim)

Yarrow 

Golden Aster 

composite (sunflower) 🌼 family

Native Snapdragon 

Cliff Rose 🌹

rose family (along with many common fruits

such as 🍎apple, plum, cherry 🍒,  peach 🍑)

[alongside purple coneflower]

Purple Aster

 composite family; sometimes called Michaelmas Daisy,

due to blooming around St. Michael's and All Angels Day, 29 September 

Maroon & Gold Mexican Hats, composite family

Yellow Mexican Hats

(purple asters among both types of Mexican Hats)

White Asters or Fleabane

Wooly Mullein (Lamb's Ear)

Lupine, much like Texas Bluebonnet

pea family (note pods below)

Purple Coneflower, non-native; composite family

Indian Blanket Flower (Firewheel), Composite Family

only somewhat native to this area;

more common on the southern parts of the Great Prarie;

there are several subspecies with slight color variations

My Favorite: Black-Eyed Susans

composite family

native to the Midwest, from Wisconsin to Texas

They have been seeded and naturalized to this one field in Flagstaff, AZ.Though I like living in the West, these are still a big favorite with me.

with ponderosa pines

with Indian blankets scattered in

A poem of mine on these flowers from August 2019

Black-Eyed Susan

Mountain Lore

     These photos are from a recent trip to Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado.  The dunes are some of the largest natural dunes in the US, created by unique forces working in this area of the Rio Grande.  The mountains are part of the Sangre de Cristo ("Blood of Christ") range within the North American Rocky Mountains. (Spanish explorers applied the name centuries ago because reddish light reflecting off snow caps suggested this.)  This area is collectively referred to as The San Luis Valley.

    Included is some Biblical poetry about mountains.  

     This is a reminder of how God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as sands along the seashore (Genesis 22:17 & 26:4).

I will lift up my eyes unto the hills

From whence comes my help.  (Psalm 121:1)

Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised

In the city of our God,

The mountain of His holiness. (Ps. 48:1)

Who may ascend upon the Mount of Yahweh?

And who may stand in the place of His holiness? (Psalm 24:3)

In [Yahweh's] Hand are the depths of the earth,

And the heights of the hills are His.  (Ps. 95:4) [original translations] 

     The person who stand in the place of Yahweh's holiness is the person whose sin has been forgiven by Jesus. We see this spelled out in other places in the Bible.

     Mountains seem almost eternal and unmovable.  Yet God can move them.  Jesus spoke of having "the faith to move mountains."  (Matthew 17:20) 

     A hill is also a place which can be seen from far away on the plain.  From atop a mountain, things can be seen for miles around. Many Biblical events took place on hills or mountains.  The 10 Commandments were given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Part of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness occurred on a mountain. Jesus was 'transfigured' (radiating bright as the Sun) on a mountain.  Jesus prayed with His disciples the night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.  Jesus was crucified on the hill at Golgatha.  Jesus ascended into heaven from a mountain near Bethany, traditionally the Mount of Olives. 

Corner of Heaven

 

     Once again, I'm featuring some of the flowers that have grown up in our yard this spring and summer, as well as our pollinating drought-resistant pine.  Some are native to this area and others are not. Enjoy!

California Poppy (also native to AZ)
with some non-native poppies below

                 Snap dragons with African daisies

Poppy with spiderwort [??]

Sweet alyssum; with something from pea family below

Rose, bred for hot environments

Icelandic poppy

Daughter's rendition of Icelandic poppy

Black-eyed Susan, at various stages

Glorious Old Glory

 
Here are some fairly recent photos of the US Flag flying around the Big Lake area in eastern Arizona:

Here's an older 4th of July posting, showing the flag in various scenic places across the United States:   Natural Wonders of America

When Things Converge

 

     This is a story of how professional art inspires student art, which can inspire amateur art.  But, overall, God's inspired Word inspires all that is lasting, real and true.

     It starts with an environmental artist from New York City.  She also 'lives' it.  (You can research her from the info posted in this article.)  One of her gallery presentations tours various colleges and universities.  The students then contribute their work, based on the artist's project statement.  My daughter's zine class all contributed.  (A zine is a mini magazine, made on one sheet of paper folded a certain way, and reproduced in limited number on copy machines.)

       My daughter's zine reflected on water use and her wardrobe.  She reflected on how much water likely was needed to make all her clothes (and we are not too proud to pick up some clothes from secondhand stores).  She discussed how much water it takes, in this arid environment, to keep her clothes clean.  She discussed how she tries to recycle worn out clothes into rags, but this doesn't work for all of them.  She discussed how the clothes with artificial fibers will take a long time to break down.  When they do break down, the microfibers can end up in our water and in our very bloodstreams.

     She was absolutely thrilled that her father and I could make the gallery presentation.  She was also happy to see how much we seemed to be truly taking in and processing in the display.  She had first thought that she wanted to tour the other galleries in the museum.  But, due to the arduous semester and connections building over art, she said she wanted to go, instead, to a little amateur set up where anyone could make their own 'master' for a zine.  We agreed to go.

     As I sat down to approach this, I knew that it would have to be something related to nature.  It occurred to me that I wanted to honor the Hebrew I've studied, so the cover is the Hebrew word for "life."  Then, of course, I had to include another favorite:  the black-eyed Susan.  [If you see a sunflower, that's okay; that may suggest other things to you, especially in this time in our history.]  But I'm not Jewish; I'm Christian, so a cross had to be there somewhere.  Can you see it?  My very bright daughter picked up the symbolism with no prompts.  (She also knew what type of flower it was supposed to be.)  

      I was happy that, in real life, the tissue paper provided created a center that looked a bit like the velvety soft center of a real black-eyed Susan (which is really brown!).  Later on, I slipped in the Greek and German terms, since I have studied both of these.  I try to keep speaking some German, as it is the language of my ancestors (though there 'may' be a little ethnic Jewishness in me; that is inconclusive).  But what else might it say to you, especially in this setting, to see Hebrew and German so close together?  

     

     You might recognize the reference to Romans 8:19-23 which literally unfolds in this zine. This is not an exact quote.  I know my own reasons for not being exact, but what does it say to you?  

      You may have to zoom in to see the small collage items on your screen. 

     Do you notice black, white and grey here? 

     Throughout the pages, what do you see of both hope and despair?

    

      Do you see any repeating color schemes here? What does that say to you?

     What comes together on this page?  What does it elicit in you?  Anything a little different on this page?

     

              

              Any thoughts, now, seeing front and back cover, side-by-side?  

      This is the inside, full paper fold out.  (This is especially a time you might want to zoom in to catch the smaller items.)

     There are things particular to my interests, but what do they say to you?  The verse from Job is, again, in Hebrew, Greek, German and English.  It is also, in older English, set to music, specifically Handel's Messiah.  (Interestingly, you can sing the German version to this music!)  There are elements from Luther's Small Catechism.  I happen to be Lutheran, but is there more that speaks to you?

     One statement is on the "groaning" side and here, the "eternal bliss" side.  Did you see that?  What does it mean to see it in this place?

*****************************************

     There are things I learned from this process. Some are basic, practical things.  Others are more philosophic.

     Some production issues were "the learner's curve", though this may well be the only zine I ever create.  Overall, I was thinking of my work as a finished creation, rather than a "master" from which to copy things.  I forgot to account for copiers "shifting" things and placed some things too close to edges, folds. or cut lines.  Because the glue sticks didn't keep things stuck down tight, I Mod-Podge'd the final product.  Unfortunately, I used the glossy Mod-Podge we already have.  So I couldn't photograph my original because the sheen was too much. Also, it created streaks that messed up the copying.

     I did discover, on the other hand, the color copier I used created some better detail on the magazine cut-outs.  This is more noticeable on paper copies than the virtual ones here.

     The cheap markers and cheap paper were provided to us amateurs at the museum.  Having started there with family, I did not really wish to start over. The markers bled through, and I had to account for this on laying out the inside.  The Mod-Podge cause the ink to smear even more, so I had to use caution.  

     Some philosophic things came to mind.  It began to occur to me that, though the original artist's statement was about conserving resources, I was using resources to create this.  In this case, not many new resources were used.  The original paper and ink from the markers were new.  The tissue for the black-eye Susan was new.  The Mod-Podge was already purchased. Evaluating the use of this is mixed:  I already had it, and the resources were already used in production. But I could have saved it for a needed project later (like fixing a book rather than throwing it out or using more toxic resources to fix it).  On the other hand, if I don't use it for something, it could dry out and be wasted, anyway.  There was also the use of glue sticks.

     The magazines and catalogs were already produced.  They could have gone to the landfill without being repurposes. The admixture used in glossy productions means they don't recycle well.  The green paper Luther catechism sections were already in our scratch paper bin.  They were part of an erroneous print for confirmation class.  The Job quotes were done on scratch paper; just the ink was a new resource.

     You will notice stickers on this zine.  All of them came from unsolicited mail, some cut off from mailing labels.  (I have more mailing labels than I could use in a long, long time.)  There was a risk that some of these unsolicited items could have ended up in a landfill.  Unlike "regular" paper, they would not recycle well.  Ironically, some of these items came from agencies promoting [secular] environmentalism.

      I included some things cut out from a Valentine I got earlier this year from someone who's been a friend since we were both 5 years old.  I had hung onto it, though it was one of those "kid style" Valentines.  But how long do we hang onto every scrap of things?  That's always a question. This Valentine was one of those "search for details" type and reflected some of my very personal preferences.  It was perfect for this zine, fitting right into the themes.  This has given the Valentine a "new life" for others, also.  Do you think you're able to find the pieces of the Valentine in the zine?  

      I have made a few paper copies.  It does not escape me that this involved more paper and ink use. There was also the slight bit of electricity use to copy.  What you see here eliminates "the paper trail."  However, there is the electricity used in preparing the post. There is the electricity used in you reading it.  (Even if it's on a battery-powered device, there will be the electricity used to recharge the battery.)  I've come to learn that all the data we create and then store is 'held' in virtual warehouses that create big power draws.  Those that are built in hot deserts, like where I currently live, add to our climate problems.

     Beyond this, I've come to learn about environmental issues that arise in traditional art.  As my daughter progresses in oil painting, I see the chemicals and toxicity.

     And, yet, humans need to create and to share their creativity. We lose something of our humanity, something of the gifts God gave us before our world (and we) were damaged by sin. And art is used to communicate environmental messages. So a real quandary can arise.  I have no answers.  This time, what began as a very amateurish endeavor led me down many paths simultaneously.

     I hope it has stimulated some thoughts in you.  In the meantime, we have hope, real hope:  we have God given gifts to help us improve things as we live on this earth.  We have hope for a perfected physical world, populated by perfected humans, in the next.

     As a Lutheran, we have a total 50 days in our Easter season, all the way until Pentecost.  I wish you a blessed Easter season.