I begin my blog today is a state of nervousness and high excitement because in a few days I’m off to Mexico and Guatemala for a month.

Why nervous?

Well, I’m always a little nervous entering another country on my own. Of course I’m not going to be on my own, I will be with friends always, but yes, it’s  an adventure and I look forward to sharing my ideas on textile art with lots of new people and also friends who have been in my class on other occasions.

First stop is Morelia, I’ve never been there before, but I’ve been told its beautiful. I will post images of course and share my experiences with you as I travel along the road of creativity from yet another exotic location. I will also be visiting Puebla and Guadalajara. Then on to  Guatemala.

But today I’m posting about an adventure I had yesterday with friends Rainee and Caron. We were invited to go with a group of Archeologist to visit a Kiva in the Tularosa basin. It’s not been viewed by many and we were lucky enough to visit with the experts in the field. We listened to the history, we found ancient pottery shards and walked through the scrub to find the ancient water courses.

A kiva is a room used by Puebloans for religious rituals, many of them associated with the kachina belief system. Among the modern Hopi and most other Pueblo peoples, kivas are square-walled and underground, and are used for spiritual ceremonies.

The first set of photos is of wood and iron textures. I chose to put them in black and white to portray the stark beauty of the  scene.

The next Gallery shares the beauty of the arid high desert of Tularosa Basin. Cactus, cottonwood and desert shrubbery under a blue sky scattered with white clouds. It was a perfect day.

The Tularosa Basin is located primarily in Otero County. It covers about 6,500 square miles or 16,800 square kilometres  It lies between the Sacramento Mountains to the east, and the San Andres and Oscura Mountains to the west. The basin stretches about 150 miles (240 km) north-south, and at its widest is about 60 miles (100 km) east-west. It is geologically considered part of the Rio Grande Rift zone, which widens there due to the slight clockwise rotation of the Colorado Plateau tectonic plate.

The day ended with sunsets and silhouettes.