This is The “Dummy Clap” Scarf/Shawl for my friend Lee. She wears these colors a lot.
Quilt.
Bioregional quiz
All undated answers are what I came up with on my own or with minimal research. Other answers are dated and sourced.
Where does your drinking water come from?
The aquifer, I think.
Until about 1992, everyone thought that Albuquerque had unlimited water. That’s not true. Actually, because of the geologic complexity that exists here, no one is really sure how much water there is in the aquifer, or how long it will last, especially as population continues to grow. Water is a big concern here.[1]
What is the power source for your electricity?
I think it’s coal. It’s possible to sign up for some kind of sustainable generation plan, but we haven’t done that yet.
Name a local environmentalist group.
Have there been any successful land or water restoration projects where you live?
I believe there is a project for renewal of the Rio Grande. The city is also removing the cement lining from some of the arroyos, so that the water can recharge the aquifer instead of all of it speeding right down into the river.
How many days until the moon is full or new?
It was full last Saturday at 12:57 PM MDT. It will be new on 08/28 at 9:04 PM MDT.
(From stardate.org)
Name five local edible plants and when to forage them.
- Lamb’s quarters — throughout the later spring and summer, though they are best when small (leaves & seeds)
- Dandelions — summer (roots & leaves)
- Pinon nuts — fall
- Nopales (prickly pear fruit) — summer
- I think there’s some part of the yucca that you can eat.
Where does your trash end up?
At the landfill, but I don’t know where it is. The city has “convenience centers” where you can take stuff and a bucket loader pushes it into container trucks to be taken to wherever the landfill is.
What were/are the subsistence practices for the area’s indigenous persons?
Name five migratory birds in your area.
- Sandhill cranes
- Canada geese
- Hummingbirds — black chin, rufous
- Hawks — red-tailed, kestrel
- Mallard ducks
Help from http://friendsofthebosque.org/seasonalbirding.html
In the past century, what was the primary land use in your bioregion?
What direction do winter storms generally come in?
West?
From where you are, point north.
I know where north is.
What primary geological events and processes influenced the landforms of your bioregion?
Name of the first wildflowers that bloom in spring where you live.
Milk vetch, verbena, phlox? [2]
What kind of rocks and minerals are in the land below you?
Were the stars out last night?
Name some other-than-human persons who share your space.
3 cats, 1 dog, too many cockroaches, spiders, doves/pigeons, roadrunner
How many human people live next door to you? What are their names?
Right next door lives Jessica. Frequent visitors are her three grandchildren, Jordan, Isaiah, and Jacob, and her boyfriend George and his granddaughter Camille. Across the street is Jenny. I don’t know the names of her children or other people who visit her.
What is the largest wilderness area in your bioregion?
Cibola National Forest
When and where is your closest farmer’s market?
Thursday afternoon at Morningside Park.
What are the greatest threats to your bioregion’s ecosystem?
Where does your sewage end up?
The earliest efforts to recover something from Albuquerque waste rather than just throwing it away involved the use of methane gas produced by the treatment process to create heat and electricity. This concept has grown to the point that in the near future, essentially all of the waste removed will be put to beneficial reuse.
In addition to reclaiming the waste itself, water that would otherwise be discharged to the river is being recycled at the plant and used for purposes not requiring drinking water quality. In the process literally hundreds of millions of gallons of drinking water is saved. This concept will be expanded in the future to include irrigation of turf areas outside of the plant, such as parks and golf courses.
From http://www.abcwua.org/content/view/196/480/
This isn’t really very clear whether some of the treated water goes directly back to the river, or not.
What creek or river defines your watershed?
Rio Grande. There isn’t very much surface water here but the arroyos do run after rain or when the Sandia snow is melting.
Name five species of trees in your area that you can identify.
Elm, cottonwood, juniper, pinon, ponderosa.
What biotic and/or geological features define your bioregion?
I know the landscape is called “basin and range.” The Sandias are upthrust, I think, not volcanic, although there are extinct volcanoes on the other side of the valley. The Sandias are granite and limestone.
What animal or plant species have become extinct in the area?
At the peak of summer and height of winter, where does the sun set?
West southwest, I think.
Name a local invasive species (humans do not count).
Saltcedar, brown snails.
What places are special personally to you?
I love the road between Placitas and Sandia Peak. It is quiet, a dirt road, and the woods come right up to the road. There is also a rushing creek that runs alongside the road for much of the way.
I like Elena Gallegos picnic area and the walk down to the bird blind. In the city, I like Hidden Park (McDuffie Park) and West Bluff Park.
[1] Albuquerque: A Guide to Its Geology and Culture by Paul Bauer, Richard Lozinsky, Carol Condie, and L. Greer Price (2003, New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources).
[2] Down to Earth: A Gardener’s Guide to the Albuquerque Area by Albuquerque Area Extension Master Gardeners (2005, Bernalillo County Cooperative Extension Service).
An interpretation of the story of Inanna and Ereshkigal
Two weeks ago I heard again the story of Inanna’s descent into the realm of her sister Ereshkigal. In order to reach Ereshkigal’s place, Inanna must pass through seven gates, and at each one the gatekeeper demands she relinquish a precious, symbolic object:
During her descent, Inanna lost in order: crown (queenship?), precious necklace (charisma, glamour?), two oval stones (birthing ability or femaleness?), breastplate “Come, man, come” (sexual allure), gold ring (her seal, her signature?), rod and measuring line (authority), and “garment of ladyship” (robe of deity). Everything that signified her status and identity disappeared.
Ereshkigal kills the naked Inanna and hangs her body on a peg. However, before starting her journey, Inanna asked her associate, Ninshubur, to send help to find her if she did not return after three days. Ninshubur sends two small creatures who are not human and therefore can sneak through the seven gates. The creatures find Ereshkigal moaning and they sit with her in her pain. No one has ever offered Ereshkigal compassion before, and she wants to reward them for their help. They ask for the body of Inanna, which they revive by sprinkling it with water and plant matter, and Inanna returns to her former place as Queen of Heaven and Earth.
Inanna and Ereshkigal are sisters; they are two in one, a double entity. Inanna’s “descent” to Ereshkigal’s realm represents the journey to an unknown or denied side of the self. The structure and supports of the former personality are stripped away; one comes naked into the presence of the unknown. And in order to incorporate the new knowledge, the old self must, in some metaphorical way, die.
This metaphorical death is emotionally painful, perhaps in direct relationship to the value of the knowledge gained, or to the strength with which it was previously denied.
Inanna is able to incorporate Ereshkigal’s knowledge because of the empathy the two nonhuman creatures gave Ereshkigal on Inanna’s behalf, and which no one had ever offered her before.
Angry people are suffering people, and they need compassion, which they rarely get.
Inanna comes back to life after Ninshubur’s creatures sprinkle her with water and plant matter.
Revival and renewal are found through contact and connection with nature.
Rebel XIII 
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