Electrical lines cross the ranch
to bring the electricity that
affords light to read at night;
recharges batteries;
works computers;
and powers coffee makers.
1 August 2009
Category Archives: Photo
C is for Chile
Found in many places,
often appearing in the food,
chile spices life at Ghost Ranch.
13 July 2011
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views, Photo
B is for Blue
Colors fill Ghost Ranch.
Diverse shades of green and
multiple hues of red
appear and evoke amazement.
Blues do too.
29 October 2009
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views, Photo
A is for Agape Center
The Agape Center fills many functions at Ghost Ranch.
It served as the central location for the 2010 Peacemaking Seminar.
Here people worship and learn,
gather and fellowship,
and sometimes just sit on the porch and watch the view.
Music often fills the Center and makes the rafters sing.
10 August 2008
Filed under Ghost Ranch Views, Photo
The power of place: Ghost Ranch
A new dimension of this blog will launch tomorrow. Two new categories will appear: Ghost Ranch Images and Ghost Ranch People.
Each post will contain a picture taken (by me) at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico and an alphabetical reference. They may include a reflection on the image and/or a few notes on the context of the image. Dates will appear although they may only be a year or a month and year at first. This will become easier and more precise with better record keeping of future photographic endeavors at the ranch.
Posts will appear in general alphabetical order, starting with the letter “a” (as learned on Sesame Street) and working forward. Posts will vary between the two categories. Eventually multiple posts will appear for each letter in each category. Some will prove more of a challenge than others. All will, hopefully, testify to the power of place.
In the movie Field of Dreams, Burt Lancaster’s character, Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham, reflects on the power of place. Speaking of his home in Chisholm, Minnesota, Graham says:
This is my most special place in the world, Ray. Once a place touches you like this, the wind never blows so cold again. You feel for it like it was your child.
Ghost Ranch touches me. Even as my family entered the grounds in 1993, I recognized the ranch as a place that nurtures and nourishes me. It did so then. It does so now – wherever I find myself.
I offer my photos and words as a humble homage to a play that plays an important role in my life and in the lives of so many others. For me, they serve to recall memories and process experiences and dream of what may be. I look forward to hearing if they speak to you.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Ghost Ranch People, Ghost Ranch Views, Movie, Photo
Maybe not everything
For several days in a row last week, I passed this food truck last week as I walked to work. It brought back fond memories of the International Peace Convocation in Jamaica – jerk chicken for lunch and dinner; tiny hot dogs in sweet and sour sauce for breakfast.
Finally the day came when I left Grand Central Station with a plan to stop at the food truck for lunch.
Of course, that was the day that the truck apparently parked elsewhere.
Timing might not be everything, but it sure is a lot.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Photo
Pictures and words
I have decided to post a series that works through the alphabet with pictures. This could get interesting. I found a picture of a bee and determined that the title would be “B” is for bee. Pretty original, I know.
That led me to think – what if I did this for each letter of the alphabet. If I did, I would want to start at the beginning. I turned back to my pictures and found an “A.” I prepared to post the picture and then found myself thinking – how might this become more challenging – and more interesting.
For example – what if I chose all pictures from National Parks? Or Ghost Ranch? Or peacemaking events? Or family trips?
Now it occurs to me – what if I wrote a brief reflection? I had originally thought about identifying the place and date of the picture. But maybe I could write more.
Perhaps I should call it quits for the night before this gets too complicated.
See you along the Trail.
Filed under Photo
A Thanksgiving tradition
Thanksgivings in Virginia involve
assembling and decorating the Christmas tree
for Tricia’s parents.
This year proved no exception.
Sean, Tricia, and I put up the tree.
Eric and Tricia added the decorations.
Most of the ornaments are tin;
many are painted, some are not.
Trips to New Mexico regularly include a quest
for new ornaments.
See you along the Trail.
It is a game
I took this on 8 July 2011
in Rocky Mountain National Park.
It seemed an incongruous place
to see a football.
Yet tonight, while looking through old pictures,
it seems a metaphor
for how tangled athletics can become,
particularly at major colleges.
Amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
that can emphasize winning
demand sports generate income, and
tolerate alcohol abuse, exploitation of women, homophobia;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
where athletes can receive preferential treatment
that may included academic assistance (and more) or
a bending of disciplinary processes;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture
where athletes may receive scholarships and
leave school without actually learning anything;
amidst a tangled, overgrown culture,
it becomes too easy to forget,
to fail to see,
that at its heart,
it is a game.
22 November 2011
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under National Park, Photo
Sunset at the ranch
23 August 2010
Some friends have met at
Ghost Ranch
for the last few days
to plan the 2012 Peacemaking Conference,
an event I hope to attend.
While reflecting that they are there
and I am not,
I began to look for pictures
that could transport me
via memory,
via imagination,
to the ranch.
See you along the Trail.
