colors in the wind

Our maple tree in front of the house is a blaze of color - bright orange to bright red.  Many trees in the Prescott Area are light to deep yellow, very little green left to see and even some trees have dropped their leaves.
It is always remarkable to me how the controversy in Washington (0ver the shutdown this time) just swirled in its own microcosm, and life just went on as usual here.  Oh yes, they had professionally produced placards up the day of the shutdown (wonder if it was a pre arranged activity) that prevented people from going into the park system areas - but public activity at the Grand Canyon forced that attraction to open anyway.
The major activity we have engaged in recently,was when the carpet cleaners came.  Talk about upheaval!  Well we had to clean up the stuff around the house and the end result was that Goodwill and Catholic Charities won big - we just left our stuff off at the drop-off site and drove away.  How freeing is this?  It has spurred me on to go through the house and get rid of all kinds of stuff.  Pretty soon we may just be looking at bare walls and shelves - but I seriously doubt if I can just throw it all to Goodwill.  After all I do like to look at the various things I have made and that are loaded with lots of emotional content.
For one, there is the little Moose given to me by Sue in Maine - he looks so at home on my fireplace.  There is the paper sculptured Swan given to me by the office receptionist in the Archives office - it is beautiful to behold and to just admire.  I do know that one day I shall leave mortality and all this stuff, but at least I hope to have reduced the bulk of it by that time, and in the meantime I shall enjoy having them in my home.
I just found out that my Slot Canyon quilt, that has been touring around the state in celebration of the 100 quilts 100 years for Arizona centennial, will be coming home on November 30.  That will be a very nice birthday gift for me.  I have missed not having the quilt in the house.  It has been gone since September 2011.  If it could talk, I wonder what adventures it has had?  I must add that I was very impressed at the way it was displayed in both the Museum of Art in Tucson and in Sharlot Hall Museum here in Prescott.  I hope that it was appropriately displayed at the other locations.  Someone asked me how I could bare to part with the quilt for so long, but I am heart happy that it has been on display for many people to see it - not just people who come to our house and see it on my wall.
The American Quilt Society is having a BIG quilt show in Phoenix in February and our guild is going to rent a bus to take us all down to it.  I will be meeting my friend Desiree there.  She lives in Bullhead City on the Colorado River.  We have been friends for 14 years - I met her when I came to Prescott in 1999.  She is a marvelous quilter and staunch friend.
On October 26, the Northern Arizona Genealogical Society is holding a Genealogical Conference at the church.  I have been asked to teach a class in Roots Magic genealogy software.  It will have to just be an introductory class because I only have on hour to talk about it.  I have done this class before.  Some weeks ago I gave a presentation to my beading group on Genealogy and as a result two of the ladies will be in attendance at the conference. 
Today I dropped off 8 quilts to the CASA program at the court house.  They are gearing up for the National Adoption Day November 23.  They are expecting close to 70 adoptions to take place this day.  It would have been wonderful when we adopted David and Sara if someone had given the children a quilt to remember the special day in their young lives.  Instead, they handed me a baby in a diaper and that was that.  The sleepers that they were wearing when we went to pick them up were not that expensive, and removed,  but to be handed a baby just wearing a diaper was somewhat of a let down to introduce us to parenthood.  Luckily, I had taken clothes with me to dress the little ones in otherwise they would have had to drive back to Johnstown clad only in a diaper.  So I am glad that I head the compassionate service arm of the Quilt Guild and that I get to take the finished quilts to the various agencies to help alleviate the heartache or give joy to the recipients.  There does not seem to be a middle ground.
I have sent my 3600 hexagon quilt to the quilter to have it quilted for me.  It is king sized and it is beautiful and spectacular.  It is also a mourning quilt - made while I dealt with the emotions that descended upon me when Sara told me of the limited prognosis for Jacob's life with his disease.

Landscapes

This Monsoon Season we had very heavy rains and they lasted a long time.  I thought it might be time to invest in web feet or something.  Now, today, we are back to high desert sunny weather and the landscape needs looking at.
There are many species of plants that have bloomed that have not bloomed for quite a while.  One of them is a fragile looking white flower with hundreds of petals on it.  It has a remarkable purple center surrounded by these little petals.  The whole plant is so spindly that one would think that one puff of wind would lay the whole thing flat but it doesn't - they just wave gracefully in the wind and cheer my heart to see them.  I have no idea what they are called, but who cares?  They are wonderful to see blooming in the fields around here.  these fluffy looking white flowers are less than 1/2 inch across.
In many areas there are carpets of yellow flowers.  These are also spindly plants with these 1/2 inch diameter bright yellow flowers.  There is a house nearby that has a spectacular stand of these yellow flowers.  In one area there is a vast field of them but they will not be there next year because I see the heavy earth equipment grading the soil and digging for roadways etc. so with houses planted there, we can expect to have to live without this glorious yellow sight.
As I was coming along the highway yesterday, I noticed a bright pink haze on the ground.  As I got closer I could see that it was a wild plant that is just pink leaves and they are all over the hills now and look quite showy and pretty.
I have noticed the Indian Paintbrush plant is now in full bloom and that is a sign that winter is coming.  The maple tree in front of our house has changed a lot since the last cold snap we had so I guess soon it will be ablaze with color.
My neighbor has an Agave plant in her front yard and although it is quite small, it has sent up its central frond into the up-most branches of her ornamental Cherry.  Most Agave don't send up the frond until they are quite old and mature.  This plant in her front yard was just a baby sucker from her larger plant that died and we have watched it grow these past 14+ years.  Some people call this plant the Century Plant - once it has sent up its central frond and bloomed, it dies.
I love the wild flowers that have bloomed here in Prescott this year.  On one road we take, there have been many sunflowers.  These are the wild variety and measure about 4inches across.  In the past week I have watched them fade and leave their seed filled centers for the tiny birds to feed from and they flock to these sunflower plants.
The government has shut down and the nearby camping site at Lynx Lake is now off limits to everyone.  I am glad that we went two weeks ago for a breakfast cookout because we would not be able to go there now.  Lynx lake is part of the federal system.
Well, things are going along as usual even though the government has shut down!  Cannot figure out how or why things are still functioning.  Perhaps we do not need the politicians running the country after all!