I've been visiting Santa Fe since the late sixties but really don't remember much about it until 1982 when my first husband and I made a trip here. In the late eighties and early nineties my sister Cindi lived here and we had several adventures, and yet another set of treks to this enchanted city with Thinking Man and our family starting in the late nineties until just this past summer has added to the treasure chest of Santa Fe memories. Every visit Santa Fe weaves magic with 400-year history, diverse cultures and people, extraordinary food and of course, art.

Over the years I've watched Santa Fe evolve from a quixotic, dusty little historic town into a thriving international destination. While I enjoy the Santa Fe of high art, gourmet food, stunning multi-million dollar showplaces, window shopping on the plaza, and people watching at the farmers' market, for me it is this city's raw edges -- tiny, unpaved side streets, rambling, narrow byways, small adobes with rustic walled yards and vibrant, colored doors -- that are most appealing. In walking these pathways a more authentic time resonates.

New Mexico lives up to its moniker, Land of Enchantment, in every way, but in Santa Fe and northern New Mexico, as so many painters and writers have noted, the sky and light are particularly spectacular, mesmerizing in fact. I decided early on in my visit this time to take photos every day, several times a day from approximately the same place out the back window of the adobe, which overlooks the  mountains surrounding Ski Santa Fe slopes, and peeking over the shoulder of the mountains you can just see the tip of Santa Fe Baldy. I wanted to document how the sky and light evolved and intertwined with the mountains, trees and clouds.

It's been such a gift and an adventure being here with family, friends and with bits of solitude thrown into the mix and while I am happy to be returning home to my family, I'll definitely miss waking up to mountains outside my window every day, the fresh smell of pine, the scent of pinion smoke on a chilly evening.

I've watched a stunning array of Nature's moods out the back door here, and at one point after a beautiful early snow trekked high into the mountains at sundown to see even more of Nature's reverie. During these 12 days, the sky has transformed over and over again and in virtually every hour, sometimes every minute, it's been different. Colors, hues, tints, clouds, swirling, reforming, evolving, singing the sweet siren song of endless majesty. In some small way I hope the images in this photo album entitled "Offering," reflect Nature's timeless glory and serve as a reminder of all that's at stake in an increasingly crowded world.

In the interview she says:

"Biomimicry is the practice of borrowing nature’s design principles to create more sustainable products and processes. When designers, engineers, architects, chemists, city planners, and so on have a problem to solve, I encourage them to ask, “What part of the natural world has already done what I’m trying to do?” With biomimicry we look to design principles in nature as examples for good behavior. I think of it as becoming nature’s apprentice."

I first heard of biomimicry several years ago from Jay Yowell, an Oklahoma City based architect and friend, and was fascinated with the concept but never explored it further. After reading the article, I'm determined to circle back to Benyus' book, "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature" and become Nature's apprentice.

Pondering all this morning and wondered, what would happen if we all became Nature's apprentices? 

Thank you so much for bringing to our attention this upcoming event for our school children with President Obama!

I’ve contacted my daughter’s school and let them know how excited our family is about the wonderful example our president is setting by encouraging kids to stay in school and get an education so they can learn how to read classic works such as “To Kill A Mockingbird,” “The Color Purple,” “Black Like Me,” “A Raisin in the Sun” and of course “Invisible Man,” by our own native son, Ralph Ellison! I’m sure, because you are so well-educated, that you know Mr. Ellison’s book won the National Book Award in 1953 and have read the book many times.

Anyway, as you know, these and other insightful works help break down the barriers of racial bigotry, hatred and social injustice that continue to haunt and plague our state to this day. Reading is kind of useful that way isn’t it!?!? LOL.

With leadership such as yours, I know that one day our state and country truly will become a place of “liberty and justice for all,” regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, religion or socio-economic status. Many thanks again for all you do to help us all work together for a better, more cooperative, more tolerant and accepting community. Your exemplary civility in the Oklahoma House of Representatives and skills as a unifier are truly amazing.

Peace, love and justice --

ThinkLady

Greens are balanced, harmonious, and peaceful personalities. They need harmony in their life and prefer to live in a natural environment. They are the most balanced people in the color spectrum. They also have a powerful connection with nature. Living in the country, next to a forest or park or close to a lake or ocean is important for these friendly and heartfelt personalities. Greens are open, extroverted, expressive, friendly, communicative and heartfelt. Greens perceive life through their heart. Their primary motivations are contentment and harmony. They judge their successes by how close they are to their friends or nature. Greens are content personalities. If they are in power and have found their place they need very little to be happy or feel needed. Their inner happiness and satisfaction is important to them and is fulfilled without much expectation.

Today arrives with a very hectic, chaotic schedule, more things to do than time to do them, and I'm feeling off-kilter already so the balance thing made me thing about how I can be "in-kilter." Decided to step back before plunging in today's work and took some time to do a few things that nurture inner peace. And I decided today just might teach me a lesson on how to live contentedly in the midst of chaos, that I'll just "ride" the chaos and see what happens.

My inner peace routine. 

• Spent some time reading -- today it was about how to be a more considerate person -- I've got some work to do in this arena.
• Walked in my garden and harvested the okra.
• Watched the humming birds and squirrels play chase. They don't seem worried about their "to-do" list! 
• Spent 20 minutes working out. Felt great and gave me more energy.

So, what do you do to "balance yourself?"