FLDS

From time to time, I touch on the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, a polygamous group that has no ties with the LDS Church), because they own two 60-acre parcels a couple miles from here, parcels that seem to be pawns in the larger asset game involving the jailed prophet Warren Jeffs and other interests.

There's been a lot about the raid at the YFZ Ranch in Schleicher County, TX. I find the best source for news on that, and on the larger FLDS scene in Utah, Arizona and British Columbia, is Brooke Adams blog on the Salt Lake Tribune site: blogs.sltrib.com/plurallife/ 

In today's post, Brooke quotes in its entirety the text of a statement made by Winston Blackmore after his arrest for polygamy in BC. Blackmore and Jimmy Oler were arrested by provincial officials on similar charges on Jan. 7. Oler is a follower of Warren Jeffs, though the leadership now seems to be in the hands of Merril Jessop. Blackmore was the head of the FLDS group in SE BC, but was ousted by Jeffs through his father, who was then the prophet. The "Warrenites" and the "Winstonites" live silently (and hostilely) intermingled in the community called Bountiful (formerly Lister) south of Creston, BC. 

Winston's statement can also be seen on his blog, Share the Light: sharethelight.ca/b2/, which includes other material espousing his point of view.

The Oler and Blackmore arrests have been a long time a-brewing, test cases pitting the anti-polygamy statute against claims of freedom of religion. US parallels are obvious. Almost incidentally, Winston points out that there are others besides the FLDS (Fundamentalist Mormons, he calls them) that practice polygamy in Canada. That's also true in the U.S., some Muslims, for example. 

'Twill be interesting to see how this plays out. In the meantime, I commend to you Carolyn Jessop's book "Escape." A former wife of Merril Jessop who was raised an FLDS believer, she recounts how patriarchy can be carried to obscene extremes in a polygamous setup, especially when the woman's salvation is believed to depend on following the wishes of the prophet/master/husband. tv

What a long day!

We're still resting up from the last couple of days, especially yesterday. We worked Thursday morning and caught a cattle drive going south on the Main Street of Mancos. Always adds to the atmosphere of the place!

Friday, however, we were off at 6:30 a.m. to attend the SW Business Forum at Fort Lewis College. I think this is the third one I've attended and they're always interesting. The basic message is, the U.S. economy is going to Hades in a handbasket, with Colorado and SW Colorado just a bit slower than the rest of the country. 

The guys shown on the stage during the question and answer session are Dr. Richard Wobbekind, director of the CU-Boulder Business Research Division; Dr. Scott Anderson, senior economist and vice president of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.; and Dr. Luke Miller, asst. prof. of business admin., Fort Lewis College. Anderson gave the national picture in a global context; Wobbekind described Colorado in the West and the nation, and Miller dealt with the regional context, Durango especially. The events of the last year appeared to have chastened them ... they kept saying they had never seen events such as we have been experiencing in the last few months. They seemed hopeful that "bottom" (whatever and wherever that is) would be reached mid-2009 ... barring other events they've never seen before. Two surprises to me ... TARP money that's gone to banks is basically sitting there, waiting for confidence to build in support of loans and expenditures, and the average local time a house is on the market was shorter than I had thought. 

This year's Forum drew a pretty good crowd; they used the Community Concert Hall instead of one of the lecture halls.

Right afterward, we dropped off our entries for the Images of the Southwest juried exhibit at the FLC Center of SW Studies. After dropping some things off at the Durango Arts Center and having nice, warming bread bowls of soup and chile at Carver's, we did some shopping errands and still had a couple of hours to kill before the reception for the Four Corners Commission art show at the DAC. So, we headed north to see the skiers at Durango Mountain Resort, formerly known as Purgatory. 

Well, we in a low visibility blizzard on the way up, starting as soon as we left the upper Animas Valley. At Purgatory itself, it wasn't snowing and there were lots of skiers and snowboarders, but as you can see, it was a grey, grey day. 

There was an interesting set of buildings and fences on the way back, then blizzard and slick highway and then, as we reached the lower Animas Valley, the skies opened up again and there were spotlights of sunshine on the cliffs and peaks. 

Anyway, we didn't stay till the last dog was hung at the reception. We got on back to Mancos through the dark and the snow, reaching home about 7:30 p.m. What a nice feeling to slide into bed with the knowledge that there wasn't a thing we needed to get up for this morning! tv

Oh, and it was seven degrees with a fullish moon when Scooby Doo and I took our morning constitutional at 5:30 this morning. Brrr!!

Silverton at First Light

The bottom photo is the one that is in the juried show at Durango Arts Center.  I was surprised to have it chosen as Tom and I submitted 5 total and this was the only one selected.  It isn't one of my favorites but seemed to fit the criteria for the show.  The other photo "Mountain Mahogany" was taken at Chaco and I like it better.  It was in a western states publication and I am submitting it to the juried show "Images of the Southwest" at Fort Lewis College in Durango.  There are so many artists and photographers in this area that it is difficult to be accepted in the larger juried shows but it is fun to try.   And we learn a lot from what does get into them.  sf

Have Tripod, Will Travel.

There seems to be an unlimited amount of new locations for Tom to show me.  Yesterday's trip to Hovenweep was a another  first for me.   I enjoyed the hike(except for the slippery,icy spots!) the fresh air and exploring the ruins in this nearby four corners spot.  sf 

Sun, at last!

We awoke to clear skies yesterday, decided to go see Hovenweep National Monument. Seeing the new visitor center, built in 1999, I realized it has been at least 10 years since I last visited Hovenweep!

'Twas bright and cold, with a high, thin overcast muting some of the brightness (and warmth) of the sun. Nonetheless, we hiked up the trail to the head of Little Ruin Canyon and back. Shown are Hovenweep House (on the rim at left, flanked by unexcavated rubble mounds), Square Tower (built tall in the bottom of a canyon ... go figure!) and Hovenweep Castle on the north rim, at the right. On the other side of the "castle" is a room that was added late and which functioned as an observatory. Entering through a doorway that's literally on the edge of the canyon itself, the ancients were able to watch how holes in the south and west walls organized sunset light to mark the solstices and the equinoxes. 

The trip took longer than anticipated (my proposed photo safaris alway seem to!), but it was a nice break outdoors after snow, grey, snow, grey.

In the afternoon, we learned that Sandy's picture of colorful Silverton buildings illuminated at dawn was selected by the judge to be in the Durango Art Center's Four Corners Commission show ... yippee! tv

Real life resumes ... the turkey reel

It's back to work time. Yeah, we're retired, but today it seems like the real world resumed again, following the holidays. We took pictures to Durango for an exhibit and have three meetings scheduled this afternoon and evening, plus more the rest of the week. Vacation's over!

The turkeys have been back off and on for several days, first just one, then two and today there seems to be eight or ten. It's taken till today for them to rediscover that the mother lode of seeds is in the feeder at the top of the post, not the scattered seeds on the ground around it. 

A few minutes ago, four of them were squabbling over the meager pickings on the ground and then started chasing each other in a tight circle. S'pose this is the origin of the term "turkey reel?" 

They're funny birds, and it's kind of like having a vaudeville show in front of the living room as they squabble and slide off the feeder, etc. (They go through a lot of birdseed, too!) Oh, well, it's been grey and intermittent snow again for several days, so it's nice to have the entertainment. tv

Happy New Year!!!!

I guess, if we can see the sun gilding the top of Point Lookout and enjoy the little birds pecking for seeds outside the house, the new year did begin, the world does go on and yet another day is beginning. And we're thankful!

We revisited old images yesterday, getting images selected and prints ready for several shows coming up. We delivered several to the show at the Cortez Cultural Center that begins on the 6th; now we have to get pictures to Durango Arts Center's Four Corners Commission annual show and the Center of SW Studies' annual Images of the Southwest show. The latter two are juried, so it will be interesting to see if we get anything accepted for the show. 

We've closed out the year with a very good December at Artisans ... not only cards, but several prints sold. It doesn't make us rich, but it's very satisfying ... sharing the joy. Animals seem to be popular, but maybe it's just the season.

Going to Durango for a movie this afternoon ... taking a holiday. tv