We gave some thought to the time challenge and what came to our minds was something that lasted throughout time. We considered some ancient ruins, fossils, and statues, but in the end we decided on petroglyphs or cave drawings. Seeing an expression of human existence that has survived the passage of time is awe-inspiring. Knowing that ancient hands took the time to carve their story into stone for future generations to see is truly a wonderful thing. We also chose a picture that was taken twenty years ago, because what is a photograph if not a moment in time captured.
We’ve been fortunate to see Native American dances a couple of times during our travels throughout Colorado. The first was actually when the kids were very young and we went to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. The other was when we were in the four corners area, which also provides you the opportunity to buy jewelry and other souvenirs that help to support members of that tribe’s reservation. The beautiful thing about Native American dance is that each dance has a special meaning, whether for prayer, mythology, telling a story, or celebration. Each dance can be accompanied by beating drums, the whistle of a flute, the chanting of the tribe members, or even bells and rattles. (Sorry for the quality of the pictures, they were from pre-digital days.)
Dancers at Manitou Cliff DwellingsDance in Alamosa Colorado
As the drums begin to play, it is as if your heart falls in rhythm to each beat as the dancers began their graceful movements. In their ceremonial garments, each member of the dance troop has a role to play and from the youngest to the oldest, they take their dance traditions very seriously. When the chanting begins, you are carried away to a different time and place. You are no longer in the twenty-first century, but instead you are transported back to a time when buffalo still roamed the plains and the Native American tribes were the only people to inhabit North America.
Child DancerDancers at Manitou
As a dancer sweeps across the dance area, spreading his feathered wings, he is no longer a dancer, but is instead a great eagle surveying the land and homes of the tribe’s forefathers. Warriors take to the battlefield as they recount the brave deeds done in a battle fought long ago, but not forgotten by the victorious tribe as they pay homage to their fallen heroes. Dance and storytelling are part of the Native American heritage. It is a way for them to not only embrace their culture, but to bring pride to their incredible history and traditions.
Feather DanceActually a Little Scary
There are also dances, like the hoop dance, that were used to prepare young warriors or hunters for the agility and stealth required for their adulthood. Balance, grace, athleticism are all on display as the dancers twirl, jump, swoop across the dance area. The tribe bonds and children are introduced to their rituals and traditions. The garments are colorful and vibrant, meant to extenuate every movement. If you’ve had a chance to watch a Native American dance ceremony, you aren’t likely to soon forget it. It is well worth the experience to understand the culture and traditions of the Native Americans who have suffered greatly, but are still willing to share their dances with us.
Obviously, anyone who travels great distances frequently spends a fair amount of time in airplanes. At some point, we started taking pictures out of the airplane windows with varied results. It is clearly a great way to capture images that can’t be captured while on the ground or even at the top of a large skyscraper (although those can come pretty darn close). We only wish they’d clean the windows a little better so that we could get some better shots, although all of the pictures that we’ve taken have just been with our iPhones.
The Coast of Southern CaliforniaSun Setting Behind the Colorado RockiesLake Powell in Nevada
Needless to say, ninety-nine percent of time spent sitting in an airplane is dull beyond belief. Except for an occasional meal or beverage service to break up the monotony, it is time spent working, reading, blogging, but mostly fighting off boredom. Even when the flights offer television, for some reason that isn’t even entertaining. To make things worse, we can never seem to really sleep when we’re on a plane. We lean over and put our heads on each other’s shoulders, hold hands, close our eyes, but sleep seems to evade us. We’ve tried the neck pillows and other things as well, but I guess until we get to the point where we can fly business class and actually recline, we’ll have to muddle our way through with little sleep.
The Swiss AlpsSouthern Tip of the Baja PeninsulaOur Beloved Rocky Mountains
We didn’t always take pictures from the plane, it seems to be a relatively new phenomenon for us. It isn’t entirely due to blogging, we started taking pictures from the air prior to that, but we have definitely become more cognizant of it since we started photo cataloging our journeys. We wish that we’d taken pictures of the sun setting over the frozen waters around Iceland many years ago. We now find ourselves taking pictures in different ways and of different things. As we travel this year, what will be our first full year of documenting our travels as they happen, we’ll see what other changes occur to the way that we travel. Hopefully we’ll see some of you as we make our way to different parts of the world!
Another Rocky Mountain SunsetCan’t Get Enough of the Swiss AlpsAnother Shot of the Mexican Coastline
