Grandpa Clawson

Niki asked me for some good pictures of George as a young man for her new baby boy's wall. While I've got them out, I thought I'd share what I found with the rest of you who might like to see. Enjoy his lovable face!

Four Corners

I spent most of Labor Day weekend with my best friend Kelley in southern Colorado. The rest of our time was spent here and there- a little in Utah, a little in New Mexico, and a little in Arizona at the Four Corners Monument.

The monument is in Navajo Nation territory and marks the only place in the US where four states share a quadripoint. It's pretty fun to stand on a spot and be in four different states at once.

I had to wait and wait to get this shot of the spot without anyone sitting or standing on the center for pictures. 

This is the seal in the center of the monument, kept shiny by all the bums that sit on it day after day.

Around the center are the four seals of each state.

Surrounding the four corners point are booths where the Navajo people sell interesting hand-made pots, dream-catchers, jade jewelry, knives made of buffalo ribs and the like. Three sides of the monument were FULL of vendors, Utah's side was totally empty. We WERE there on a Sunday, and NOBODY is open in Utah on the Sabbath!

There is a blurb about each state which made for interesting reading on the day, but right now, its a little boring. If you're interested in how each boundary came to be, you'll have to do your own reading. Yay for Wikipedia! Either that or go visit yourself. I don't want to tell you EVERYTHING.

Okay, it is actually pretty interesting. Who were these men, and how did they get their jobs? Why did they accept? What was it like to trek across such empty wilderness?

Here is a view from the monument of the vasty nothingness that is the desert. A place where a person could so easily get completely lost. 

Thank goodness today we have GPS technology so you always know where to go!

And yes, I pooped at the four corners. I think I was in Arizona.

I wish I could do that...

Source: artfulevidence.blogspot.com via Dwynne on Pinterest

I think this is nicely done watercolor project. I have always liked water colors, and always knew there were better ways to used them than I knew how, and much better ways, meaning modern, than to use them for old ideas like these:

Last time I tried to paint was a couple weeks ago, but I got frustrated with my lack of skills and put them away again. I did try tutorials on Youtube, etc. but everyone seemed to only teach how to paint "happy little trees," simple flowers, mountains, water.


Anna once told me that if I looked all over the internet and collected other people's ideas, pretty soon I'd start getting my own ideas. So I shall. After all, the bug to paint will eventually bite me again.

VALIDATION

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/03/spiders-are-scary-its-okay-to-be-afraid.html