Colorado River is in our heart.

This is mom posting on Eli's blog.  I just want to document, for the record, the serendipity of parts of our 2013.  While working on my children's water book, Eli and I took a great trip to the SW USA including spending much time in and around the Colorado River.  We both fell in love with it and it's story.  Here, Eli takes photos of the river from a view above the Grand Canyon on his birthday.  He started 6th grade soon after this photo was taken and at school the theme was "The year of the River"  Eli chose the COLORADO as his river to study and wrote these as an intro and then a conclusion to his book about the river  he completed in the first term.  So wonderful to mama!  ALSO, a shout out to the Redford Center who donated (to Eli's school) a copy of their recent and wonderful documentary "Watershed" about the issues facing the river.

“Tweet tweet, tweet tweet” said the birds in the air.  They sucked on honeysuckles, fluttered in the leaves of the trees while the sun sent rays of golden light into my waters.  “Gather near and I will tell you my story, for my waters are lessening and I may not survive for long.  So perch on a branch or a log in the water but always be listening, listening to the story that is about to be told.  Spread the knowledge of my life everywhere so that everyone may learn my story.  I will tell you everything I have experienced in my sixty million years of living,” I said.  “We will go,” replied the sparrow, “ we will make your story heard throughout the the rest of the world.  We will tell our cousins and our children who will tell their children who will tell their children and eventually the whole world will know the story of the Colorado River.”  So they perched on a branch or a log in the water and began to listen, listen to the story I am about to tell.

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Another big problem for me is that I didn’t have enough water to reach my delta in the gulf of California.  Dams took all of my water so none traveled to the ocean.  The thing that saved me from dying was the wetland of La Cíenega de Santa Clara.  It is a natural wetland that gets me a lot closer to my destination.  The wetland is also a habitat for a lot of extraordinary birds and plants.

The white people have used my water for irrigation, energy and just plain old home uses too.  I am sad to say that 15% of my water goes to flushing toilets and 57% goes toward agriculture.  Companies also frack for natural gases and oil shale (kerogen shale) nearby that pollutes my waters too much.  It causes fish and wildlife systems to die because of my polluted waters.                                              

                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Each minute, hour, day and night I feel weaker, more likely to dry up the next day.  I am sad that very few projects have been effective enough to make a difference.  I am ill, for the amount of water that is used by people is so great that I am not able to extend my waters to what used to be their full length.

My story is complete, I have told you everything that  I have experienced, everything I have done and seen until now.   I will never forget you little sparrows,  how you have saved my waters and taken very good care of me.

“You are welcome Colorado River, me and my fellow sparrows will never forget you either.”

A couple of weeks ago my summer vacation started, and already my mom and I are traveling across the United States.  Ten days ago we got to Glenwood Springs, CO.  When we were there,we went to a hot springs, took a hike to Hanging Lake and went river rafting on the Shoshone rapids on the Colorado River .

  After we left Glenwood Springs we went to an alligator farm, and I got to hold a baby alligator.

  Now we are in Albuquerque.

   Next we are going to go to the Grand Canyon, on my birthday.

Missing Oaxaca

      We decided to leave Oaxaca earlier than expected.  What I will miss most about Oaxaca is the horse barn where I would go every  Saturday to help and to ride.  My favorite horse was named Chip.  She is tiny and black with a sleek mane(only sleek after shine  has been rubbed into her mane).    I will also miss feeding twelve dogs(the same ones that bit my leg on our previous trip) and six donkeys.  Especially the dog  "Buddy", the most casual, but he does have a love for tennis balls.

    While in the state of Oaxaca, we visit a lot of churches.
 
    These two churches are some of the most famous churches in Mexico that we have visited many times because they are so beautiful.

people getting married at Santo Domingo

    The Santo Domingo church and monastery were made in the years 1570-1770. When the Mexican Revolution broke out, the church and monastery were used as housing for the military.  I like it because of all the detail on the facade  and inside the building. 

   The Basilica de la Soledad was made in the years 1682-1690.  It was made as a home to the Virgin of Solitude (Soledad, Oaxaca's patron saint).

Virgin Soledad

Soledad courtyard

    

The clay sculpturer

    On November 30, 2012 my mom and I went to visit a clay artist named Manuel Reyes.  He lives in a town called Yanhuitlan.

This is me making clay next too Manuel.

I made some clay pieces: a bear (Oso in spanish) a dragon and a burro.  Manuel made a Luchador for my mom.  We also went to visit and collect geodes and rocks on land owned by a woman named Doña Chole who had a lot of prehispanic pottery, fossils and mammoth teeth she found in her fields of corn.

    We are going back in a few weeks to paint our pottery  and to fire them.

    I really liked going on the trip, learning how to make pottery, meeting the family and taking a hike on Doña Chole's amazing land.

This is Doña Chole.

This is Miel, Manuel's kitten.

San Andrés Solaga

     On November 12th 2012, my mom and I went to San Andrés Solaga .  San Andrés Solaga is a pueblo in Sierra Norte and has only 1,600 people.   The Sierra Norte is a region in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico. 
    We went there because my mom was taking photos of a workshop for high school students.
    The bus we took was a second class bus with no restroom on board. It took about 4 hours each way.  The veeeery road was bumpy and curvy through the high mountains! 
In Solaga I liked seeing a little baby sheep who nibbled on my pinky and a shepherd dog who came to check on his sheep when they were bleating.  Their bleating sounded like the word "baaaaaad."
The one thing I did not like was how cold it was in the night and we barely had any blankets.  
It was a great adventure!

This is me walking next to the town iglesia (church in Spanish)

Dia de los Muertos

    Last Friday was "Dia de los Muertos".   Dia de los Muertos is a world wide  holiday(was originated in Mexico) where friends and family gather at the cemetery to honor the deceased.  They also create altars decorated with sugar skulls, marigolds and favorite food and drink of the family members who have died.  They celebrate this holiday on the 31st of October and the 1st and 2nd of November.

    

    We went to two Comparsas in our pueblo, San Pablo Etla.  A comparsa is a party where bands walk to different houses, where there is open space, to play music.  Performers in costume dance and represent different spiritual characters like el diablo (the devil) with goat antlers and Calaveras (skeletons). The first was much better than the second because it was dark and that made the dancing and mood creepier.   Here is a video of our comparsa so you can hear the music and see the dancing.
At the comparsa  my friend Hank and I tried to pull one of el diablo's tails.  At school, we made an altar and we also got to have tamales and chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) for lunch. 

this is a dancer holding a turkey

this is a kid dressed up as a skeleton Mariachi member(Mexican band)

this is a tuba player in a comparsa 
walking down the street

this is part of our altar