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Memorial Day 2017

Memorial Day 2017, with Miniature Rose ‘Ruby Baby’

For Memorial Day 2017, I wanted to create an image that reflected the meaning of the day, I thought about how to combine elements. First of all, I wanted red, white, and blue. I wanted a red rose to be a major element. Most of all, I wanted the connection to the meaning of the day to be clear.

The image is a composite with multiple layers, composited to reflect the meaning of this special day at many levels. The red rose is the miniature, ‘Ruby Baby.’ The tombstone is from the cemetery of an old New Mexico church. The sky is…well, the beautiful sky.

Wishing you peace on this special weekend, a time for quiet reflection.

Happy Independence Day to everyone in the United States! What a great Holiday here in the middle of summer.

The Southwest remains gripped by extreme drought, although the monsoons are said to be upon us. Albuquerque has had spot rains on July 1 and 2, but the rain was extremely spotty. The afternoon of July 3 I got 3/8″ at my house, for which I am extremely grateful! The forecast is for more rain the remainder of this week.

The extreme drought really does make the use of fireworks for celebration unsafe for celebrating Independence Day, here in this part of the country. 2012 has been a terrible year for wildfires in New Mexico (the largest ever in the history of New Mexico, the Whitewater Baldy Complex is about over, but it burned 297,000+ acres [the largest previous was last year’s Las Conchas fire at 156,000+ acres]); in Colorado; in Utah; and elsewhere.

Last year, on July 4, a gladiolus bloomed that I thought had all the spirit of fireworks. I do not know the name of that gladiolus, but much to my delight, it is blooming again just in time for the 2012 Independence Day celebration! I will give it the nickname, ‘Independence Day.’ This photograph was taken July 3, 2012. I hope you enjoy the beauty of this gladiolus.