February 9, 2014

Where have I been? Where am I now? Where am I going?

Keep this date in mind, August 25th, 2013. Before last week, that had been the last time I posted in my blog, a short 5 months ago. Totally unacceptable. A lot has gone on in my life during that time and so I thought i would take a post or several to update, commiserate and investigate, the world around me here in sunny New Mexico.

We traveled a bit this summer, a wedding in Colorado, a couple of National Parks, Taos and Santa Fe. We even slipped in a trip to Albuquerque in early November. However, the busiest time of this period began in early September. I was helping the Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park plan for two  November events, a Native American Marketplace and then the Park’s anniversary/holiday gathering. The Marketplace was a big success but had all of us at the park on edge for most of the last 6 weeks. I was working with Native American business students from NMSU and their professor which turned out to be very similar to herding cats. By the end of the month, I was helping out at the park planning for the Holiday Gathering and the Park’s 5th Anniversary.

While all this was going on, I decided to run and was elected president of the Dona Ana Camera Club for 2014. Up until now, we have been a club but we are going to seek 501 c 3 Federal Non-Profit status which requires us to move more toward being an organization. I had two thoughts about this. First is I don't want to lose the feel of the club and secondly we need to do more education in the community. Our Symposium this past September was a huge success but we also need to continue our outreach to the community at large. In my 2 + years in the club, we have grown from about 50 members to about 150 members and I expect to keep growing and reaching out to more people. We are right now, the largest camera club in southern New Mexico so we continue to have a lot to be proud about but also have the pressure to continue our growth and outreach.

And now a few pictures:
Cliff Dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park



Native American dancer at The Marketplace event at Mesilla Valley Bosque State Park
Mural painter on Rt. 66 in Albuquerque 

Ms. Penguin reading a Santa book at the Holiday Gathering





No comments: