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Showing posts from June, 2013

HELP WANTED! Your vote needed TODAY!

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Hello dear Readers, I have entered my photo, Desert Fog, in an online contest sponsored by Fine Art America. Today is the end of the first qualifying phase which means getting at least 250 votes on your image. Next is the juried phase. The winners have their images shown on National TV in FAA's commercial starting this September. I am currently needing 220 more votes (at the moment I am typing this). The qualifying phase ends by midnight today - I think Eastern Standard Time. Please, please, check out the link and vote for my image. You don't need to sign up and do any gimmicky thing other than go to the site and click the button above my image. Here is the link: Diana Shay Diehl: Desert Fog And here is the image: Other than a slight sharpening and taking the flat gray out, this IS what I was standing in on that rare winter day last January.  Please pLeAsE PLEASE vote for my image!   Diana Shay Diehl: Desert Fog Many thanks in advance, Diana

It's a dog's life....

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The desert is warming up and has driven me inside from about 10am until close to sunset. This morning, I was organizing files and came across some photos of various canine friends - mine and others I've had the pleasure to meet in my sojourns. There's something about dog people....they don't mind talking about their 4 legged family member, proudly showing off all their doggie-human traits. It's irresistible to animal lovers and an instant friend builder. You can hear tones and attitudes change for the better when people gather around these extensions of ourselves. It's a good thing. "A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his." ~John Grogan / Marley and Me Here are just a few shots around my favorite haunts in Southern California: This gentleman and his long time friend take daily morning walks at Balboa Park in San Diego, CA                       b

Making heart space...

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Leisurely summer days. For me, it means catching up on things left undone from a hectic work period. Purging. Cleaning. Sorting. Interspersed with reading, fiddling with camera gear, day trips, and meandering up roads forgotten in the cooler parts of the day. Sprinkle in visits over long breakfasts, lunches, and dinners with friends. Carve out working in the studio time with occasional afternoon naps - a necessary and rare treat. Creating heart space. Today, I stumbled upon some photos from a hiking group I began several years ago. I got tired of hiking alone. Not many of my friends enjoyed daylong treks in the canyons and arroyos of this beautiful place I get to call home. So, I decided to see who I could find to join me via an online social group called Meetup. At that time, I was very active with the education segment of Joshua Tree National Park Association - the Desert Institute. I had the training to take groups of people out on field classes - safety being paramount. I knew

Healing with Horses...

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Several months ago, I had the pleasure of spending a morning at a most wonderful ranch where horses are used to heal people of all ages from a variety of issues - from physical and emotional trauma to birth defects to temporary physical setbacks. The love and patience at this ranch are phenomenal. There are no excuses. There is no enabling to remain a victim of circumstances. Just lots of love and patience and encouragement and praise and celebration of progress and accomplishments. Being there was an instant mood lifter. The place is Hippotherapy, Inc  ( Horses Helping to Heal Ranch ) located in Pioneertown, California. Please check out the website via the embedded link. They can always use help by way of donations. They are a nonprofit organization providing healing services regardless of financial ability. The folks who staff it are certified physical therapists. It takes at least 3 people for each rehabilitation session - one to lead the horse around an obstacle course, one to st

Happy Summer Solstice!

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Summer! For those of us in the northern hemisphere,  it means sun and heat and longer days and being outside as much as possible. As a girl growing up in South Carolina and Wisconsin, summer meant riding bikes until dark and evening BBQs and seeing who could catch the most fireflies and counting mosquito bites. Summer mornings, always on a Saturday, started to the sound of lawnmowers and the smell of fresh cut grass the fans blew in through the windows - open before the heat and humidity of the day set in and air conditioners needed to be turned on. The cicadas trilled in the heat of the day; the crickets took over at night. Taking a shower only helped you to smell better because the humidity never allowed you to dry off. No one noticed. We were too busy telling stories and building forts and stealthily wandering from one house to the other in pursuit of whatever good guys vs. bad guys game we had concocted - while our parents sipped beers and martinis and bourbons on someone's pa

Summer reminiscing...

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Just playing around in old files this evening. Sebatian's Groceries. Or it was. Now it's Sebastian's General Store and Cafe.  Same building that Randolph Hearst owned back in the day in San Simeon, California -also home to  William Randolph Hearst Memorial Beach . I remember it being a true general store with camping goods and the like when my kids were small. Beautiful, weathered old wood floors that creaked and local knick knacks among the necessary lamp batteries, camp stoves, and spam..... Thankfully, they left the character of the original building intact in the trendier redo. Although, I'm not sure this 'groceries' sign is still on the side of the building anymore. Hmm, might need a roadtrip to check it out.... And then there's Linn's Farmhouse  and olallieberry pies and Phil, the pie-maker.... Oh yes, summertime is near....

June is for...

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June. Speaks of flip flops, loose dresses, and big sun hats. Fresh fruit smoothies and green, crispy salads - all collected from 'real' gardens and local farms. Early morning-just-as-the-sun-rises desert walks and late evening strolls. Mid day is for inside stuff - reading, working on projects, visiting museums, a decadent nap. Time to regroup and reprioritize. Below, one of my favorite roads in Joshua Tree National Park.  It was a full moon night - nearly midnight. A quiet so deep, my ears hurt. Pinto Basin in moonlight....