Spectacular Saturday

It was a most beautiful day!  This morning started slowly sipping my London Fog Earl Grey tea and planning my day.  It was off to the Open Air Market I had been there last year and I was looking forward to returning.  I hopped on to the Light Rail, and got off at the Roosevelt stop,  after a little bit of back and forth, I got my bearings and off to the market.  I love to see all the vegetables,  beautiful flowers, herbs and many other vendors.   I had purchased a bar of soap last year that I loved from a friend, Nicholas, of Karen and Jen's.  He has a company called H2E Aromatherapy and you can buy his products online!  I got some fine smelling and feeling treats.  After strolling past every vendor and enjoying them all it was off for lunch.

I lunched at FEZ, had a very tasty Bloody Mary and then hopped back on the train to go see the Katsina Doll carvers at the Heard Museum.  It was magnificent.

Here is a little history about the dolls from the Heard website:
Traditionally, katsina dolls are used as teaching tools. They are the carved representations of the Katsinam, the spirit messengers of the universe. The Katsinam come to Hopi in the form of clouds, which bear life-giving rain. The Katsinam appear in physical form in Hopi villages between the winter solstice and the beginning of the monsoon season in July. Different Katsinam represent different aspects of life; for example, the Soyoko Katsinam help teach children proper behavior. Misbehaving children are threatened with being given to the Soyoko, a threat that most often instills a great desire on the part of the child to correct his or her behavior!
The dolls are given to Hopi girls, beginning in infancy, to help them learn about their responsibilities as women in the community. The dolls are carved by initiated Hopi men using cottonwood roots; in earlier days, all katsina dolls were colored with natural dyes, which made them non-toxic for a teething baby to handle.

I did not take any pictures of the dolls as I did not want to post images of the native vendors work.  I did buy a set of dolls, that are carved like the very traditional dolls. I will post pictures of them later but I bought them for my family, and want to make sure that they get to see and feel them before they see an image on the blog!  Stay Tuned.

There was music and traditional drumming and dancing and just all around beautiful day and wonderful energy.  Each carver that I stopped and talked to was very willing to tell me about individual dolls, their purpose, and when they are used.  Spectacular Saturday indeed.

Then back to condo, Jen picked me up,. and we meet Karen for late lunch (early supper) and a beer.  They are off to California  tomorrow afternoon and back late Monday night, I am animal and house sitting.  I am sitting on the porch right now typing away, feeling the sweetest of breezes.

What a day, what a week, what an adventure.