After a fabulous prickly pear bloom you'll see below, the acacias kicked in across the desert plains and valleys.

The cat claw acacia blooms may be the most fragrant of all the blooms on the desert night air

A SoapBox Announcement-- The raven brought in a request for you to visit http://www.northcoastjournal.com/102303/cover1023.html
The foundation principles of what these people are addressing will also be at the base, I pray, of what and how we learn to build at Diamond Mountain - building holy space for spiritual practices with LOW EMBODIED ENERGY. Learn what this means! Explore the hidden energy costs and ramifications in every decision we make, every component we transport, in every package we consume and didn't even need in the first place. Revisit Geshe Michael's Albuquerque book tour lecture at http://www.heartyoga.dharmastudent.com/ "The Second American Empire" and remind yourself that one styrofoam cup represents a day's worth of cooking fuel for a family in India. Cook It! --End of SoapBox Announcement

So now I really feel as tho' we landed in Luke Skywalker's neighborhood. This is meditation housing for all worlds (And Luke himself even made that awesome front door on which I beg someone special will knock) (with an iced mocha)

We topped the hut with a 17" x 17" solar panel and solar powered attic fan that will pull air through the bottom vents of the hut and out the top. This movement of air is all it takes to stay comfortable in the still heat of the desert.

A sunset sequence begins (do i love this place or what)

View to the north by nor'easterly

View to the north by nor'west

The bug netted hammock tucked perfectly into the cedar tree behind the hut. Can you see yourself there on warm still nights under the canopy of stars?

Cinder cones and yucca stalks reaching up

Its shape complements those on the landscape

Privacy is achieved and accented with a garland of shelled tiki grass

So the view to the house is obscured.

My last night here before 4 weeks in the little hut, the daturas offered their annual one night bloom!

I wonder if Georgia O'Keefe painted any datura?

The daturas are a glowing billiant white in the silvery moonlight for whom they bloom.

The sunflower and Mexican arnica, along with the datura came over in the soil from the San Pedro River. Love having them here with us now in the Chiricahuas. Glad you're here little flowers!

So I was blessed with the honor to create and host space for holy teachings for the entire first year of DMU. My wish was that all who passed through these doors would perceive a pure world, and that we could give only happiness and freedom from suffering.

The altar in the teaching room framed with wood from a door of a Mongolian yurt used during the Great Three Year Retreat.

The lamas brought this beautiful Greecian genre of sculpted sandstone from Varanasi.

The teaching throne and front of teaching area was framed with wonderful Tibetan folk art wall imagery painted by local artist Kaia Thomas

Bliss painted fine lotus and water imagery over the kitchen door. Kaia painted two Wheels of Knowledge on each side of the entry door.

Winston left beautiful tankas for the temple, and which inspired the paintings on the walls. Green Tara was to the left of the teaching throne

Manjushri, Jamyang to the front right of the teaching throne

Saraswati adorned us all

The kitchen entry drapes were installed so certain blessed junior students could prepare food for the senior students and sneek their ears to the walls to receive holy teachings.

Everyone washed dishes that could be piled two feet high in the sink. The blender with Ness and Anatole was the favorite kitchen device. Thanks everyone for the great food activity!!

How could buffet lines of 80 or 90 really make it through here?

BIG food projects dished forth from this table

Pink slate and red gravel blend into majestic sunsets

Tamarisk harvested from the San Pedro shades the west side of Jamyang

The front porch looks best with 100 pairs of shoes on it. (of course, kat thrills with a hitching post out the front door that ties animal energy on the space.)

In an Old West style debate ground, maturing debates with increasingly loud laughter, applause and attack ensued under brilliant star lit nights. It was magical.

St Francis and a garland of skulls impart greetings at the entrance

Zince Zeleigh gets trampoline time down further, here's some choir time with Grail (who won a Director's Award for student who made the most improvement. Right On, Grail!)

Here's some great movement by the 6-foot 5-incher (i'm a mom. i get to do this)

Our family really enjoyed the Willcox School experience.

The programs, staff and kids are really precious there.

Our yucca bloom at Diamond Mountain is vast and wonderful as stalks of pure white blossoms reach skyward across the valley

Looking southwest towards the fort

The flowers in the desert bloom through distinctive cycles over almost five months, starting at the ground and moving up by species, enabling precious pollinators successful saturation for all species.

These are the tall stalks that dry and offer themselves gracefully for our fences, ramadas and garden art

The yucca flowers are a beautiful and succulent ingredient in wild harvested salads from the desert.

I love watching these guys play

The boys are like puppies on that mat

Zeleigh talking to sky walkers

A contemplative moment for Zeleigh on the trampoline at Jamyang

I couldn't resist sharing this image. Looks just like from top o' McCullough Peak here at Diamond Mountain. We even find old horse shoes abundantly strewn up there in the rocky outcrops, such as this one. Really! This image appeared in Mandala May 2003 (the one with beautiful Kendall on the cover). Zoom in on his face.