Today we celebrate nine years of marriage. It has been nine wonderful years and we look forward to many more years together.  Another milestone we celebrate in March is the beginning of our fifth year of retirement.  We are spending the week, here in Death Valley, enjoying the mild weather and desert sites like no other found on earth. 

Had we stood in this spot 20,000 years ago we would be at the bottom of 600 foot deep Lake Manly.  We could have drowned!  The lake stretched from the Black mountains on the east to the Panamint mountains on the west and was some eleven miles long.,. Imagine the crystal clear blue waters of Lake Manly, surrounded by thick forests of trees and abundant wildlife.  Today a salt plane, 282 feet below sea level, the lowest place in North America. 

We are back here for the Death Valley Spring Art Show later this week.  God is good and we thank Him for all that we have.

 A fire-breathing creature that terrorized many according to early literature, still popular today, the dragon appears in many forms.  Since there is often some truth in every legend I would suppose a creature of some kind did exist.  The Bible describes a dragon called Leviathan, an ominous creature indeed.

What is real is their popularity in Sherry’s artwork.  Pictured here is an Evershine Pewter dragon together with an ammonite fossil and a sea biscuit, a fossil sand dollar – sold.  As I complete this post, Sherry is busy making new pieces.  The dragon myth or real, will continue to live on – at least in our imaginations – and in Sherry’s work. 

Never give up on your imagination and never give up on your dreams.

Amethyst is the birthstone for February and we are asked for it often.  Considered a healing stone, its color, lavender, does have calming effects.  Quartz, and the right mix of microscopic iron, time, temperature, pressure, and solar radiation create this beautiful and diverse gemstone. 

I finished these amethyst pendant size hearts this weekend.  We will have them and more amethyst at our upcoming shows.  The hearts and many other pieces for wire wrappers and silversmiths and lapidary enthusiasts.