by Birdie Jaworski

The Sangre de Cristo mountains loom between high desert and open plains, protecting a circular valley that once housed quiet ranchlands, an important stage stop on the Santa Fe Trail. Today the land is marked with blood, the site of the Civil War’s “Gettysburg of the West,” the Battle of Glorieta Pass. Travelers driving down Interstate 25 might …

by Birdie Jaworski

The first thing that strikes the listener is that the woman’s voice is stone cold melodic, even, unafraid. She stands at a microphone, her head cocked to one side as she interlaces curt words, deliberate ideas, into a rug tightly-woven enough to carry weight. Her gestures suggest necessary defiance, the aural transfer of sacred inalienable truth.
“Look at me, …

by Birdie Jaworski

Los Hermanos Penitentes drag heavy wooden crosses during Holy Week in 1904. Photo courtesy of the Las Vegas CCHP.

Holy Week begins Sunday, begins with an event chronicled in all four Gospels – Palm Sunday, a remembrance of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when people lining the road pressed their best cloaks, pressed branches of small trees into the …

by Birdie Jaworski
Teresa Victor stood, feet planted on the rugged slopes of Cuzco, the capital of the sun-worshiping Inca empire, the spot on earth with the highest ultraviolet light level. This was her third trip to Peru. On a previous trip, she hiked the Inca Trail, the twenty-eight mile ancient road to Macchu Piccu, in nearly impassable terrain high above …

Snow tries to break the sky, but the clouds hold firm, hold back everything but a dusting of flurries. An armful of ducks dodge the snowflakes, sending a series of rhythmic quacks against thawing ground. Spring sends her first hints through feathered messengers, through the choreographed movements of birds traveling home. This Sunday, the Friends of the Las Vegas Wildlife …

by Birdie Jaworski
Four people float in a rain-reminiscent sky, simple grins lighting round faces, arms extended past swollen bodies the colors of spring grass. They fly in harmony, in silly joyous formation, a family of Macy’s Parade balloons, perhaps, or a collection of free-wheeling cartoon thought bubbles. Rick Mobbs’ study in watercolors, “Flying,” offers a glimpse into captured serenity, but …

by Birdie Jaworski

Douglas Avenue changed overnight. The Coen Brothers’ film crew fixed simple red and white plastic lettering to a vacant office building, adding geriatric walkers, tightly wound ACE bandages, and the promise of pharmacological discount in a carefully orchestrated window display. Las Vegas residents stood behind a cadre of beefy security guards, jockeying for position. A painful heat …