Run Away with Cirque du Soleil

My visit to the Springs Preserve in  Las Vegas today in the monthly Bank of America Museums on US weekend was cut short as they are hosting a special event Mardi Gras Vegas that features Cajun and Creole cuisine, music and culture from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The access to the Nevada State Museum was not affected. Before I left, I picked up an advertising card for a running event "Run Away with Cirque du Soleil" on March 28, 2015. Participants can run 5K or walk 1 mile with Cirque du Soleil cast members on the Springs Preserve ground at this annual event. All proceeds support the educational and environmental-sustainability programs at the Springs Preserve Foundation and Cirque du Soleil Foundation. You can register online at active.com.

Chocolate: The Exhibition

Chocolates are hot sale items in the week leading to Valentine's Day. Postcard US-2967694 to Germany shows a box of chocolate.

Bank of America has continued the monthly Museums on Us weekend program in 2015. On February 7 and 8, 2015, you can get a free admission to one of more than 150 participating museums, science centers, or botanic gardens around the U.S. by presenting your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card. In Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, and DISCOVERY Children's Museum are participating. 

Ahead of Valentine's Day, "Chocolate: The Exhibition" opened at the Origen Museum in the Las Vegas Springs Preserve on February 8 with a tag line Indulge your senses and unwrap the secrets of this sumptuous sweet that we crave! where visitors can: 

Learn how different cultures indulge their shared fascination of chocolate;
Follow cacao's transition from a bitter drink to a sweet treat;
Explore a replica life-size cacao tree and its native rain-forest ecosystem;
Barter cacao seeds for goods in an Aztec market;
Manipulate a conveyor belt and learn about the inventions involved in mass-producing chocolate.

The nationally touring exhibition runs through May 3, 2015 in Las Vegas

Hiking Springs Preserve's Trails

November 2 marks the end of Daylight Savings Time in 2014. To adjust the time change, experts recommend maximizing sun exposure to counter the darkness that looms one hour earlier. Taking advantage of the monthly Bank of America's Museums on US program, I went out to explore the hiking trails at the Springs Preserve.

The Springs Preserve has trails of 3.65 miles or 5.87 kilometers in total on its 110 acres of native habitats and archaeological sites. In addition to native plants and Mojave Desert wildlife, there are a number of historical sites along the way, such as the remnants of caretaker's house and chicken coop. A 10,000 year-old spring mound, an important geologic remnant that still holds significant prehistoric artifacts, can be seen on the left of the photo below. A well derrick from the early waterworks is on the right. 

Postcard US-3038794 to Finland was bought at the Springs Preserve's gift shop during my earlier visit, showing Yellow Two-Tone Penstemon that is native in the Mojave Desert of southern Nevada and adjacent southeastern California and northwestern Arizona. The gift shop now has some cool 3D postcards featuring various wildlife and plants, priced at US$ 3.95 each.

All Star Concert at the Smith Center Celebrates Nevada's Sesquicentennial

Nevada’s 150-year history was condensed into a two-hour 250-cast 27-act concert at Reynolds Hall in the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas tonight on September 22, 2014.  It was one of the 450 statewide events that celebrate the 150th anniversary of Nevada Statehood.

Outgoing postcard US-3000615 to New Zealand was a variation of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve postcard, sent in to obtain a first-day-of-issue postmark on the Nevada Statehood Forever stamp by mail on July 26, 2014. The turn around time is usually around 30 days. However, it took longer than usual this time as I just received the order on September 20, 2014.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

The monthly Bank of America's Museums on US program is held for this month on March 1 and  March 2, 2014. You can visit more than 150 arts, culture and educational institutions in the United States free with a Bank of America and Merrill Lynch debit or credit card. Las Vegas Natural History Museum, DISCOVERY Children's Museum, and Las Vegas Springs Preserve are the participating museums in Las Vegas. I took this opportunity to walk around the Springs Preserve and found the weather pleasant.

Postcard US-1650748 to Belarus was produced by the Springs Preserve, showing a Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). It is a medium-sized blackbird with a pointed bill in adults. The adult male has a mostly black body but a bright yellow head and breast. The adult female is mainly brown with a dull yellow throat and breast. Their breeding habitat is cattail marshes mainly located west of the Great Lakes. They migrate to the south western United States and Mexico in the winter. That's when we can see them in Nevada.

BeaverTail PricklyPear

Postcard US-2070982 was sent to the Netherlands on February 2, 2013 and had since expired. It is about to fall off the PostCrossing Universe as it is approaching its life span of 365-day travel time. The postcards shows the Beavertail PricklyPear (opuntia basilaris), a cactus species mostly found in the Mojave Desert, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Colorado Deserts and Colorado Plateau, and northwest Mexico. A single plant can grow up to 60 cm tall and may consist of hundreds of fleshy, flattened pads that are measured up to 14 cm long, 10 cm wide 1.5 cm thick. Their flowers are mostly pink to rose in color, but also rarely white or even yellow,  blooming from spring to early summer.

The postcard was purchased at the gift shop of the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, which again offers free admission to the Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card holders through the Museums on US program on February 1 and February 2, 2014.

Sustainable Style: Fashion and Photography

It is the Museums on Us by Bank of America weekend again on October 5 and 6 in 2013. You can get a free admission to one of more than 150 participating museums, science centers, or botanic gardens by presenting your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch debit/credit card. The traveling postcard US-2437271 to Massachusetts shows a photo of the exhibition: "Sustainable Style: Fashion and Photography" at the Springs Preserve from an early Museum on Us event on June 2, 2013.

"Sustainable Style" highlights fashion items made out of sustainable or environment-friendly materials. The collection on the card was designed by Elizabeth Calderon, an Mexican designer based in Las Vegas since 1996, using renewable fiber, recycled polyester and organic cotton.

According to the event web site: "Sustainable fashion is part of the growing design trend of sustainability, the goal being to create a system that can be supported indefinitely. Fashion designers are now re-introducing eco-conscious methods at the source through the use of environmentally friendly materials and socially responsible methods of production."

Organized in association with Fashion for a Cause, the exhibition ran from March 22 to June 16, 2013.

The World Day to Combat Desertification

The World Day to Combat Desertification is a United Nations observance on June 17 every year since January 30, 1995 when it was proclaimed by a United Nations General Assembly resolution. The purpose has been to highlight how to prevent desertification and recover from drought.  There has a different theme each year since, and the theme for 2013 is "Drought and Water Scarcity".

My postcard US-1877904 showcases the Las Vegas Springs Preserve where you can learn how to live in the desert environment in a sustained way by taking advantage of what is available, especially the water. It is located at the original water source for Las Vegas, the Las Vegas Springs.

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is a participant of Bank of America's Museums on Us program in 2013. If you are a Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card holder, you can get one free general admission on the first full weekend of each month. The incoming dates in 2013 are July 6th and 7th, August 3rd and 4th, September 7th and 8th, October 5th and 6th, November 2nd and 3rd, December 7th and 8th.

US Constitution and Civil Liberties

ACLU of Nevada Foundation's Annual 11th Annual Event 

226 years ago and 4 years after the United States won its independence from Great Britain, state delegates, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, convened in Philadelphia to start composing a new United States constitution on May 25, 1787. The resulted United States Constitution, signed on September 17, 1787, provided the blueprint on how the federal government should work and function, and how the three branches should behave and interact with each other under checks and balances.

In the Bill of Rights (collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution) and the other subsequent amendments that established the "due process" clause and the "equal protection" clause, we are guarantee a number of personal freedoms and civil liberties that include the freedom of speech, religion, protest, assembly, and press.

However, the rights guaranteed under the Constitutions do not mean they will be automatically extended to you. In addition, there are segments of people who have traditionally been denied their rights, including people of color; women; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people; prisoners; and people with disabilities. There are also debates on what rights legal and illegal immigrants have.

I received a card a few days ago, advertising American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada Foundation's Eleventh Annual Celebration of Civil Liberties. Ruby Duncan, a local civil rights advocate and activist, will be honored as the 2013 Emilie Wanderer Civil Libertarian of the Year. The event will be held at Springs Preserve Cafe on June 14, 2013 from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The ticket costs US$ 100. You can find out more information and purchase a ticket online.

One Year Later: Obama and Same Sex Marriage

LGBT Supporters with Bill Clinton for Obama Re-Election in 2012 

This postcard is made to mark the anniversary of President Obama's endorsement for same-sex marriage on May 9, 2012. On the postcard, a "LGBT for Obama" banner was held high when former President Bill Clinton spoke during a rally at the the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas on October 9, 2012.

Jonathan Capehart had a blog on "Obama and gay marriage: one fabulous year" at Washington Post that documented major related events in the year following Obama's announcement. (updated on May 10, 2013: he had a new blog titled "Minnesota, Clinton and Obama: More gay firsts" following a 75 to 49 vote on May 9, 2013 in the Minnesota State House to legalize same-sex marriage.)

The postcard can be purchased at Zazzle.com