Thursday, September 22, 2016

Fall - First Day

Arizona Highways. Have to say experienced Magic on this roadtrip.
Thru the desert garden.
Alone in the Superstition Mountains. Lost Dutchman Mine Park.
Montezuma's Well. Drive to park entrance has been congested w human weirdness but once in the magic prevails. Reality is altered.
Sequoia National Monument. Unreal but there it is.
Arches National Monument. Hiked up to Delicate Arch. Was impressed with the pale weak looking people suffering the slightly difficult hike. Many made it and were greatly rewarded (me).
This visit to Arches noticed the presence of many visible entities.
New Mexico was beginning to turn yellow. Saw chamisa and purple aster just starting.
Between Roswell and Vaugh, mystery rest stop.

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Winter Spring Summer 2016

Summer Solstice sunrise viewed from porch. The sun rises straight off the porch on this morning as if the house were oriented that way.
The following are a few things that happened this year.
Went to Costa Rica with friends.
In the picture you see a few surfboards made by the famous R. Dick.
Stayed in a different place that was down the beach. Made many visits to our friends The (C.R.) Farm to fix things up for the year but ended up not staying there. As usual the time was magical, the place and the people always leave lasting impressions.
In the barn added a footer and more foundation type support for tower. That required a pretty big rearranging of space and moving a lot of plumbing. Tried to do the most logical system of valves but now realize that there are little weirdnesses that will be hard to fix if I feel like it.
In the spring a friend who is really into flowers asked me to look for penstemon cobaea that grows in this area. So I got lucky and found some. Watched them bloom and then eventually collected seeds that my friend will try to grow
They are also know as foxglove in this area. My friend may be creating the largest collection of penstemons in the country at the Los Alamos Nature Center. There are over 75 species included and more to be added.
Here a lighter pink, cobaea range in color from fairly purple to almost white. Other species range in size from considerably larger to very small plants. They include reds, oranges and blues.
In the hot summer the eustoma grandifloras bloom. A very good year for these wildflowers.
Here is a turtle laying eggs by the back door. Wow, but a bit of a bummer because overnight some creature raided the nest and there were torn up egg shells on the ground in the morning.

Walking the dog in the land of enchantment. Hero was a good dog when out walking but in the house would often try to take a little bite of my brother or me
Tsankawi mesa top with monsoon clouds in the distance.
Who is that and what are they doing after a walk in Georgia O'Keeffe's White Place?

And finally got to doing the back part of the Farm roof that has really needed replacing for the last few years. It was very hot up there and couldn't have done it without my brother's help. Might try to finish the front part this year also but we'll see, we have other things planned for the rest of the year, so may not have time for roofing.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Grand Canyon, North Rim

Bro M took some pictures of crows playing in the wind blowing up the edge of a cliff on a stormy day in Walnut Canyon - a beautiful small park just outside Flagstaff Arizona
There were many crows here and there swooping around sort of playing tag. Very loud creatures too when they are feeling communicative.
Peaceful view of the Grand Canyon. Could be the Colorado River in this view but it could also be a tributary.
Beautiful Fall colors were showing - early to mid Oct. Chamisa was blooming on the way up. When we got there aspens were also looking brilliant. And purple asters where blooming.
Valley of the Gods. Between The Recapture Lodge and Monument Valley lies a road thru this valley to Natural Bridges.
This image attaches to the right of above. The road switches back and forth up the cliff face until you get to the top - very dramatic.
Made it back to a GREEN farm. Thought it would be all dried up. Had a really fabulous trip ready to go again.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Higher - Optimo Maximo

Visited Rome and Florence. Saw major things that somehow had not seen before. Would go back tomorrow and see many new things.

Santa Croce altar. The entire body of the church probably looked like this before it was "updated." Michelangelo and Galileo are buried here.

Finally got to visit interior of Borromini's St. Ivo on a  Sunday morning - didn't take any pictures.
Baroque stone clouds - Sant'Andrea al Quirinale.
First visit to Bargello was amazing.
Amazing courtyard space in Bargello.
Optimo Maximo refers to God (Deo) being the greatest and best - the initials DOM are everywhere in Rome.
But seems ok to appropriate:
How's it going? Optimo Maximo!
Returned to Farm and it had been raining, raining, raining. Cloudy skies - not exactly Mediterranean.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Fragrant Spring - Easter Everywhere

Lost in the rain... Anyway this is the most fragrant spring I can remember as well being so gloriously beautiful. The Narcissus bloomed early in winter, then Osmanthus Fragrans and now Wisteria - all these are heavily scented and sometimes their scents mix in the air. Blue Bonnets are blooming now and have a light fragrance surrounding them, and there are other wild flowers that have faint but very amazing scents. Soon there will be Honeysuckle, another heavily scented flower, and then in summer, if enough Petunias come up they will scent the air all around. And yes the Wisteria and Honeysuckle will need some management.







Narcissus and one group of yellow Daffodils


 Osmanthus Fragrans




 Wisteria



 Blue Bonnets





 Grape Hyacinth - these really do smell like grape soda.

There are so many flowers with more or less fragrance. Some very small but so beautiful - Toadflax, Bluettes, Spring Beauties, Blue Eyed Grass. Used to see many Violets but now none for many years.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Really Spring?

Not to complain but the last two winters have produced really cold weather right at the last minute so that it seems winter will never end. Anyway might be over now. But did do something unusual on a miserable day which was to try to cook a pie. Tried to cut down on the sugar and oil probably a little too much. But it looked ok and was healthy even if not hugely delicious.















Went to Costa Rica over the winter and stayed a few nights at a place called Essence Arenal. Arenal is the name of a volcano. Went to a hot spring that was more like a rapidly running river - Tabacon. Very nice.
















Then we went to a friend's place on the beach that was almost a religious experience. Nearby was this strange bird and its baby sitting on a fence post absolutely still with sharp beaks pointing up. Ojoojo is what they call it. Have never seen anything like it. May be a night bird that just blends in during the day. Do you see them?








Wednesday, July 9, 2014

FarmHenge

Woke up early Summer Solstice Day (but not quite at the crack of dawn) and was surprised to view the sun rising directly at the end of the front porch. Long ago when we were reworking the foundations of the house, just under the north corner (diagonal orientation) there was an old Indian axe head under the foundation stone. Always wondered about that, now wonder if it is only coincidence about the seeming solstice alignment.
















There has been rain this year the fields have been so green. It seems to be beginning to dry out now.