Sidetracked Charley

Moreno Valley from Palo Flechado Pass Thought I would get a bit closer to home with this week's photo. This was taken about six miles from my house as the crow flies. I was coming back from Taos with a friend. I had my camera with me because of the extended time of dismal weather. I just knew sooner or later the overcast skies had to break and give me a peek at the peaks which no doubt were going to be snow-capped. The mountains and clouds had been playing peek-a-boo for the better part of a week and fall turned to winter. This photo shows just a hint of that snow under Touch Me Not's cloud hat, but it also shows the shadows of the clouds across the Moreno Valley, all framed in pines and bare Aspen branches. Glad I had the camera. But then yesterday I left it home and Wheeler Peak made an appearance with its solid white winter crest, but no doubt I will that again and again in the coming months.

Winter at the top and fall below the clouds This was the week that fall at last succumbed to what can only be described as winter weather. Us New Mexicans (even those in the mountains) are spoiled. We seldom, if ever, go a day without some grace from the sun. But if we saw the sun here for more than a few minutes a day since Thursday we celebrated it. I did get a peek between the clouds of the full moon on Friday. I think it was full. I only saw part. Wednesday, however, was glorious and I posted a photo blog about that. See below . With the weather being not nice to get out and hike I began a round of frame making forgetting that the damp of the seemingly endless rain (rained 2" at my house on Thursday) would slow down the drying of glue and paint and varnish. Obviously, I had forgotten what life was like in the southeast. Still slow progress has been made. Yesterday, the winds of winter arrived. I loathe them. They just seem to penetrate all clothing and suck the heat fro...

The "S" word has been sneaking more and more into the weather forecast and as we are nearing the end of October that is to be expected. The local ski areas begin "making" snow at Halloween because then our weather will be such they have a chance of keeping it around. It is supposedly a La Nina year which means dryer and warmer than normal. I think I can live with that, but a lot hangs on the ski slopes for our tourist dollar input. But the rural electric coop is again raising its rates. It has to buy power from other states because all the power generated in the four corners area from our coal and our rivers goes to light Los Angeles and Las Vegas who seem to waste it. So with higher electric bills in the future warmer is definitely nice. And I have three cords of wood to burn for heat. But snow pack is what makes our forests healthier to avoid fires come summer. And it is how our aquifers are recharged. So I am divided. How about rain at my altitude and snow 20...

Beginning of the end of fall In college we used to play a verbal game where we tried to decide what a particular friend was in terms of a food, or an animal, or a season. We really did have a hall mate that was lemon jello. And one of my best friends was the ferret. The trouble with that game was that the comparisons, if aptly made, stuck. And somehow I find my subconscious mind still playing the game. Marc was fall. His birthday was the end of September when the mountains of New Mexico put on their grandest show and we traditionally rode the Cumbres and Toltec narrow gauge railroad over the mountains to see the color. Or drove up to Pagosa Springs, Colorado. I thought of both as a way of saying goodbye. His wife chose to not have a memorial service here and I am not the only one of his friends hanging in limbo. Both trips seemed to long and I could not see myself doing them alone. Fall lingered, way longer than is normal, as if waiting for me to make a decision of how to let h...

It has been a glorious fall and no recap of the previous week should ignore that. I have of course been out and about with my new camera. Did I mention I have a new camera? Trekking the aspen covered hills with the fur kids has been one form of exercise. And a good friend has me back working out at the spa. Thus far just in the pool with aqua fit exercises, but it has made a difference. Amazing how when you expend more energy you have more energy. That, as they say, is the good news. The bad news is I got water in my ears which seems to have combined with fall allergies to give me a really stuffy head. I feel like I am walking around in a diving bell. But this too shall pass. And I hope soon. Finally getting around to frame making. Got all the wood glued together into framing strips and sanded. Now to just start cutting the correct lengths and gluing them up in squares and rectangles to be painted and stained and fitted on "naked" pictures hanging about the studio. Just ...

a It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Totally an up and down week. As the song by Joan Baez goes - Some days are diamonds, some days are rust. For reasons I cannot explain my ex's death August 22nd really hit me this week. It began with last Monday when a trip to Taos seemed to invoke his memory at every turn. The good news is I have not had to worry about dry eyes. On the good news side I finished two paintings I had been struggling with, the sold one of them, got half of the do before the snow flies list done, finally confronted someone about a forgotten debt (they forgot - I hadn't), gotten back into exercising, picked more raspberries, developed an outlet for left over masks and costume items, received two more of the Connie Shelton Charlie Parker mystery series, and had two pet sitting gigs come up for extra income. On the rust side of the equation beyond the leaky eyes I wasn't careful about my low blood sugar and had a major event. Coupled wi...

We have been blessed and plagued of late with thunder storms building by late morning. When there are booms and flashes the last place you want to be is on top of a ladder even if you know there are things to be done before winter settles in. Today I finally got around to them. It was beautiful weather for working outside around the studio screwing down siding that had warped because of the weather. And finally putting up the last two strings of rope lights I had bought two years ago for Christmas decoration. They are white lights and so will be great when the studio is open for an event in the evening. Speaking of night events I bought and put up a solar powered motion sensor light at the corner of the studio near the gate. I rather like using the studio entrance personally but the motion sensor lights are by the main entrance to my house. Speaking of those lights. They are florescent and I hate them. In fact I tried using florescent lights on all the exterior of my studio and ho...

La Sal Mountains Utah The date is May 2010. We are off roading below the rim at Canyonlands National Park. Second day of our Utah adventure. It snowed on our way up which gave the La Sal Mountains in the distance the tremendous cap of deep snow. We are in summer weather gear on the canyon rims. But the interesting part of this photo for me was how close that mountain looks. We are approximately 15 miles outside of Moab at this point. And the La Sal Mountains begin 20 miles the other side of Moab, but the air is so clear the sandstone tower looks like an immediate neighbor to Mount Tukuhnikivatz  - 12,482 feet (3805 m) and little Tuk to the left. Mount Tukuhnikivatz is obviously big Tuk. Mount Peale, the tallest in the range, reaches 12,721 feet (3,877 m) above sea level. The range contains three clusters of peaks separated by passes. The peaks span a distance of about 18 miles (25 km). The name of the range dates to Spanish times, when the Sierra La Sal (meaning th...

Nightmare by Fussli I don't know if it was my day, littered with a multitude of activities, or my night, disrupted by howling coyotes and activities next door, or the strawberries and cream I ate for dinner, or just the lack of routine in my life of late but last night was fraught with nightmares. Per Wiki A nightmare is a dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the sleeper, typically fear and/or horror . The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time. Nightmares can have physical causes such as sleeping in an uncomfortable or awkward position, having a fever, or psychological causes such as stress and anxiety. Eating before bed, which triggers an increase in the body's metabolism and brain activity, is a potential stimulus for nightmares In mythology the nightmare is a  ghost or ni...

Storms on outskirts of Albuquerque We have had such absolutely delightful Indian Summer weather. And one forgets that by the end of October we could have our first snows. Historically the local ski areas begin to make snow around Halloween because the temps are such they can begin to build a base. But the temperature has been in the 70's with 74 F scheduled for today. However, there is rain forecast and tomorrow will be in just 60. It is 6 am here and sun has not made an appearance yet. Winter is coming like it or not. I have the firewood bought and stacked in the woodshed but there are a list of other tasks to be completed before winter hits like the railings on the back steps and the grass trimmed around the flower beds before it is laid down with snow. But I also have less than two months before my big show in Albuquerque. That issue makes me almost look forward to less than perfect fall weather so I will want to stay in the studio and work. New Mexico rarely has consist...