Two weekends ago was supposed to be about watching balloons flying among red rocks, but the weather decided to change that. The 24th Red Rock Rally in Gallup was scheduled to occur at the same time slot it has held each year since the event kicked off- during the first weekend in December. By...
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The long weekend of July 14th through July 18th was a happy reunion for our family. On Friday evening, we drove to and converged on an Airbnb lodge off of the fifth green of the golf course in Angel Fire, New Mexico, which would be our home until Tuesday morning. It was a happy...
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Traditionally, each July 4th, I’ve found myself yearning to get out and find somewhere to visit or a trail to hike. This year was no different, except I am not sure of the mental state of this docile midlifer on Independence Day when, on Monday morning, I arose fairly early, wavered a while about...
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This afternoon I decided to empty out my truck of all the stuff I had let collect in it over the last something-something months. My wish was ti just strip the insides back down to where there was nothing in the cab that didn’t need to be there. This meant removing a few old...
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I’ve been dealing with some physical issues this week, and so this morning, after a very slow start to the day, I decided I needed to get out for the afternoon. For some reason, my mind jumped immediately to revisiting the Hoodoo Trail in the Ojita Wilderness. Several years ago, I parked at the...
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Last night, we got our big snow, and this morning, the skies over Albuquerque were clear, and by noon, snow everywhere was melting. But still, we got our snow day. I got up and went out for a walk before work to enjoy the clean light and clean appearance of everything under the white....
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We’re supposed to feel some of a massive cold front moving through the west starting tonight. I kind of watched for any signs of it all day, and as the sun was falling in the west late afternoon, I went out back and saw the sun behind the clouds behind the tree. After work,...
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Tonight after work I met my sister, her husband, and her eldest son for a walk in the Sandia foothills at dusk. I had my camera with me, but a long stretch of clouds to the west made the prospects of remarkable light at sun down seem pretty slim. Except, there was a thin...
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I had pondered it for a few months, but in the end, it was an impulse that launched me west from Albuquerque towards Gallup, New Mexico. Seeing recent photos taken by others of hot air balloons lingering over red rock walls gave me the shove I needed to hit the road Saturday morning. After...
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Last weekend I joined my parents on a short trip they had both been looking forward to taking for some time. Before COVID-19 hit, they were planning to return to Monument Valley for a stay- and then the world shut down for a year and some. In recent weeks, the Navajo Nation and its...
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Last Sunday, I had some free time, so it was a good day for another day trip. I knew I wanted to spend more time “with the birds”, so my primary goal was to head south and visit the Bernardo Waterfowl Area again at sunrise. After that, I figured I’d find somewhere else interesting...
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As last Monday was the last day of the Labor Day weekend, I didn’t feel right not using it to go out somewhere, and the first destination that entered my mind was the Ah-shi-sle-pah Badlands, home of the King of Wings and Alien Throne rock formations. My enthusiasm for that trip was tempered by...
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This last Saturday, I had the need to get out of the house for a while, and with it being near the end of August (and, with my small chile crop faltering late in the growing season), a destination for a day trip became clear. Despite being a native New Mexican, I had never...
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