Diné laid under the chaise lounge with her paws crossed, while beautiful thunderheads built up over the Sandias and floated by earlier in the afternoon. A vulture appeared to fly above the clouds as it circled over the river. The picturesque clouds turned into a dust storm in the late afternoon, but, alas, no rain.
A few things you can find in Corrales.
Laurie noticed the temperature was 106º F at 4:30 pm, so I checked the max temperature for the day on our weather station and it showed the max temp was 107.3º F which is 41.8º C — just shy of the “answer to life the universe and everything”. The temperature was 99º F when I was checking to see what the max temp was and I noticed it said the wind chill was 98.3º F — let’s hear it for the cool breeze! I thought the photo of a backlit Camisole rose was the most representative of “sunny and 107”, but a backlit trumpet vine and Tuscan Sun rose were good candidates, as well.
There were a couple of sparkling clean Harleys parked outside the office this afternoon. Anyone remember the “banana seat”? I had a bicycle like the green Schwinn pictured below many, many, many years ago!
Cézanne made many paintings of Mont Sainte-Victoire. Some people think that was rather strange, but Like the Sandias, depending on the light and perspective, Mont Sainte-Victoire is never the same.
Rosencrantz was lounging at Laurie’s feet while she was sketching with her left hand. Diné was eyeing another kitty and Guildenstern took Laurie’s place when she got up, disturbing Rosencrantz’ lounging position.
Everything seems to be on a grid for this selection of photos. I’m not sure if it’s the dryness or simply the light, but the green/blue in the sagebrush against a wall was really nice.
I drove through north Corrales and all access to the river and bosque are closed. People say we are in a drought, but really we are experiencing what is more normal for arid New Mexico. So if the bosque and state parks and wilderness areas are only going to be open when we have above normal rainfall, New Mexico may end up being closed for longer than most of us will live. Rosencrantz was hanging out in the bamboo looking smart, and René was having a bad hair day after I gave him a shower.
Sophia was begging to get out and sit on me while I was sitting at the table working on photos at Tristan’s and David’s. Apparently I remind her of her previous owner and she got very excited to be out with me, started grooming me, and regurgitating for me, which is a very loving gesture coming from an African Grey! There is a family of quail in their back yard. Mama and papa quail sit on top of the wall and act bewildered that the chicks can’t get up on the wall with them. The chicks blend into the bark, mulch and wall.
I went out to check the status of water in the ditch (not running) and got photos of our neighbor’s barn at sunset, the best view I can get of the Sandias without breaking the law, a photo of the law and a nice reflection of the standing water in the ditch. I did see an big, old, finned Cadillac on the way home. The car was so big that with two lanes between us on Coors Road, it barely fit in field of view of a 55mm lens. Seeing an old Cadillac on the road reminded me of Loquillo’s song “Cadillac Solitario” where he is singing about being drunk in a Cadillac while parked under the three crosses on a hill overlooking Barcelona after his girlfriend dumped him. We discovered Loquillo in 1996 when we happened upon one of their concerts in Plaza Mayor during the San Ysidro festival. The crowd was huge, and the performance and sound was amazing. We learned later that Loquillo was a huge star in Spain with 25 records/CDs on the market at that time. We went to at least one more live performance by Loquillo while living in Madrid, and brought back several of his CDs.
Off Center & Not Even 