I took a walk out to the river at sunset to see if the cranes or other birds were flying in to roost for the night. No cranes, but the glow after sunset was really beautiful.
Month: October 2014
Fireworks
On the evening of the last Saturday of the Balloon Fiesta, we walked out to the river and watched the fireworks show set off at the balloon field on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande. All the photos were taken using a Canon 1Ds with a 70-200mm L lens, zoomed to 200mm, ƒ/4, 1/60 sec at ISO 100, hand held.
The End of the Cosmos
One last cosmos was hanging on among the dried ends of cosmos stems and brown, hardened sunflower stalks. A green butterfly landed in the mulch to warm itself in the sun before flying off to forage for what little flowers remained. I was going to start pulling up the dead sunflowers, but the finches and sparrows were still feeding on them, so they will remain standing awhile longer.
Iceberg with Aphids
Wild Grasses
Lavinia reminded me a few weeks ago that I was going to go back in the Fall and get photos of the grasses at the rammed earth house that was on the Corrales Garden Tour in June. I went out in the late afternoon a a couple of weeks ago and photographed the grasses from the periphery of the property. While I was on the ditch bank I heard sandhill cranes on the river, so I walked out to the river to look for the cranes after photographing the grasses at the house. I didn’t see cranes, but I noticed that the native grasses in the bosque looked like they were on fire backlit in the late afternoon sun. I’ve alternated photos of grasses at the rammed earth house and photos of the native grasses in the bosque, ending the series with a photo of backlit cottonwoods.
Cat in the Bag
No sooner had Laurie put her bag on the chair than Spunk was in it trying to bank up some modeling cash. He put on quite a show, and once he figured he was in the black, he started chewing on the bag.
Exit
Los Animales
The animals I saw at Ranchos de las Golondrinas were alpaca, horses, shetland ponies (not pictured), burros, sheep and donkeys. The burro was hitched up to a mill they used to squeeze the juice out of sorghum cane to make molasses. Throughout its history villagers would have also raised pigs, chickens, cows and goats at Las Golondrinas.
Alone On A Hill
The Penitente Meeting House in Las Golondrinas sits alone on a hill. It’s a long, thin building with a door on either side, one window, a flat roof, and a thin bell tower that juts out of the front of the building. There is an old cemetery that sits off to the side with weathered wood crosses and picket fences marking the graves. Photos were not allowed in the interior. If you are not familiar with the Penitentes, the following wiki has a brief summary of the Penitentes in New Mexico: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penitentes_(New_Mexico).
Balloons on the Rio Grande
There was a mass ascension on Saturday at the Balloon Fiesta, and many of the balloonists “dipped” their gondolas in the Rio Grande as the light breeze blew them northwest from the balloon field. A couple of kayaking clubs were paddling down the river and had to make their way through what at times seemed like a gauntlet of balloons all stacked up together, dipping in the river. The sky was mostly overcast to the east, with low clouds covering the Sandias, creating a dull, gray light that was occasionally broken by strips of bright sunlight when the sun found a slit in the clouds, illuminating the bosque and lighting up the balloons. One balloon few in front of the waining moon as it few over our house on its way to the river.
Off Center & Not Even 