The crescent moon and Venus at dawn
When I was young, the Rio Grande would flood into the Bosque in the springtime and then dry up completely by the end of June and stay dry until the middle of July or the beginning of August after the monsoon rains started. After Cochiti Dam opened in 1973 and the Conservancy started holding water in Cochiti Lake, the spring floodwaters were controlled along with the flow of the Rio Grande. The river has not flooded into the bosque in Corrales in 50 years. The Rio Grande is currently running at its “natural flow,” according to the Conservancy, and it is down to a trickle on the west side of the sand bar at the Alameda Bridge, 3.5 miles south of where we live.
Standing on the bed of the Rio Grande looking north at Alameda Bridge.
Alameda Bridge, looking at the old bridge, now pedestrian. You can see the pillars of the new bridge on the other side. Note the large, rusty pipe running under the bridge. When I was in middle school, I used to get kicked off the school bus often, so I had to walk 6 miles to school, including crossing the old Alameda Bridge. One morning, a friend, who also got kicked off the bus, was walking to school with me. I decided to add some excitement to the walk and tried crawling across the river on the big pipe (painted back then). The river was running low, and while trying to crawl around one of the brackets that held the pipe to the bridge, I slipped off the pipe and fell into the river. I got to school half-wet, my clothes were drying out by the time I got to school, and I was covered with crusty mud. People used to tell my mom I would grow up to be a no-good-for-nothing delinquent. Now that I think about it, I’m grown up and old enough to go on Medicare; those people were right. If I hadn’t dropped out of high school, I could consider going to the 50th high school reunion in 2026. Then those folks who are still alive could say, “I told you so!”
Intermission: Tradescant Rose.
Rio Grande archipelago
I believe this is a boat launch/landing area for rafts, canoes, kayaks, paddleboards, and the annoying airboat the Fire Department uses to patrol the river when the water is high.
Sunset
Off Center & Not Even 
Your capture of light in the second image is spectacular!
Thanks, Susan.
I agree, Susan! The light is incredible.
Thanks, Liz.
You’re welcome, Tim.
Horrifying about the Rio. The photographs are beautiful but the lack of water is terrible.
Thanks, Gigi.
That is dry. We’re suffering drought too – our grape harvest was half the size is should have been.
It’s a pain. Thanks, Couriers.
Nowt wrong with a good bit of adventurism.
I know you would have tried the same thing. Thanks, Shey.
The world is going crazy….
Thanks, Rudi.
Very dry.
O/T Seems I can comment once again from the post. At least now.
WP has been messing with stuff. Thanks, Danzig.
So dry! Gorgeous skies! And those roses… nice!
And I think you are a wonderful delinquent!
Thanks, Nancy. A delinquent all the same.
That was some middle school story!
I was a bad boy. It’s surprising I survived my childhood.
Honored to know this “no-good-for-nothing delinquent”, who is excellent at everything he does! 😉
Merci for making my day once again and may rains come soon!
It’s raining this morning. How much we end up getting is the big question. Thanks, Marina.
☔️🌧…as much as needed I hope!
Not very much.
Sending more!
Getting it.
👍🌧
Looks like the Rio Not-So-Grande right now. I think you should go to a reunion to show them just how well you turned out. I remember a few of my earlier reunions with more than I thought still living in their parents basements or working in the same tiny town I grew up in. Same high school clicks/groups as 20 years prior. The more things change . . . you know the rest. I really liked the landscape photos showing the Feast or Famine world of the SW water systems. I remember seeing an arroyo in Albuquerque once, completely dry. Our friend who lived there told us that only a few weeks before it was full to the brim and a few cars were bobbing about as the water carried them downstream.
I have a couple of friends from HS I keep up with. I don’t remember many people from back then. The arroyos and flood control channels fill up quickly, and the rain can happen miles away which is what surprises people.
Ditto us. Interactions must be reciprocal and long term.
Hey, I can leave a comment again …
No class reunions for us, not old enough. Besides, I don’t think we’ll be missing anything. We skipped all of our graduations, from HS to undergrad. Did the informal, early one from med school.
The dry Rio Grande, they haven’t had much rain in SW Colorado, where the headwaters are … still severe drought. Dry there means less downriver.
I’ve been to the headwaters of the Rio Grande many times in years past. I don’t remember much of anyone from HS and the university. Thanks, Deborah.
Beautiful scenes you captured!! You highlight the Rio Grande very well! 💝
Thanks, Samantha.
That second photo is truly breathtaking. And I woulda joined you on crossing the bridge along the pipe! I am so not surprised you were a troublemaker. Fun that you’ve kept up with some of your high school friends. I have a few, too 🙂
It’s gotta be hard to see so little water compared to before.
I know you would have crawled the pipe. Thanks, Dale.
😉
love to read about the hell you raised Tim and those pics are incredible.
Reunions are over-rated, don’t worry, you’re not missing anything.. lol 😂
I no I’m not missing anything. Thanks, Cindy.
I think you have done quite well with your life, Tim. The pictures are beautiful, especially the golden light on the dry lakebed and trees.
Thanks, Lavinia.
You seem very successful for a delinquent!
Hard to keep a good delinquent down. Thanks, Dawn.
Ah so you were naughty at school … lol, why am I not surprised! The second shot is divine
Thanks, Julie. Boys be naughty boys.
I’ll never get over this whole “man’s management over the Rio Grande” thing.
Until I met you, I could have never have imagined a dry river bed.
So, I was a black sheep, too!
Difference, with all the crusty black mud, you looked like one, too!
Love the floral intermission!
xox
And we wear black. Thanks, Resa.
You rock black, Tim!
Yes, me too!!!!!