Clear sky at dawn
After the clouds cleared last night, the morning’s low was 19ºF (-7.2ºC). There was not a cloud in the sky all day. The high was 41ºF (5ºC) at 3:00 pm when I hit the ditch banks for my daily ride.
Beaver Moon rising in a clear sky. Jupiter looks on.
Glenda: “Why do stinking beavers get a moon and kitties don’t?” Good Question.
Snowing lightning
With my numb, arthritic fingers, I can’t type worth beans these days. I thought I commented to Lavinia, “It’s snowing lightly now,” but auto-mistake changed whatever typo I made on “lightly” to lighting. Lavinia read it as “lightning” and replied that she had only seen “snow lightning” a few times in her life. I replied that I had never seen it. Then Deborah chimed in on snow lightning, as well. As you can see in the above photo, I made snow lightning.
All the confusion about snow lightning occurred because it snowed last night and this morning.
Kitties in the snow
Clear sky in the west at sunset
Vulture watching the Beaver Moon rise. Jupiter looks on.
The moon is 98.3% full tonight. It will be 99.9% full tomorrow night. The official full moon is on Monday when it doesn’t pass the meridian. It will still be 99% full on Tuesday.
Beaver Moon swimming in a sea of clouds. Jupiter looks on.
Beaver Moon in colorful whipped cream clouds. Jupiter looks on.
WordPress reminded me that I’ve been blogging for thirteen years. I think it’s time to retire.
Spunk the “Box Hugger” protesting my breaking down boxes for recycling.
Spunk Art
Catnip & Cheese
Silver indulging in fresh catnip. All of the cats hold the catnip in one paw like Silver.
Lacy sunset
Fast-moving clouds swallowed the moon.
Freyja was dogging Atlas. When Tristan and Craig got Freyja, the shelter identified her as a Bernese Mountain dog. As she grew, she looked less and less like a Bernese Mountain Dog. Tristan had a doggie DNA test done on Freya, and she “Ain’t nothing but a hound dog!” †
†Below is the result of Freya’s doggie DNA test.
When it comes to fingernails, Oriana nails it.
Spunk: “Whoa! Those Keratins are like totally Alpha! Are those nails like Sick, or What? They reek of total destruction, and what destruction I could wreak with those nails! I want nails like that.”
The artwork that Oriana paints on her nails is impressive. She works in the tiniest details. Oriana is our data analyst. She is also working on a degree in business.
Sasha: “AAAAaaaaahhhhh! Keep those nails away from me!”
Dawn
Resa’s Tree at Sunrise with greens, golds, and browns.
We encountered Sir Smokey Kitty in the Castle of Gwendolyn the Faire. Her castle is truly over the hills and far away from where we live.
In the 14th century, Gwendolyn the Faire would have invited up to 10,000 people to her banquets. The Erbolate (Herbed Eggs) required around 11,000 eggs to prepare. In these time-warped days where medieval traditions fall out of the wrinkles, Gwendolyn the Faire only had to feed 30 medievalists. It was still quite a feat, and the preparation of the courses was masterful.
Bottles from medieval wine, ale, and mead. The menu. The cookbook used for the medieval courses.
Goblets waiting and whining for wine. The food was excellent and consumed with pleasure. A mix of modern and medieval.
Resa’s Tree with cranes at sunset.
Cranes glow at sunset.
Dawn
Smokey Kitty is very sweet when the Paparazzo is not bugging him.
A happy kitty that might be a stray.
Late this afternoon, Glenda was at the bay window in the kitchen, meowing and growling. I looked out to see what the problem was. There was a tabby cat between a rose bush and the fence. I went out and talked to the kitty, but it acted like it was going to run away. I went back inside for thirty minutes, went back out, and the kitty was still there in the low evening light. I sat down on a large pot and started talking to it again. It started coming toward me, but stopped to do a bit of grooming. Then it started walking over to me but stopped about ten feet away, turned to the left, walked to a patch of bare dirt, and started rolling around, acting playful. It never got any closer to me. I brought out some food and water, and it ate the food.
when I processed the photos, it looked like the kitty might have a skin condition of some type. It looks like a fancy cat with its swirling patterns. I’ll see if it comes back, and I can win over its trust so I can see what its fur is like and take it to the vet for treatment if needed.
Enough! The show is over.
Loki: “Il Paparazzo sta per morire!”
Spunk: “Boy, I say boy, pay close attention to me ’cause you’re a burrito short of a combination plate.”†
Loki: “You’re bothering me, boy!”
Spunk: “Wait ’till you turn off the light, Paparazzo!”
Meet the new snake. Same as the old snake.††
Nice reflection this afternoon.
Cottonwoods in the bosque turned red at sunset.
Sunset looking north from the top of the levee.
†Foghorg Leghorn quote.
††Juvenile Bullsnake: I moved him from the top of the levee so he wouldn’t get run over by the cyclists who were behind me.
Corrales flood control channel this afternoon.
When I first started riding in July, the flood control channel was dry, and I could ride across the arroyo where the water ends, 300 yards from where I took this photo. At first, the flood control channel filled with water from rain collected on the west mesa up to 20 miles west of Corrales. That was the beginning of the second week of September. Since the beginning of October, the flood control channel has been filled with water. However, we have had zero rain in Corrales in October and little rain in Rio Rancho west of Corrales. I finally came to the realization that the water in the flood control channel is the treated wastewater from Rio Rancho backing up into the channel. I have not investigated why the water is backing up into the flood control channel now when the channel was dry in July, August, and the first week of September.
The treated wastewater from Rio Rancho is released into the mouth of the flood control channel near the levy and flows into the Rio Grande, as does the runoff collected by the flood control channel. Rio Rancho is the third largest city in New Mexico, with 109,060 people in 2023.
Cyclists, runners, and hikers who want to cross the flood control channel to continue north or south on the levee or the Bosque trail either have to ford the water or walk, run, or ride 200 yards into the flood control channel to get around the water.
The outlet for Rio Rancho’s treated wastewater.
Treated wastewater flowing toward the mouth of the flood control channel. The water smells like chlorine and detergents. I was surprised to see people fishing there the other day.
Different views of the treated wastewater outlet.
Erosion east of the current outlet. The erosion may be from before they reworked the area. The photo on the right is looking west from the eroded area.
The photo on the left was taken on 9/9/2023. The photo on the right was taken on 10/28/2023. You can see how much farther the water extends into the channel in the photo on the right.
Sasha and Glenda hovering over the heater.
It’s cold this week. The cats are clamoring for the space heaters we use to warm the spaces close to us. The cats were all piled up on me at 3:50 AM this morning. I had a cold ride this afternoon with the temps in the low 40s.
Cats from head to toe: Sasha on my chest in the foreground. Gwendolyn’s ears are on the right in the foreground. She was under the covers, resting her head on my shoulder. After Sasha is Marble, Spunk, Silver, and then Glenda is at the end of the bed, curled up on my feet. Loki was on Laurie out of the picture.
Off Center & Not Even 