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.
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).
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.
Marble Brewing Company, http://www.marblebrewery.com, is another award winning craft brewery in Albuquerque. Awarded the 2014 Great American Beer Festival Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year award by the Brewers Association, they have an impressive operation with the brewing, tap room and bottling all on site at the corner of Marble and 1st Street near downtown Albuquerque. A food truck was parked on the street serving hamburgers and French fries to the patrons spending their lunch or a leisurely Friday afternoon at the brewery.
I took the title for today’s blog off of Leah Black’s business card. She is the events & social media coordinator for Marble, and a pro at drawing drafts. After Ben interviewed Ted Rice (head of Marble) for The Beer Trale, http://www.thebeertrale.com, Leah was very accommodating and allowed us to roam freely in the brewhouse to observe, film and photograph the operation.
Ben Lolli is producing a series called The Beer Trale at http://www.thebeertrale.com, which is about the people behind craft beer. Ben worked for me in 2009 as one of a team of techs who inventoried technology in our local school district. He is on the road interviewing some of Albuquerque’s award winning breweries, and he asked me to help out with still photography and video. Last night we visited La Cumbre Brewery (http://lacumbrebrewing.com/aboutus.html) owned by Master Brewer Jeff Erway and his wife Laura — school teachers turned master brewers — who now produce award winning beer.
Taking a step back in time is dangerous for a paparazzo who got put in the stockade for a photo too far.
A slightly different view of the balloons.
This woman lighting up on her horse had a real model look about her that reminded me of the Marlboro Man.
Off Center & Not Even 