The grand canyon of sludge at the bottom my coffee cup is from the coffee I make daily. It really is all that it’s cracked up to be. Hmm! Looks like I need to clean my keyboard. The dribbles on the paper in front of my keyboard is a work in progress.

Santa landed on the corner of the I-25 offramp and Coal this afternoon, thanking God, proclaiming Jesus, while using Rudolph’s food dish to solicit money (Rudolph is his dog). It’s a sad comment on the state of the economy when Santa stoops to begging in Albuquerque — at least he chose a good corner to work, as traffic backs up starting at 3:30 pm as APS employees begin fleeing the Lincoln Complex.

Laurie snapped a photo of the clouds on our way in yesterday, and I got a shot of the sun setting on the volcanos on the way home tonight.  I would have like to have done a sunrise, Santa, sunset series today, but I was at the office well before sunrise this morning and didn’t get a chance to photograph it.

 

 

This was the state of the lovers late last night as they folded themselves up and kissed each other goodbye, before they dropped off onto the deck to dry out and eventually blow away. The lives of hibiscus blooms are short and intense, but they provide beauty, sustenance and pleasure to many creatures in the 48 hour cycle from when the candle bursts from the bud to when the flowers fold back up and drop to the ground.

I had one of those days were it seemed like everything caused some kind of frustration. Even in my short, 10 mile ride tonight the wind changed, so I had a head wind in both directions.

We got this hibiscus for our 29th wedding anniversary on May 29, 2011. It has bloomed daily since, many times having five or six large blooms. Even with the temperatures getting down to 42º F at night, it is still blooming and still has a lot of buds.

We will cut it back and bring inside,soon. They are supposed to winter over inside from October to March in zones colder that 9 and 10 (we are zone 6 where we are). From the various guides to hibiscus I perused, they are supposed survive light frost, but I’m not sure light frost at nearly sea level is the same as light frost at 5000 feet. However, they are apparently fairly hardy for tropical plants.

This bloom was actually near the ground, but the bush does get pretty tall.

I rode my bike 77 miles this week. Not bad for a cripple. I rode with Ro today and got in 30 miles, which was double the longest ride I had done since I started riding two weeks ago. Between biking, exercises and stretching, my back is slowly getting better.

 

 

Sundance, Gemini and Sorbet Bouquet were beautiful this afternoon.

 

 

A panorama of a rainbow Laurie took from the car on the way home yesterday.