
Slowly turning kaleidoscopes
Dawn scrambled colors on grated clouds
Purples hang under shades of blues
Over orange laid on yellow
Grass seeds framed a naked tree
Dancing in the amber light
Contrail splits the lavender sky


The moon and Jupiter in a cracked sky
Amy Rose at Heaven On Earth commented: “So it seems you are becoming one who is hooked on astronomy.” I answered: “I’m always photographing the sky these days. That’s one of the most interesting things in my limited travels…” Since we moved out of downtown that was a longer commute and there were always photo opportunities, and since we presented papers at conferences remotely because of covid restrictions, almost all of my photography is from our property, the bosque, and the river. That includes a lot of sky photos day and night. Fortunately, we have interesting skies that are rarely the same, and the moon, planets, and stars are always changing positions and providing interesting challenges.
Dawn
The moon and Jupiter with close together this morning.
Prickly Pear
Oxymorons: Spunk being sweet. The pTerodactyl stared me down on the levee.
The Rio Grande reflecting once again
Storm over the Sandias
Mermaid was happy after we finally got a decent rain last night.
We had a thunderstorm that started yesterday afternoon and rained late into the night producing 0.54 inches (1.4 cm) of rain. A happy Mermaid put on several blooms this morning.
Glenda on the deck, listening to the rain.
Morning clouds after the storm at sunrise.
Can you see Marina’s “Incognito” Pear Tree?
After totally clear skies all day yesterday, a few clouds gathered at dusk for the painter to paint.
Peter with a moon halo last night.
I walked outside to photograph the moon and got clouds covering the moon. Maybe it will clear up later so I can get the moon.
The owlets were banking on the top of the levee and down on the bank along the clearwater ditch last night. Paul flew up into a tree on the other side of the Clearwater ditch and Mama Owl brought him something to eat and then flew off to go back to Wowlmart as quickly as she flew in. When it was almost dark Mama Owl came back with either a bat or a mouse. She perched close to me just long enough for me to get a photo of her, then she took off at warp speed.
Jupiter is making its way around Mars in the center of the photo. Venus is just rising on the left and Saturn is on the right. There was a nice alignment of stars that are at the top of the photo.
Since our cover over the deck was looking like it would rip anytime in the wind, Laurie suggested that we put a permanent roof on the canopy over the deck for our anniversary. We had thought about it for years but never did it. I ordered the supplies Sunday morning and picked them up Sunday afternoon. I started working on the roof at 7:00 am this morning and ran out of screws and energy at 7:00 pm. The vented part of the roof took a lot longer to build than I had anticipated. All my joints are complaining tonight.
Twelve hours of work with only water breaks.
Our pink Peony is blooming
I spied this beautiful rose hidden in the bush when I was on the ladder.
A spray of our anniversary Petunias
We had our 9th Annual Corrales Rose Society Dr. Huey Tour this afternoon after I went to a “hanging” to help Susan Graham hang her photos at the NM Cancer Center for a Gallery with A Cause show titled “On the Rise – Artists in Early and Mid-Career.” I also helped another artist hang her paintings. She was by herself. Susan and I discovered it’s hard to hang the art and get it right as per the curator who didn’t give particularly clear instructions. When I came out of the restroom after washing my hands, I noticed the artist was starting to rearrange her paintings after the curator had set them where she wanted the paintings. I told the artist not to change the order of her paintings or she would have to rehang them. After Susan and I were done hanging Susan’s photographs, and Susan was waiting for final approval, I noticed the artist having a little trouble hanging her paintings. I went down and helped her. It’s a two-person job to hang artwork and get everything aligned and spaced properly.
I had been to the Cancer Center a week ago for my annual checkup, but it turned out to be my last checkup. My doctor said the scan was clear and my immune system was almost up to normal numbers, so he fired me as a patient. No more scans or checkups unless I get symptoms.
For new followers, Dr. Huey is the rootstock used to graft roses in the western United States. Corrales is a cold spot. A lot of roses freeze at the bud unions in the winter killing the rose grafted to the rootstock. Dr. Huey is cold hardy and drought tolerant. Once the bud union is dead Dr. Huey grows. Therefore, there are many Dr. Hueys growing in Corrales. Starting in 2014, we had done an annual tour of Dr. Hueys in Corrales or simply on our property since we have more Dr. Hueys every year.
We have a lot more Dr. Hueys this year because we had a cold and very dry winter. I was not able to water much during the winter because it never warmed up enough for the hoses to thaw. So we lost more roses over the winter.
Most rosarians don’t like Dr. Huey, but Laurie, Susan, and I love Dr. Huey. It only blooms once, but when Dr. Huey blooms it produces a lot of beautiful red roses with yellow centers. While many of our other roses are struggling due to the drought, Dr. Huey is thriving. Rosarians who live in other parts of the country that don’t have harsh climates like New Mexico can be snobs and hate rootstock roses, but Laurie, Susan, and I appreciate any rose that can thrive in New Mexico, and Dr. Huey is thriving.
A large Dr. Huey along Corrales Road.
Well Hung
Thirteen of sixteen photos Susan has in the show.
Paul flew over to the trees between the ditches leaving Mary behind. Daddy owl was keeping an eye on Mary. We didn’t see Peter in the trees between the ditches, so we presume he flew over to the Bosque. We’ll have to go over and see if we can find him in the Bosque. Given the rate of growth and flying, the owlets might have each hatched a week apart.
The wind blew clouds through for a decent sunset.
Venus, Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn among the star, shining through thin clouds and smoke.
A Jake-In-The-Box
Lizard
Western Bluebirds of happiness
Iris
Blue Iris
Mother’s Day roses: Neil Diamond looks like Scentimental. Anna’s Promise, and Vavoom.
Ketchup & Mustard and Vavoom.
Beaker
Søren
Ring around the moon
It’s half the moon it used to be!