Splash & Dash

Rise and shine the balloons are coming!

Splash and Dash are when pilots land their balloons in the Rio Grande and then take off again. The river is low enough right now that the gondolas can sit on the bottom of the river since there are only a few inches of water in most places. When the river is running higher, they truly “splash and dash”, or they risk getting carried away by the current if they linger in a higher, fast-flowing current. In 2015 one balloonist hit the water like a Kamikaze. You can see the post at https://photos.tandlphotos.com/blog/2015/10/splash-down. Today the pilots mostly sat their gondolas in the swallows for a few minutes before taking off again. Several balloons splashed in more than one location. The 5-minute video below shows balloons floating in for their splashes and dashes.

Contrails & Special Shapes

Dawn

Today was the special shapes rodeo. I did not see as many special shapes as in years past. Many of them barely rose above the trees and then went back down.

All the contrails for the morning jets.

Clouds are best at making special shapes.

Sunset

Birthday & Balloons

Today is Laurie’s birthday and the second day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta with a mass ascension.

One of the helium balloons taking off last night.

Coyote Convention

I stepped down onto the sandbar at Beaver Point last night and found myself in the middle of a coyote convention.

Click on a photo in the gallery to enlarge in a slide show.

This one took off on its own stepping over piles of trees and sticks left by the beavers.

He had to take a break to eat some grass and make silly faces while chomping on the grass. Click on the gallery for to enlarge the photos in a slide show.

STOP!

Søren. I know you tell the cats to “STOP” all the time and they don’t listen to you. What makes you think they can read?

Silver caught Cator Mortis from Loki. Glenda is the black cat in the foreground in the middle picture.

Sky views

Moon at sunset

Caw of the wild. I think this is a whiny juvenile crow.

These flowers grow from bulbs. They are like a cross between a Shasta Daisy and a sunflower.

A fine end to the day

Bottom Feeder

Swimming slithering snail’s pace slow
Sucks the bottom blindly
Searching shallow’s tasty treasures
Muddy water turns to gold
Trickling off iridescent scales
Flowing into golden ripples
Disturbs light chocolate color