Water My World
I went out at 3:30 in the morning to put down the gate and let the irrigation water in. A half moon peaked out between the clouds, providing just enough light to get a photo of the gate in the main canal. The ditches I dug over the weekend worked really well to efficiently distribute the water where I needed it. The water was moving very slowly when I put down the gate, so it took over two hours before it ran over the gate to provide enough pressure to really push the water through through the ditches. I had good water pressure for about an hour before someone upstream took the water, but that was enough time to get almost everything watered thanks to my new ditch system.
Carousel in Arles
I was reminded that I had photographed carousels in France last year while looking at West517’s post Carousel Magique today. She asked if I had posted any of the photos of carousels. I couldn’t remember, and when I went back and looked, I hadn’t even processed these photos of a carousel in Arles. I found this carousel particularly interesting for both the variety of objects and animals, and how they depict the local cultural events and natural and historical interests of the area. The same day I took these photos, I also got photos of Roman ruins in Arles and wild flamingos on the Rhône Delta.
Easter Morning
I got a nice drive-by sky on the way to the Shrine of the Little Flower, St. Thérèse and the Infant Jesus Catholic Church for Easter service Easter Morning. While we were in France last summer we went to various Catholic Churches in Provence and Paris and really liked the French services. We went to a service at St. Thérèse in early March that Suzette sang in, and we liked the church. St. Thérèse was French, the church has stained glass from France, and Reverend Chavez lived and worked for many years in Europe, so there is a “French Connection” at St. Thérèse that we liked. The 10:00 am service was packed (standing room only), the sermon was fantastic and the music (guitar accompinament) was very good.
Digging Ditches
I dug over 60 meters (about 180 feet) of ditches yesterday afternoon to make irrigating more efficient — we can irrigate every other Tuesday if there is water in the ditch. The areas that need to be watered most are furthest from the main canal, so the new ditches I dug will route the ditch water more directly to the end of the property that needs to be watered, by-passing the other areas. In past years, I’ve had real problems with only getting water about halfway to where I needed it before someone else took the water.
We have a larger variety of tulips blooming now — the tulips are not planted in areas that get irrigated (I water them with a drip system) so they are happy to bloom. The dry air doesn’t seem to bother them too much, but the hard frost makes them droop in the early morning hours until the sun warms them up, and they open again.
Head-on
SURPRISE! At La Orilla and Coors.
Reflections on Fashion Friday
A quick photo session before we were out the door.
Drive-By Through the Looking Glass
Bloody Moon Shot
I woke up at 1:50 am, stumbled out of bed and checked the moon, which was bloody red. I grabbed my camera, ran outside into the sub-freezing, 20º F temperature, and took a few shots at the moon. The reflections off the filter on my lens, together with my state of being at 1:55 am produced some pretty funky photos of the full lunar eclipse in the wee hours of the morning. Earlier in the evening I had gone out and photographed the moonrise and got a decently clear closeup of the full moon.
The Dog Pedaler
A guy pedaling along on his low-rider bike, his dog in tow, on old Route 66 in downtown Albuquerque.
Off Center & Not Even 