We got our first snow of 2014. Even in color, the snow on the black bamboo makes a B&W photo. My B&W panorama of the Sandias taken through the windshield while driving on Alameda is “not even”, and the last photo is looking west at the volcanos from Lomas and I-25.
Snow, snowmen, and wintery landscapes at sunset.
All of our kitties, with the exception of Diné, made at least one attempt to go out in the snow. Rosencrantz was the most rambunctious snow kitty, making several laps around the house throughout the day, running wild, and kicking up snow with his kitty heels. Guildenstern made it to the edge of the steps before making a u-turn and coming back inside. Mama Manx got to the bottom of the steps before she decided to come back up the steps and bring a few snow flakes inside.
Winter is upon us with cold temperatures, snow flurries, cloudy skies and gray light. The Sandias have been covered with clouds most of the day, and even with the thermostat set at 70 F (21 C), it felt cold in the house all day without the sun shinning through the windows.
We got a lot of wind and dust on Monday, and sporadic rain, wind, snow, and hail yesterday, making the light really strange at sunrise and sunset. I think some places in the metro area might of got measurable precipitation, but it didn’t register on our rain gage. “¡Cuatro gotas!” (not much rain) as the Spaniards would say — just enough to leave muddy rain drops all over our cars.
We had a stormy Saturday that produced a lot of clouds, wind, and few snow flurries and but basically not precipitation at our place. Despite the weather, I managed to get half of the iris I had to dig up for the electrical upgrade planted, watered the tulips that are starting to come up, got a door installed on the study, and made it out to get photographs of the stormy day. I am feeling quite productive today.
I got a text message from UNM LoboAlerts Emergency Messaging at 5:00 am this morning alerting me that UNM-MAIN CAMPUS and UNM WEST were on a 2-hour delay due to weather conditions. I peered through condensation on the window, and it looked pretty white outside. After I got up I could see we had about an inch of snow. Rosencrantz went right out to play in the snow, but didn’t stay out long, as I found him looking in the window trying to get my attention a few minutes later. I made him earn his way back inside by making him wait until I got a good shot of him before opening the door. Rosencrantz shot back in past Guildenstern who had to survey the situation before he decided to go out an walk around in the snow.
We picked up Tristan on the Westside on our way into school, and not a flake of snow had fallen west of Coors Road. Tristan said she was quite confused by the LoboAlert, but when we got to UNM at 9:00am there was about 3 inches of snow on the cars and Johnson Field. Staff who live on the Eastside closer to the mountains said they had about 4 inches of snow, and there was general mayhem on the roads as cars and trucks slid toward I-25.
There were a lot of band tour buses parked out behind the office this afternoon, so I looked up on the Sunshine Theater’s schedule to see who was playing tonight. As usual I had never heard of or heard any of the groups listed, so I looked up samples of their music on Youtube. The first group in the list is Emmure and the music video I chose at random was what I would call hyper-grunge with caveman lyrics, although to be fair, cavemen were probably much more clear and articulate. After a few painful seconds on listening to Emmure, I looked up Whitechapel, the next group on the list, and the random song I chose sounded just like the song I listened to by Emmure. I had to do a double take to make sure I hadn’t reloaded Emmure — I hadn’t. Obey The Brave and The Plot In You also sounded the same to me. If I got it right, these bands tour together as Brothers of Brutality and from the snippets of the songs I listened to, they are brutal.
I guess I’m getting too old, because I don’t know why the groups want to subject themselves to themselves, or why anyone else, of any age, would want to subject themselves to the Brothers of Brutality, but there is an appeal that goes beyond both my understanding and sensitivities. I left the office a little after 5:00 pm tonight, a bit later than I had intended since I was supposed to pick up Laurie and Tristan at school at 5:00 pm. When I walked out the door the cold hit me like a stinging slap on my face, and I shivered as I walked to the car. While I was sitting at the light at 2nd and Gold, I got a text from Laurie that read “Hypothermia!” The light turned green and as I drove by the Sunshine theater, I noticed that many of the kids who waiting in line for The Brothers of Brutality concert were wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts, and many of the girls who were wearing jeans had slits all over them and plenty of flesh exposed to the cold air. Maybe being brutalized by the elements is a required to properly experience The Bothers of Brutality? Call me old, call me a prude, but it’s much too brutal and mysterious for me.
We got a little snow before I went to class at UNM this afternoon, then the clouds broke up for a couple of hours, regrouped and it started snowing again. We got over an inch in Corrales, and I drove most of the way home in a blizzard. The storm let up as I got on the west side of Albuquerque, where I was able to get a panorama of it snowing on the east side. The snow had hardly settled on a wall at UNM before a student walked in it.
Off Center & Not Even 