Before Fred and I ventured into the high piñon, juniper and sagebrush mesa of Taos County, we lived for twenty years in Santa Fe.  Now, after twenty years in the Taos area, we have returned to New Mexico's capital city.  Many things have changed; some remain the same, and new explorations await.   It is still compelling and has much to offer.  

As I walk around our neighborhood, there is always something to see and photograph.  Several blogs ago, I featured a curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre).  Well, there is still a chick in the nest, almost the size of an adult, and looking dazed and confused with the world around it.  The parents, ever vigilant, always give me an extraordinary "look" as I investigate the progress.

Flowers of trumpet vines (Campsis radicans) that seem to grow very well in Santa Fe, are hard to miss with their orange-red and yellow flowers.

Decades ago, just out of interest after finishing my degree at UNM, I took a series of landscaping courses at Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute (TV-I).  It was geared toward formal landscaping, but I learned a few things about which vegetation (both native and imported) does well in the central to northern parts of New Mexico.  One of the trees that is the frequently-used Austrian black pine (Pinus nigra).  I believe the photograph below is of the needles and cones of that tree.  (And please, if that is incorrect, email me.)

I have heard from a number of friends and family members that they are missing close contact with their fellow humans, as are most of us.  In the duration of the pandemic, my hope is that each of you can explore and find elements of nature and life in general that fill those voids.  Thanks Lisa, Victoria, Wayne, Barbara, Claudia, Pauli, Catherine, Steve, Kay, Jean and Sam, Lawrence, and Sara for your comments this week.  

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image@