in your face gold
July 20, 2025
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7 Comments
One of the most interesting and extremely subtle things about Santa Fe and northern New Mexico at this time of year, is that there is almost always a day when I say to myself "it feels like autumn is coming." Usually in late July or early August, there is an odd sense that we are moving into another season. And it doesn't always have to be the temp...
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wildflowers in the city
July 13, 2025
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5 Comments
Apparently, my obsession with flowers got the best of me again. This time, it was a small wildflower garden near the Old Santa Fe Trail side of the PERA building in downtown Santa Fe. Knowing how hard it can be to grow a mix of flowers and have it appear to be a perfect, Impressionistic field, I was blown away by how well-tended and beautiful it is...
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in praise of pollen and pollinators
July 07, 2025
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It can be a dirty word. Some of you may have looked at today's blog title and uttered numerous and less than complimentary words about pollen. But despite what it does to our noses, throats, lungs, and eyes seasonally, pollen and pollinators literally make the world go around. We may not see it all the time, but at certain times of year, the lovely...
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500 pieces
June 29, 2025
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9 Comments
One could call it kismet, happenstance, or coincidence, but in May, 2003, something happened that would change my husband, Fred's life (and by association, mine) forever. It started out as a lovely visit from Fred's older sister to our relatively new house in Taos County. We had gotten into the habit of taking guests from near and far across the be...
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on every corner...
June 23, 2025
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7 Comments
...in every median, in every yard they appear. Almost as ubiquitous as Russian thistles or tumbleweeds for which the desert Southwest is famous, carried by the wind to every available inch of ground, hollyhocks are definitely having their own moment. Mind you, the needs of these glorious plants are a bit of a mystery to me since they seem to place...
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signs of the times, part II
June 15, 2025
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At the end of February, I put on my photo journalist's hat and photographed the "Not My President" rally in Santa Fe. Here we are, almost four months on and I found myself at yet another rally at New Mexico's capital building, with yet another theme, even more people, this time sweating instead of shivering. Many people with whom I have spoken have...
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the beginning of the end
June 09, 2025
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2 Comments
It was 6 June 1944 - D Day. In almost the same way that "a date which will live in infamy" - 7 December 1941 - became synonymous with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Allied invasion of the beaches in Normandy, France, is historically considered the beginning of the end of World War II in Europe. Last Friday was the 80th anniversary of that massive...
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spines and blooms
June 01, 2025
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The winter of 2024-25 did not offer much in the way of moisture across New Mexico. There was a huge flood near Dexter in the south eastern part of the state in October. And Santa Fe and parts north had a substantial snowfall in November. But beyond that, there were dribs and drabs. Until the third week in April and into mid-May, when the northern p...
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flower of the day
May 25, 2025
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6 Comments
Memorial Day 2025. Flags are flying everywhere and flowers lay on the graves or headstones of those who died fighting for this country and democracy. I will see those later today at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe. But the flowers highlighted in this blog have their own role in bringing smiles to people's faces just because of their complicated b...
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masters of the air
May 18, 2025
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4 Comments
Living in the sagebrush biome for over twenty years tends to fine-tune one's senses. It is extraordinarily mesmerizing in color, smell, structure, and wildlife. Making time during the day just to let our eyes scan the tops of mile after mile of sagebrush in the same way one looks at ocean waves was nature's meditation. The sagebrush ecosystem "is t...
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design appreciation
May 12, 2025
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Two brothers - Terry and Renny Russell - set out to discover the rugged wilds and themselves during another fraught time in United States history when the Vietnam War was raging, and free spirits and hippiedom were rampant. In 1967, their experiences and photographs became a wonderful jewel of a Sierra Club book titled On the Loose. The statement "...
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nothing like it
May 05, 2025
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6 Comments
As far as tulips are concerned, the slot in my brain's drive of early memories that includes flowers is vacant. However, when grocery stores began carrying flowers of all kinds in arrangements and bouquets, tulips were almost always included. A tulip is a near-perfect cut flower, progressing from an oblong shape opening to a bowl, and lasting a rel...
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blooming
April 28, 2025
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4 Comments
Despite the wind and dust that is typical this time of year in the southern Rocky Mountains, nature's bloom cycle continues. While living farther north in New Mexico, a regular photographic pilgrimage to the area in and around the mountain pass off of Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla was part of life. It was the time when the wil...
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a beautiful planet
April 21, 2025
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3 Comments
Tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 April, is Earth Day. This year's celebrations world wide will be the 55th anniversary of the event, founded by Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson. 1970 was a heady year in America, with non-stop protests against the Vietnam war, and less than two weeks later, four unarmed students were killed at Kent State University in Ohio by...
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fragrance remembered
April 13, 2025
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6 Comments
There is something to be said about fragrance and its impact on memory. From year to year, I photograph the seasons as they change. Each time I photograph flowering fruit trees in the spring, I walk into the midst of blossoms, hear hundreds of bees as they fly from blossom to blossom, and the fragrance hits me. Yes. This is why I come back to them...
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© Daryl A. Black