Memorial Day 2020
May 25, 2020
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8 Comments
It is Memorial Day in these United States of America, which some days don't seem quite so united. The day was first celebrated on 5 May, 1866 in Waterloo, New York, as Decoration Day, to honor those who fought in the Civil War. It was officially named Memorial Day in 1966, as a solemn day to remember those who have perished in battle in all wars. N...
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flax not phlox
May 18, 2020
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As I continue to follow the seasons on the mesa, it would be remiss of me not to photograph and highlight the wild blue flax that pop up at will. Linum lewisii is a wildflower native to California but is found throughout the western United States. It is considered a grass, which I did not know and had not considered. I have photographed these beaut...
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back to blooms
May 11, 2020
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8 Comments
You have noticed by now that my blogs for the last couple of months have featured subjects I find around our place. Like many of you, we are mostly staying at home, but there is still ample material to photograph. Following the spring cycle of life, this week I photographed both the blue flax that just began to bloom, and the daffodils on the north...
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a man, his batteries, and a turkey baster
May 04, 2020
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6 Comments
The title of today's blog might indicate I have some sort of incredibly witty and creative video offering, but my still camera holds the creativity and thus, this blog is more of the technical sort.
Solar electricity is more popular than ever, with a wider variety of capabilities and more efficient options available now than twenty years ago when...
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phollowing the phlox
April 26, 2020
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7 Comments
One of the joys of spring is looking for and finding plants in bloom on the mesa. The 7,700+ foot altitude and limited moisture result in many early spring flowers that are diminutive ground huggers. Santa Fe phlox (Phlox nana) is one of those little jewels. This week, I followed the phlox that seem to have gotten just enough moisture at the right...
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ground work
April 20, 2020
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There are flowers of spring I await with great anticipation, because they are the sure signs of the season. And as if a timer went off, many of them appeared during the past week. I always do turns around the place, camera in hand, to see what is around.
The aspen trees started to put out "catkins" several weeks ago and they are in full flower now...
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simple and complex
April 13, 2020
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6 Comments
As all of us work our way through something akin to a Michael Crichton novel, my bet is that many are finding their kitchens again. Along with the ingredients some had not purchased in years because they didn't have time, for instance, to bake bread, there are other simple and complex things in the back of the cabinet or on the counter, awaiting re...
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life in an altered state
April 06, 2020
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10 Comments
Truckers still make their daily runs of hay in the early morning hours from the San Luis Valley in Colorado into New Mexico via U. S. Highway 285 to the dairy farms south of Roswell, returning in the late afternoon and evening. Others rumble down the blacktop to deliver fuel, and other food and goods, providing a life line to those of us who are st...
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March mash ups
March 30, 2020
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7 Comments
Here it is. The final Monday in March 2020. And what an incredible month it has been. Numbers of cases and unfortunately deaths from the corona virus keep rising in the United States and the world, but we rarely have seen a more breakneck pace at which innovation is happening. Incredible energy is being put into finding both therapeutics and a vacc...
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life continues
March 23, 2020
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5 Comments
I will be the first to admit that my journaling practice over the years has been inconsistent at best. Frequently non-existent, with the exception of my weekly blog. Times that baffle, confuse, sadden or anger me, like the two Gulf Wars, presidential elections, and wretched human conditions that are not addressed are the times I turn to writing. No...
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life and love in the time of corona
March 16, 2020
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4 Comments
To say that uncertainty, dread, and nervousness were the order of the day around the world this week, courtesy of the corona virus or COVID-19, is an understatement. It has been part of the news cycle for several months, but during the past two weeks, it nearly obliterated the 2020 political scene in the United States, with 24/7 interviews of and b...
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the color of hope
March 09, 2020
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"Italy starts week with north in virus lockdown", "Actor Max Von Sydow dies at 90", "U. S. trading halted as shares plunge around the world", "Lorry load of toilet paper on fire in Australia". Today's headlines, mixed with the off-kilter feeling resulting from the change to daylight saving time, definitely necessitated a colorful, bright, and hopef...
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March wonders
March 02, 2020
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One of the most common weather proverbs heard at this time of year is "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb." Today is the first Monday of March here on the mesa, and the lion is still lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce with a grab bag of conditions including rain, hail, snow, graupel, and especially wind. To a person, wind se...
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dressing the part
February 24, 2020
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4 Comments
Last week, complete with its March-like weather of rain, snow, and wind, along with both ice and mud on our road, was an excellent time for research. Our wonderful iMac is nearly ten years old, and although it does fill most of our computing needs, the system will no longer accept software and operating system updates. So there are several things w...
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highlighting the abstract
February 15, 2020
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I would call this time of year "late winter". There is more daylight each day in the northern hemisphere, and although there can and probably will be stormy weather, including snow, into May, it is gradually warming here on the mesa. Given that, I decided it might be a good idea to catch some of the intricate and varied reflections and refractions...
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© Daryl A. Black