late summer tidbits
September 18, 2016
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With a low temperature of 36 degrees fahrenheit this morning, September 18, skim ice sat on the water in one of the bird baths. Just an inkling that summer is about to take a bow and exit, allowing autumn to enter the stage. But wildflowers still abound, making this transition period all the more sweet. Here are a few "late summer tidbits".
This o...
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eye dazzlers
September 11, 2016
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Autumn in New Mexico and in many locations around the world can be considered eye dazzling. The colors and textures are a true feast. The term "eye dazzler" is also applied to brightly colored Navajo weavings made in the late 19th century using brightly dyed wool, and complex, geometric tapestry. But now and then, while re-examining details in phot...
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apples by the bushel
September 05, 2016
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Growing fruit in the Rocky Mountains, including New Mexico's southern Rockies, is dicey. Late spring and early autumn frosts, snow, wind, and drought are all hazards thrown forth by nature. But when the perfect conditions exist, and those hazards aren't part of the mix, some of the tastiest fruit ever explodes onto the scene by the bushel and ton....
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a new bean in town
August 27, 2016
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One of the most amazing things about humans is the ability to make something edible (not just edible but divine), out of a part of nature that seems disgusting. For instance, olives, coffee beans, soy beans, and the cocoa or cacao bean, if consumed straight from the tree or plant are either extremely bitter or undigestible. Like the production of w...
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beautiful distractions
August 22, 2016
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From babies to adults - mammals (including humans), birds, fish, insects - seem to love bubbles. Above ice (as shown here), in the air, in the water, in a container. Bubbles are the most beautiful distractions, taking our attention from the present into a micro-world contained therein in all its perfect glory. Because of past blogs, you know I have...
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Sunflowers
August 15, 2016
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Just as sure as the sun rises and sets, August ushers in the season of sunflowers. They line the roadways with New Mexico state flag gold. But just as certain is the fact that when the sunflowers grow to a specific height, Highway Department staff do their due diligence and mow the sides of the roads. So I knew that if I did not get out and photogr...
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Once more, for the aces
August 08, 2016
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Migration is one of the great wonders of nature. Particularly stunning is hummingbird migration. Why do they move from as far south as Guatemala and Mexico to the southwestern United States, New Mexico, and points north to breed? Are there more small insects here that provide protein for their chicks? Does the broader area provide the right tempera...
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new eyes
August 01, 2016
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"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust
Proust certainly had it right as far as artists of all stripes are concerned. Painters, including Peggy Immel, were on the streets of Taos last Friday doing the "Sunrise to Sunset" challenge. Exercises like these not only put the artist in...
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peripatetic
July 25, 2016
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Photographers, by nature, are peripatetic. Although the word is often used to describe teachers and professors walking back and forth, facing their students during class, the word is well-suited to photographers. We walk around a subject, in all directions, pointing our cameras toward the sky, toward the ground, looking over the subject, away from...
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Return of the Gingers
July 18, 2016
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With almost the same consistency as the returning broad-tailed hummingbirds around United States income tax filing time every April, the rufous hummingbirds generally arrive in mid-July, and proceed to make things really interesting at the feeders. This year, these gingers arrived early and in larger numbers than normal. Selasphorus rufus, both mal...
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our world
July 11, 2016
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Where do we go from here?
Any way you slice it, this week in America has been profound and distressing on almost every level. The sure sign of malaise is when comedians have trouble talking about the news. Certainly, George Carlin would have been able to do it. In fact, he may be whispering in our ears from another world. We fear for not only th...
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Jessica
July 02, 2016
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The photo shoot in ponderosa pine and aspen stands along Highway 64 west of Tres Piedras with Jessica Fry had me glued to the computer screen for a good part of the week, seeking the best and most compelling images from the group of nearly 300. Although roughly two-thirds were shot with my Nikon D5200, I was struck by the quality of the Nikon D800...
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multi-faceted
June 26, 2016
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The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word facet as "one side of something many-sided, especially of a cut gem". The word in itself is the definition of the subject of today's blog - Jessica Fry - who is indeed made up of many facets. She is a medical assistant, a dancer and performer, and a writer. In her own words, "I believe in magic in the...
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solstice
June 20, 2016
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120 degrees in Palm Springs, California. 116 degrees in Phoenix. 95 degrees here on the mesa yesterday at 7,800 elevation. And last week, it was 75 degrees in Nuuk, Greenland, which broke a heat record. It is June, it is hot, and it is Summer Solstice, which this year also includes a full moon. Sunrise was at 5:44 this morning and sunset is at 8:23...
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the mother lode...
June 12, 2016
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...of wild iris, that is.
I never know when we drive west on Highway 64 between Tres Piedras and Tierra Amarilla at this time of year whether the wild iris will be in bloom. Yes, the bloom happens sometime in June but precisely when depends on temperature, winter moisture, and spring rainfall. It is a guessing game. You just go in June and hope fo...
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© Daryl A. Black