Wed morning

Overhead, cranes headed south to the bosque, calling to each other

I'll fly away, Oh Glory, I'll fly away...

and the goldfinches showed up again in the sunflowers for their Halloween treats.

Lights at night

This past Thursday night, just before complete fullness, from the top of the hill

and this one, taken Saturday night, Halloween decorations in the front yard (not my front yard, though I admired the spirit of this one)

Goldfinches!

in the Maximilian's sunflowers!

eating the seed!

Issues

That's what they call them where I work. And I don't mean magazines. What I have is some serious anger issues with my mother about the way my father was treated and with that preacher that she wanted for his (really her) funeral.

So to deal with that, I do what I do -- look up info and write. If you go back in the archives, you'll see that I started a more complete obituary for Daddy. Today I pulled up info on writing a good eulogy, something that preacher wouldn't know if it grabbed him by both ears. I should mail copies of this to him, along with an explanation of eulogies.

I found the poem that should have been read at the funeral. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas. I thought of my father the very first time I read it.

potential?

perhaps, or just gone to seed

Fun in the break room

"I'm melllllltttttinnnnnggg..."

OK, so maybe I amuse only myself.

Beautiful symmetry

The blushing pink hurricane lily, found at our place in Grand Chenier, as seen from above.

Just perfect, isn't it?

I got nuttin'

playing around with effects in Picasa. It's Friday and I must go.

Blasted Cottonwood tree

as seen from the Railrunner this morn

getting better, yes?

A warm and pleasant place

Through this window you can see one of my favorite places.

not just the location but the companionship

Sun at Six O' Clock

Here's the afternoon sun, as seen through the screen on the window from the sixth floor.

Pretty and powerful; I had sunspots for half an hour after taking this one.

Fall colors in my backyard, part 1

Working backwards, from the east side where we have a contemplative moment

to the south side, where the Maximilian's sunflowers are going rapidly to seed.

Fall colors, part 2

Close-up of Virginia creeper

a very ornamental sumac. I wish I had more of this one; it's just wonderfully tough and beautiful, too.

Chamisa, blooming up a storm of golden stars

and the lovely and prolific purple asters

Fall colors in my backyard, Part 3

There's lots of loveliness left, I just don't have enough time to fully appreciate it.

This is apache plume.

Sage??? I knew this one when I planted it, but can't recall the name now.

Here's purple basil, with some parsley and Virginia creeper in the background.

The last of the Maximilian's sunflowers. Here's a late bloomer if I ever saw one.

Fun on Sunday

I love my little excursions to Truth or Consequences. This is Thai massage, sort of like having someone do your yoga stretches for you. Olga was very happy and answered all our questions.

Afterward, I did feel limbered up, but I was glad I'd had a soak in the big pool at Hay-Yo-Kay before participating in this demonstation.

There were free soaks this weekend at Hay-Yo-Kay, La Paloma, Riverbend and the Pelican Spa. Each place has something special to commend it: the long pool at Hay-Yo-Kay, the climbing rope at La Paloma, the river views from the outdoor bath at Riverbend and the wonderful colors and depth of the tubs at Pelican. It was all very good indeed.

Fri morn, early

As Jean said, Well worth getting up for...so many glorious balloons filling the sky

I swear this horse knew when I was taking his picture. He was absolutely wonderful and had a very flashy gait. I was told he's a Percheron. He reminded me of the story of Dapplegrim and Dapplegrey.

Another ending

My Uncle Conway LeBleu died sometime this morning. Sonny McCall died the month before Daddy. This has been a time of great loss for the family.



Another sad trip to the McCall Cemetery in Grand Chenier.

Balloons over ABQ, from Pavilion sixth floor

Sharpened, saturated, contrasted and glowed per jsf's sage advice

thinking about Grand Chenier

but not able to go there anymore...here's a buckskin like Big Tony, one of Daddy's horses

typical Louisiana ditch, post-hurricane, still full of stuff that'll be there until the next one

in the living/dying room at Mama's house, seen thru the window, Mama watching TV

maybe not in the best of hands, but what I could do

fireworks from the top of the hospital parking garage on the Fourth of July

I was so afraid Mama was going to put him in a nursing home, but Jean saved him.

The end of his journey

My father, finally back in Grand Chenier

where our home was, seen from where Grandma's house was

Sunday departure

at the mass ascension early Sunday morning...

it was very cold...

lots of balloons went up...

Afterward, we took Timothy to the airport.

Trinity Site Saturday

The obelisk marks the detonation site.

This was the only indication of radiation anywhere. It was posted facing out on the chain-link fence surrounding what was the crater.

This is the farmhouse where the bomb was assembled.

There was a bunker where the original surface of the crater was visible, but that was blocked off and locked up. At the farmhouse, we weren't allowed to go to the old barn and corrals. Still, it was interesting and because of what happened here, an impressive unimpressive place.

from the Trinity Site visit

looking out from the farmhouse where the bomb was assembled

the gate we walked through to get to the farmhouse

lifting our eyes unto the hills

seen around ABQ on Friday

This is the Truly Nolen mousemobile. The first time I saw one of these zooming down the road I couldn't believe my eyes. You can't tell from this picture, but they not only have mouse ears, they have a tail, too. Hilarious.

I went up to the La Luz trail to drop Raj off for his hike, and pulled off to take a few pictures. This one is eerily prescient of what happened later.

I heard a car door slam, so I headed back to the car to see who was there. Lo and behold, there was a park official, writing me up for "blocking the road". I thought it was a pull-off, there were absolutely no "No Parking" signs anywhere and the first thing I saw on the ground when I got out of the car were two used condoms on the side of the road -- not exactly indicative of a public thoroughfare.

Not what I wanted to experience on my day off.