December 9, 2010
Softly the evening came. The sun from the western horizon
Like a magician extended his golden want o’er the landscape;
Trinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and forest
Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
November 8, 2010
Los Dias de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead – is a day that celebrates death.
Yesterday evening, Don and I went to the annual Día de los Muertos Marigold Parade here in Albuquerque’s South Valley, where we live.
Los Dias de los Muertos is a Mexican custom that celebrates loved ones who have died.
Family members and friends put pictures of the deceased on flower-strewn altars, often accompanied by their favorite food or things. See the photo of the gentleman in the lower left hand corner of the picture below?
Skull images symbolize both death and rebirth.
The amount of color in the parade was surprising and beautiful.
October 17, 2010
Every September and October, the Albuquerque Maize Maze comes to life.
Don and I spent a glorious fall afternoon yesterday exploring the seven-acre corn maze. This year’s maze depicts wildlife found in Albuquerque and is called Coyote Magic.
We wandered leisurely through the maze for a couple of hours.
The maze is precisely cut by GPS technology. Very cool.
Morning glories were everywhere. They took my breath away.
Beautiful.
September 23, 2010
It rained like hell yesterday. We had two inches between noon and 5 pm, and it was still raining when we went to bed last night. Gads.
As we were rushing around yesterday evening to make sure everyone would be warm and safe and dry for the night (my mantra… everyone MUST be warm and safe and dry), look at what we discovered in the goat stall.
Three beautiful, perfect guinea eggs. A couple of guineas from next door seem to have moved in over the last week or so.
We’re totally okay with that and figure their eggs were the silver lining in yesterday’s clouds. ♥
9/23 Note for Posterity: Meteorologists recorded 1.74 inches of rainfall at the Albuquerque International Sunport – the greatest amount in one day Since October 22, 1969.
August 15, 2010
There’s lots of excitement in New Mexico right now. It’s green chile harvest time.
Everywhere we go for the next few weeks, sacks of green chile will abound.
And we’ll see and smell it being roasted. The smell of green chile roasting is a beautiful thing. It makes you feel alive!
Yesterday was the first time we bought a sack of our own and had it roasted.
30 pounds of freshly picked green chiles were put into the chile roaster…
The fire was turned on…
…and the drum turned the green chiles over the fire for about four minutes. Then the chiles were rinsed…
…which created steam… sorry, no smoke for the challenge…
…and the end result of beautifully roasted green chiles.
Life is good. ♥
August 12, 2010
Today’s forecast in Albuquerque is 95 degrees and mostly sunny. And snow.
From where does the snow fall, you wonder?
Have a peek up in the cottonwood tree across the way from us.
What we’re just now starting to see fall is the seeds from the fruits of this lovely tree.
It’s the fluffy white seeds of female cottonwoods that give the tree its name. And sure, they’re annoying and they make a mess. Without a doubt, we’ll find piles of seeds everywhere over the next few weeks.
We’ll get over it though. As summer changes to fall at Morning Bray Farm, the leaves of our cottonwoods will turn bright yellow, creating a remarkable contrast with our clear blue autumn skies. We won’t remember the snow then. ♥
August 8, 2010
The downtown Albuquerque grower’s market each Saturday morning between June and October is one of the many reasons I LOVE summer.
Funny sign.
Everything is so beautiful…
So colorful…
And so fresh and alive.
Hello, green chile… It’s so good to see you again. ♥
August 3, 2010
This time of year, watching monsoon clouds gather over Albuquerque is an almost daily occurrence.
The monsoon is our summer rainy season. It runs from about late June or early July until mid-September, and generally brings us about 40 percent of our annual rainfall.
I began a new love affair at the beginning of this year’s monsoon. How did I ever live without gumboots?
Several of the boys’ favorite spots have turned into cesspools these last couple of weeks. This corner of the corral is was the donkey place to be, thanks to the fine sand that Lenny dug out when he built his nest. Until the monsoon started, this was prime real estate for donkey rolling at Morning Bray Farm.
Not so much now. This is so cool though. I’ve never been okay with walking in green funk before.
Lenny is constantly making changes to his abode based on current conditions. We’re wondering if the Army Corps of Engineers is hiring, because Lenny is an engineering genius. He built himself a levee. ♥
July 20, 2010
Whenever the pressure of our complex city life thins my blood and numbs my brain, I seek relief in the trail; and when I hear the coyote wailing to the yellow dawn, my cares fall from me – I am happy.
-Hamlin Garland
I had never seen a live coyote before moving to New Mexico. At Morning Bray Farm, we see coyotes every now and then and hear them almost every night.
For the last several days, what looks to be the same coyote has been coming around. I suspect she has pups somewhere nearby.
As I thought about her yesterday, I realized I’m really happy.
I love the magic of this place. ♥
July 14, 2010
We visited the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park with my dad over the weekend. The park is about eight miles from us, and like Morning Bray Farm, is located in what we call the bosque, otherwise known as our cottonwood forest. The park has 270 acres of woods, meadows and farmland.
Would you look at that? Lenny was there. He blends so brilliantly into the landscape.
Evidence of beavers.
And turtles, which made us Marylanders feel right at home. Go Terps!
I loved watching the geese. They’re so full of personality.
♥
Morning Bray Farm 
