Can you guess where I am instead? A mountain range with a cotton field in front of it.

The sky above.


And below these fluffy bolls of cotton!







Here is another photo clue since I don’t think you could guess from just cotton.


A field of ready-to-harvest red chilies.




And pecans too, still on the tree!




Harvesting chilies.



We’re in Las Cruces, New Mexico! Just about as far south as you can go and still be in New Mexico. If I was a bird I could fly 40 miles due south of here and be in Mexico! I am staying with Rick’s parents while he has business for three days in a town about an hour and a half north of here. I am trying to eat as much Mexican food as possible and completely avoid Italian restaurants or food! So far, so good.


Click on a picture to enlarge it!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Yesterday afternoon I was walking into the office and this caught my eye out the window.

When I first saw it out of the corner of my eye I thought: owl. No, not an owl. A hawk. Quite a large one, too. Waiting for some unsuspecting little bird to come down to the bird feeding area. Take a closer look:

I got out the normal bird book and nothing matched. Hawks are really hard to identify since they can have different plumage at different times of year, whether or not they are immature or adult, male or female of the species. So, I turned to my Peterson’s Field Guide for Hawks and I believe I can property identify this one as a Cooper’s Hawk. Immature and most likely a male.

Here it compares three hawks to one another: the Cooper’s Hawk is in the middle (immature and female.) The call-outs are what identifies this hawk in particular. And they match! It calls attention to the white tip on the rounded tail; the square appearing head. Also important in identification is the eye color. And, if you’re trying to identify any bird, make sure the map shows it living in your area before you go any further!

Now why would I have a field guide dedicated to only hawks you might ask? Well, many years ago while living in Ft. Collins I took a class on Raptors through the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program. (Raptor is just another term used to described “birds of prey.”)  They used to be an extension of CSU, but now I think they are on their own. They rehabilitate injured hawks (and other raptors) and, when they can, release them back in to the wild. Some are not releasable and they live out their lives at the center.

It was a fascinating course! I had thought I would volunteer at the center feeding the birds but I just couldn’t bring myself to chop up mice!

If you don’t believe that these birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, I urge you to watch this video link below which includes incredible footage of a Harpy Eagle and you will see what I mean. Look at the sharp beak made for ripping and tearing, the huge talons, the eyes. This video clip lasts about six minutes and has other things of interest too. All shot with a Phantom HD camera (or course!) The Harpy appears at about 2:20 in to the video. If you’ve never seen one, please watch. Such a beautiful creature, but very prehistoric looking. They are also the national bird of Panama, and no I didn’t see one when we were there!

Harpy Eagle

I don’t know what got in to the trees but all of a sudden they are changing like crazy. In two days they’ve gone from looking blah to looking like autumn. I drove up to Warwick to return something and I couldn’t believe the amount of color just since Sunday when we were last there. So pretty! I needed a camera in my forehead to snap photos as I drove by.

It’s been drizzling all morning, and after I came home I decided the dogs needed a walk since they were bouncing off the walls. A little rain wouldn’t hurt us! I’ve been taking all three together instead of just Alex and Hailey and then coming back and doing it all over again with Bella. Bella pulls so hard! But somehow when I have all three Bella is much better. It works, much to my surprise.

Some of the leaves in the road caught my attention, so after putting the dogs in the house I grabbed the camera and headed back out. The black “canvas” of the street sets off their colors.

I thought this one looked like a red chili pepper!

And this one like the feather of a tropical bird.

Raindrops caught plunking into puddles.

I’m still not sure about this autumn and its show of colors. We are supposed to get heavy rains tonight so that will certainly not help. Then, this weekend we are expecting very windy weather. I don’t think the poor trees have much of a chance of attending the autumn masquerade ball in full regalia.

Don’t cry little burning bush, there’s always next year!

Not sure as in not sure what I am going to say or what this blog post is really going to be about. I have no new pics to share. Not much happening with fall color this year. I think the trees are water logged. Our color, which is usually spectacular, I don’t think is going to happen. Many trees have already dropped their leaves, never mind the whole changing bit. It’s like they’ve given up. Too much rain. When I mentioned it to Rick he said exactly what I had not thought about before. It’s like when you over-water your plants in the house: what happens? The leaves drop and fall off. Kind of the scenario we have going on here. Very sad. I look out the window to leaves drifting down ever so slowly all day long that have not even changed yet. It’s truly unfortunate as we usually have the most beautiful autumns/falls. I have my doubts about this year.

As I type Rick is on his way to LA, CA. I probably haven’t mentioned it because basically I not supposed to be broadcasting this, but given my blog is now private it doesn’t really matter. Remember last year when the company Rick works for was awarded Ms. Emmy? Well, this year Rick’s goal was to get them nominated for an Oscar, which he somehow managed to accomplish. So now, tonight, he is on his way to a do a presentation as to exactly why their cameras deserve an Oscar. We are truly bummed that Ms. Emmy (the statue) won’t be meeting up Mr. Oscar (the statue) to have any kind of meaningful relationship together. It seems that they only award the Oscar statute to those so-underserving-Hollywoood-stars/starlets and not to the technology field that runs the show. Only a “plaque” or a “certificate” is the best they can hope for. Still, an awesome accomplishment. I am so proud of my hubby for pushing through to even get the nomination! Go Rick!

Neighbor Aileen and I went to the yarn store today (an hour’s drive away) to get yarn for different projects. I cannot reveal mine because of certain people who may be a recipient of my knitting efforts. Suffice it to say we were both successful. Before heading out I went over to visit Aileen’s newest member of her barnyard. (In case you don’t remember I get fresh eggs from her chickens.) Meet Ollie, the miniature pig!

I swear, he is the cutest darn thing I think I have even seen. Personality with an A+. When we went down to see him he was in his little dog house (or is that piggy house?) and he was so wrapped around the blanket he had in his little house that he was all tangled up and couldn’t get out. He was making little piggy noises and as Aileen tried unwrapping him from his blanket prison he squealed and squeaked. Poor little guy! When she tried to pick him up, well, he squealed like a pig, what else? I was totally enamored of Ollie at this point.  Such a cutie!

I am also not sure of the weather. It’s been in the 80’s for two days now. Pretty strange. Supposedly (and hopefully) dipping back down into normal range temps for the rest of this week. Too hot folks! The only difference between these temps in the summer and this time of year is that is cools down significantly in the evening so our air conditioning remains where it should be this time of year: OFF. Enough of those kinds of temps. Really.

However, we still have cicadas going at night. What is up with that? I don’t think we’ve ever heard them this late in the year. Maybe all the rain stopped them from finding mates. Who knows? It’s been strange for sure.

Also not sure (yet) but I may be doing some volunteer work that combines horses (which I used to love being around) and children with disabilities. More on that after I explore the situation more. It could be really good for me.

I have more things tonight that I am not sure about, but those will have to wait for a different post.

Right now the only thing I am sure about is that I have not slept well for the past several nights. So, on to a decent night’s sleep!

Early morning shadows on the bathroom wall and door from the wood blinds. Weird, huh?

As I sit here this morning in front of my computer I have no idea what I am going to say. I just feel like I should be here writing. Something. Anything.

I am working on a blog post about the cabin and the land around it but it’s more complicated than I thought it would be. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to anyone who has never been there. I’ll keep at it.

When I told a friend yesterday that I was having trouble navigating my own house because I kept thinking I was at the cabin and would go to the drawer here at home thinking it was the silverware drawer, only to find that it wasn’t. She scolded me with a “but Lynne you were only gone two weeks!” It’s hard to describe to someone the amount of immersion we experience. It’s not like going on vacation to a motel or resort. It’s our second home. Literally. Sometimes I feel like I am two different people: my New Jersey self and the Wyoming/Colorado cabin self.

I snapped these photos from the truck on the long drive home. Here is the sunrise in Iowa on our second day.

And the sunrise in Ohio on the third day.

This was taken a little later in the day in Ohio. I thought it was an interesting sky. I think it looks more like ripples of water on a lake than clouds in the sky.

It has turned to fall weather here. Our nights are dipping low into the 40’s and last night we had high 30’s. The last couple of days have been sunny and pleasantly warm with a cool nip in the air. Perfect! I find it ironic that it basically rained here the whole time we were in Colorado, and there we had sun every day. Now that we are home the rain seems to have disappeared just when I was craving a rainy day after two weeks of sun.

Another friend wrote to me the other day and asked how could I complain about the sun shining? Trust me, you would be bored to tears with day after day of brilliant sunshine. Weather of any kind that is the same—whether it’s constant rain or constant sun—gets monotonous. I like the sun; just not all the time! We were really hoping for rainy/snowy/cozy weather at the cabin but it doesn’t happen much when we are there. I know you all think I am crazy, and maybe I am!

After reading this blog post over I guess I really didn’t have much to say, but I like the pics so I am posting this anyway.