Carlsbad Ain't Bad...

Just returned from a wonderfully, fun and quick trip to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. It's about six hours from home. We left Saturday morning and returned at 3:30 today. Approximately three-thousand people went through the cavern on Saturday and another three-thousand or so Sunday.

Luck seems to run in spurts for us and this weekend Lady Luck was hiding behind every nook and cranny. To start with we arrived at the cave before it opened making us one of the first to go down. The elevator signs warned you might have an hour wait to get on one when you were ready to come up out of the cave. We walked up to an elevator got in and rode to the top-no problem, but when we got out there was an enormously long line waiting to get tickets to go down. The sign for the elevator had been changed to say you would have an hour wait. People were literally everywhere. Moral of the story-get there early if you plan to enjoy your tour without fighting the crowds.

Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Down, down, down.

How would you like to climb down this way?

Or this way?

That's how they did it in the 20's.

Looking up from just below.

I've visited this cave at least a half-dozen times and never get tired of it. If you feel up to a 3 1/2 hour slow walk then put on your walking shoes and visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Enjoy the week ahead.

Solar Eclipse...

The weatherman said it could be either rainy or too cloudy to view the solar eclipse, but at 7:40pm some friends gathered in my driveway. They came prepared with sun glasses and a camera. I had a small telescope and a piece of paper taped to some cardboard. I was scared to look at it. I said I was too old to go blind. Ha!

This is how it looked in the beginning when I was using the telescope and paper. It made it look upside down.

This is about 3/4 of the way

and unfortunately the weatherman's prediction came true. It dropped behind the clouds and we weren't able to see the full eclipse, but we felt fortunate to be able to see it at all. It was beautiful and

left the sky a magnificent shade of blue.
Have a great week!!!

A Zebra In The Mix...

It's been forever since my last post. Things seem to keep edging out my blog time. Things like work, funerals, trips, lack of Internet... imagine that, but today I saw something so remarkable I just had to blog about it.
I had to go out of town for work and as I was driving along a county road I saw a white mule standing out in the pasture with, of all things, a zebra. I made a u-turn to check it out. Sure enough there was a zebra standing with a mule and over in one corner of the pasture under some shade trees were several longhorn cattle. Now I live in rural Texas, so the mule and longhorns are no big deal, but a zebra, that made me do a double-take. The only camera I had with me was my I-phone, so the pictures I took are not very good. In fact, the picture of the zebra is awful, but it's all I have so am posting it anyway.

The horns on these bulls are almost as impressive as the zebra.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

Goodbye Bluebonnets...

If bluebonnets are a sign of spring then the lack of bluebonnets are a definite sign that summer is on it's way. Today I harvested bluebonnet seeds. The window to harvest is narrow and I almost missed it, but there was enough left to fill a gallon baggy. I will scatter these in the barrow ditch in the fall and cross my fingers.

 When the seeds are ready to be collected they become very dry and turn from green to grey in color.

If left to their own devices the seed pod will twist and burst open expelling it's seeds. When you pull them from the stem you have to hold them tightly until you get them in your container or they will pop open and leave you empty handed. I love the feel when they pop open in my hand.

As soon as one beautiful flower dies out others are ready to take their place. There may be no bluebonnets, but the beauty continues. God knows exactly what he is doing.
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Have a Great Day!!!!    

May Flowers...

THE BRENDA PHOTO CHALLENGE