It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog, the first one of the new year! I want to start off the year with one of my favorites. This is Nipple Cactus, named for the small bud like parts of the main cactus. It normally blooms in May and June. It likes dry rocky soil so I hope mine survives again this winter as I need to move it. Where I have it planted has become a depressed area for some reason and several plants have grown taller and block much of the sunlight. I love the flowers it gets.
On my bike ride on the last day of December and 2025, I was able to see and capture an American Kestrel. I had thought I had seen one every now and then but was glad to know that there actually is still at least one around. I captured it as it took off from it's perch on an electrical wire.
Happy first Monday of 2026 and happy new week! We had a couple of light snows in December that didn't amount to much but were good for capturing snowflakes that were fairly good to photograph. I captured this one on the 13th and it is a 4 image stack. I could have used more but it turned out fairly well I thought. I was figuring out my settings for the best results and the flakes didn't last long.
It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog and the first one of 2026! I always have to start the year off with my favorite railroad, the Cumbres & Toltec which I got to ride on again last summer. I took this image at Windy Point, the highest point on the railroad. This was the day after our ride while I was chasing the train for photos. They stop here on the way up from Chama to rest a bit and usually fill with water as the train and crew have been working hard up in elevation most of the way. During this time they were having to use a water tower a bit further on as the stand pipe here was not functioning.
I was able to end the year with a bike ride. The weather has been so crazy, one day snow, the next it's in the high 50s F. Another oddity, the elk was back in her pasture. I wish I knew the story behind her being there. The fences are not high enough to keep her in and how she ended up there in the first place. A while back she was out across the road in a field and I had been worried that possibly a pack of coyotes would take her out or something but there she was, safe and sound.
It's Friday!, TGIF! It's basically the end of my vacation. 😒 It's been a nice 2 weeks. Starting off the years first bokeh Friday with an image of my lovely Fuchsia that was blooming in October with some nice bubbly bokeh behind it. Friday's Are Bokehlicious here on the Blog!
Happy New Year! Hope this year is better than the last. It's a double digit day today as well. 😁 I'm starting off the new year with a beautiful sunrise from mid December. I want to start the year off with some beauty.
