10/05/25

 It's Steamy Sunday here on the Blog!  Today's image is from my ride on the Cumbres & Toltec Railway this past summer.  This is just as it was starting to cross Lobato Trestle.  This image is particularly steamy because the locomotive was "popping off" at the time, the white plume of steam.  Popping off occurs when the boiler pressure goes higher than where the safety valve is set for.  It relieves pressure in the boiler and keeps it at a safe operating level.  Safety valves are set lower than the actual pressure a boiler can operate at for safety concerns as well.  

10/4/25

 My roots in photography are in Black & White.  I used to develop my own film and everything back in the day.  It was fun.  Every now and then I get in a B&W mood and look for some good subjects.  I found one in the Morning Glory that I think turned out really well with a B&W treatment.

10/03/25

 It's Friday, TGIF!  I am in a Monarch mood these days, I have been so happy to see several of them in the yard at one time, it's been a long time since that has happened.  I captured these enjoying the Stiff Goldenrod last Saturday.  I have another video of them HERE.  I also chose this image for today because of the lovely subdued bubbly bokeh because Friday's Are Bokehlicious!

10/02/25

 Speaking of Monarchs, as they have been traveling through, they have been apparently laying eggs as I saw this guy very recently.  As he was about to run out of leaves to eat, I broke off the plant and carried him to another one and leaned it up against it so he could climb over and eat some more.  While doing this, I discovered there was another one eating on a Common Milkweed plant there.  So glad I have these Milkweed in the yard for them to take advantage of.  We had rain the day after I did this so I am not sure of it's fate as neither one of them were on the milkweed any longer.  Hopefully they were in the trees nearby cocooning.  

10/01/25

 It's Wildflower Wednesday here on the Blog!  It's also the first day of October already and an interesting digit day as the first 2 numbers are palindromic.  I missed pointing these out in May, my bad.  😞 Anyway, the wildflower today is Stiff Goldenrod also known as Rigid Goldenrod.  This variety blooms August through October.  It can grow to 5 feet tall, mine is about 3 to 4.  It can be identified by it's rounded flower clusters or inflorescences.  This Goldenrod is VERY popular with Monarch butterflies that are passing through in late September.  I have a video of some enjoying it HERE.

09/30/25

 I have a lot of older bird pictures still cued up to share but I was rather proud of this one that I got a few days ago.  I was sitting on my deck watching a couple Hummingbirds visit the feeder.  This one as it was coming in one time, stopped right in front of me and hovered for a bit and I was able to get off a couple of shots and this one was the better of them.  I think it was wondering what I was doing and checking me out.  😁

09/29/25

 Happy Monday and happy new week!  Starting off the week with a flower that's been blooming a lot lately in my garden.  This is Obedient plant which I find an ironic name because it can spread quite a bit.  It is in the mint family which probably explains it's ability to spread.  Hummingbirds enjoy the flowers of it.  It can grow to 5 feet tall.  Mine is only about 2.5 to 3 and falls over in rain quite easily making it harder for Hummers to enjoy it.