Fourth of July in a small town

One of the great things I like about Alamogordo is the lack of pretentiousness.  It's somewhat eclectic and the home of just about any kind of philosophy under the sun.  One might think that would be a problem but for some reason, it's just a live and let live place.

It's a quasi military town, being next to Holloman Air Force Base, so it stands to reason that the 4th of July is taken pretty seriously here.

This morning, the parade started with the usual color guard, fire trucks, police cars, motorcycles (no Hondas), Mustang car club (no Hondas), horses in trailers, horses pulling trailers and young women on horses.

There were old trucks (no Hondas), old cars (no Hondas) and hot and cold running politicians in convertibles...again, no Hondas.

People brought their folding chairs, some stood and some sat in parked cars next to the parade route.

The small parade lasted about 30 minutes with the end coming with a line of fire trucks and some more motorcycles.  This time, two Hondas.

The Space Center planned a fireworks display and exploded a lot of pyrotechnics  next to the cliffs for 30 minutes just as a rare blowing rain appeared.

Quite impressive.  I loved it.

Florida

Gary, my brother-in-law just bought a new (to him) Harley Street Bob and according to research, got more than a fair deal on it.  "JimBob" is not very experienced, mileage wise, so we thought an initiation run to Florida would be appropriate.

Early Wednesday, we headed east with intentions of meeting up with my wife, sister-in-law, grand kids and nieces and nephews in Destin for a brief visit.  We thought it would an amazing trip to cruise down the beach roads, wind in our beards, sun on our faces and feel the spirit of the open road.  All that seems nice until you run into summer beach traffic and feel the heat as you stop at every other traffic signal from Waveland, Mississippi to Destin, Florida riding along US Highway 98 even through Gulf Shores, Alabama.

After a few hours of stopping and starting we agreed we should have only ridden a portion of the beach road and taken I-10 a part of the way.  Oh well, we will just have to chalk that one up to experience.

Destin was really nice but there were lots of people and traffic.  Heck, we even saw a beach wedding.  We had no clue as to who they were.

The next morning, we arose early and hit the road toward St Joseph Peninsula State Park, near St Joe, Florida.  We probably chose that location because it looked interesting on the map but I can honestly say, were it not for the ocean, it would not come close to competing with the State Parks of Louisiana.  Nevertheless, we pitched our tents for the afternoon and a night under the stars.

As you can imagine, the peninsula was the home of a lot of wildlife, including noisy Crackles (a type of blackbird), coons, pigmy rattlers, salamanders and mice.  Mice were everywhere.  I was told that the Oldfield Beach Mouse is on the endangered list and is protected by the government so we dare not lay a malicious hand on one.  I say one man's beach mouse is another man's baby rat.  Rats!...but they nor the snakes didn't bother us.  Perhaps they afford Harley riders, professional courtesy.

One redeeming thing was amazing sunsets for which many campers came out to witness.

Young and old, they brought their boards and chairs.  That was great and worth the mosquitoes!

Hearing news of nasty weather brewing in the gulf, Gary and I struck our tents early Friday morning and came home in one day.

The trip was a thousand miles.

Venus Transit 2012

Venus transit.  Venus' path crossed the sun today.  It won't happen again for another 115 years.
Here are some shots taken here in Alamogordo.

 

I don't know if the locals were really concerned or just suspicious but I had a guy in a pick-up truck stop and ask me what I was doing.  He seemed satisfied with the answer about Venus and the Sun and moved on.  Just as I was leaving a deputy sheriff was coming down the road too but made no attempt to stop me.  

 

If you notice on this blown up version, Venus is that tiny dark spot located approximately at the 3:00 O'clock level in the sun.

 You know, in the grand scheme of things, we aren't all that big are we?

As the days get longer...

..there is a lot more daylight now, so after work Friday, I drove up to Sunspot, NM.  Sunspot sits on the plateau above Alamogordo and is the home of the National Solar Observatory.

(clicking on the photo will enlarge them)

My intent was to get there, find a spot overlooking the White Sands National Monument and photograph a sunset but due to recent fires in the Gila National Forest and lots of clouds from a light cool front, visibility was limited.  I had also hoped to do some timed photos that would create circular star trails, but that's for another time.

Even though I was a bit disappointed that the clouds and weather were not cooperating, wildlife was everywhere.  This is a protected area so the animals aren't all that spooky if you don't come to a complete stop and/or get out of the car.  Forgive me if I have this wrong but I'm thinking these are Mule Deer.  I know I've never seen one in Louisiana and never claimed to be an expert.                    

(Update!  A knowledgeable friend tells me, he's pretty sure they are Elk.)


A young doe.

On the way back home (the hotel) I pulled off onto a less than wonderful road to check out cactus flowers under the approaching full moon.

And from the opposite direction, a sunset.

Probably, it wasn't a great idea getting too far off the pavement in a VW Passat rental car (National Car frowns on those activities) but it's not because I didn't want too.

Eclipse at White Sands / Alamogordo, NM

Summer is coming to southern New Mexico.  It was 94­° at 5:30 P.M. when I headed to the desert to for the annular solar eclipse late this afternoon.  I can only imagine what August will be like.

After lathering on the sun screen and stuffing a couple of 94° bottles of water in my backpack, I trudged off across the dunes to find a good place for a shot.  I staked out a place that I felt would have a good foreground to go with the eclipse and waited.......for 1½ hours.  Around 7:30, it began to show itself.

 

I really needed a little more equipment, a lot more skill and about 100 miles more distance to the north to have gotten this right but here are my efforts on the show this afternoon.  The Alamogordo version was only about a 90% eclipse so the moon, so from my vantage point, it did not go completely through the center of the sun.

 

And what self respecting desert would be without a camel to celebrate the event?

Desert Moon

I had anticipated the "Super Moon" for May 5, quite a while.  It was supposed to be 14% larger than any other full moons.  That sounds pretty big but someone else said it's like comparing a 15 inch pizza to a 16 inch pizza; yes it's bigger but if they aren't side by side, you don't really notice.

Friday evening, I went out to White Sands again to scout out where I thought may be a good place for a moon shot.  It's really a amazing place and I can find something fascinating there each time I visit.

Early in the afternoon, before the sun had even set, the moon rose in the east over the mountains.  Even though it wasn't completely full, it proved spectacular.  Saturday came and in the afternoon,  clouds began to appear.  I kept grumbling in my head, "Oh, no!...clouds won't help much in the full moon photography department."

I, along with half the state of New Mexico began filling the park and as the sun began to set, I roamed around on the dunes looking for a spot where I could get a clear shot without the added benefit of a hundred people in my frame.  That's if the moon showed itself.  The winds had swept the dunes causing ripples in the sand and building berms against the roots and plant life.

Finally, just after 8:00 p.m., the moon lazily peaked out between the some clouds.  It never really presented itself with clarity but that's the chances you take when you have no control over the elements.  I hung around another 30 minutes attempting some clear shots but around 8:45, I folded my tripod, made my way back to the car and exited before the rangers chased me out.

Shirtless

The TSA agent, in  a boring monotone voice, announced loudly, "Removeallcomptuters,liquids,gels,fromyourbags ....everythingfromyourpockets  ....removeshoesbelt .....anythingfromyourpockets...."

I was in line awaiting my turn in the Baton Rouge airport for my usual partial pat-down.   I stood patiently behind a group of New Orleans Jazzfest band members who had, for some reason, chosen Baton Rouge as their airport.  After removing everything from my pockets, the computer from my bag and my boots placed in the bin, I noticed one of the band members had started removing clothing.  There was a miniature huddle with a couple of his buddies, so he stopped with removing only  the shirt.

Standing at the entrance of the complicated scanning booth, he waited until a supervisor, the agent had called, arrived and told him gruffly, "You can't go through here without a shirt!"  With a little hesitation and having his point foiled, the guy slowly put his shirt back on while I and a dozen others in line waited.  The agent motioned him through the scanning device.  He managed to not do it right a couple of time before getting the OK from the scanner.

Once the line was moving again, I proceeded to have my junk scanned and got a partial pat-down probably because I was laughing so hard at how one guy pawned the TSA.

Three Rivers Petroglyphs

Located about 35 miles north of Alamogordo and 15 from Tularosa, a hill is home to as many as 21,400 petroglyphs.  The trail is probably ¾ mile up a rocky trail flanked with mesquite and sage.  The Three Rivers markings are so prolific, you wonder if they really are that real.  The docent down in the office said most are authentic,  but you couldn't help but notice the occasional "J M" or a peace sign someone had decorated a rock with.  Not knowing the reason for the Indian artwork, you might wonder if somehow this could also be some ancient graffiti.  Maybe the quadruped with the geometric design on the belly really said, "Grumbling Buffalo loves Squawking Bird."  Five thousand years from now, after our society has completely crashed, some budding anthropologist may think the graffiti painted on the side of some building is a discovery of social importance too.

Since the hill is several miles from the Sacramento Mountains, you have to speculate that this was either a burial or religious site to the Mogollon Indians who lived here for hundreds of years prior to the Mescalero Apaches.  I could imagine a burial party making their way to the top bringing with them, the body of a dead chief or medicine man.  The higher up the hill, the more important the deceased.

Although there is somewhat of a designated path, you are told that it is not necessary to stay on it.  The prehistoric markings are on virtually every rock with any size to it at all.

Looking to the west in the Chihuahuan Desert, you can see the glistening White Sands dunes and the San Andres mountain range. While the park literature advises you that rattlesnakes are common among the rocks, lizards were far more visible in the noon day heat.

The Desert

Leaving the San Francisco east bay, I landed in El Paso, Texas and headed north.   As I drove north into the New Mexico desert, I could hear strains of Eagles music drifting into my thoughts.

It's been several years since I'd been in the area and looked forward to working in Alamogordo, New Mexico.  The springtime still left some greenery in the plants and made you wonder how far you could wander out there in the desert before you stepped on a rattlesnake as big as your leg.

One particular place I was excited about was visiting White Sands National Monument.  Having walked the dunes back in 2004, I knew what to expect, so naturally my first Saturday gave me the opportunity.

Late in the afternoon, I took part in a "Sunset Stroll" hosted by a park ranger who pointed out some of the curiosities of the sands.

It's not the typical quartz beach sand but instead, it's gypsum and the same thing you find in drywall inside your home.  When it's wet, it crystallizes and when winds reach 16 miles an hour, the flakes move along breaking into smaller flakes and collects in the Tularosa Basin.  White Sands is the largest collection of this kind of sand in the world and encompasses 575 square miles of it.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some very spectacular shots out there if I'm assigned here long enough.
 

 

Nice sunsets too.

Fremont, CA

Nice quiet little community.  Wonder what they do?

Actually, it's part of the Silicon Valley technology community.  I was only there for 3 days but enjoyed the cool climate, sunny days and the beauty of the area on the east side of the San Francisco Bay.

 

To an outsider, such as myself, in many ways California's internal folkways and mores seems like a paradox.  For example, motorcyclists engage in a practice of "lane splitting".  That's when a motorcyclist is allowed to pass slower vehicles by going between two lanes of cars.  At the same time, bikers aren't allowed to go without helmets.  That just doesn't compute in my head. 

In other ways, the poor and downtrodden are championed, yet there are more beggars and homeless there than most other places I've visited.  The poor just never become.....un-poor, even with the compassion.  Californians, and bay area citizens in particular are never without a "cause" they can engage in.  Just pick one.  There is a social injustice custom made for practically anyone.

I do like how you can be in a city but in minutes, find yourself on a canyon road watching wildlife that seem unafraid of humans.

The visit was short lived.  Onward to Alamogordo, New Mexico.