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.