Water Tower II

I started my blog off with a photo of this tower, which I consider the quintennsential landmark for us.

This was last night with our glorious sunset.  It has been overcast and quite warm still these past few days.

        I took this a couple of days ago because I liked the looks of the streamy clouds behind it and the light made this rainbow on the left side of the picture.

Orogrande National Forest

     Orogrande New Mexico.  Where might that be you might wonder, well it is on the way to El Paso from Alamogordo.  It used to be a mining town at the turn of the last century and boasted over 2,000 residents in it's heyday.  It still is scattered with old mines and rumors of turquoise nuggets... There used to be a bar, a post office and other attractions.  Now all gone.  I remember stopping at a gas station there as a kid and they had this iguana that would sun itself in the large front window.  To my memory that thing was HUGE, three feet or so.  There also used to be a "National Forest" there as proven by its picture on this aging bumper sticker.  I have a photo of it somewhere... A lonely tree that has since disappeared...It wasnt particularly large, but it was the only one around.

Desalination

            Water being a premium here....Desalination is a HUGE topic.  We have been on water restrictions for years as far as outside watering goes.  All new homes have zero-scaping and other measures.  This is our new facility regarding the research on how to turn the underground water potable.  

International Space Hall of Fame

As steeped as we are in space history, I guess it is about time I included the Space Hall.  It was a huge deal when it was built in the 1970's.  I remember the opening and the dedication.  They ran free buses for the town people to take them up and free admission so we could see it.  I have been waiting to try and get a photo at sunset when the copper windows blaze golden. 

This one includes the Imax theater and we are quite lucky to have an Imax in a small town like this.

They have a great website that is worth checking out. 

/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/index.php

They have some static rocket and space displays outside the museum, and for those of you who can remember Ham, he is buried up here.

This is the view from the parking lot over-looking the town.  I know I have mentioned the summer concert series they hold here.  You couldn't ask for a more beautiful setting.

Cottonwood Color

     Fall has arrived for us.  The leaves here are more subdued than showy, but for a day or two we get brilliant yellows and a few reds.  I still can detect aromas of outdoor cooking in the evenings, and we fired up the chimenea Saturday for the first time this year.  It is getting into the forties at night, and the high seventies during the day. 

Autumn doesn't last long here, it is almost fleeting as spring....In the desert, we appreciate anything that gives us a break from 100 degree plus weather!

I took this one passing White Sands this morning. It is more indicitave of what we see, a few random trees, and acres of blue sky.

                                                

Adobe Memories

This small adobe shed/house is slated for demolition.  I did this photo in sepia because it seemed to call for it.  The structure is from the past and you can almost feel the ghosts around it.  It is hard for me to keep up with all of the changes in the town even since I started this blog.  There is much of the past that disappears daily.  The old rock wall around the Catholic Cemetery was torn down a couple of months ago and this past week the old town Christmas tree on Tenth street was cut down. 

This is a close up of the old adobe bricks which have more than stood the test of time blistered by the sun!

Update -11-9-09-  I drove by yesterday and the lot had been cleared.  I got these in the nick of time.

Dried Flower

          I dont know exactly what these were, but I thought they looked good even after they have died...  One of my trees dumped it's leaves last night although the days have been glorious and in the high 70's.  I love this time of year!