Update from the mountains

We're spending the Memorial Day weekend near Heron Lake in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Friday we had a late lunch/early dinner with Carol Anne's folks in Los Alamos. After arriving at the cabin, we watched movies into the wee hours.

Saturday I ran errands into Chama and hung around the lake. The paving still has not been completed on the roads to the boat ramps and is now scheduled for next week. Although the boat ramps can be accessed (during dry weather) on a limited basis, most power boaters and owners of smaller boats are using the primitive boat ramp at Ridge Rock.

A boating safety officer from the New Mexico state parks department was at the primitive ramp yesterday helping supervise the ramp and giving out safety info.

The New Mexico Sailing Club had planned to host its first regatta of the season and it appeared that six boats were racing.

Yesterday some mule deer passed through our yard.

Saturday late afternoon we attended a spaghetti dinner at Shroyer Center, the community center for our neighborhood.

Weather has been cooler lately, with rain and clouds, so we got a nice fire going in our fireplace last night and have kept it going.

If I get at all ambitious and it doesn't rain too much, I'll put a kayak in the water and perhaps get some photos.

View from Laguna Vista after spring snow, March 27

Mountain panorama with Brazos Cliffs


Brazos Cliffs -- with an interesting unfortunate twist from the computer

View from the deck

View to southeast from Five O'Clock Somewhere, with rose-gold glow on distant hill.s


View from Five o'clock Somewhere with flags, clouds, hills, and trees.

Christmas week in Laguna Vista, northern New Mexico

As we left the Chama Valley after our Christmas vacation in Laguna Vista, the Brazos Cliffs gleamed in the sun. During the week, Batgal and Tad spent lots of time baking; some light fluffy bizcochitos and some awesome chocolate chip cookies were among the results. We also keep a wood fire going for several days and enjoyed the company of Dulce indoors and some wild friends outdoor. I got in a bit of exercise shoveling lots of snow and a bit of gravel.

Buried beneath the snow, somewhere in this picture are a few boats in this view from our back door. Our Christmas holiday was more than adequately white, with snow falling during our Christmas dinner in Santa Fe and continuing for much of the following week. We eventually left the white country to celebrate New Year's eve at Elephant Butte Lake in southern NM, where there was no snow except atop some mountains on the western horizon.


View through the front screen door of the front porch covered in snow and more snow beyond.

Wild times at Five O'clock Somewhere

Dear deer. One of the challenges in photographing these mule deer is to catch them looking at the camera.


When we say, "You turkeys!," we're talking to the birds. Hunters tell us that the wild turkey is a wiley and elusive creature. I suppose that's more or less true; none of these birds would normally come within ten feet of me.

Heron Lake and Laguna Vista in the snow

Dramatic view of Heron Lake. After a dry autumn season, a series of snow storms marched through northern New Mexico beginning around Thanksgiving. Photos were sent by Belinda from Laguna Vista and illustrate well the local landscape beauty.

Heron Lake, framed by snowy boughs


Elk in the snow. We often see elk at night when driving along Shroyer Drive, but seldom see them during the day. Mule deer, however, are very often seen near our cabin in daytime.

White Thanksgiving near Heron Lake, New Mexico

utility trailer, Laser II, and two Sunfish in the snow

home profile

view down the drive and toward Heron Lake

Five O'clock Somewhere -- cabin in the snow of northern New Mexico on Friday, November 29, 2008.

clouds and snow

boats in the snow