morning (glory), evening

A strangely illuminated morning glory this morning (when I was fiddling around with the camera); and then a glorious storm sky this evening - a very small storm, all things considered, but at the moment we, and everyone in these parts, will take all the rain we can get, as the Frijoles fire churns on, and on, and we read briefings and maps, and hope that firefighters continue all of their wonderful work to bulldoze lines between it and homes ... (it's about sixteen miles away from us, as the crow - and indeed the smoke - flies - so I'd hate anyone reading this to think that we're in any immediate danger.  But some properties and little villages, let alone lots of animals, are ...)

 

dinner decor

The decor for dinner this evening was almost as good as the food itself: Alkemē, in Santa Fe, bills itself as Vietnamese Heritage Cuisine Reimagined, and was ... wonderful.  I wish we had the stomach capacity to manage the tasting menus, but as it was, I had an extraordinary soup of shrimp and Mapo-style (call it Sichuan, more or less) sauce and dashi custard; followed by a most complex mushroom and tofu filled cabbage roll or 4 in another equally complex sauce, and with some woven rice noodles, lots of pickles, and so on.  We will be back (if we can ever get a table, again - it's not exactly a walk-in spot) ...

 

today's burrito

I assume that Gramsci is entirely unconscious of how ridiculous he looks.  It's a good job that I didn't particularly want to sit in my favorite chair, this morning ...

 

camouflage

... from my study window: this is, I believe, a female Western Tanager.  There's been a male WT flying around the last few days: one can hardly miss him, since much of his body is bright yellow, with a reddish-orange head.  Very striking.  But she blends in, very carefully and cleverly.

 

farmers market - changing seasons

It may still be 90 degrees outside, and the air is full of smoke from the expanding Frijoles fire to the north of us, and everything is still bone dry - but in the Farmers Market, the changing seasons are making themselves visible: gladioli alongside the marigolds; extremely tasty tomatoes;

new season's garlic appearing in strings;

and chile, chile, chile.

 

and tonight

... and tonight: a sky straight out of the excesses of Romantic art, or the apocalypse.  Let's hope not the latter.  

 

back!

Back, to a very fiery sun this evening.  No actual fire here, but plenty of smoke particles thickening the air, so a sunset that, in the spirit of Krakatoa, is both vibrantly beautiful and not a good thing.