Sunday, May 26, 2013

Sunday Safari - Mule Shoe Trail


Greetings from the Hermit-writer. Trekked up the Franklin Mountains on a warm, blustery day. After being away for almost three decades, I'm relearning an appreciation for the beauty of the area (You just have to get off the sidewalk). Amazing how much the panorama can change in rugged terrain after taking just a few steps. Hope you enjoy.




I look forward to a clear day when I can see that '100 miles.'


If you've never seen a jack rabbit before...those ears are a trip, aren't they?

Haven't had any precipitation since snow in January...but somehow they manage to bloom.


A dead desert willow (very common sight) makes me think about how much more precipitation this part of the world used to get just a few hundred years ago. (Northeast El Paso sits on three-hundred square miles of what used to be a flood plain.)








(Here's that flood plain I was talking about.)




(Looks like caramel swirls to me. No wonder I came home and had a bowl of ice cream.)




Next week I'm going up Blue Moon Road.



Did I mention dead desert willows are a common sight? Look at the horns on that cactus.

I wish I had my mountain bike here with me.

Blooms of a live desert willow, in a deep gully.


This is the only easy biking this guy will find...at the start.

Heading home after a jolting ride.

More desert willow in bloom.



Have a great week.



I have two new titles in Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Kindle  Nook


Sunday, May 19, 2013

Sunday Safari - South El Paso part 2


Greetings from the Hermit-writer.

This is a continuation of last week's safari. More urban personality glimpses of the far west tip of Texas. I hope you enjoy.




I love this building. I want to buy it and build a loft apartment.



Two blocks south from here, you would walk over the Rio Grande and into Juarez, MX

Those mountains are in Mexico



For those of you not from the arid Southwest (where there are no trees), you might not be familiar with adobe, unbaked blocks of clay-mud dried and used for construction for hundreds of years down this way. Here is a wall that won't see another hundred years:

As in other posts, you've seen examples of the marvelous colors that wash over from across the river. Absolutely beautiful, even if it isn't a color I would paint my house:




A beautiful planned community smack dab in the middle of a three-hundred year old neighborhood. Urban renewal takes odd steps. Personally, I'd love to see those hundred-year-old adobe shacks modernized and renewed.











The modest skyline of downtown El Paso

Looking north, northeast from the same overpass




Have a great week. 




I have a new title in Amazon. Hope you'll take a look