Skywatch Friday – Road Trip Skies and Santa Fe Sunsets

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Late last month we took a vacation to Santa Fe and Pagosa Springs. We drove from Tulsa to Santa Fe. It’s not that bad of a drive. Almost all the route is Interstate 40.

I love road trips and road trips to the west are wonderful because of the big skies you see once you get past Oklahoma City and are on the Great Plains.

Lots of people think it is a boring drive. Not me! I love it.

Big storm brewing up in the mountains of Santa Fe.

Once we got to Santa Fe and checked into our hotel we found out it had a rooftop bar and swimming pool. We went to check it out when the sun was about to set. We went up there and there were a lot of people. They were not at the bar or in the swimming pool. They were looking at the sky.

Sunset over the Jemez Mountains in the distance.

And a reverse sunset looking south. You can see the New Mexico State Capital and the Sandia Mountains that overlook Albuquerque. I always forget that when one has real mountains, you can see them a long ways off.

And this is looking to the southeast. That storm brewing up that I showed you in the earlier photo. It is still there.

And looking to the southwest.

Back to the Jemez Mountains to the west.

To the northwest. Great skies everywhere you look. We went up to the rooftop every night of our stay. We never got tired of the view.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday

Through My Lens – Santa Fe’s Canyon Road Summer Walk

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On our recent vacation to Santa Fe and other places, my wife Heather and I decided that by gosh we were going to check out the Canyon Road Art Galleries. So in the evening one day we ventured over there and we stumbled into the Canyon Road Summer Art Walk. It happens the first Wednesday of every month in the summer. The event even has its own web site.

The first thing we saw were these two women and a guy drumming their heart out in some sort of warrior pose. What a great introduction.

The streets were closed to cars so we just followed everyone else. It went on for about a mile.

Art galleries and people everywhere you look. We didn’t go into any of the galleries. There was plenty to see outside.

And everywhere people were talking with each other. Heather said it was like everyone knew each other.

So we walked a mile out to the end of the event and walked back.

It’s the best way to see Canyon Road in my opinion. I say that and I had never been there before.

It was a blast. It is the first Wednesday of each month from 5 to 8 pm.

The Magical Shadows of Santa Fe

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The light in New Mexico is different. The sun is intense, the trees in the desert areas are sparse and small. The shadows are wonderful.

A bench with shadows at an art gallery on Canyon Road.

Trail Shadows - Dale Boll Trails in Santa Fe

Tree Shadow we saw on a hike on their Dale Boll Trails just outside of town.

Also on the Dale Boll Trails, prickly pear cactus makes for interesting shadows.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Saturday’s Critters – Road Trip Edition

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We went on vacation for a week or so at the very end of June. Sorry to say I did not get very many “live critters” but I had my handy Merlin app so I was able to identify the little birds that I could not see but could here.

Juniper Titmouse and Pygmy Nuthatch Merlin screen

At a bar in Santa Fe I spotted this Desert Dogs sign painted on the walls. I thought it was cool.

Merlin App - Northern Yellow Warbler and Song Sparrow

Pagosa Springs, Colorado was dry as a bone. The San Juan river was way down and there was a burn ban in the area. We walked by the US Forest Service Ranger Station and they had Smokey Bear out.

We did find one live critter. A young mule deer was wandering around the river bottom grazing.

Mule Deer - San Juan River, Pagosa Springs, CO

There were lots of birds in Pagosa Springs.

Song Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Red winged Blackbird" "Northern Yellow Warbler" and "Violet-green Swallow"

On the way back to Tulsa we stopped in Guymon, Oklahoma in the panhandle. They had this cow sculpture out in honor of the local cattle and meatpacking industry.

So that is it for our trip in terms of critters.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – 23 July 2026 – Problem in Blogger World Edition

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Apologies to all. I started on the Skywatch Friday post for July 23 on blogger and it would not let me add a new post. I changed browers, I restarted the computer, I checked the blogger site for announcements, I tried googling the problem. Nothing seemed to work. So until I can figure it out I have the linky on my yogisden.us site.

Sorry for the inconvenience. I love computers, until I don’t. Thank you for your patience.

Checking Out the Museums of Santa Fe

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After driving all day the day before, we had no desire to drive anywhere so walked on down to the Georgia O’Keefe Museum downtown and checked that out again.

A painting she did in 1970 well after she moved to New Mexico. Showing she still was interested in urban scenes.

Another painting she did outside of New Mexico. This one was done in Quebec.

And this one was a favorite, based in flowers she saw in the desert of New Mexico. She didn’t find a luxurious flower plot like this. She took common flowers and bunched them together.l

This is a quote from her written on the museum wall. Obviously flowers had an economic advantage over using live model.

Then we wandered over to the nearby Institute of American Indian Arts We had never been there before and it was very interesting. The art was great and a lot of it was about recovering Native Identity and rejecting attempts by outsiders of describing who Native Americans are. I’m sure I’m butchering the intention and I apologize for that.

What Have We Become? Basic Assumptions, 2017

Much of it was text based. I loved the pair of works above and below named: “What Have We Become? Basic Assumptions” where face is carved out of an Anthropology journal.

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The canoe above suspended from the ceiling was built out of paper. The young man underneath the canoe is my son.

These are just two museums. Santa Fe has many many more, plus the art galleries.

I am linking this with Through My Lens.

Shadow Shot Sunday – Palace of the Governors

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One of my favorite places in Santa Fe is the covered walkway at the Palace of the Governors. For my whole life I have seen Native American vendors setting up to display and sell their jewelry. This time I saw a guy, looking like an inspector of some sort, checking out all the vendors and filling out a checklist. I also noticed that each vendor area is numbered so I got to wondering how are these vendors regulated. Was the jewelry made by Native Americans? I had so many questions.

So I checked the interwebs and it turns out the vendors displaying their wares are very tightly regulated via the Native American Portal Program administered by the New Mexico History Museum. The vendors must be a member of recognized tribe and they have to show technical mastery of their skills and crafts. All sold items must be handmade by the vendor or a member of their household, using traditional methods and materials (e.g., turquoise, coral, silver, beadwork). I’m thinking that the jewelry on sale is legit. Up to you to get a good price for it though.

I am linking with Shadow Shot Sunday

Domestic and Wild Animals in the House and Garden

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Here’s our sweet Lizzie. She is the queen of chill.

And our not so sweet Pomeranian, Kodi. Showing off a fantail while begging food from my wife.

And a Blue Jay at the Feeder.

And a pair of mourning doves perched on our fence.

I am linking to Saturday’s Critters

Skywatch Friday – The Sky is the Only Thing that Kept Me Sane Edition

We have had a lot of stress recently in our family, not caused by anyone within our immediate family. We had been looking forward to our family vacation and we ended up going on it and we had a good time. In amidst the weeks before I dealt with the stress by taking photos. That always settles me down. They are not works of art but they are mine (that is why I call myself a “picture taker” and not a “photographer.” Being a picture taker is so liberating!!

This was the Full Strawberry Moon at the end of the month. I’ll admit I missed by a day or so but close enough.

And this was a few days before. The moon isn’t quite full.

A drone shot at 40 meters over the backyard looking to the northwest.

A local shopping center has a concert series in the summertime on a weekday night. This was at the end of the concert. The music was great but the sky said “my turn” and did not disappoint. This is looking west.

And another shot to the east. We don’t normally get reverse sunsets as nice as this.

Here is a neighborhood sunrise from our house looking east. I used a hipstamatic filter on this. I love the Hipstamatic App on my iphone.

And a jigsaw puzzle photo.

And this is the Goosenecks of the Colorado River in Utah. This has been on my bucket list to get in real life for some time. I’m told that during peak times there is all sorts of pushing and shoving amongst people to get the best spot for a photo. So until I get there myself and use my picturetaker skills to get my own photo, I’ll just use this. I’m not into pushing and shoving.

So that’s it for this week. I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico

The first thing we looked at in Santa Fe during our recent vacation was the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi right adjacent to our hotel.

Franciscan Friars and settlers came to the area in 1598 and in 1610 the city of Santa Fe was established and the first church was built. The church was destroyed in 1680 during the Pueblo Revolt. The Spanish returned in1693 and by 1714-1717 a new church in honor of Saint Francis was established. In 1853 the Diocese of Santa Fe was established and construction started on the Cathedral in 1869. It was dedicated in 1887. Complete except the spires were not funded and never built.

Almost all the buildings in downtown Santa Fe are adobe or faux adobe. The Cathedral is of Neo-Romanesque design with round arches and Corinthian columns. It’s quite beautiful inside and out.

Kateri Tekakwitha - First Female Native American Saint

On the grounds of the Cathedral is statue of Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680). The first Indigenous American Saint. Canonized in 2012, she is known as the Patron Saint of Ecology. She had a Mohawk father and a Christianized Algonquin mother You can read more about her here.

The grounds have a Station of the Cross installation that is very powerful.

On Cathedral Square is this sculpture honoring the priests and settlers who came and claimed the area for Spain.

Saint Francis of Assisi himself.

And a ceramic installation of the Virgin of Guadaloupe.

The inside of the church is gorgeous. It is a very active church with many different activities for members and non-members and is welcoming to all. Check out their website for more information.

The sanctuary is very peaceful and there were a lot of people praying during out visit.

I love all the stained glass windows. They are beautiful.

I am linking with Through My Lens

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