sara with camera

the sonoran desert

Yesterday, I ditched the Chihuahuan for the Sonoran (10 hour round trip drive for just an hour or so with the camera...but I like drives)- determined to get photos of a saguaro before we left the area.  They're as tall as trees!  Years ago, I'd driven past them, but I'd never stood beside one before (that I can remember- it seems like I forget a lot of things these days) & it surprised me how really, really tall they are.  I would have been more in awe, but I discovered that I'm a complete fraidy cat & was too busy checking out every sound to fully take it all in.  Every fly, lizard, jackrabbit, chipmunk, or bird had me convinced that a mountain lion or javelina was set to attack.  Apparently, I can't go hiking alone.  I'd feel like a complete coward, but I probably won't ever be mauled by a wild animal...

This is another cholla- like the one in the previous post- just purple & in bloom.

This is a Palo Verde tree- the bark is smooth & green.  Baby saguaros use them as "nurse trees" (same goes for mesquite)- sprouting up under their cover.  The baby saquaros look a lot like barrel cacti- the easy to discern difference is in the thorns, saguaro ones are straight and the barrel ones resemble a fishing hook.

This is another type of cholla (teddy bear, I think).  And, below, a prickly poppy (we have those in central Texas too).

So, just in case you're not on Facebook, we're moving to Waxahachie (leaving El Paso on the 31st) AND I passed the bar!  Pretty big news & all in one week.  While Waxahachie wasn't my first choice, I'm excited to be 2.5 hours from Priddy & close to lots of other family (and some old friends).  Even Kansas friends and family will be a lot closer!

Cool things this week:  I got to celebrate Mexican Mother's Day at work on Thursday & then our Mother's Day yesterday.  Auden made a plate for me at school- he drew our house here in El Paso.  Even though I Hate this house with its popcorn ceilings, metal bars covering the windows, and sand backyard, it's sweet to have that memory.  Matti gave me coupons (as in he'll clean his room, etc) & asked if I was going to use them because he'd rather I didn't. He might get lucky- they might get lost in the move. 

Also this week, I got a little worked up about all the negativity surrounding the Time magazine cover.  I liked it, while it seems no one else did.  I thought the photograph was genius & didn't feel at all taunted by the title, "Are you Mom Enough?"  Maybe because I know I have a litany of shortcomings but feel like I could've sucked way worse & am doing some things pretty well. 

On that note, Happy Mother's Day!  Love, Sara

rest of em

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
These jail or bank ruins or whatever they were made me so happy.  I wanted to ditch the brown cracker box house we're living in & move into this roofless place.  I mean- bars on the windows either way (at least Chris finally figured out how to open them if there's ever a fire). And, no one can tell me the sky wasn't pink. totally was.

The most random photo ever, maybe.  For miles I had been rolling over cotton balls (or bolls, I guess).  This was the explanation & so I snapped it while driving.  That the cotton is actually in focus is a miracle because it's with the 45mm tilt/shift (manual focus lens) and I didn't bother to take my eyes off the road to peek through the view finder.

Also, I hope you're not annoyed with the spacing issues between the photos--the blog is jacking with me & I can't figure out how to fix it (ok, & now I just posted it & it's fine...seriously messing with me).  In other, less administrative news, the boys are watching Star Wars 3-D.  That's the first thing Matti said to me this morning (excitedly), "Hey Mom, Star Wars 3-D is out today!"  And, last night, when I gave him snuggles he said I was the best mom ever.  I asked, "You don't want a new mom"? (Auden insists on getting a new mom when I make him unhappy because new moms must not make a boy wear at least a sweatshirt in 30 degree weather).  And he said, "No, new moms are the worst."  I agree.

Ninety more pages tonight (Im-possible)...My wish: to make it home in time for good-night snuggles & a little knitting/crap t.v. time.

Oh, and remember, you can click on a photo to make it bigger (reminder prompted by that last, tiny photo).  Love, Sara

sanity day

  

Instead of studying like I ought to have today, I went on a mini-road trip (with no destination in mind or at least that's what I thought).  Toward the end of the day I was feeling a little disappointed in what I figured I had on my memory card when I realized I kind of expected Arizona.  I want to take a photo of a saguaro.  Maybe later.  Today though my route was: Old Mesilla-Deming-Nutt-Hillsboro-Hatch & back.  It was mostly very beautiful.  See.

 

 

I didn't happen to include any of the Hillsboro photos, but it was an interesting town.  Not quite put together enough & there were so many bird sounds, which creeped me out a little.  Crows, shiver.  To a productive tomorrow, Sara

Scary Bathrooms

This hotel in Brownwood has been empty for as long as I can remember, and I've loved it for that long too.  How amazing would it be to make it perfect again?  ...except that it's in Brownwood.

Perfect for the kitchen?  Sierra Blanca, TX.

Brownwood, Tx.  Looks kind of silly small.  Click for a larger version if you like.

My hotel again.

Sierra Blanca.  Sometimes, in buildings like these, I'm afraid I'll run into an illegal immigrant taking shelter after just having crossed the desert border...hasn't happened yet, but if it does, I just hope he or she lets me take a photo (and that I don't pee myself).

Another kitchen print?  Sierra Blanca, Tx.

Sierra Blanca.  If bottles & signs aren't exciting enough for you:  there's a border checkpoint right at Sierra Blanca on I-10 & just over a year ago, agents found a little weed on Willie Nelson's bus (I'm sure they were shocked).  As Willie says, "Tax it, regulate it and legalize it...And stop the border wars over drugs….Thousands of lives will be saved."  Agreed.  (p.s. Nellie the dog is really, as Matti sometimes calls her, Willie Nelson Rogness).

Yep, that is a tree growing out of a building and I was standing when I took the photo.  Brownwood again.

These (above & below) are both Sierra Blanca.  Chris loves that I make him stop on long trips to take photos of oddities.  In my defense, I really hate stopping when I'm on a road trip so I have to be super compelled to pull over.

By the way, Congratulations to Diantha- baby Bryce was born Saturday, which means baby photos next post!

Fredericksburg, Tee Ex

Fredericksburg is my best & I want to live there forever, I think.  Affording a house there might be another matter.  I took a break from bar study yesterday to take a day trip with Chris.  Not only is the town charming, but the German food is amazing (Chris likes the German beer too), the shopping is fun (there's a yarn shop I didn't get to), the architecture great, and it's near both Enchanted Rock & Llano (which is where Cooper's BBQ is located...no one has anything on Coopers, which we ate on our way back to Priddy.  Not only is the bbq the best ever, but it's served on paper sheets & you don't get your own table- we ate next to a couple of Canadians [who drove the whole way just for the cue...or not- I made that up] and Bill from Tow [pronounced t-ow as in owl], TX who is going to see Willie today at Austin City Limits.  Jealous.  I'll be watching video on Oil & Gas.  On to that.  Love, Sara

Ruidoso: Winter Trip

We checked out Ruidoso, NM this summer when Chris wanted to get out of the heat & you might remember that we weren't impressed.  Just because we aren't blown away by a place, doesn't mean we won't give it another try if there's snow tubing involved (see Auden & Matti catching air above).  That was fun (and I'd do it again any day).  Besides, if there's a town chock-full of amazing neon signs, it's Ruidoso (and only fabulous buildings top neon signs).   Chris & I decided that only the locals must ski there (due to unpredictable/shabby snow) and that's why it can't hold a candle to Vail or wherever.  We arrived back in El Paso just before noon on Sunday & I went straight into bar study.  It's been that and work and a car ride (where I justified 8 hours of knitting) and that's it ever since.  What I'm looking forward to next (besides Christmas)- I get to see some of the old HBA co-workers in Austin on Friday.  So. Very. Excited. Almost Merry Christmas & Love, Sara

Marfa, Texas

Ok, so that last one's not in Marfa but in Van Horn (and it's my favorite of the group).  While we were in Marfa though, we stopped in at an exhibition at the Eugene Binder gallery.  The super wide door was open & the guy attending the exhibition was sitting in his very old red truck outside, reading a book.  I liked half of the paintings by Yelizaveta Nersesova.  Of course, there were a few others too.  You can kind of see the whole exhibition by going to the gallery site- it's just not quite the same. 

I think I'd really like Marfa, but didn't really get the chance to know it because we went through on a Sunday afternoon & just about everything was closed.  One day I'll go back. On a Friday night.  Without kids.  & next time I'll skip Dairy Queen where the assistant manager nearly bit my head off for nothing.  Lots of times I'm a giant pain & it doesn't bother me a bit when the person responds in kind, but You, DQ sub manager, were out of line.  Like I wasn't already irritated that I had to eat at a chain restaurant when I was in a new town & Auden's ice cream sandwich had paper in it (fragment, I know). Anyway.

Now, for the best news ever: I have a job! 

Hope you have a great week.  Love, Sara

Oh, and I wanted to say that I love the Holiday Inn sign because I remember passing one just like it everytime we headed to Beaumont when we were kids.  Right, mom?

Big Bend

Century Plant or Havard's Agave

Casa Grande

Purple Prickly Pear

Ocotillo in bloom

Somewhere along the Window Path

Weeping Juniper or Mexican Juniper

The Century Plant pre-bloom.

Santa Elena Canyon (Left side: Mexico, Middle: Rio Grande, Right: Texas).  Cheat: This is really Dad's photo...I have a lot to learn about landscape editing (and lots more for that matter).

I've wanted to camp at Big Bend since elementary school, but never had the chance until this last weekend.  The Chisos Mountain Basin was all it was cracked up to be (the rest was a little too much like El Paso which is old hat to me now).  There were deer winding their way through the campsite first thing in the morning, and the landscape was something out of a very old cowboy movie.  All of Saturday a song out of Three Amigos ran through my head (you know, that one where they're gathered by the campfire on their way to confront El Guapo). 

Auden & Matti had just as much fun as I did (and Chris enjoyed it even if he hated the drive).  Auden said that Schlitterbahn was better, but Big Bend was next best.  It probably wouldn't have been quite as great if we had had to sleep in a tent (I hate tents; old bones).  Dad had his camper along & shared (then again, if we'd been in a tent, Matti wouldn't have fallen on my head in the middle of the night).  All in all, we hiked 6 miles & I'm ready to go back for more someday soon (once I forget how long the drive is).  The drive down was dark so I had no idea what desolate landscape we were cutting through, but on the way back I couldn't stop wondering why people would ever choose to live there.  Right on the Rio Grande I understand, but...  At some point, a bit before Alpine, it got better. 

So then there's Marfa. On the way down (Friday night), Marfa was Lit up.  It looked like there were great restaurants, bars, galleries, and other cool whatnot everywhere.  Not so much on a Sunday afternoon.  I was sort of disappointed (but then I had super high expectations).  I took a few photos and certainly could have taken more (but I worried about boring the snot out of Chris & the boys).  I'll post those next time.  Love, Sara

p.s. I really appreciate showers & hate sand even more than I already did.  I despise sand.  I didn't even like it when we were in Monterey, which is not desolate at all (and sand didn't even interfere with my clothes drying or house cleaning there).  I'm pretty sure hell is sandy- just putting that out there.