Week 30 - 2017 in Photographs

Day 204
 Penstemons in the meadow

 Summer and the monsoons gives us flowers. Flowers in the meadows and flowers in the wetlands. Except for the salmon colored poppy below all these pictures were taken in the lowland areas of the high country. Areas where the moisture seems to spring up from below.

Day 205
The last salmon poppy

Day 206

 The lushness of the wetlands is hard to ignore for this photographer. On earth day this spring a group I belong to cleaned up the litter thrown out of windows of cars on nearby Hwy 434, and blown into this delicate ecosystem. This last week I got to benefit with these photos. This is how nature should look; no plastic bags and no beer cans.

Day 207

There is a graveled walking path which loops around through this lovely wetland area. The local trekker group and the garden club help out with maintenance of this gem, but these are all native grasses, shrubs and flowers. And all natural color. No digital color manipulation. 

Day 208

 Water is precious in New Mexico and so are these areas where gathers before making its way to bigger streams and lakes.

Day 209
Musk Thistle

The Musk Thistle was a surprise this year. Seeds and roots exist for years in the soil here. And only the right amount of rain at the right time will bring them forth. This was a great year for Penstemons but not so good for Indian Paint Brush. Too wet maybe? Canadian Thistle seems to be everywhere. But the Musk Thistle is new it seems. I found it worthy of my attention.

Day 210
Back of Musk Thistle