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Kind of dreary looking but peaceful in person 

Cloud patterns are my new interest 

There are robins in this photo but I can't see them now 

Weighs close to 100 lbs and I can barely lift it, but,  

I love the contours on this rock. 

The red-winged blackbirds and some robins are building nests so we can't take out the reeds now. 

I like the yellow glow 

Thanks Ron. Great game, minimal damage 

Missed it by --- that much. 

Monday Morning

It has been raining for the past several days and I haven't walked since Thursday so this morning was muddy and tiring, but also interesting. Plants are sprouting all over the pasture and these are almost exotic groups. We rarely (actually never that I can remember but maybe I wasn't watching) have enough winter moisture for these types to start up, but they are everywhere between the clumps of short and mid-range grasses. I don't recognize most of them and the shades of green are unusual for here.

I also changed the small water-way last week. I had to extend the area away from the shop to stop the flooding in there. Bill's hobby planes are starting to mold.

Freezing, no wind,  

And a pleasant 

Sunrise

The pond looks soggy today 

Tuesday Evening

It was raining and dark when I left here this morning and that had transitioned into heavy snow and low visibility by the time I got to work, 45 miles South. My computer was in front of a window, so I noticed that it snowed throughout the morning and by early afternoon I decided to finish up and leave early just because. I hate driving in the snow, but only because I don't do it very well. A few years ago I moved to Northern New Mexico and was thinking that I might want to live there permanently. I found a job and a house in the hills, and it was great until winter. Even a tremendous spring couldn't erase the nightmare that it was. Driving to work was like being on the verge of death for 45 minutes (or five hours, however long it took me that day), with a line of honking, gesturing people behind me. At any other time I wouldn't have tolerated their rudeness but I barely noticed them because I had so many other concerns. It wasn't so much exactly where my lane was, as at exactly what point did the little road abruptly drop into the canyon below. And I didn't have many other options. I hadn't figured out how to use the brakes to stop on an ice covered incline yet, and there were no guardrails, so I was going straight into the water at the bottom of the cliff. In fact, after the first embankment I plunged over, I immediately knew to be very careful and very slow. That winter in the mountains changed me completely. I actively avoid snow and ice covered roads, anywhere, anytime.

Sunday Morning

Kilo and I got up early to walk in the drizzle and fog and now she is invigorated and ready to play. I am still cold, wet and shivering, and not.

I'm no longer as grateful for the abundant moisture as I probably should be. I've quit emptying or even checking my rain gauge, because lately I get the feeling that rain is creating a monster in my back yard. I've spent many years building a very uncomplicated and very leisurely, "do whatever I want and only whenever I want to do it" life for myself, and when we started this project I could actually visualize "beautiful Spring mornings enjoying great coffee in a neat area by a waterfall".
HA -
It's nothing but weedeaters, lawn mowers, clippers, rakes, shovels and wheel barrows from the first of March until the end of November. And I do the work from behind foul tasting quick cups of coffee from the convenience store because I can't take the time to make it myself.

I get it now. The noose of responsibility is tightening. Until Kilo came to live with me full time I had never accepted responsibility for another living thing, not even a house plant. That was a difficult decision at first because she was a guard dog and is pretty much attuned to one person, but since I've known and loved her for years, and I'm not around very many people anyway, I let her move in. At the time I worked in a restricted office in a secured building so I just took her to work from the first day. I still take her anywhere I go and the end result is a great friend and companion for only minimal inconvenience. The pond is another story. I walked into a trap while day-dreaming about the next new thing that I might enjoy, and although we did build the nice place to sit by a waterfall, by activating this ecosystem we also took on the responsibility for a whole variety of living things (fish, frogs, birds, and a few ornamental plants). They now depend on us on an almost daily basis, and just as with Kilo, I could never take that lightly. It would be sinful to neglect them in any way.
I'm doomed.

Soggy Morning 

View to the East 

View to the North