The Chiricahua Mountains are stark and a bit foreboding, but also a forest oasis in the high desert lands of southeastern Arizona. This is the land of basin and plain, where a continental collision pushed the land up and broke it, tipping sections to create lines of ridges. Erosion sculpted the ridges and made level plains of their debris between them.

The Chiricahuas are a bit different in that volcanic activity and a huge explosion covered the top of its ridge with thousands of feet of hot ash that cooled to form glassy rocks. Water has since eroded out much of the softer material leaving bizarre columns and balanced rocks towering above deep canyons.

Arrived early this afternoon after a modest drive up the Rio Grande from El Paso. Foolish us, driving north this chilly week. At least here we can splash about the Rio Grande without worrying about border issues. Bright sunshine illuminated shower clouds and rain in the valley and snow fields on the surrounding mountains. We parked, registered, and then walked around the campground. Only three other motor homes are in place. The wind was chilly but the sun was warm. A small flow of the Rio Grande (Rio Norte/Rio Bravo) passed over a wall and spillway into the rocky channel downstream.

Haven't posted anything here in a while, but couldn't resist making this available. I don't always agree with the point of view of some of the articles I post, but this one makes a lot of sense to me and he says it so much better than I ever could.

"Happiness"

Regards to you all.

Tom

After a lovely evening and morning walk at Balmorrhea State Park we completed our drive to El Paso on Wednesday. On our last day of driving, I-20 we reached an elevation of 4,400 feet and passed well below the surrounding mountain ranges. West Texas is a place of big land as well as big sky where a landmark may become visible ten or more miles away. Tree yuccas are appearing among the sagebrush. Beautiful, cool weather.

Our bird walk this morning yielded birds behaving tamely around the spring and its precious water. A sharp shinned hawk discouraged the song birds but belted king fishers chattered, a snowy egret fished, and scaup ducks and pied billed grebes remained within the spring pool giving us superb close up views. Both eastern and Say’s phoebes chased flies and (Audubon’s) yellow-rumped warblers fluttered after gnats.

I finally got around to redesigning my personal web-site. I'm now going to use it as a site for me and Sam.

We've got pictures of our new dog Maddy up so stop by and take a look!

Stop by often because I will be updating it frequently.

On the road again. Arrived late this afternoon. Swam in the spring pool before dinner. We left Sylva on Sunday and drove through a snow storm in northern Georgia. Altanta was quiet on Superbowl Sunday and we slept in back of a Cracker Barrel near Meridian, Mississippi. Dawn revealed a world of frost.

On Monday we chatted to Mom and Dad Woods while crossing the Mississippi River and saw a crop duster fly underneath powerlines while spraying a rice field in Lousiana. We paused at a rest stop and made and enjoyed dinner before passing Dallas/Ft. Worth during the early evening hours. Today, we watched oil pumps turning across the Permian Basin and warmed in the Texas sun.

Update (1/10): I have eliminated the most annoying problem and so will go back to the old them although there is still more work to be done. Let me know if you are encountering problems viewing anything because of the way it appears on IE7. I am aware of the problems with the right side of the page.

Because of the way that IE7 was affecting the appearance of the site, I have temporarily changed my theme to another theme that doesn't seem to have been affected as much. I am looking into this and will revert to the old theme as soon as I have a solution. Everything should work as before.

Christmas Morning in the Cove

We slept in late, till 7:30, and the sky was bright though rain announced its presence through percussion on the modern but traditional tin roof. The bedroom was cool because we chose not to light the wood stove last evening after our hike. Instead we watched a rented Under the Tuscan Sun in the basement.

This morning the fire was lit. The Cove was soggy. The dogs were anxious for their breakfast and then wanted a walk down to the stable. I thought about that, but looking at the pools in the pasture and hearing the sound of pouring rain elected instead to drive there.

I am pasting an article that I found fascinating about pythons in the Everglades.

Biologists Hunt Invasive Pythons in Fla.
Everglades biologists pursue a voracious foe: the Burmese python

By TODD LEWAN, The Associated Press
Dec 17, 2006 1:22 PM (19 hrs ago)

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Fla. - "SNAKE!" Hearing this shout, Skip Snow slammed on the brakes. When the off-roader plowed to a halt, he and his partner, Lori Oberhofer, leaped out and took off running toward two snakes, actually - a pair of 10-foot Burmese pythons lying on a levee, sunning themselves.

After slipping, sliding and tumbling down a rocky embankment, Snow, a wildlife biologist, grabbed one of the creatures by the tail. The python, Oberhofer says, did not care much for that.

Sunday evening in Western Carolina. We relax at home and will probably check to see if Fox or NC Public TV (the only channels we get) have anything worth watching later. If not, we will read. Now, in the early evening, we digest our dinner engaged in light chores with some gracious bluegrass music on the radio.

The house is cool, the day was spring-like, and no fire was started. This afternoon Chuck emptied the stove of ash and built a fire of news print, seasoned oak twigs, split poplar and one or two pieces of oak. We’ll see how many days we can delay lighting this fire. This warmth in the East will be bad for oil futures. We’re glad we have been able to heat with home grown fuel this fall.