After the Storms

Hitchcock of Hummers

It started raining early in the afternoon yesterday, and we had thunderstorms on and off into the early evening.  In the past year, for some reason, Becca has grown more afraid of thunder.  Oddly enough, when I took her outside at 6:30 p.m. to do her business in the backyard she seemed unafraid of the booming thunder.  Does her fear stem from a feeling of being trapped in the house during a storm?  I had that sensation once--of being trapped by a storm--but it was during a backpacking trip in the White Mountain Wilderness near Ruidoso when I and my two companions had to hurriedly set up a small tent to get out of a downpour.  The tent was too small, it felt very close inside, and the overly-humid air was difficult to breathe.  The only escape was out into the pouring rain, which was not an option.  We spent several claustrophobic hours like that before the storm passed.  The only thing Becca and I had to contend with on our trek this morning was heavy humidity still lingering from yesterday's rain.

Strawberry Pitaya

Devil's Head

Up and up

Tortugas (left) and the Organ Mountains

Ocotillo at the edge of a deep gully

Otra vez

Mad dash

Down the long sandy road

Take me to your leader

Tangle of green

Beehive Nipple Cactus is finally budding out

What one must do periodically in the desert

Not a feather duster nor a carrot

Pitaya

Pitaya

Pitaya (all of the Strawberry variety)