Summer Solstice- 1 -Gardening update

Writing has not been prioritized lately.  A whole lot of ideas for posts lie unused in my head. Today being the longest day of the year, I decided to brush aside the lethargy and get down to business. This post is in two parts and will be a mosaic of some facets of my life that have found prominence in the past six months. The first part is an update on the gardening front.

Winter this year dragged on for longer than usual. Spring was kind of long too, and suddenly in May, it felt like July. The plants were confused. Some of my regular plants did not do well. Fewer sunflowers sprouted from seeds, some other seedlings died, and tomatoes were the biggest failure. It's the first time in 5 years that we had no cherry tomatoes to snack on.

Some others did well though. It was my first time growing Kohlrabi. I had bought two plants at the local county plant fair and sale. They did pretty well, considering I had forgotten they were growing in one corner.

Cilantro volunteers grew in several places in the yard, even in the lawn!

It was great garnishing several dishes with fresh cilantro, including this stir-fried kohlrabi, sauteed with some olive oil and cumin seeds. 

Carrots were planted later than usual but they enjoyed the longer period of cooler temperatures until the end of April. I could harvest them about four times all through April.

I had also got Arugula plants from the county sale. They grew nicely and finally bolted. The flowers turned into pods. I have collected seeds to plant later in the fall.

Collard greens was another one I was growing for the first time. Peeking from behind it are a few leaves of red mustard.

Sunflowers are always such a pleasure to have growing in the yard. They are happy flowers! A bee with pollen all over the legs, doing its job in the greater scheme of things.

Mushrooms growing among day lilies and Nasturtiums after a soaking shower.

Romaine lettuce is still producing seeds. I will collect them for next year. These wind-pollinated seeds are so beautiful!

Eggplants are all volunteers in the yard this year. I am yet to ascertain what kind they are.

The Cardinal Climber- I love the leaves and flowers of this vine. Hopefully they will last until fall. Hummingbirds are supposed to love them, and I can confirm that only in September.

Speaking of which, the Northern Cardinal continues to visit often. I think their nest is somewhere nearby, the pair is often in our yard together.

The House Finch is also a regular visitor.

They seem to love the Thai Basil, Lemon Basil, and native Salvia flowers/seeds.

American Robins visit often. They love the bird bath. 

I had bought a Chamomile plant at the county fair back in December. It showed a lot of vegetative growth for a while, and has only just begun to flower.

I want to collect the flowers, dry them and use them to make tea. Their calming effect is known, and coupled with Lemon Balm, it should make an interesting herbal supplement when needed. 

This bounty is from today. It rained a lot these last couple of days. I found two purple bell peppers, some green peppers, and decided to bring some lemon balm leaves to make some tea. The tea promises to soothe!

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

A few years ago, I accidentally stumbled upon an area in New Mexico where thousands of Sandhill Cranes and other migratory birds visit during winter. There are scores of birds during the year too, but I read this at a time when I had never seen the cranes, and I was intrigued by the place. I read that a Sandhill Crane festival was held there every year in November, prompting me to promptly begin day dreaming about visiting some day. Then suddenly this year, it looked like that dream would turn into reality. If not for the festival, it was still worth a visit in the month of November.

A road trip materialized, and soon, I was standing in front of this sign!

A short drive down the small road, a lake appeared on the right. A beautiful tree dazzled against the mountains, all decked in yellow .

At exactly that moment, I saw a familiar grey! "There they are", I exclaimed, ready to jump out of the car. There was a pullout and another car stood a little further away. I got out, soaked in the ambience, and stood there observing a Sandhill Crane family going about their business.
A recreational vehicle just pulled up and a lady got out her binoculars and got busy like I had done earlier. The space above the dashboard of her RV had a few succulents growing in nice planters, and it was very cool.

Getting back in the car, we drove to the visitor center. It was around noon, and we hoped there would be a restaurant there. No such luck, and we thanked our stars we had breakfast bars, chips and some other snacks.

We got maps and other directions from the kind lady at the desk and set out.

A lake lay ahead and following a honking sound coming from the area led us to a huge gaggle of Snow Geese.
The cranes could not be far behind, I concluded.

I was right! Around the bend was a large field. At first, I saw a small gaggle of Canada Geese with the Sandhills.

Then the sight I was hoping to see suddenly presented itself! Hundreds of cranes happily eating corn in the field. They had flown a long way to get here, and were settling down in their home for the winter.

There were so many of them! It was a beautiful sight!

As we moved further down the road, a smaller sedge of cranes were feeding in a field, and more were flying in. I got out of the car, and observed their behavior. Another couple of people stopped to do the same.

Just then, a rafter of wild turkeys appeared from the thicket behind the field.

Slowly, they crossed the field, and came pretty close to where I was standing.

One looked at me to see if I posed a threat.

Then one by one, they flew across the dirt road and crossed to the field on the other side and disappeared. The whole episode lasted only five minutes, and I was lucky to have witnessed it.

Further down the road, beautiful vistas on either side greeted us. Sounds of cranes told us they were nearby, but I couldn't see them. They were all over in the fields at the refuge.

Mountains in the background, and a beautiful, crisp, sunny, fall afternoon was slowly turning into dusk.

The Snow Geese decided they wanted to move to an adjacent lake, and began to take off in groups. It was quite a sight!

Black-tipped wings and a snow white body, the sight of geese in flight with trees in the background was beautiful!

They began to settle down in the lake a little further away.

The lady at the visitor center had said that the cranes put on quite a show at sunset by the lake I had come across as we entered the refuge. We decided to drive there even if sunset was over an hour later.
There were more cranes there now. There were people too, and I soon realized they were all setting up tripods and taking up spots for the show at dusk!
I socialized a little with fellow birders. An elderly couple who had driven from Los Angeles told me how excited they were to be there. They shared their insect repellent spray with me, seeing how unprepared I was! It was a necessity there, and I am so thankful to them for sharing.
The lady with the succulents in her RV showed up too. She refused to get out, and said she did not like to spray DEET to keep away mosquitoes. She had a nice perch up there with a good view, higher than the rest of us. I told her I found her succulents very neat, and she was pleased. She said she had been on the road birding for the past two years, and had set up home in the RV. It was very nice meeting with these interesting people.

It began to get cloudy and I hoped that the lone day I had chosen to be here at sunset wouldn't disappoint. A surreal kind of hue spread over the lake and I managed to get this shot that I really liked.

The cranes began their fly-ins as the sun set.

One by one, they descended on the field.

 Touchdown!

The sound of trumpeting/bugling/rattling of cranes filled the area. Here are three of them at it! They look upwards and make that sound.

Meanwhile, the clouds began to turn pinkish orange and the sky was getting really gorgeous!

The colors reflected in the water, and the cranes added to the charm!

Reflections of crane silhouettes in the lake! It was surreal!

I could not have asked for a better evening!

The cranes, the beautiful sunset, the clouds - spectacular!

Finally, after taking hundreds of pictures, I got into the car and then began another drama! The dashboard showed one tire to have a tire pressure of 16. The others had 37. We were in the middle of nowhere. It would get pitch dark in five minutes and I realized how a feeling of bliss can suddenly turn to fear. The nearest town was three miles away. We decided to drive there and call AAA. Luckily, a gas station was open and had air. As we got the tire pressure up to 38, I called AAA, but they said it would be an hour before they arrived. We decided to drive to Albuquerque, where we had a hotel reservation for the night. It was a 75 minute drive and keeping our fingers crossed, we started out. The tire kept losing pressure and we had to stop at a small town on the way again for air. Finally, we got to the hotel and asked AAA to come fix the tire. It turned out to be a rather eventful day!

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

A recent visit to New Mexico made me realize how much I had undervalued what the beautiful state had to offer to a visitor. From a desert near the southern end to snow-capped mountains to the north, there is a vast variety of landscapes one can explore.

**Please click on the pictures to view full screen in better resolution**

To the west of the charming town of Santa Fe, lies this unusual geographical wonder among the mountains, the Kasha-Katuwe (meaning white cliffs in native pueblo language) tent rocks.

The monument is open to the public and a hike of about 4 miles from start to finish takes you through an amazing trail. You can also do a shorter and easier mile long Cave Loop trail, but the Slot Canyon Trail is the one that really packs the punch.

A first closeup look at the formations from the Cave Loop Trail.

The cave that the trail is named after.

There are portions of this trail that climb gradually and at about the half mile mark, you see the Slot Canyon trail take off.

Erosion and weathering of huge deposits of volcanic rock have resulted in teepee shaped structures or tents. The tents are actually softer pumice and tuff and at the base are tougher caprocks. 
There are hoodoos too, among the tents.

The Slot Canyon Trail starts on a fairly even terrain and then it meanders over rocks, providing some excellent views of the tent rocks.

I had read about petroglyphs in some areas of New Mexico, and hoped I would get to see some. When I walk trails, I do it at my own pace, looking for wildflowers, wildlife, and anything interesting. At one point, when I was admiring a beautiful Juniper, I became aware of a gentleman in khakis and a white shirt, with a hiking hat and camera, standing nearby. 

He watched me admiring the tree and asked- "Did you see that petroglyph"? 

Completely taken by surprise, I mumbled- "What? Where?"

"Right there on that cave wall", he pointed. 

Sure enough, much to my delight, was a drawing, made by some unknown person who lived there hundreds of years ago! 

Not many people knew of the existence of that petroglyph there that day. How fortunate that the gentleman who did know had to cross paths with me at the exact spot where there was one! 

I think it depicts a large snake on the right, and a smaller one on the left, along with some other designs.

I thanked the man for telling me about it, and asked if he knew of more in the area. He said that was the only one at Kasha-Katuwe that he knew about. 

The trail then leads to a narrow passage between the slot canyon. 

For those not fond of small spaces, this portion could pose a challenge. I am sometimes uncomfortable in such places, but this did not bother me.

The path then passes under this boulder, 

and opens up to begin a steep climb up the canyon. It mostly has sand and rocks on the path that you use as stepping stones.
The tent rocks at this point are above eye level.

As you start to climb up, you view the tents at eye level.
Here, for a brief portion of the trail, railroad ties as steps help get you several feet up.

When you get to the top finally, you see the formations way below. At each level, they offer a different and very interesting perspective.

The views from the top are spectacular! Sangre de Cristo and Jemez mountains in the distance and hoodoos and tent rocks below make the climb up totally worth it!

Another view from the top showing hikers on the trail- it gives you an idea of what you've accomplished. For me, this was a personal challenge. Nobody asked me to do it, and I could have stopped at any point, but I decided to go one step at a time. Though I was slower than some others, I got to the top in good time. It did wonders for my confidence. Until last year, walking and hiking did not pose a challenge, but plantar fascitis and other issues made me not so sure of myself lately. This climb of about 700 feet (per alltrails) was a good endurance test.