These mountains are a cold hard skeleton and life is the green coat draped over their jagged bones.
Long spindly leaves of desert plants move lightly in the wind. Granite boulders have lichen waiting for raindrops to make their color more vibrant and further up arroyos, in the canyons between mountain fingers, are mule deer, hiding in plain sight.
I touch restless leaves, run my hand through their hair. Their long razor thin leaves pull at my hand and cut at my fingers.
Nature, when you reach for it, shows its defenses.
These old fashioned lawn chairs, made from steel with curved welded parts assembled in some long closed Iowa factory, have moved several times from their original homestead, on Bellamah Street. They used to sit in our childhood back yard under a cherry tree that grew tart cherries for Mom’s pies.Their final stop finds them in my townhouse front yard under a shade tree.
These two used to be a factory sprayed green,but, in succeeding years ,were hand painted white to match changing decors.They used to share back yards with green swing sets but now are the only surviving outdoor furniture from our elementary and preschool days..
Moments ago a freak summer hailstorm blew into Albuquerque and this photograph, just after the storm, is ghost like.
I can see my parents sitting in these ghost chairs, mom sketching and dad reading the newspaper.
I too will be gobbled up by time.
Till then I enjoy reclining in one of these chairs on warm evenings, watching the stars late at night when they are the brightest, listening to the wind rustle leaves above my head.
I’m planning on stripping off their paint, down to the metal, re-priming and re-painting them green.
Putting things back the way they were has been on my mind a lot lately.
In Charlie’s front entry, his project materials are carefully spread on the floor.
There are drills and hammers, paint brushes, screwdrivers, scissors and a set of instructions, if needed.
In Charlie’s newest project, the rocking horse rockers are made first with each part drawn on good wood, cut, sanded,primed and painted. The next step is attaching the separately made body and legs of the horse, to the rockers, with glue and thick screws. The last steps are doing details; a bridle, a saddle with stirrups, a mane, eyes, a mouth and tail with accessories from his wife Sharon’s sewing room.
The rocking horse, when time to visit arrives, will be loaded in the back of their SUV and delivered in person to Memphis, Tennessee.
At night, Meghan will talk to her horse softly, and, when things are tough, will wrap her little arms around the horse’s broad head and give it a kiss.
There is always more to a rocking horse than a set of instructions, screws and nails, and paint.
Charlie takes everything into consideration.
When fish glance up, they see the bottoms of leaves, insects touching the river’s back, white ripples where water hits obstacles that splits its flow.
In this underground observation area, us desert rats gawk at sharks, rays and groupers,cruising. They brush against their tank’s glass wall and pass us like race cars at the Indy 500.
Fish move aerodynamic, wasting no energy.
Watching them cruising, I wish I had their gracefulness.
Their world has no doors, no walls, and no friction.
Fish are made for quick turns, rapid acceleration, gorgeous movement.
Men are made for plodding and, as Alex the architect points out,often, plotting.
When I look up at the stars at night, I don’t see much difference between myself and a fish.
What we can see above us only goes so far.
Flamingos are often seen in front yards as plastic yard ornaments, and double as stir sticks in fancy lounge drinks.
This evening, the Albuquerque zoo is hosting a music concert. Surrounding the stage, families and friends have spread umbrellas, blankets, folding chairs and wait for Ryan McGarvey, a local boy made good, to sing and play his electric guitar. Newspaper stories say Ryan has performed with the British rock and blues legend Eric Clapton.
Flamingos at the zoo, this evening, can’t be charged with not sticking their necks out.
Tonight’s concert will sound, to them, like the bellowing of hippos and their tall graceful necks will move to the music like a conductor’s baton.
Julie and Nathan, California Chris’s sister and her boyfriend, like the concert, and especially love the rain and stormy skies.
Spectators huddle under umbrellas, blankets,plastic tarps, and the music, all by itself, out- dramas the weather.
Seeing flamingos in New Mexico is as surprising as it would be seeing roadrunners in Florida.
Hanging out with those of your own kind seems to be rooted in nature.
We humans are always trying to outdo nature’s design.
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