Author: Steve

 

Old Salt.

 

La Sal Vieja Map

 

Another of the salt lakes.

 

The trailhead.

 

A Harris’s Hawk to welcome me.

 

Engulfed in the chortling calls of sandhill cranes in flight.

 

 

A walk up the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

A small pond on the way.

 

 

A morning vulture liftoff.

 

 

The approach to the lake.

 

 

And the view.

 

 

A look back.

 

Salt harvesting equipment decaying in neglect.

 

 

This is my second trip here recently.  It turns out we have a salt scientist among our friends.  (Yes, that really is a thing.)  I made a trip here to collect a sample, but it didn’t turn out like I wanted.  I didn’t have the right tools, and the hard crusty sample I collected came with a lot of dirt and debris attached.

 

So this time I returned with more sophisticated scientific equipment.

 

And was able to scrape off a top layer of salt to collect a much cleaner sample.

 

 

 

That moved!

 

Closer inspection reveals a charming little wild Texas Tortoise.

 

 

 

 

 

The traditional meal.

 

And a fire table after.

 

 

Thinking of family and friends.  We feel thankful.

 

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like Thankschristmas at our house.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re having one friend over for an outdoor dinner on the deck tomorrow.  Judy, the cranberry lady, has been making homemade cranberries for two days and delivering servings to people all over the park as a way to share without all being in the same place at the same time.  The pie and ice cream; just at our house.

 

 

To demonstrate how much I don’t know about butterflies.

 

Even when I look really closely

 

 

I still can’t name it.