1:13 PM, Saturday, June 27th. An alligator lizard formed in the air over the Sandias. Wind was still and the temperature was in the low 90's.

2:44 PM, Saturday, June 27th. Clouds continue float over from the northeast. Wind was still and the temperature remained in the low 90's.

4:24 PM,  Saturday, June 27th. Thunderheads building up over the Sandias. Light breeze and the temperature still in the low 90's.

6:47 PM, Saturday, June 27th. A thunderstorm moved in with strong winds blowing dust and cold, horizontal rain that finally drove us inside. The temperature dropped from 89º F (31.67º C) to 63º F (17.22º C) in minutes.

7:41 PM, Saturday, June 27th. We normally have golden light and long shadows, as the setting sun prepares to turn the Sandias pink at this time of day, but the storm turned the light to dusk and dropped 2/10 of an inch of rain in 45 minutes.

Fast Fish

Walking along the clearwater ditch last night I came across fast fish, muskrats, beaver, turtle and a family of ducks. The horsetail is growing up along the bank, but the Conservancy will cut them down soon enough.

Muskrat Love

Horsetail

Beaver and Turtle

The Ducks

The End

Lilies abound, and finally a new record on the daily stair climb after what seems like months with no records. Jay did a 1:55.82 yesterday. Bruce and I have been stuck in the 2:36 range since we went on daylight savings time — the longer days and shorter nights during the summer months make it hard to get much sleep, which seems to take its toll on setting records on the stair climbs.

Early morning yesterday was my morning to irrigate. Despite the Rio Grande running high, the heat has created more demand for the ditch water, so the water never got high enough for the cotton to run over the gate. Therefore, a thick layer of cotton backed up behind the gate — a cotton flow that looked similar to an ice flow in summer.

Checking out the progress

The construction workers are making major progress on the super structure on the building behind our office as you can see in the photos from last week and this week. I sent my main digital camera and favorite lens to Canon for cleaning, service and any necessary repairs this week, so I used a film camera for wide angle shots (not processed) and made a panorama with my carry camera for the construction progress this week.

Construction on June 17th (17mm lens)

Walking the line

Construction on June 23rd (five frame panorama)

Black and white

A 1965 Ford Falcon that is. A group of young people came rumbling down Gold Ave in this "souped-up" Ford Falcon while I was getting a skill saw out of my car to modify a desk in the late afternoon. The driver made a K-turn in front of the office, "peeled out" and backed into a space down the street. I got a slight wave of nostalgia from the rumble of a big engine, hearing the screech and smelling rubber from freshly smoked tires. 

Sasha behind a music stand

Summer has officially started and it's hot. The high temps have been around 100º F (37.8º C) for the past couple of days, so the cats have been lounging around. The younger kitties opt for inside where it's much cooler under the air-conditioners and swamp cooler, while the older cats prefer to lounge out on the deck and in the shade. The only kitty not pictured is Najar. She finds a cool, out-of-the-way place to curl up and we don't see her for hours at a time.

Diné on a chair on the deck

Spunk on the couch under the air-conditioner

Rosencrantz on the chaise lounge on the deck

Guildenstern on a chair in the shade

Lola on the counter in the air blowing from the swamp cooler

Yellow wildflowers in the bosque.

The Rio Grande is running high,
 

I sent my zoom lens in for service, so the bullfrog blown up from a normal lens looks more like a painting more than a photo.

Rosencrantz in the grass

Storm clouds over the Sandias

Oriental lilies are blooming

Rosencrantz walking in the cotton blizzard.

The cottonwoods are producing lots of cotton this year, so it's like having a snowstorm in June. I listened to a concert by Tears for Fears that played at the Sandia Amphitheater while I prepared this blog. They sounded pretty good from here, but pretty low key and mellow for a "new wave" group.

The last photo shows Tristan with René our Eclectus Parrot. Eclectus Parrots are very susceptible to hepatitis and poor René has had a bout with hepatitis.  Tristan is trying to raise money to help pay for treatments at http://www.gofundme.com/x9suzg. If you can contribute, René and Tristan would appreciate it very much. You can see old posts on René, the Eclectus Parrot formerly known as Joey, at my POTDE archives:

When we first got René: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/joeys-big-adventure/

René gets his name: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/parrot-formerly-known-as-joey/

René eating a chip: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/rene-discovers-a-chip/

Japanese style: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2013/09/01/japanese-style/

René helping with ghetto scanning: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2013/11/01/bird-help/

René in the jungle: https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/bungle-in-the-jungle-2/

The little green pods hanging above the bird are called "tatones". When I was a kid, we used to pick them and have tatone fights. It's probably a felony today to shoot a person with a tatone from a wrist rocket.

All the white between the leaves is cotton that has burst forth from the tatones.

Tristan and René. You can go to http://www.gofundme.com/x9suzg to donate to René's treatment fund (photo: selfie by Tristan).

Tradescent

Asian Lily

Weed

Dr Huey

I had my annual checkup with the doctor yesterday and all may lab results were so normal that the doctor told me all my aches and pains were simply from aging. In other words, I have nothing to complain about.  I had lemon buttermilk chiffon cake with strawberry sauce and whipped cream and a cup of coffee to celebrate when I got home. The were lots of critters out, including Sasha being cute, birds, bees, a snake I rescued from Najar, grasshoppers, painted lady butterflies and a very large snapping turtle I came across while walking along the clearwater ditch. We also sat on the deck and listened to George Thorogood and Brian Setzer who were in concert at the Sandia Amphitheater across the river. I don't like George Thorogood, but I do like Brian Setzer and his Rockabilly sound.