I ran out to the river, then down to the beach to see if I could get the pink on the Sandias from the setting sun. There was a soft pink on the Sandias just before the sun went down.

I walked back into the bosque and came face to face with cows wandering around, munching on the foliage. They ran north while I went to see what the sunset was doing. As the dusk began to creep into the bosque, I heard the cows mooing urgently and coyotes howling. I ran toward the sound of the commotion in hopes of photographing a cow vs. coyote fight. I heard a coyote yelping, then silence in the bosque.

Under a half moon, I walked through the bosque and up onto the top of the levee, where I came up between the heard of cows on my left and one cow on my right. We all stopped, stood still and looked at each other.

We were in a true stand-off with no more than twenty feet separating me from the cows on either side. We all stood defiant, hooves and feet planted firmly as we stood our ground.  Silence momentarily fell round us until the cows tried an offensive maneuver and started squeaking out bursts of air, back and forth, until they were playing toccata and flatulence in F Major. I imagined them singing a cow version of Helen Reddy's famous song:

"I am cow hear me roar
With flatulence too loud to ignore
I may look simple, but I do pretend
Cause I’ve let em drop before
Those patties crashing to the floor
Please try to step around my pies

Oh yes, don’t despise
Four stomachs are insane
Yes, reticulum, rumen dice
Omasum, abomasum reduce the grain
If I have to I can eat anything

I am strong
(smelling)
I am invincible
(horns)
I am a cow"

I added a few toots to the musical merriment — I have to say we had a gas — until the herd decided they had enough and began moseying south on the levee. Now I stood separating an angry cow from the herd, and decided it was best to get off the bank and let it rejoin the herd.

Meanwhile, back in the bosque, Laurie was blocked from joining the "toot-in" by a rather defiant toad who stood his ground asking "Who's that stomping on my trail?" Once he saw it was a beautiful woman, outfitted in rose gold, he let her pass. If it had been a bullfrog blocking the path, he probably would have demanded a kiss before allowing her to pass, but toads have not been known to turn into Princes. Laurie joined me on the levee just as the cows and I finished putting on the airs.

All that gas made for a really nice afterglow at dusk.

Seven Flycatchers in Mia's tree

I walked out to the river in the late afternoon before sundown and a nice variety of birds were active.

Flycatcher overhead

Young Cooper's Hawk

Great Blue Heron wading in the Rio Grande

Vulture

Laurie got a photo of Spunk having sweet, happy dreams.

Three coyotes on the ditch bank watching the paparazzo approach.

One steps down, the others look around. Two coyotes left on the ditch bank watching the paparazzo approach.

One steps down, the other looks around. One coyote left on the ditch bank watching the paparazzo approach.

Sunset happens

Standoff between eight cows and the paparazzo in the twilight.

Going into cow-warp speed to catch the herd in the twilight.

Comes out of cow-warp speed to face down the paparazzo in the twilight.

The cow and the paparazzo enjoy a gaggle of geese flying overhead in the twilight.

Standing prickly on barren ground
Sin água y solo
Beads and bangles mark a roadside passing
Sin água y solo
Dusty protests barked out warnings
Sin água y solo
Import stands by fading colors
Sin água y solo
Fenced in lonely, please can you play?
Sin água y solo

The sliver moon was facing down a bloody sky this evening. Earlier, a muskrat was swimming in a northerly direction, probably keeping an eye on the paparazzo, and almost collided with an Eastern Snapping Turtle who was swimming in a southerly direction just under the surface. The turtle dove under the muskrat and laid still on the bottom of the clearwater ditch for a long time. The muskrat turned into a hole in the ditch bank.

Eastern Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Muskrat almost ran into the turtle

Veteran's Honor

Orb Spider

High Society pulled to the ground by a porcupine

Tuscan Sun

Lovestruck

Wine and socks I won in a raffle

I went to a Network After Work meet and great after work this evening. Since it was at the Apothecary Lounge on the roof of the old infirmary turned Hotel Parq Central at I-25 (about a mile from the office), I walked up to the event and back.  I met various people, and dropped a card into the raffle basket. Lucky me! My card was drawn for one of the baskets of wine and socks. On the walk back to the office, after sunset, I took a series of architecture along Old Route 66 in the twilight. As I walked along Central on my way downtown, more than one street person commented on the nice bottle of wine I was carrying. While none of them asked directly, I could tell they were hoping I might donate it to their cause.

When I got back to the office, I photographed CSR's and ARC's lighted signs without lights on inside the office. I installed ARC's sign back around March, but I hadn't been at the office when it's dark until tonight. CSR installed their sign last week.

Sunset behind the downtown skyline taken from the rooftop of the Hotel Parq Central

Tattooed building

Classic old duplex

The new Lobo Rainforest student housing on Broadway and Central

CSR's new lighted sign

ARC's lighted sign looking through the front door.

Alpha

As the world ended, yet again, I thought about the last line in the "Gloria Patri" — "World without end. Amen" — because with all the apocalypses that have come and gone over the millennia, a "World with out end" has persisted.

You can see my animated gif of the solar eclipse at https://photoofthedayetc.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/world-without-end-amen/.

Maximum
 

Sun gazer

Omega

Sequence

The world is coming to an end again because there will be a total solar eclipse tomorrow. Albuquerque is not in the path for us to see the total eclipse, so we will only get to see 78% of the sun covered by the moon if we see it at all. The sun went into hiding today behind a thick layer of clouds. The forecast for tomorrow morning is mostly cloudy, so there is a chance the sun will still be in hiding for the eclipse. However, weather forecasts are often meaningless around these parts, so I'll have my solar filters on hand incase the sun comes out for the occasion.

Riding low

Trash in tow

Walking Tall

Lecture hall

Smoke break