Happy New Year from Socorro, New Mexico.

Kevin and I drove down last night, leaving after work. We had our first night stop at Raton, NM, and then we left for Socorro.

Our ultimate destination is our yearly visit to Bosque Del Apache refuge to do a spot of bird watching - this is a superb destination for bird watching. Before we got there we decided to stop off at the Cathedral at Ribera, NM. We passed the Sad Cafe, which we have blogged about before, and were astonished to find that it was open for business under a different name - La Risa Cafe. We immediately stopped for breakfast. I had cinnamon french toast (out of this world) and Kevin had an enormous breakfast burrito. We spoke to the owners and wished them well. Photos to be posted soon. Watch this space!

Across the road is a pottery studio which is never open when we pass by. So we popped across there and found potter Polly Whitcomb in residence. She showed us around her studio and work room. We bought a beautiful plate and some small tiles. Her work is beautiful. Then we drove to the Cathedral for more photography.

When we arrived at the church, the bells were ringing. We still didn't get inside, but managed to walk around the interior courtyard which doubles up as a cemetary.

We arrived at Bosque at 3pm and had time for a quick scout. We immediately saw a lot of sandhill cranes, and snow geese. We were pleased to have a really good sighting of a ferrigunous hawk, and a sharp shinned hawk. Every year there seem to be more people.

Now, I am blogging from Days Inn, Socorro, which has wifi.

We checked in for the night after a wonderful dinner at Frank n Lupes.

Happy New Year! May 2006 be filled with good health and good times.

I am busy showing my niece and her family, visiting from UK my blog in the hopes that they will start blogging. (Hint, hint)

Amos at Cyclone Road has a good post about chasers and pretend chasers. I guess the issue is don't pretend to be something that you are not. Kevin and I love storm chasing (truth be told we really like the road trip and seeing out of the way places.) Rarely do we have the time or the experience to be like real storm chasers (such as Amos, and a few others I could name).

It is annoying and disrespectful to claim things that are not true. And no, I have no idea to whom Amos is referring.

We gave Sam a blog for his birthday. He called us today to tell us he has started blogging. We can't wait to read more. More!!!

Check it out here.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Festivus, Hannukah or whatever. My family has gathered again here in Denver. It is nice to see them and catch up. Christmas Eve we spent at the local IMAX watching "Mystic India". Afterward we ate dinner at Boston Market for a quick dinner. I felt so sorry for the tired looking people behind the counter. We ate quickly so that they could close and be with their families this Christmas.

Weather here is mild, a perfect night.

Merry Christmas all, and peace on Earth.

Kevin's website is now up and running. The name "Quiet West Photography" captures Kevin's philosophy of photography and the subject matter he loves so dearly - the untouched spaces and silences.

Please drop by and visit. Here's the link.

I found a link to this blog- BLDGBLOG. Go check it out - the photographs (politely and correctly attributed) are magnificant. I liked the post "Where Cathedrals go to die" Kevin and I saw this ship breaking yard on a DVD we got from the photographer Michael Reichmann, on his site, Luminous Landscapes. The scale of man to steel is oddly humbling.

Enjoy the read.

I am busy looking through my photographs of this year to put together my "Best of 2005" album. This year I didn't take nearly as many photos as I have done in years past. For some reason I just wanted to look, rather than to take photographs.

One of our experiences that stand out for me as a highlight was Antelope Canyon in Paige, Arizona. Kevin and I stopped there on our return trip from Las Vegas. We had tried a few times in the past to visit but we found it closed. This is a wonderful site and well worth the effort.

Some time ago I blogged about our new adopted fur person, Maddy. At the time Maddy was not sufficiently settled in to pose for a photograph - the photos ended up being blurry, or she would obstinately keep her eyes shut. At long last Maddy has consented to a proper portrait.

This morning Kevin and I were in our study web surfing when I noticed Maddy being very interested in a box we had on top of a filing cabinet. It held Kevin's winter gloves and mittens and was nicely positioned in the sun.

The next thing we knew, Ms Maddy had settled herself in the box for a nice nap in the sun. Ahh, a cat's life...

I am busy studying for an exam right now, so no blogging. 

I hope to get back into things once my exam is over (hopefully.) I feel quite reclusive. I haven't even seen the new Harry Potter movie. (A World Gasps!)