Rolling Clouds

The clouds perform acrobatics over the mountains on rainy days

Misty Curtains

Veils of rain add tremendous depth to far off ridges.

Pink sky

A recent sunset

Around Dusk

Clouds catch the last light of day.

Waking up Wet

A steady rain fell most of the night last night, leaving everything nice and wet. Oh, how I love the monsoon season!

Four Corners Gem and Mineral Show

This weekend there was the Four Corners Gem and Mineral show hosted by the Four Corners Mineral Club of Durango. Every year there are tons of amazing rocks, crystals, jewelery and other neat things to see. I highly recommend going to a rock show like this where you live.

  

 

Large Amazonite (blue) and Smokey Quartz crystals (black)

 This guy is the miner who found all of these

 Thunderegg Agate

 I didn't find out the name of this neat mineral

 A large sample of Crinoid fossils

 Fishy fossils

 Trilobites!

So many things to look at!!

 The items I purchased for my own collection.

Totes My Goats

Of course I saw this here in Durango traffic

Popcorn Clouds

These Cumulonimbus calvus clouds have been popping up in the sky most afternoons. They are a sure sign that the monsoon season has begun

Supernumerary

A vibrant rainbow graces the sky over Durango

On the Edge of Town

Free Library

A thoughtful collection of books free for anyone to borrow and exchange. Found on the 1400 block of E. 2nd Ave, Durango.

Mackerel Sky

Buttermilk clouds foretell of wet weather for later in the day

Rain!

Rain finally falls after a dry June.

The Monsoons are Coming

The North American Monsoon is a weather phenomenon that the populations of the Southwestern US look forward to and rely on for moisture and fire control. It occurs when solar heating of the terrain creates a low pressure trough that pulls moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico and brings it into the desert southwest. The result is rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon of most days. In many places, the monsoon provides a substantial part of the area's total yearly rainfall. I hope we have a very wet, fire-free season this year.

Postcards from the Past

Much has changed in the 97 years between these two photographs

Sky's on Fire

Another brilliant sunset illuminates the sky over Durango

Knotted Glow

Sneaking a peek into someone's yard to see shimmering droplets spray into the air.

Abandoned

An old shed stands alone in an empty field near the Mercury building

Happy Solstice

Looking upstream from near Bodo.

The Purple Cilffs of the McDermott Formation

South of Durango lies this striking maroon cliff band of strata known locally as the Purple Cliffs and geologically as the McDermott Formation. It is believed by most geologist to be a fluvial deposit with debris flows and some volcaniclastic deposits from the La Plata Volcanic Intrusions to the northwest.. The deposit can be found throughout the Four Corners area and is dated to be on the Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (66 Million years old) and some fossils have been found in the formation here in Durango and also in exposures in New Mexico. I find them to be one of my favorite exposures in all of the Durango area.