June Monsoons

School finished on June 12th, and the monsoons started the next day bringing backyard blooms, weeds and wildflowers, and astonishing greens to the Ramah Valley. A solstice trip to Santa Fe, Chimayo, Taos, and up to Salida, Colorado, was a wonderful celebration to start summer, visiting friends and stopping at the Great Sand Dunes National Park along the way. June’s gifts also include days up at Star Garden Gallery, hikes with the pups, and restful rainy afternoons. This month’s photos: a couple of monsoon skies, followed by the brilliant blue sky, two adobe scenes in Santa Fe— one with the full Strawberry Moon, Chimayo’s Chapel, Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes, and the Arkansas River running through the sweet town of Salida which is nestled in the river valley, surrounded by several Colorado 14ers (https://www.14ers.com/14ers). We spotted some white pelicans overhead, watched a lot of river runners, and explored the galleries, shops, and eateries. Back home photos: succulent bird and candle bird on the back patio, field with flowers, hiking with the pups, mariposa lily wildflower, mesa top view, heart cloud over Deer Mesa (Bond Mesa) across from Star Garden Gallery, prickly pear in bloom on the sculpture trail between Star Garden Gallery and the Old School Gallery, some tiny Ladder/Cloud paintings as a warm-up for larger paintings, and the pups patiently awaiting a treat.