The Las Cruces Report: Late October

We moved into our adobe house in the pecan orchard last November, so we have been here almost a year now. I think that this must be my favorite time of year. The nights are cool, and the days warm up quickly so that the air is hot in the sun, while still cool in the shade. The flies and mosquitoes have gone away; even unscreened doors and windows can stand open to the fresh air, allowing the dogs and cats to come into the house and out onto the patios at will. We often get clouds that seem to be sent especially to make the sunrises and sunsets absolutely breathtaking.

SOOC--straight out of the camera--with telephone wires intact. This was the sunrise from our patio a few days ago. 

The harvest is going on in the fields--cotton, red chiles, and pumpkins. The pecan orchard keepers are watching their trees carefully and spraying for weeds. They send out tractors that pull big rollers to tamp down the grass beneath the trees, which will make it easier to gather the pecans when they are shaken off a bit later in the season.

It is fiesta time in southern New Mexico. There is something going on every weekend--wine festivals, parades, special events at museums and art galleries--the possibilities for entertainment are endless. Next weekend on the plaza in Mesilla, people will be displaying altars dedicated to their loved ones for the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), followed on Tuesday by a candlelight procession to honor the dead.  We have some plans for an altar of our own, here in the adobe house.

The summer's monsoon rains have given the desert vegetation an almost lush look, as you can see.

Taken near the Visitor's Center at Dripping Springs

Banana yucca in fruit, Organ Mountains, NM