Spring Broke!

Curazy!

 It's only one word that I use to describe today. The beginning of March Madness or what is normally called, Spring Break. Lord a mercy. And it arrived with a vengeance. As I went to work this afternoon the wind was blowing madly. My truck is getting an engine block transplant so at the moment I am driving a golf cart to work. As I live in the property, it's not far. I can hardly wait to get my truck back. Awhile back a piece, it blew a head gasket which allowed the coolant to mix with the oil. This basically contributed to the bearings corroding and BAM! There it was, that horrible racket that every owner of a vehicle dreads to hear the most. It's the sound of a engine block purchase in the making. So, currently it's at the mechanics awaiting the delivery of the block from Autozone. Autozone stated that it would be arriving around April 2nd. That's so nice. Hopefully it will be repaired before the desert flowering season is over. I really would like to document the flowers and cactus blooming on my property out on the Ranch.

There was a very tiny lull in the arrival of Spring Break guests so I rushed outside of the lobby to snap a photo of the sunset glow on the horizon.

When I closed up and left the front lobby the wind was blowing something fierce. I guess with the arrival of Spring Break is also the arrival of the March winds. Just so lovely. I don't mind the wind so long as it's not wild enough to turn over my RV. A few years ago, we had a microburst come through here and rip off the roof to one of the buildings here. At the time the wind was blowing 100 miles per hour. It was a sight I will not soon forget. I just knew it was going to overturn some of the RV's in the RV Park but thankfully it never did.

It's late and already it's the next day. Today will be a repeat of yesterday. I will be wearing the equivalent of skates every day this week. Enjoy the sunset.

Terlingua Sunset 030913

They say there is a cold spell coming in the next few days. The temperature will plummet all the way into the 60's. LOL Actually for me, that is freezing. I want to feel the warm breeze of at least 80 degrees.

Have a great day.

Charlton

A Beautiful Turquoise Sky

"Gamma? Ain't at bootiful?"
    -me at six years old to my Grandma while taking a walk in the country. She never let me forget that I said that to her.


"I'm a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds."
    -Mike Tyson

Beautiful puffy clouds in a Terlingua Sky 030813

Today brings back a memory of me arriving here on the fourth of March in 2008, what seems so long ago and yet as if it was only yesterday. At that time, the temperature was in the 80's and it was beautiful. I had left California a few days earlier and it was cold there. I was so thrilled that I had finally arrived in a place where warmth was at the low end of the temperature scale. The sky was so blue and the clouds just seemed to hang in the sky so close that if I reached out I wouldn't  have been surprised to touch them. It was also the beginning of what everyone has come to know as Spring Break. All four weeks of March were booked solid and it was almost as if there were a sea of people checking in one right after the other.

The clouds this evening were like those on that day five years ago. Then I recall stopping every other mile to take photos of the wide open space, the turquoise sky, and many yucca decorating the roadside. Today was so warm and inviting that when I had free moments from checking guests into their rooms and RV sites, I went to the front door and stood in the open door to soak up and simply enjoy the wonderful warmth of the air. I always bring my camera wherever I go because I never know when a moment may arrive that I want to capture in a photo. I hurried back to the front desk to grab my camera while I still had a moment to myself and record this awesome sky in front of me.

Spring Break begins tomorrow and ends next Sunday. It is an understatement when I say that I probably will not have an opportunity to take a photo of the sunset at anytime until Spring Break is over. Please enjoy this following tonight's sunset. Happy Spring Break!!!

030813 another color filled Terlingua Sunset

Have a wonderful evening!
Charlton

Spring has Sprung in Terlingua and the Big Bend!

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad

    with joy the whole time to have such things about us.

                                                                                 - Iris Murdoch

Another Terlingua Sunset Thursday evening.

Spring has Sprung here in the Big Bend area and Terlingua! I am so excited. Like the Pointers Sisters said, I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it. Oh yeah!

This afternoon after Raoul arrived home from work we went for a little hike on the back of the property at Big Bend Resort to hunt for wildflowers. I have been waiting for this Spring for two years now. The past couple of years the drought has been so severe that there almost were no wildflowers or cactus blooming anywhere in the area. Now that we have experienced some rain and one snow the moisture has been enough to germinate the wildflowers and cactus.

At this moment there is an explosion of color, there's no other way to put it folks, in the Big Bend and Terlingua. Bluebonnets are carpeting the side of the roads and hills around us here in Terlingua. There are so many varieties of wildflowers blooming that some of them are new to me. The photos that follow are all of wildflowers spotted late this afternoon between Big Bend Resort & Adventures and Maverick Mountain. Enjoy.

This is some sort of ground cover with beautiful violet blooms.

I have no idea what this is but it is everywhere on my property
at Terlingua Ranch. I have been here five years and today I finally
get to see what the blooms look like. This blooms even earlier than
the blue bonnets since many of the blooms are already spent and seed pods have
dispersed their seeds.

A variety of Feather Dalea

Ocotillo preparing to bloom now

A variety of hedgehog cactus with double blooms now blooming

A variety of yucca in bloom

Blue bonnets covering the hills around Maverick Mountain.
Maverick Mountain straddles the boundary to BB National Park.

An arroyo and remnants of a mercury mine.
Notice the small white cross at the side of the road
at the bottom of the photo.

Bi-color mustard blooming

More Bi-color mustard blooms.

I have no idea what this is yet but I love this color!

I hope you enjoyed the floral show. You should make plans to visit the Big Bend National Park or Terlingua soon in order to enjoy this wonderful fiesta of color. March - May are the main blooming season for cactus, however, there is always something blooming here at some point even if it is very small, the wildflowers continue blooming when the main event of large showy cactus flowers have already performed their main event.

See you in the Big Bend!

Charlton

Spring has sprung here in the Big Bend!

Following the 1183 eruption of Indonesia's Krakatoa, brilliant sunsets appeared around the world, one of which is said to have inspired Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's painting, The Scream.

-Coco Ballantyne

Terlingua Sunset 022813 as seen from the lobby of BBRA

This past Thursday my friend Mary and I went into Big Bend National Park to look for blooming wildflowers and signs of Spring. We didn't have far to look since the Park Ranger at the entrance told us of wildflower sightings about four miles down Maverick Road just inside the park entrance. Well, we were elated when we spotted not just a few but hills decorated with the intense blue color of Big Bend Bluebonnets. There are several varieties of bluebonnets in Texas but the variety inside Big Bend is known for it's tall shoots loaded with that blue color. We also found in the same spot, blooms of Bicolor Mustard, Bristly Nama, Desert Evening Primrose, Resurrection Plant, Blue Bonnets of course, stalks of yucca loaded with red tinged yellow blooms. It is rumoured and local folklore that mesquite does not begin to green out until threat of a frost has passed. Today we encountered mesquite with green leaf buds sprouting from their limbs.

Big Bend Bluebonnets 022613

It was an exciting day for both of us. We had lunch at the restaurant at the Chisos Mountains Lodge. Afterwards we drove to the visitors center at Persimmon Gap and went on a small hike up to some interesting examples of geology of rock formations typical of this region.

Today marks the end of yet another month in 2013 and today's last sunset of February.  This evening marks the 19th recorded sunset for February. As I have noted before, I am attempting to record every sunset within a year beginning with January 2013. For me, a remarkable sunset is one which stands out as colorful, contains clouds to reflect the sun, or in some way is more remarkable than simply a glow on the horizon. This is my definition only. Stormclouds blocking the sun and horizon altogether will not be recorded unless they are significant in some way or remarkable just prior to when sunset should have taken place. Now enough wordiness. Let's get on with the obligatory photos, shall we?

 

Desert Evening Primrose, Maverick Rd, BBNP 022613

Bi-Color Mustard, Maverick Rd, BBNP 022613

Big Bend Bluebonnets with Mary for scale, Maverick Rd, BBNP 022613

Blue Curls, Persimmon Gap, BBNP 022613

Yucca with Blooms, Persimmon Gap, BBNP

I think this is Cowpen Daisy, BBNP 022613

Bristly Nama, Maverick Rd, BBNP 022613

New growth on a Prickly Pear, Maverick Rd,BBNP 022613

At the end of our day as we made our tired but satisfied exit out of Big Bend National Park, we encountered the ultimate beautiful ending and we just had to stop and admire the magnificent sunset

Sunset, BBNP 022613

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful day.

Charlton

" What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

Crowfoot Quote













Yesterday evening's sunset was magnificent as usual. Terlingua and the Big Bend area must be the land of the setting sun. This past weekend was such a busy one with alot of guest arriving to take advantage of the three day weekend that was President's Day. A friend that I met on Facebook through my longtime friend, James, arrived two days ago with a friend of his from San Antonio. Stu saw my numerous photographs of sunsets and was intrigued by the area. I gave him some information about the area and he decided to come down and explore the Big Bend National Park. Unfortunately though, I could not just take off from the front desk and go with so I had a few moments, as I do with  most of the guests that arrive, and relayed some interesting points of the National Park, restaurant in the area etc. It seems they did have a great time. They left this morning to return to San Antonio. Stu is from Panama and was visiting the U.S. It was a pleasure meeting them. I so enjoy sharing the Big Bend with friends. I just think it's one of the most beautiful places on earth. The desert has a special beauty all of it's own. Not to mention that the sunsets are simply amazing.

When I see such vivid colors emerge after the sun sets behind Sawmill Mountain, it leaves me speechless. I just want to reach up and touch the colors.

From behind the front desk I have the opportunity to see almost every sunset of every night. Below is the view from the front porch of the Big Bend Resort & Adventures lobby.



Have a great day.

Charlton

Cotton Candy Sunset

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” 
― Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds

January sunsets: 13
February sunsets: 7 as of today

Yes, it is 2:52am and yes, I am still up. As usual. The sunset this evening was unique. Just three puffy clouds, like cotton candy, floating in the sky above Sawmill Mtn. and the Ghostown.

Working where I do I get to see a wonderful sunset every evening. Clouds accessorize the sky with added color most of the time. The sun setting below the horizon is usually when the color and drama begin to take shape. Sometimes it is only five minutes after the sun dips below and other times it can even be 20 minutes after. Patience is your friend when viewing a sunset. When there are no clouds present, a glow develops on the horizon and remains until there is no more light.

Patience is also something I'm having to practice lately. My truck is in the shop awaiting an engine block transplant. Yes, a couple of months ago, that thing happened on the road that of all the vehicle repairs one dreads the most to hear took place. The Blow Head Gasket. Yep. So while I am waiting to save up the dough to purchase the block I am doing what I can locally within this small sphere where I reside, in regards to photos. Sunsets, Bluebonnets and Clouds.

Practicing the fiddle also keeps me occupied.

So, until next sunset, hasta luego.

Charlton

Sunrise, Sunset.

“A large drop of sun lingered on the horizon and then dripped over and was gone, and the sky was brilliant over the spot where it had gone, and a torn cloud, like a bloody rag, hung over the spot of its going. And dusk crept over the sky from the eastern horizon, and darkness crept over the land from the east.” 

― John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

I have seen some beautiful sunsets just in these few beginning days of February.

Sunset on 2nd Feb 2013

Sunrise on 3rd Feb 2013

Anyone who knows me will tell you that normally I am not a morning person. However, I got a phone call from Raoul on the morning of this photo to tell me to look out the window. When I did, I immediately jumped out of bed, throwing a cat and a chihuahua into chaos with the rest of the bed covers and flew to my camera bag. I stuck my head out of the side door and this was the photo. I love it. It appears as if the sky is a roiling mass of lit gasoline or propane.

Charlton