Terlingua continues to Bloom!

"When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not."


- Georgia O'Keefe


These past few days have been a whirlwind of color, of flowers, of beauty and warmth. Three days ago and yesterday I went on a walk in the desert to look for wildflowers blooming and I found such color and flowers. Some I have seen like old friends that meet again and others I have seen for the first time. It's amazing at the variety of plants and flowers that are blooming this year. I have posted some of them below. I am still waiting for my truck to be repaired so that I can drive out to my property and see what is blooming there. The mechanic said another week. But for now, I can enjoy the blooms within walking distance of the BB Resort property where I live.

Enjoy.

Southwest Cosmos, Big Bend Resort & Adventures April 2013 (studio shot)

Mallow, Big Bend Resort & Adventures April 2013 (studio shot)

Southwest Cosmos, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (studio shot)

Bristly Nama, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

Huisache, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

White Prickly Poppy, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

(natural setting)

Prickly Pear, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

White Prickly Poppy, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

Strawberry Pitaya, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

Guayacan, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

Mallow, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

Silverleaf Nightshade, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

Prickly Pear, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

Seed Pods from Creosote Bush, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013
 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

(natural setting)

Creosote Bloom, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

(natural setting)

Catclaw Acacia, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

Velvetseed Milkwort (natural setting)

Dog Cholla, Big Bend Resort & Adventures, April 2013 (natural setting)

I hope you enjoyed the blooms. There are so many more to enjoy and the year is young yet. Stay tuned.

Charlton

The Blooming of the Terlingua Desert

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars--on stars where no human race is. 
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.
-Robert Frost



Today was one of those wonderful calm blue sky days. When there is just the occasional slightest of breezes and then everything is still again. The silence can be heard and the blue sky can be felt and the air was warm and welcoming. The wildflowers were everywhere as usual today and I was able to gather some photos of some of them scattered here and there.

Ocotillo Bloom

Bristly Nama

Big Bend Blue Bonnet

Texas Yellow Trumpet

Popcorn Bloom

Ocotillo Bloom against the blue Texas sky

The nights are beginning to stay warm after the sun has set. Those nights, for me, are the best nights. Those are nights when one can sit outside and gaze up at the stars in the clear night sky without having to put on a coat or sweater to ward off the chill.

Have a great evening!

Charlton

Macro Slide and Manfrotto Ball Head

I've recently updated my camera setup for getting better and closer, more detailed shots of the wildflowers this spring.

The Manfrotto ball head is better built and I can already tell a difference in holding the position with the weight of the camera and macro slide.  The macro slide makes it possible to take shot after shot at micro intervals. The individual shots would then be stacked together using the Zerene Stacking Program. The final image would reveal a more indepth focused image.

Have a great day.

Charlton

“Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgandy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries.”

Jack Kerouac, On The Road

Against A Terlingua Sunset Sky This evening. 032913

Whew! I think the economy is looking up. The spring crowd visiting Big Bend National Park and this area is up versus the last four years. I didn't pause once this evening between greeting the guests. In a way, the early spring showers and the one small snow that we received seem to be a good portent to the year. The weather forecasters are predicting another prolonging of the drought for this year but there are more wildflowers this year than I have seen in the five years I have lived here in the Big Bend area.  This morning I ate a quick breakfast and dashed outside to take photos of a couple of wildflowers that I discovered two days ago.

One of the flowers is so tiny that when I view it from where I stand, the blooms appear as tiny white dots in a green carpet of tiny leaves spreading along the ground. This morning I was determined to get as close as I could to them and photograph them to see what kind of detail I could obtain. I think I took some pretty good photos of them but I want to get even closer. The blooms are unusual. I placed a penny coin next to them to show the scale of their tiny proportions.

Have a fantastic evening.

Charlton

A Bright Spot of Yellow

Yesterday as I was beginning my very short journey of 100 yards and returning from photographing last night's beautiful Terlingua sunset, the available daylight was waning. I drove the golf cart on the road leading to Indian Head and I noticed a yellow spot of color on the side of the road. The bank was descending slightly so I stopped to investigate. There were a few beautiful yellow blooms just sitting there and seeming to glow in the dimming light. So I got down on the ground with my face just a few inches from the soil and began taking photos. There was a slight evening breeze so it was a bit difficult to get a good shot without too much blurring.

I took some more close up shots of the few flowers that appeared just a few feet from the front door of our house. It's difficult to obtain a good shot without the color being washed out. The petals have a very, very, slight shade of pink. I can't seem to capture the color since the flowers only open in the middle of the day and then close up in the evening.

Have a great day!

Charlton

Big Bend Resort & Adventures

This is the view which greets guests residing for a stay at the Big Bend Resort & Adventures. In the background is Maverick  Mountain and Tule Butte in Big Bend National Park. Big Bend National Park in the background is only a short three miles to the entrance from the RV Park.

The RV Park has full hook up amenities and 120 RV sites with both 30 and 50 amp sites. My own property is off the main Terlingua Ranch Rd which would be 50 miles round trip so I live on the BBRA property in my own RV which is much easier on my truck. Grocery and Convenience stores are close by with the gas station a stones throw away. Restaurants are also nearby. I love living here in this area.

Big Bend Resort & Adventures, Terlingua, TX

Have a great day!

Charlton

Winter is still hanging around and wearing out the welcome really fast.

This evening's Terlingua Sunset however, more than made up for the chilly day. The sun made a spectacular exit as usual.

Terlingua Sunset, evening of 032513

Have a great day!

Charlton