Sunset

I often talk about how much I miss 

the the incredible skies of New Mexico. 

That said, 

Mother Nature put on a pretty incredible show 

this evening.

These were all taken 

through an incredibly dirty windshield 

using my iPhone 4s.

The colors were sublime.

And look at that cloud bank 

rolling over the hills . . .

I just thought I'd share.

Hope your skies are as lovely as these.

Open Street and Monarchs

I know I haven't been posting a lot lately, 

but there just hasn't been a lot going on.

But today, there was a great event in Santa Cruz. 

 

Called Open Streets, 

it involved the closing of West Cliff Drive 

to all cars and motor vehicles.  

Usually a great place to walk, ride bikes or roller skate, 

this event amped up the whole atmosphere. 

There were drummers

Several animal booths, but this was my favorite.

A dedicated owner was trying to coax her pup through a tunnel.

He wasn't having any of it.

There were lots of bikes, unicycles,

and even this fellow.

There was also Zumba, Yoga

and even a rock climbing tower.

It was all free for the community to enjoy.

I thought this guy was very cool.

I liked that his body paint featured a tree

and he was set up beneath a beautiful old tree on the cliffs.

Someone had crafted these birds from old tin cans,

they decorated the walk.

Quite lovely.

These next two are for Russ

of Russ and Donna fame

I believe he loves the pelicans as much as I do.

As an added bonus, after walking West Cliff,

we ended up at Natural Bridges State Park.

The Monarch butterflies migrate here every year,

and they're just beginning to arrive.

Beware, too many butterfly pictures here.

I love them so much,

really, 

I tried to edit my photos 

down to just a few

But still wanted to keep all of these.

My favorites from the day.

And this my special favorite.

Feel free to click to enlarge.

Just so you know, 

there will be many trips to the butterfly grove,

so more pictures will follow.