Friday Five - High Desert Edition

I live in the high desert of central New Mexico. When most people think of the desert southwest, they think of the low desert (Phoenix) and saguaros and such. That's not what it's like here. We're up a mile above sea level! So not only is it different from where most of you live, it's different from what you might imagine. Today I looked for five photos from my camera to share a little bit of my world with you.

I took this first one just the other day as I was coming down the hill. This is what my neighborhood looks like. Most of the houses are one story with flat roofs. The primary plant that you see naturally growing is sagebrush. The "soil" is sand. The mountains are the Sandias. Sometime I'll share a photo from sunset in winter when they turn pink.


From first glance, I'm sure all you see is brown. But there is color in the desert, I promise! This next self-portrait was taken in front of my house the day before we left for our vacation in NYC. Hummingbirds love trumpet vines, I don't have to put up a feeder to attract them.

I took this next photo out of the passenger's window of my car. I promise, I wasn't taking photos while driving, my car was stopped!

As I mentioned earlier, you won't find saguaros here. That doesn't mean we don't have cactus plants, just not that type. This particular cactus is growing near the fence line of our back yard. I think it's interesting how the blossoms are two different colors, yellow and pink.


And I couldn't resist adding this one in. The roadrunner is our state bird. I see them daily running across the road. Somehow a roadrunner found it's way to the roof of our house one day this spring. They can't really fly, so it seemed odd that he was up there. It's a neat photo though, don't you think?

Now you know a little more about my world. In a bit I will be off to get my third and final shot in my left knee. WooooHoooo!