Fall in the Gila Country — Light and Leaves
October and November are spectacular months in the Gila Country of Southwestern New Mexico. With the ending of the monsoon rains, the days are noticeably shorter and the skies have taken on a deeper shade of cobalt blue as the noonday sun tracks ever lower in the southern sky. The nighttime sky is changing too: […]
Fall Color in Southwest New Mexico
FALL ENCHANTMENT IN THE GILA RIVER COUNTRY OF SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO Color, Light and Shadow Amongst the Floodplain Cottonwoods and Sycamores Each year between the last two weeks of October and the first two weeks in November, visitors to Casitas de Gila Guesthouses are treated to the annual visual feast of color, light, and shadow […]
Waiting for the Rains Time
It’s the “Waiting for the Rains Time” in the Southwest. After a mostly-dry and colder-than-usual La Niña Winter, and a cool and even drier Spring, the entire Southwest is exceptionally dry, and every living thing — humans, animals, birds, and plants — is waiting. Waiting for the annual North American Monsoon or Southwest Monsoon rains […]
Springtime Amongst the Cottonwoods
Signs of Spring are everywhere on Bear Creek now. At last, our long, cold, dry La Niña Winter is over and the dormant, monotone-gray vegetation along Bear Creek is waking up. While a few late starters are still sporting furry whitish-yellow catkins, most stands of the Bluestem Willow (Salix irrorata), which grows in spotty thickets […]
