Virga Rain, Pastures, and Buddha, June 29, 2022
Greetings from the beautiful San Cristobal and Arroyo Hondo Valleys this week. We have virga skies and verdant pastures following this year’s early monsoon season.
The rain stopped briefly after raining straight for 48 hours. The sun came out for a moment before it began again. I hadn’t been out very much over the last two weeks. Drawn by the light, I grabbed my camera and headed out. I shot this first image of the virga rain from the driveway of our house.
Within a few minutes after the first image, I hopped in the car and drove south towards Taos, where I would have access to a turnout and views across the Taos Plateau and the walking rain. You won’t find much about walking rain online, but the rain here looks like it is out for a stroll as it passes across the plateau west of Taos.
A little farther south is the beautiful Arroyo Hondo Valley. As I descended the hill and rounded the curve, this scene appeared. I stayed here for about fifteen minutes before heading home.
Sometimes all it takes is a brief moment outside to clear my head, watch the storms pass, and nature putting on a beautiful show.
Within an hour, it was raining again, a torrential downpour with hail hammering on the tin roof and skylights. Lightning and thunder pursued, giving our old dog the tremors. A cheese treat with a cracker cured it. We woke up this morning to clear skies and more rain in the forecast. I’m in no way complaining here about the moisture we need it. See how green the landscape is, compared to a week ago.
This week’s final image is of the garden Buddha surrounded by marigolds Pami planted. I made a double exposure, one of the buddha and the other to blur the marigolds. The garden is loving the rain. It reminds me of Wales. Except in Wales, it would be raining for three weeks.
As always, thank you so much for looking. Stay well, and I’ll see you here next week. G