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White Sands National Monument
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Tag Archives: Photography
World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Yes, the title has a bit of hyperbole in it. I’m not sure the cookies I ended up making on Friday night are the world’s best, or even my best. They are just the first batch I’ve made for my boys and I’m just grateful they turned out delicious.
What I learned is that the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip bag is quite forgiving. I was trying to doctor it as prescribed by some: adding a bit more flour, and using more brown sugar than granulated sugar. But I came across a problem. While stirring the cookie dough, it was clumping and not getting smooth like I know the batter to be. So I … panicked and added another stick of butter and another egg. That helped with the consistency issue, and I could detect no great change in taste.
The boys loved the end product. So thank you for all the suggestions. I think the clumping problem came from old brown sugar. It was not gooey like new brown sugar. Note to self: use fresh ingredients.
Happy Father’s Day
Finally, Happy Father’s day to all the Dad’s out there. I can’t wait to move to Brenham, Texas in the coming weeks to live on my Dad’s farm and spend more time with him. He has been a wonderful Dad and I hope my boys get to know him better than they do now.
Road Less Traveled
OK, I attempted some bad poetry in one of my earlier posts and to make up for it, here is Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Country Road
Some of the photography blogs also offer poetry with their photos so as to capture the full artistic experience. So, with that in mind, here is my poetry capturing the moment at 8,500 feet above sea level.
Beauty, trees, winds, gravel road…
Huffing and puffing, winded, really high, gasping for breath,
Camera, shoot, photo, drink cool water… luke warm water… from bottle, not pond, dysentery…
Dog, companion, Baily, labrador, guide, rescue mutt…
Hiking, too high, too long, wind in hair… seize the moment, seize the breath, seizure…
Hyperventilate… sit… rescue mutt, lick, face… wait patiently… leave behind… all alone… rescue mutt gone… descend slowly… more gravel, wind in hair blowing as if its all about me… only the wind doesn’t care… neither does the gravel, altitude, sun bathing and burning my white skin… I could die here and no one would notice…
Rescue mutt returns… Come on slow poke! I’m 97 years old in dogs years and I’m in better shape than you!
Shut up rescue mutt…
The Falls
By the way, I did ask my hosts if anyone went swimming in the ponds, even though they are so shallow and was told that you cannot. If you do, you risk breaking the seal of the pond itself. Apparently the bottom of these ponds is very fragile and if it is broken, the water just seeps into the ground, thereby robbing the neighborhood of having a running stream. Running water, and water in general, is really what is most important in this area. I was told the land is actually rather cheap, but getting water is another problem all together. The area has actually seen mini-feuds over water rights.
This is a good reminder of just how precious water is. Most of us never give it a thought since we can go to the tap and fill up a glass any time we want. But not all parts of the country have that option and those in the mountains of New Mexico are some of those that have to be careful with the water they have.
Take A Seat
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Mountain View
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The Log
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Spring Fed Pond
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Tree Ladder
I took this while hiking up in the mountains several weeks ago. It is outside of Cloudcroft, NM., at about 8,500 feet in altitude. I’m planning on taking my boys there next week for a few days.
