Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Make art a part of the world you live in. Take something ordinary and make it extraordinary. Take the mundane and make it right brain - or in this case right-handed. Everyone knows you're going to crush it: pinky promise! [2017]

Hobbs, New Mexico, USA

What do we put on a pedestal in American culture? Trucks. They represent a working-class life that parallels another icon of American culture, the cowboy and his horse. Of course, we put cars on a pedestal, too. [2018]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Odds and Evens, Ones and Twos, Singles and Doubles, Which one be You? Here is one singular, young artist whose masterpiece was so good it won a blue ribbon from the Spanish Colonial Arts Society. The setting: Santa Fe Plaza during the Traditional Spanish Market. [2017]

Aztec, New Mexico, USA

The whole fossil fuel era is beginning to look a lot like this forlorn gas pump. Anyone else remember the days when there was only regular, with another pump for high-test? The U.K. will not sell gasoline powered cars after 2030. Volvo will manufacture only electric vehicles starting that year. And, even GM is envisioning an all-electric future. [2013] 

Crossroads, New Mexico, USA

♫ These Are a Few of My Favorite Things ♫ ~ Post Offices: A place is not a place until it has a name, and the one place you could count on to prominently display that name was the post office. The old U.S. Post Office Department was the GIS of its day. In fact, it used to have a topographer to keep track of all the places where mail had to be delivered. [2018]

Clovis, New Mexico, USA

In Clovis, the world is within your grasp. Most global sculptures are located downtown. This one, however, is located on the main drag out of town. Do you like the way the American flag (the size of a continent) flutters imperially above the the whole world? [2018]

Tucumcari, New Mexico, USA

Route 66, which passed through New Mexico, wasn't just a ribbon of macadam. It was a string of pearls, only some of which, like the Blue Swallow Motel, have survived, along with a few vintage cars. This one looks like a Packard. What do you think? [2018]

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

It's the 2nd day of the 2nd month of 2020, so let's continue to celebrate the number 2! What better place to celebrate than at the zoo, with two black-tailed prairie dogs. Think of them as stand-ins for Palindromal Phil (known as Punxsutawny Phil except on 02/02/2020). They might have seen their shadow this morning, but Phil didn't. Spring's coming! [2017]

Talpin, New Mexico, USA

Today is Hallowmas, a day to honor all saints now in heaven. To that end, families may spend part of the day in cemeteries, even small ones like the Nuestra Senora del Carmen Cemetery. Some cemeteries are locked at 5 pm, though, and, a few years ago, Geographically Yours had to call the local police department to unlock the gates and let him out! [2017]

Ragland, New Mexico, USA

Autumn comes to even the loneliest of trees in the drylands of the Southwest. The mystery is not: "Why did the tree come ablaze with color this October?" The mystery is: "Why is there a tree here in the first place?" Not even an intermittent stream seems to be nearby. Perhaps a house used to occupy this site, and its occupant longed for some shade. [2018]

Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

In the American Southwest, barns are not quite as essential as they are in climates that are colder and rainier. When older ones appear, they are made of neither stone nor wood. They are made of adobe. Like stone and wood barns, however, these adobe barns reflect the environment where they are found. [1987]

St. Vrain, New Mexico, USA

Northeastern New Mexico gets less than 20 inches of precipitation a year. That's a bit too little to grow pumpkins on a large scale. So, where's the water come from to coax these vines (now defoliated) out of their seeds? From the Ogallala aquifer, i.e., fossil water from deep underground, fossil water making a contribution to rural aesthetics. [2018]

St. Vrain, New Mexico, USA

Winter is white. Spring is yellow. Summer is green. Autumn is orange. And, there is nothing more orange than a pumpkin patch. This one has been carefully conjured up by center pivot irrigation. It is the perfect place for a photographer and her son. Want to bet her pictures are already somewhere out there on social media? [2018]

Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA

Here is Blake, Trudeau's American cousin, dressed in his own national colors, of course. Many, many of his large, extended family have departed this world, so we are lucky that a few are left to remind us of the early years of roadside salesmanship. [2017]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Dancing at the Spanish Market: "Baila como si nadi estuviera mirando. Ama como si nunca te hubieran lastimado. Canta como nadie estuviera escuchando. Vive como si el cielo estuviera en la tierra." Dance as if no one is watching. Love as if you have never been hurt. Sing as if no one is listening. Live as if heaven were on earth. Author unknown. [2017]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Eating at the Spanish Market: The festival may be sponsored by the Spanish Colonial Arts Society, but most of the food is perfectly contemporary. Yet, it turns families into companions, a word that means "together (com-) over bread (-pan)." Food is the tie that bonds together family and friends. Here is some family bonding going on right now. [2017]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Spinning at the Spanish Market: It happens in the summer on the plaza in old town. The weekend festival attracts artists and craftsmen like her, plus lots of visitors who want to see how their ancestors lived. It's the perfect time to be in northern New Mexico. [2017]

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

The crape myrtle should be called the 'fireworks tree.' Why so popular? The flowers (1) come in almost infinite shades of red and purple, plus white, (2) are abundant and cover the crown of the tree for maximum showiness, (3) start blooming early and go on into the fall. Plus, the leaves are small and offer no competition for attention. [2017]

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Cities succeed by making an urban settlement fabric feel a little more rural. Planners do that whenever they add green space, leafy trees, colorful gardens, walking paths, fresh air, sky views, babbling brooks, reflective ponds, and friendly animals (wild or domesticated). Would you guess you are in a city like Sana Fe? [2017]

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Pigeons on a platter provide a snack for a tyrannosaur. Not a rex (or an Alex), but his little cousin from Canada. Another cousin: velociraptor, the ancestor of our birds. Do you think those pigeons know their DNA goes back to a dinosaur like this one? [2017]