Today's menu is...

We have company for the holidays, and it's been a dandy week. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, and as usual I have an embarassing number of things for which I'm enternally grateful. Friends, family, and this magnificent state.

Today was a fun, fun day. Our houseguests' schedule overlapped with a free day of mine, so we spent it together. After morning coffee and dog chores, we headed out to Sandia Peak, via the Tram. It was a truly glorious day at the top - all 10,300'+ feet high - upper 30's and barely any wind. A storm is headed our way for the holiday, so the air wasn't as sharp as usual, but the views were still spectacular. I've taken the Tram up several times in the last 15 years, and it's cool every single time.

The first picture is the view to the North East, going toward the Jemez Mountains. The colors are not doctored, that really is the color of the sky. Note the ski lift to the right.

The second picture is the view north, as the Tram is descending. The bottom right has the shadow of the car; mere insignificant spec against the mass of the Sandia Mountains.

After running a couple of quick errands, we headed over to the Albuquerque Zoo. Compared to the San Diego or Washington, D.C. zoos it may not be a big deal, but I was very pleased with most of the exhibits. There were countless birds, from the gaggle of flamingoes near the entrance to the countless feral peafoul and a couple of indiginous roadrunners - one in an exhibit, one quite loose - to the walk-in aviary of parakeets, to the flight cages of eagles and vultures... so very interesting.

What got a little creepy, however, was the reaction we got from several resident animals. Take a look at the following and see if you can decide that they were thinking. I'll give you a hint: The prey animals were GREATLY agitated by us, the super-predators were pretty sure we smelled like lunch.




Note to self: next time get all the dog hair off before heading to the zoo.