Killer Zombie Full Moon?

Tonight's commute home was a nightmare.  It got me to wondering if the full moon had some sort of vendetta against Albuquerque area commuters.

It started out smoothly enough.  Then I got onto I-40 westbound.  Around the Wyoming exit, traffic started to really slow down/come to a stop.  One car didn't slow down fast enough because there was a rear ender that had obviously just happened moments before I drove by.

Things only got worse.  It turns out there was one wreck on southbound I-25 at Rio Bravo that had the highway shut down and traffic rerouted onto the frontage road.  According to the traffic reports, there was a car on fire on northbound I-25.  Then, there was an older wreck on westbound I-40 at University. 

Needless to say, traffic was all backed up.  My normal commute takes 45-60 minutes.  Tonight, it took 75 minutes. 

I am SO glad to finally be at home.

Papillon

Hot Air Balloon in the Afternoon

It's been a lazy Thanksgiving weekend.  This afternoon I was napping on the couch.  When I first heard the noise, I thought it was the furnace firing up.  When it didn't, I wondered if it was someone taking a hot air balloon.

This is unusual, simply because most balloon rides take place in the mornings.  I'm not 100% sure of the reasons why, but it's traditionally the time of day when balloons go up.

After I heard a couple more bursts of propane firing up, I wandered outside and sure enough, there went a balloon headed off to the north.

The trees reside in my neighbors' yard.

I've been listening to the reports about Black Thursday/Friday shopping.  I like my weekend plans/non-plans better. 

I did go to the Rio Grande Arts & Crafts Festival this morning.  I had a fun time looking around at all the creative endeavors.  I even bought a few things, including some pasta/orzo in fun flavors.  Yummy!

Papillon

We had our first fall storm roll through.  We received rain yesterday, the first time in 50+ days.

It looks like the Sandia mountains east of town might actually be getting some snow.  I don't know if it'll provide any measurable amounts or if they'll stay for more than a day or so.  I'm just glad we're getting some moisture.

Here's what the mountains looked like this afternoon.

A bit further south, you can actually see some moisture headed down.  I don't know if it was actually hitting the ground.

It's supposed to be chilly and windy for most of the rest of the weekend.  It's supposed to warm up a bit early next week.

Papillon

I ran across this today.  I thought it interesting.

American Indian Heritage Month factoid:

Something very much like basketball (ca. 1000 B.C.) was played by American Indians about 3,000 years ago. The Olmec, who lived in what is now southern Mexico/Central America from about 1700 B.C. to 400 B.C., originated the game because latex-producing trees grew in their area and they had developed the technology to create balls made from rubber. Because this game is the first one known to have used a rubber ball, anthropologists consider it to be the forerunner of all modern games that use bouncing balls, including basketball, soccer and football.


Papillon