fireworks on the fourth of July in Raton, New Mexico – and other odds and ends.


Sunset over highway 64/87.


A few test shots before the last of dusk.


Perfectly clear skies at 6800 feet. 5 1/2 minute exposure.


Will it lightning again tonight, providing competition for the fireworks?


Where’s the bees? A lot fewer than the first day that I got there. Must be something different about the weather, although it generally felt the same to us untrained humans.


Dale and his fully operational 1920s traffic signal.


But wait, it’s empty on the inside. How does it work? (The sun is directly behind the lens.)


There are seven traffic signals in Union County. Six of them are right here in the front yard.


The tall trees are at their greenest.


The fireworks will be the only show tonight – no particularly threatening clouds to be seen.


Oops, looks like there is some side theater after all – something got set on fire in downtown Raton.


Lighting one up on the railroad track.


What do you do when one can finishes? Start up another one, of course!


A Texas special. New Mexico no longer sells the ones that go too high.


And the actual show. Unfortunately, I only got about two decent photos, as we were very close and therefore most of my shots had the fireworks half out of the frame.

Part IV will feature a trip to Mills Canyon in sunny Harding County, New Mexico. Oh yeah, then a long, long drive back home.