Red crops, Northern Texas

Something that they are growing here in Northern Texas is apparently flowering deep red in the late April spring. A friend of mine suggests that it might be quinoa, but I have no way to confirm this at the moment.

Stripe-street town, North of Los Alamos

A peculiar town along a river north of Los Alamos, whose structure appears to have developed almost entirely linearly perpendicular to the river that it borders upon, streets forming stripes left and right across the image.

Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico

Here stands Los Alamos, the famed laboratory across a wide bridge from its supporting town, running down the high slopes of the mountain where they developed the atomic bomb.

Ski Resort, New Mexico Border

Pajarito Mountain Ski Area rests high on the side slopes of the ancient volcano above Los Alamos. It may be dry and green-brown in the summer, but these heights are always much more green and moist than the lowlands around them: islands of moisture in the desert sky.

Irrigation circles, New Mexico

One more view onto the irrigation circles of Northwest New Mexico, capturing a bit more of the long extent of this region of desert farming.

Irrigation circles, New Mexico

Another perspective onto the dizzying profusion of Navajo irrigation circles.

Irrigation circles, New Mexico

Crossing the border from Arizona to New Mexico, and suddenly the ground erupts into farming: each of these circles is a field defined by its center-pivot irrigator, typically half a mile in diameter. I doubt the quality of the land has transformed so radically so quickly, so there is likely some political or economic difference driving this efflorescence of farming. Interestingly, this particular area seems to belong mostly to the Navajo nation, so perhaps there is a particularly strong motivation to farm in this region.