Looking east(ish) from the house, you can see the Little Florida (pronounced floor-EE-dah) Mountains, and the beginnings of the main Florida range. Beautiful view--and it'll never be blocked, because my folks' property extends a ways beyond the chain-link fence, and then beyond that is BLM land.

More of the Florida mountains (and my mom, Sharon  )

The view from the screened-in porch. In the foreground, you can see the "yard," with the water pan and feeding area where the birds and bunnies gather in the mornings and evenings, and then the mesquite wilds and mountains beyond.

The Little Floridas in the afternoon. Mom says that one thing she really loves about the view of the mountains is how it alters throughout the day, as the sun moves across the sky and the angle of the light and shadow changes.

An afternoon view of the main Florida Mountain range...

...and from a slightly different angle.

Sunset in Deming. Gorgeous. (And believe me, the picture isn't half of what it looks like in person!)

Thunderheads building over the Little Floridas at sunset.

A cactus outside the Visitor's Center at White Sands National Monument, which happened to be in bloom when we stopped there on our way home.

A yucca "tree" at the White Sands Visitor Center, with His Geekiness (reluctantly) standing in for some scale. I'm familiar with the ground-hugging variety of yucca that grows throughout Colorado and Utah, but I was amazed by this New Mexican sort that grows so huge!