There are not many castles in the desert. One exception being the home of the late Death Valley Scotty perhaps. I have not seen it but heard it is quite fantastic. Of course some of the cliff dwellings left by the ancient early Native Americans have been termed castles also but they don't approach the kinds of edifices we think of when we hear the word castle.
I am sure I would not want to live in one! They were grand but austere, cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and lack so many of the amenities that we take for granted, even those of us who live in very small and modest homes. How running water! Refrigerators and dish washers! Real indoor plumbing. I could go on!! Still they are the stuff of myth and romance and many of us are fascinated by them. I have a bit of interest in one in Wales, Powys or Powis Castle. Supposedly my maternal grandmother's family, surnamed Wilcox, had some distant ties to the hereditary laird of that castle. I went on line and found some pictures and learned it is famed for its beautiful gardens including the terraces leading up to the castle itself which sits atop a hill. I found it even has its own facebook page! You can check out www.facebook.com/NTPowisCastle. I did grab one picture which I will share. Isn't it quite grand? I like the red stone or brick exterior but no,. I still would not want to live there!
Now clouds are much more common here in the southwestern US deserts, especially during monsoon season. Today they were marvelous--great towering thunderheads or cumulo-nimbus I believe is the proper name for this form of cloud. They were billowing up just about everywhere one could look from my home here on the lower edges of the foothills of New Mexico's Sacramento Mountains. Across the valley to the west, over the Organs and the San Agustin ranges, probably farther away as well over in the mountains behind Truth or Consequences where the Silver Fire was just recently doused by the rains. And all along the range of mountains that I now call 'mine' since I live at their feet. I did take a few pictures which I will share. We did not wind up getting any rain today--did have a half inch yesterday in a fast hard rain late in the afternoon but it cleared enough to have a nice cookout and eat on the covered patio! That's the way the summer rains usually are--fast and furious and then they move on.
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| About to rain! |
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| Classic Thunderhead! |
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| Clouds over the Sacramentos |
I am sure I would not want to live in one! They were grand but austere, cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and lack so many of the amenities that we take for granted, even those of us who live in very small and modest homes. How running water! Refrigerators and dish washers! Real indoor plumbing. I could go on!! Still they are the stuff of myth and romance and many of us are fascinated by them. I have a bit of interest in one in Wales, Powys or Powis Castle. Supposedly my maternal grandmother's family, surnamed Wilcox, had some distant ties to the hereditary laird of that castle. I went on line and found some pictures and learned it is famed for its beautiful gardens including the terraces leading up to the castle itself which sits atop a hill. I found it even has its own facebook page! You can check out www.facebook.com/NTPowisCastle. I did grab one picture which I will share. Isn't it quite grand? I like the red stone or brick exterior but no,. I still would not want to live there!
Love your cloud castles. And what a wonderful link to have - to Powys. You're right, though, about living in a castle. I'd much prefer a wee cottage, too. Small and cozy, remote with lovely views. A hearth, pets, and books! Bliss.
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