<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Portraits of Wildflowers]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Steve Schwartzman]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/author/wordconnections/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Monahans after the&nbsp;rain]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg"><img loading="lazy" data-attachment-id="35482" data-permalink="https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/monahans-after-the-rain/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780/" data-orig-file="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg" data-orig-size="584,874" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;20&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Steven Schwartzman&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 5DS R&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1497538603&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\u00a9 Steven Schwartzman&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;35&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.003125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}" data-image-title="Monahans Dunes After the Rain 8780" data-image-description="" data-medium-file="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg?w=200" data-large-file="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg?w=584" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-35482" src="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg?w=584&#038;h=874" alt="" width="584" height="874" srcset="https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg 584w, https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg?w=100&amp;h=150 100w, https://portraitsofwildflowers.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/monahans-dunes-after-the-rain-8780.jpg?w=200&amp;h=300 200w" sizes="(max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px" /></a></p>
<p>When we drove into the town of Monahans in west Texas on June 14th it was too late in the afternoon for us to continue the short distance to the attraction that had brought us there: Monahans Sandhills State Park. We could see that it had rained in the area that afternoon, and what effect that had had on the dunes became clear only the next morning. How differently textured the sand was then from the way we&#8217;d seen it in 2014 when we&#8217;d visited on <a href="https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/you-dont-need-an-ocean-to-have-sand-dunes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the afternoon of April 12th</a> and <a href="https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/sand-blowing-off-a-dune/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the morning of April 13th</a>.</p>
<p>© 2017 Steven Schwartzman</p>
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