Although their website says they are closed for the winter, maybe now is a good time to plan a trip to the Ice Cave and Bandera Volcano in New Mexico next March.

Here are a few photos of the cave:

If you want to see volcano photos, I recommend the ones at their website. Here are a couple of mine:

Or better yet, just go see it. Great day trip. Great hiking.

OK, with that said, here’s what really has my attention. This photo, of the sun hitting the rocks outside the cave, with the interior cave wall dark and out of focus, has turned into an optical illusion for me. I see a man’s profile (as though I’m standing behind him; specifically a man because the lower half looks like a beard) in the closest sunlit rock. He’s looking down. Then the cave wall is like an illustration of the inside of his mind.

Yeah, I know. “Optical delusion” is more like it…