Desert Palms

In addition to the saguaro cactus, most people would associate the desert with palm trees. I certainly do. When I left for Argentina on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints so many years ago, I arrived in the middle of the night and was transported to the mission home in the dark. I don't remember anything about the trip from the airport to the mission home, but I do remember waking up in the mission home very early, while the others were all asleep, and looking out a small window in the door of the place we were staying and seeing a palm tree right in front of the window. With this so familiar a sight, I felt perfectly at home and never had one minute of homesickness for the next two years.

Many Arms

This saguaro is not all that unusual. But it is rather large and does have a lot of arms. We have two saguaros growing in our front yard that we have grown from the time they were about six to eight inches high. That was nearly 45 years ago and now they are almost six feet high. But I doubt I will live long enough to see either one with an arm, much less more than one.

Puddle Mirrors

Ever since Alice stepped through the looking glass into wonderland, I have been looking for wonderland in mirrors of all kinds. Lately, all I see is an aging photographer/writer. Wonderland seems to be gone forever. But once in a while, I still get a glimpse of the wonderland of the reflected world just a step away...

Spring comes to Temple Square

With the blue sky and white flowers with the light colored granite of the building this is a gorgeous sight. This is the Salt Lake Temple in Salt Lake City, Utah. The building to the right is the Church Office Building.

Flowering Trees on Temple Square

Spring is an interesting time to visit Utah and Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The flowers are gorgeous but the weather is very unpredictable.

Lions on Joseph Smith Memorial Building

I like these decorative lions on the north side of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. The building was first used as the Hotel Utah. Now it is mostly offices for various Church departments. It is a lovely building both inside and out.

Moon over the Canyon

If you aren't standing right there, it is very, very difficult to get an idea of the scale of this photograph. You might lose the moon in the clouds and you might not realize how big this area really is.

Clouds and Storm over the Grand Canyon

This is a view from the North Rim looking across what is known as the corridor or down Bright Angel Creek towards the Colorado River. The clouds kept moving and the light kept changing. I took quite a series of photos and each one came out a little different than the last.

Storm at Sunset over the Grand Canyon

The tones are subdued and the light is failing as the sun sets over the Grand Canyon. There is a storm moving in and the clouds are lowering. This is the best of all possible places to be to see the weather and the Canyon.

Old Man Cactus

This is one of many types of cactus called "Old Man Cactus." The most common one in cultivation is the Cephalocereus senilis from Mexico. But this one likely came from South America and is commonly called the Old Man of the Andes or Oreocereus celsianus. 

Swimming in the Post

This American Coot or Fulica americana is not a duck or goose at all. It is more closely related to the Sandhill Crane than any of the other common waterfowl.

Pine Cones in the Desert

Most people would not associate pine cones with the desert, but I sit each day writing and looking out my window at three huge pine trees with lots of pine cones. They are well adapted to the 100 degree plus temperatures and do just fine.

This Photograph is not Sideways, the Cactus is

No, I didn't fail to rotate this photo so it would look right, this lovely cactus really was growing sideways. I guess there are those who would probably justify the this nonconformity simply because of the fact that it is possible. But if you look closely at the photo, you might realize that the cactus had to have a reason for growing sideways. Don't get me wrong, I am not anthropomorphizing the cactus, it really can think.

I've Got You Covered

Once you get started with somethings, it is hard to know where to stop. Why did the ancient inhabitants of this desert decided to decorate the boulders of this isolated rock outcrop? Especially when there was no water nearby or much of anything else to eat. Maybe that was the reason. They decided the place needed a little livening up and hey, the people who came later would probably lose sleep trying to figure out what it all means.

Enigma

You can spend a lifetime speculating about the meaning of the petroglyphs and I am sure there have been many university research papers and journal articles written on the subject. But I am just as sure that the ancients who inherited this from those who were even more ancient had about the same impression I do on the subject.

Lights in the Desert

 One of the highlights of the Desert Botanical Garden is the big collection of flowering cactus. These Claret Cup cactus are fairly rare out in the desert but fortunately the Garden has a substantial number of these plants. The first one that I saw flowering in the wild was by Woods Canyon Lake. Since then I have seen quite a few, but it is always nice to see these beautiful flowers at the Garden.

Spring Flowers in January

 These are some of the earliest flowers to bloom in the desert. We always look forward to seeing the cactus flowers every year. Because so many of the cactus are imported from other parts of the American continents, we do get cactus that bloom at odd times during the year. But these are native Arizona cactus and they usually start blooming in March.

A String of Flowers

I noticed that even though it is still January, the temperature here in Mesa is about to climb over 80°. For us, Spring is just around the corner. So, I thought it was about time to start putting up pictures of flowers in anticipation of the warm weather that will come all too soon.

Rock Art

 Petroglyphs are carved into the face of the rock. They are quite common throughout the Southwest. But rock paintings are far less common. It is only in areas where there is substantial rock overhangs, almost caves, that the painted art survives.

A Really Far View

There are a few places on the Colorado Plateau that give you a tremendously far view of the area. Compared to most areas, the distances in this photo are huge. It is almost impossible to appreciate the scale even when you are standing on the cliff looking out over the river.

The Edge of the Sandstone

These cliffs far above the Verde Valley in Arizona form the southern bastion of the Colorado Plateau. If you are driving north on the major highways, you miss these cliffs completely. The freeway goes through areas where the sandstone is not exposed. It is only streams such as Oak Creek and Beaver Creek that expose the sandstone

Chihuly Bowl

I am about out of photos of the Chihuly glass for a while. I will move on to petroglyphs and canyons and rocks. But here is one last gem for a while.

Papago Rocks

Even though I have spent a great deal of my life in and around the Papago Buttes, I still like their form and complexity. If you were to look really close at this photo, you would see some people right at the bottom of the cliff and you could get some idea of the scale. We used to use this rock regularly for rappelling classes and the place to tie in is located about halfway up this rock on top of the big rock just left of the center. The rappel was about 160 feet.

Sedona Red Rock

It is sometimes easy to forget that the sandstone cliffs of Sedona, Arizona are directly related to the rest of the sandstone of the Colorado Plateau. They are different layers, for sure, but the same types of formations we see in southern Utah and Northern Arizona are there in Sedona. I enjoy them all. I just don't care for the congestion and traffic in Sedona during the summer.

Protect America's Resources -- Rattlesnakes?

I never thought of rattlesnakes as one of America's resources. I guess there is a message here to those who kill snakes on sight. Watch Out! The snake police will be coming for you.

Over Under

I understand erosion and all that, but what I can't get is how these rocks get piled up on top of one another with tunnels and windows and such. It seems to me to be very unlikely that any of these formations could be the simple result of erosion.

Desert Sentinal

I am sure if there were an archeologist around, he or she would try to read some mystical symbolism into the petroglyph on this rock, but I can think of things such as boundary markers, meeting notices and such that are much more likely although somewhat mundane. The nice think about it is that my opinion is just a good as the professionals because no one really knows.

Petroglyphs

I have always been fascinated by petroglyphs but I have also never believed that they had any meaning other than what people do when they have a lot of time on their hands and a place to leave their mark. Today we would call this graffiti and think it was an eyesore.

An Abundance of Petroglyphs

These petroglyphs cover a rock outcropping in the Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, just west of Gila Bend, Arizona. They cover the rocks unlike many other petroglyphs in the Southwest.

Harsh Circumstances

If you ever start thinking that your life is tough, you can always come to the desert and find out what that really means. If you look at these two plants growing in this most unlikely place, you can begin to appreciate what the word "desert" really means.

Shining Spines

Taking photos at night is a different experience. Most of the rules for photos during the day do not apply. You cannot get the same images when only a portion of the subject, in this case cactus, is adequately illuminated. But on the other hand, you get some extraordinary photos.

Reaching Out

In keeping with my almost surreal theme of glass and cactus here is yet another in the series.

At the end

The juxtaposition of glass sculptures and cactus is extraordinary. It would seem the two have little in common, but it is apparent that they do. The glass complements and imitates the form of the cactus.

Glass at Night - Up Close

During a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, I took a series of photos of the Chihuly Glass Sculpture Exhibit. This is one of a number of close up images that resulted from the visit. it is extremely hard to visualize the whole sculpture from the details but there is something fascinating about how the glass looks relatively up close. This is another view of one of the very large sculptures in the Garden. Like many of my photos the subject loses its identity and becomes an abstract.

Glass at Night - a retrospective

During a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, I took a series of photos of the Chihuly Glass Sculpture Exhibit. This is one of a number of close up images that resulted from the visit. it is extremely hard to visualize the whole sculpture from the details but there is something fascinating about how the glass looks relatively up close. This was one of the larger sculptures but there is something organic about this particular sculpture.

Glass at Night

During a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, I took a series of photos of the Chihuly Glass Sculpture Exhibit. This is one of a number of close up images that resulted from the visit. it is extremely hard to visualize the whole sculpture from the details but there is something fascinating about how the glass looks relatively up close.

White Roses

Every once an a while, I spot some flowers highlighted by the evening or morning sun. The results in a photo is that the background is almost entirely black and there is very little surrounding the main subject of the image. This is not produced by any Photoshop miracle, but simply by carefully choosing the angle of the photo and correctly exposing the foreground.

The Art of Balance

Balance is an art. It takes more than just happenstance to create a balanced life or even a balanced rock. Here you would never have seen the two balanced rocks were it not for the cloud in the background. The two rocks would blend in so perfectly that they would be invisible. That is what balance creates; a sense that it takes no effort at all when in fact, it is sometimes impossible.

Morning Mist at the Grand Canyon

In the Summer, the Grand Canyon is bright and sunny on most days. But those who love the Canyon also love the not so bright and sunny weather for the changes and perspective it gives to the Canyon. It was a cold and very foggy day that these clouds filled the Canyon from Rim to Rim.

Downtown Phoenix

Here is a different view of downtown Phoenix, not one they usually use for promotions. Phoenix is an interesting place to live but not so much to visit. People come here for business and the weather. But other than a lot of outdoor activities, there isn't nearly as much to see and do as other really large cities in the world. That doesn't bother me. I don't mind the heat and I like how easy it is to get around the city on the streets and freeways.

John Deere Wagon

This is an early John Deere Freight Wagon. It dates from the turn-of-the-century, about 1890 to 1910. It looks like the wagon tongue is missing and the brakes also. Sorry about the reflection in the glass.

Mining Rocker Box

This is part of a mining rocker box used to separate the minerals from the matrix. The ore or sand containing the minerals, usually gold, was sifted through this kind of arrangement to let the heavier minerals, such as gold, get caught in the mechanism and let the lighter rocks pass on through. They were not all that efficient but they did work.

Barrel Crown

These barrel cactus are also called fishhook cactus because of the shape of their spines. Barrel cactus have flowers at different times throughout the year and produce this ring of seed pods which I suppose are edible although I haven't tried any of these. I have one of these plants growing in my front yard and I suppose I should try the pods to see what they taste like.

A Study in Blue

This is yet another of the details from the monumental glass sculptures created by Dale Chihuly. In most places around Phoenix, Fine Art is almost invisible. There is nothing at all except the signs and billboards of the businesses. Mesa has had in years past, an annual sculpture show, but now has light rail construction going on down Main Street. Scottsdale has some very prominent statuary as well as a few statues in downtown Phoenix. This type of exhibit by the Desert Botanical Garden show how popular good art can be.

Detail from an Old Freight Wagon

This photo shows the braking system on an old freight wagon. I am not sure I would have much confidence that the brakes would work all that well, especially if the wagon was heavily loaded and going downhill.

Detail of Chihuly Glass Dancing

The Chihuly Glass exhibit is so extensive that you have the tendency to miss the details of the glass's form. This lovely dancing group of glass columns was obviously intentionally arranged. This shows the true artistry of the glass.

Detail of Chihuly Glass Elegant

The contrast between the smooth flowing lines of the glass and the surround landscape of cactus and desert plants, makes the Desert Botanical Garden Exhibit a first rate attraction. I had to work hard and sometimes fast to get photos with the crowds of people at the exhibit since this was New Year's Day.

Cactus Wren in Pastel

This lively little Cactus Wren or Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus was photographed just a sun went down giving the entire photo a pastel tint. It was also sitting on this amazingly colored cactus plant that happened to match the color of the air and the background. I would classify this as one of my best bird pictures to date.

Fall Leaves in January

Yes, this photo was taken in January of the leaves that are just now turning colors. As I write this post, I can look out the window and see a tree with colored leaves just now starting to fall to the ground. It is January. In less than a month, the new leaves will start to come out on the trees.

Detail of Chihuly Glass

Sometimes when you look at art work, you fail to see the details. This is especially true when the art is sculpture on a grand scale. This is a detail from a very large glass sculpture of Daly Chihuly at the Desert Botanical Garden.