Hohokam Pottery at Mesa Grande

Across the street in Mesa, Arizona from where some of my children were born, there is a nondescript mound of mud know as the Mesa Grande Ruin. It dates from the very earliest time of Hohokam settlement in the Salt River Valley and at one time was one of the largest and most impressive ruins in the valley. Unfortunately, much of the ruin was excavated and then allowed to wash away in the infrequent rain storms. Some of the amazing artifacts from the mound are still in existence and they have now built a very small museum and charge $5 a person to get in to see the mound. That must be progress.

The Effects of Time

I am glad I don't have explaining how this rock formation developed as part of my geology final exam. I would fail.

Spring Flowers in the Desert

March is the month when most of the native cactus plants bloom. Some of the imports bloom at different times of the year due to the change in seasons from South America or elsewhere. One of my favorites is the claret cup. These are fairly rare and I only saw them in the wild after I knew what to look for. My first sighting was at Woods Canyon Lake on a kayaking expedition. Since then, I have seen some spectacular clusters, but they bloom for such a short time, you really need to be in the right place at the right time to see them. Of course, the cactus gardens of the Salt River Valley and beyond are predictable places to see these lovely flowers.

Bees in a Tree

We went to a nearby Mall and found one of the access roads blocked off with yellow tape. On closer inspection, we could see this swarm of bees in a tree in one of the parking areas. I decided against trying to get a closer photo.

Emerging Dinosaurs

These two rocks looked just exactly like dinosaurs emerging from some primeval mud. I see things like this all the time but most of the time I don't have a camera to stop the action.

Clouds and Canyons

You get two effects from the clouds in this photo, one is the bank of clouds in the Canyon itself and the other is light effect caused by the clouds overhead. There are a lot of times when this effect happens but it is a unique experience, except on high mountain tops, to be able to look down on the clouds.

Cactus on Ice

There is an unfortunate association of cactus as only growing in dry wastelands. Believe me, it can get too hot and too dry even for cactus, but there are cactus growing in some of the most unlikely places. This prickly pear is sticking out of the snow and I am sure that it will survive.

Tangled Wood at the Canyon

Depending on the weather and the light conditions, you can find a new vista every few yards along the Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was the day with fantastic weather and light conditions.

Mineral Masterpiece

One of the most incredible things in this world are the variety and beauty of minerals from beneath the earth. How is is logically possible that such beauty would grow underground with no one to see or appreciate the beauty until a hard-working miner digs into the cavity (vug) in the rock where they are formed. There is no reason for these minerals to be beautiful unless they were created for that purpose. Mineral specimens are one of the most persuasive natural arguments for God's existence.

Tiffany Necklace

The label says as follows: This Colombian emerald and diamond necklace with matching earrings was designed by Jean Schlumberger for Tiffany & Co. in the 1950s. The three large emeralds in the necklace are 6.65-7.41 carats. Courtesy of a private collector.

Cartier Bandeau 58 carats of Diamonds

The Cartier Bandeau was created in the Cartier Paris House for an unknown customer in 1920. It is made of hand carved platinum with 58 carats of diamonds. This piece converts to a choker, earrings, bracelet, lapel clip pins and pendant drop. See Somewhereintherainbow.com.

Amethyst

This is an unusual piece. It is a closeup view of a polished tabletop that has been embedded with pieces of amethyst. It is a very expensive way to use amethyst crystals.

Sandtrap

You have to look closely at this photo. You can just barely see the sand that has accumulated as a result of the tumbleweed growing. You can certainly tell the direction of the prevailing winds from the distribution of the sand.

Petroglyph Study

Once this got started, I would guess that it was self-perpetuating. Anyone who traveled through the area had to leave the stone age equivalent of a Facebook post commenting on the area. If you look at the larger stone in the right way, it looks like a head and neck laying on a pillow.

On an Pedestal

At one time, I suppose, this large rock was sitting on flat ground. After untold thousands of years, it was left sitting in the air. At some time in the distant future, it will again be sitting on the ground and the process will start all over again.

Interaction

Miles van der Rohe said, "God is in the details." I would say that the details are there for those who care to see them and God is also there for those who seek him.

Endless Form

Frank Lloyd Wright said, "The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes." I truly believe that it takes years of experience walking around on this world to get above the lone and dreary concept. Lone it may well be, but it is only dreary to those who do not see how beautiful it is. This is especially true in the land of endless form on the Colorado Plateau.

Beyond Belief

You get to the point where these rock formations are just part of what you expect and then there are a few that defy belief. This is one that seems to defy both belief and gravity. You can probably guess that earthquakes are not a big issue in this area of the world.

A Surprising Discovery

Walking around on the Colorado Plateau has is moments of surprise. You never know what lies over the next hill or around the next bend in the canyon. If you think about these balanced rocks and think about how long it took to erode them into this unique shape, you can begin to get a sense of moving through the vast reaches of space and time.

A Balancing Act

There are some of the most remarkable formations in the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument in Southern Utah. Each of these remarkable little areas could be a National Monument on their own merits but it was probably a good idea to put all of them in the same very large one.

Stripes but no stars

There are some highly stratified clay and sandstone deposits that are almost horizontal throughout the entire Colorado Plateau region. They seem to indicate that the entire Plateau was raised to over 5000 feet above sea level as on solid mass and did not tip at all in the process. In other places, there are huge anticlines and synclines in areas not too distant from this same location. Too bad I didn't study geology rather than law.

Hanging on to life

You have to look carefully at this photo and click on it to see it enlarged to see the very small plants struggling to survive in the sand dune environment. It seemed wet enough for them to grow, but then again, it was the middle of the Winter and it had just rained. I cannot imagine how they survive when it gets hot in the summer.

A Very Strange Place

Many times when I am walking around on the Colorado Plateau, I get the feeling that I have been transported to some strange alien world. This place could easily be the setting for a movie about another planet.

Main Street Self Portrait

I couldn't resist the multiple images and reflections in the shot up Main Street in Salt Lake City, Utah. This is one reason I end up carrying my camera around with me almost always. In this case, I took the photo using my 8 MP iPhone.

Bountiful Temple in the Snow

This was my first visit to the Bountiful, Utah Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have driven by Bountiful dozens or more times but had never taken the time to drive up the hill to the Temple. It is in a lovely location, although there were snow flurries and cold weather, I certainly enjoyed the visit.

Salt Lake Temple in Winter

There is always a trade off. Winters are cold and wet, but the images of snow covered mountains and shots such as this one compensate for both. I like snow and cold weather. It may not be the best driving weather, but it certainly is a lovely time of year. The way to survive is to get adequate warm clothes and wear shoes or boots that work in slippery conditions.

Hot Air

I have been in a couple of hot air balloons but always when they were tethered. It is sort of like going up an down in an elevator. There is not much sensation of motion. From the looks of the line waiting to go up and down in this balloon, we decided not to get in line.

The Persistence of Erosion

The very steep and short gullies up the side of this knoll show where the harder rock continually breaks as it is undermined. The strange part of this phenomena is that the ridges remain almost complete free of the clay and rockslide of the gully.

Sand Patterns

Finding animal tracks in the sand is always a treat. In this case, the main features are the sweep of the brush and the micro-dunes in the sand. You can always see a few day's history, but the view will change with the next windstorm or rainstorm.

A Very Strange Landscape

There are some places on the Colorado Plateau that are visually so strange that you would not believe that they existed if couldn't walk through them and see for yourself. This is one of those places. It is only a short distance off of a major highway but totally isolated from the highway by hills. At about 5000 feet above sea level, the sunlight is pretty intense.

Desert of Clay and Desert of Sandstone

I can't get over the variety of shapes and colors that surround me when I walk out into a sandstone or clay desert. The clay always looks soft and smooth. It is really very hard and rough. It turns to glue when it gets wet however. The sandstone just turns a darker color. It never gets wet enough to melt.

Sandstone and Clay

All of these layers of rock and clay have names. I first heard them while driving through this part of the world with a geologist. I never seem to get them right, but I do know enough to look in a book and see what they are called. I love the contrast in colors.

Toadstool

I don't think there are that many toads out there in this sandstone and clay desert, but you never know. But just in case there are, we are ready for them to use these as a stool. I am continually amazed at the way the rocks can be formed by water, wind and ice into fantastic shapes.

Panorama in Stone

This is just across the border into Utah. You will have to click on the photo to see it in full size. This is one reason why I have spent as much time as I could walking in Arizona and Utah. There are so many places to go and so little time to see them all. You could spend all your time looking and still be missing some of the most remarkable sights in the world. If you haven't been reading my other blogs, you may not know that I am moving to Utah. I guess I might have to change the name of this site to Walking Arizona and Utah, but I have been doing that anyway all along.

Why is there a fence?

There is this fence, but why? It ends before it would do any good to keep something out or in. Usually, these fences are there more from lack of removal than of utility. They were built when people worried about cows or sheep. Now all this National Monument and the rules have changed. But the fences haven't changed. They will be there eternally. Keeping us out. Or in?

Caught in the Fence

Theoretically, a tumbleweed (Russian thistle) could keep rolling across the Plateau unimpeded. But there is a reality in fences and other obstructions that prevents an eternal journey. In this case the trip was cut short by a barbed wire fence. We all seem to come up against barriers sooner or later. I think it is interesting that tumbleweeds live their live as green plants but only become nomads in their old age. As humans, we talk about settling down, but I think that really can't happen.

Wind Drift

As the plants grow in the wet spring, the blowing wind piles the sand as it slows in the plant's branches. The plant, in this case Russian thistle or tumbleweed, grows more to stay above the sand. As the years pass and the plant or its descendants, grows it starts to build a hill out of the sand. The desert is full of endless forms and colors.