Door to the Ancient Past

For some reason, I like to photograph doors. There really isn't a door here but it is the essentially the same thing in an ancient Sinaguan ruin on a cliff along the Wet Beaver Creek in the Verde Valley of Arizona. I could be any of thousands of other small cliff dwellings or storage rooms left by the ancient inhabitants of Arizona. I guess you might say, they were some of the earliest uses of organic architecture.

Swallow Nests

Along the Wet Beaver Creek of the Verde Valley, there are lovely limestone cliffs. These are perfect for colonies of cliff swallows to build their rounded mud constructed swallow nests. I was fortunate to have my long lens to take this photo when the nests were way up on the cliff.

Evidence of Rain

This is a Metate, an ancient grinding stone left over from the Sinagua people that inhabited Central Arizona as far back as Neolithic times. As I was photographing this, a small boy who was visiting the site with his mother asked what this was. She promptly told him it was a basin for water. I chimed in and explained that it was used for grinding corn. It just happened to be filled with water from a recent rain storm. I always wonder what all the tourists think when they visit Indian ruins.

Red Rock Landscape

I never get tired of the forms and colors of the sandstone. They are particularly dramatic with the backdrop of the dark blue clear skies that as so prevalent in Arizona. Although walking or hiking in the sandy soil is not as easy as it might seem. It is a marvelous place to visit.

What do you think this is?

This is a traditional Hopi design. It is most likely a bird design flying over the earth. You can tell by the feathers on the wings.

A Matter of Perspective

If you look at this picture for a while, you might be able to figure out what it is and the direction you are looking. It is the top floor of the Desert View Watchtower, looking up from the floor below. The perspective is so different than you expect, you cannot see the edge of the cement railing for the next floor for what it is.

Design Elements

The architect of the Desert View Watchtower, Mary Colter, uses native artifacts for her design elements. We were surprised to find out these large pots were used as lighting fixtures. I wouldn't recommend this today given the value of this pottery. An authentic large pot such as this one would sell for thousands of dollars today.