Boxes and Dust

 

I was doing some dusting last weekend when it occurred to me that I've accumulated a collection of boxes in a variety of shapes and sizes.  I don't actually collect boxes but it seems that I have purchased a few that have caught my eye.  The ones in the photo above are the oldest.  I bought both of these on my very first trip to Europe back in 1985.  Both were purchased in Germany.

These two were purchased closer to home and approximately 12 to 15 years ago.  They are both made of glass.  The black one I got at a street craft festival and the one with the shell embedded in it I found at a gem and mineral show in Tucson.

This last one was purchased in Costa Rica in 2007.  It's made of wood native to that country.  

Wednesday evening I got one of those noisy, emergency notices on my phone because of a dust storm.  When I checked outside, it was calm but I did see some clouds in the east.  It took 30 minutes for the storm to reach my place and once it did, the wind rattled the windows and blew things around for another 30 minutes.  The storm brought some rain too but not enough to make a difference.

All that dust blowing around will make it necessary to do some more dusting.  In the desert, there is no escaping the dust.

Pomegranate Tree

 

Pomegranate trees grow well here in Arizona and about this time of year, they are full of fruit almost ready for the picking.  You can see just a touch of pink showing up on these two.

It won't be long before these three are ready to be picked and put to good use.

I see those ruby-red seeds used in salads and other dishes.  Or they can be crushed and made into a syrup and used as flavoring for drinks and other things.  

Do any of you use pomegranates?

Mountain Homes

 

I happened to be in a neighborhood that gave me a good view of some of the houses that cling to the south side of Camelback Mountain so I took the opportunity to snap a few photos.  These are all what you would call luxury homes so many of them are very large.

These will all give the homeowners a nice view over Phoenix with a glimpse of the downtown high rise buildings to the west and the urban sprawl to the east.

Living on the mountainside has it's challenges as my friend who lives on the north side of this mountain will attest.  That said, the views really are spectacular.

No More Saks

 

Our local Saks Fifth Avenue store has closed its doors for good after serving the community for 30 years.  The closing has to do with the bankruptcy of Saks Global.  It's not a store that I shopped at often but I did find things there occasionally.  It's kind of sad seeing this once grand store sitting empty.

This is the front of the store last winter when they were still open.  It was an anchor store for the Biltmore Fashion Park shopping center so I wonder if another store will move in.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.

First and Last

 

I had dinner with my good friends David and Riley Saturday evening at a place close to where they live on the edge of downtown Phoenix.  They had been to this place before but it was my first time and I loved it.  It's called First and Last and they serve an assortment of seasonal dishes creatively prepared.  

I snapped this photo as we waited to be seated.  We ended up at a table down near the end of this photo, closer to the windows.  I absolutely loved the atmosphere of the place.  It was busy yet cozy with a great cosmopolitan feel that really came to life as the sun went down.

I had the Tagliatelle al Limone which was delicious with a delicate lemon and basil flavor.  But, I think my favorite thing was the Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Focaccia.  It was light and fluffy and served in that iron skillet you can see just the edge of at the top of this photo. 

I'd go back to this place any time.

Special Treat, Guest Photographers

 

My good friends Julie and Dave have spent the last two weeks on a cruise around Greenland stopping in some incredibly beautiful locations.  They have sent messages along the way with lots and lots of breathtaking photos.  I decided to share a few.  I had no idea that Greenland was such a beautiful place! The city above is Ittoqqortoormiit.  

They had the opportunity to hike in several locations and sent photos of arctic wildflowers along with some pretty fabulous views.

That is their National Geographic cruise ship in the background along with some colorful icebergs in the foreground.  

Here's a closer view of the ship taken as they were taking a zodiac to the shore for another hike.

I expected to see lots of snow and ice but I didn't expect such a diverse landscape.  The scene above looks almost desert-like.  

They got to see icebergs up close.  

They also got to see the eclipse last week from a "totality" vantage point.

Judging from their messages full of exciting adventures, I'd say they enjoyed this trip very much.  

Julie and Dave can now say that they've covered the globe from top to bottom!

Backyard Desert Rose

 

I was at my friend Glenda's house Thursday evening and one of her desert rose plant produced another flower.  Actually it produced two blooms but the windy rain storm we had this week knocked one of the blooms off.  

This is the same plant that had a bloom a few weeks ago.  Her other three plants still haven't produced a bloom.

If you look closely, you will see another bud at the base of this bloom.  She should get a second flower in the next few days.

Broken Blocks

 

In one section of the Desert Botanical Garden, there is a wall that has been created from broken concrete blocks.  We are used to seeing walls made of concrete blocks, they are quite common.  This wall has a taken a new spin on that common sight.  You might call this an "inside-out" concrete block wall.  It's a completely different look.

Lunch Box Collection

 

Ten years ago I posted about a local wine bar called Postino's that decorated a new location with a wall covered in old matchbooks.  You can see that post here.  Last Sunday I met friends at a different Postino's location and I discovered this wall covered with lunch boxes.  When they were getting ready to open this location, they must have put out a call for lunch box donations and they accumulated quite a collection.  

Here's a closer view.  They are fun to look at.  I see a couple of Star Wars boxes here and that Superman one is easy to spot.

I Do Love Hummingbirds

 

I have two more hummingbird photos from that file of 2012 photos taken with the Sony DSLR camera.  I love being able to capture these tiny little creatures as you all probably know since I've posted many photos of them on this blog.

I love the soft colors in both of these shots.  

From the Heard Collection

 

I have four more paintings from that display from the Heard's collection of paintings.  This one is called "A Nickel for Your Thoughts" and it was painted by Jaune Quick-To-See Smith.  

This one really drew me too it.  I thought it looked like those awful brush fires that are happening all over the world.  It's called "New Blood" and it was painted by James Lavadour.

This one was composed of four panels and was created by James Schoppert and is called "Kaa Gee Soak" which I'm assuming comes from the Tlingit language.  I tried to find a translation but only found that "Kaa" means person.  

This last one has a touch of humor to it.  It's called "Tall Visitor at Tacito" and it was painted by Gary Cohoe.  

I enjoyed seeing all these large scale paintings in one gallery setting together.  The exhibit contained quite a variety of subjects and styles.  

Another Artful Morning

 

I was at the Heard Museum again on Saturday for another one of their "Artful Mornings" lectures.  I took the opportunity to walk through the changing gallery where they have a selection of paintings from the Heard's Collection.  They were all large scale paintings many of which I had seen before in different locations.  However, there were a few that hadn't been on display in decades.  

The painting at top is by Linda Lomahaftewa and it's Untitled.  To the left  is another painting by Lomahaftewa.  I love the brilliant colors in in both of these.

This painting must be a very new acquisition because it's dated 2026.  It was painted by Nanibah Chacon and it's called Bed Rot 1.  It is described as acrylic on polytab.  I had to look that up to discover that  Polytab is mural cloth.  I was drawn to the bright colors and all the patterns as usual.

This last one was painted by Joe Baker and it's called Phoenix House with Chartreuse Chairs.  It was painted in 1980.  It looks like the artist might have made visit to a house in Phoenix with saltillo tile floors and possibly an R.C. Gorman painting on the wall.

With the Macro Lens

 

In that same batch of photos from 2012 that I posted yesterday, I found several photos taken with the macro lens.  I can't believe I carried all that equipment to the garden back then.  My shoulders and arms must have been a lot stronger then.

That macro lens was the last lens I bought for that Sony DSLR and I loved using it.  I took a lot of great close-up shots with it.  

A Hummingbird From the Past

 

I found these hummingbird photos when I was going through my Desert Botanical Garden photo file from 2012.  Back in those days I was using my Sony DSLR A200 with a 75-300mm zoom lens.  All the photos I took with that camera have a different look to them.  I'm not sure how to explain it except to say they are slightly darker or more intense in their color and depth.  

It looks like I was focused on this little hummingbird sitting in a tree.  This little bird looks so sweet sitting in the tree with one eye on me to make sure I don't pose a danger.

After the little rest in the tree, it was back to work gathering nectar from these blooms.

I might show a few more of these old photos taken with that Sony camera.  I like the look of them.  I still have that camera.  I need to get it out and clean it up and maybe take some new photos with it.  It's heavy so I probably won't want to take many but I should at least give it a try.

Desert Wildflower Towers

 

I haven't posted photos of these beauties in a while so I thought it was about time to revisit them.  The Desert Wildflower Towers are at the entrance to the Desert Botanical Garden and they were created by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly.  The towers were acquired by the garden back in 2009, the first time that Chihuly did an exhibit at the garden.

If I position myself just right, I can get two of the towers together and create an explosion of green glass.

I recently sorted all the photos I've taken of these sculptures into one folder and discovered I have 197 photos of them.  I need to take 3 more and make it an even 200.

Making An Effort

 

It is not a good time year for flowers to be blooming in Phoenix but this canna lily in front of my complex is making the effort.  You can see that it is getting a little "crispy" around the edges.

It was 115 degrees (46C) last Sunday and the high has been hovering around 110 (43C) all week long.

It's the time of year we tend to stay inside.

The Light Bloom Left Behind

 

It looks like the Desert Botanical Garden acquired one of the Light Bloom sculptures that were on display in 2024 and 2025.  This will be pretty when it's lit up at night.  You can see my photos from that exhibit here and here.

I used a photo editing technique on one of those older photos and gave it a pastel look that I think turned out very well. That color combination is pleasing to the eye.

Toothpick Cactus

 

There are several very large toothpick cacti growing at the Desert Botanical Garden.  They bloom all year longs so I can almost always find a bloom on one of them when I visit.  This one is right next to one of the trails and it has grown so much that at times it has arms reaching over the trail.

It has been trimmed several times to tame those overhanging branches.

Just like a tree, those cuts leave some scars on the cactus.