Papago Park is where we find the tomb of Arizona's first Governor. I posted the story of this unusual tomb back in 2011. (Yikes, 15 years ago.) You can read about this unusual pyramid tomb in the link to my past post. Governor Hunt began serving as governor before Arizona was a state. He guided the way to our statehood. The tomb has been here since 1931 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
I actually went there to see if I could photograph any of the waterbirds that hang around the lagoon but, the park was too busy so the birds were staying away. So the only photos I got were of the buttes that surround the park. This view is looking north and the top view is to the south.
Clouds make a sky so much more interesting so when I planned for this post, I searched my archives until I found a sky photo with just the right amount of clouds to make it interesting. Living in the desert, I'm much more likely to see nothing but a large expanse of blue.
The theme for June 1st is "Sky" for us City Daily Photo Bloggers. To see other sky shots, click here.
Zuni Girl is a sculpture by Native American artist Doug Hyde. She stands in a quiet corner near where the parking lot meets the courtyard at the Heard Museum. I thought I had posted a photo of her before so I went back and looked and sure enough I did a post a photo of her 10 years ago.
Back then, there were no plants around to shade her. She looks much better with all the plants around her and casting soft shadows.
I met a friend that I don't get to see very often for lunch yesterday. The Heard Museum is about half way for each of us so had lunch at the museum cafe. The food there is always excellent so it's always a good choice.
I was a few minutes early so I wandered around the museum courtyard taking photos. This view was taken at about the halfway mark of the courtyard looking toward the entrance with that fountain leading the way.
This one was taken all the way to end of the courtyard with the second fountain leading the way. The two fountains sort of mirror themselves making it look like one continuous fountain.
We had our lunch just to the left at one of those tables. One last al fresco lunch before the heat starts to set in.
I see lots of these small sunflowers growing at the Desert Botanical Garden. They tend to be scattered among the wildflowers.
In the Phoenix area, we see more of these small ones than any other kind.
However, every now and then I'll see one of these jumbo sized sunflowers. I saw this one at a local plant nursery. No matter what size they are, they always catch my eye. They make a good photography subject.
I was attracted by this cluster of copper colored pottery when I was at the Desert Botanical Garden. I found them decorating a quiet little corner near the herb garden. Those three pots together were complimented by the copper-like wall in the background. It makes a lovely scene with a warm glow.
The desert will be heating up later this week. We've had a tiny bit of a reprieve these last two weeks with temps in the 80's and 90's but by Saturday it's supposed to top 100 again.
One last walk at the Desert Botanical Garden so I can admire the beauty of the desert. Above is an ocotillo bloom that looked especially nice against a blue sky.
To the left is a patch of prickly pear cacti surrounding a tall cactus.
In this photo we have three nicely shaped agave plants tucked into a patch greenery. The desert has its own way of surviving the heat.
My friend Glenda was dog-sitting for her neighbors two weeks ago so when I visited her I got to spend some time with Pepper, this friendly little pup.
Behind Pepper are my friend's three Desert Rose plants. I mentioned a few weeks ago that she was feeling bad that none of her desert rose plants had bloomed yet.
Well, it finally happened! She got one tiny pink bloom on this plant just this last week and you can see a bud for one more.
Her patience paid off! Maybe it will encourage the other two plants to start producing blooms.
When I was at the Musical Instrument Museum last Wednesday, I took the opportunity to get a photo of this sculpture simply called "Phoenix". The artist is Louis Halleux. It's a stylized Phoenix Bird turned into a musical instrument. I remembered seeing it from a distance way back in 2009 when I first visited the museum.
I did something a little different Wednesday morning. I drove out to north Phoenix to attend a concert at the Musical Instrument Museum. It was the Phoenix Symphony chamber musicians playing a selection of pieces by American composers. I need to do this more often because the auditorium at the MIM is a perfect setting for smaller concerts. As you can see, the seats are tiered with each level a lot higher than the next. Being on the short side, I appreciate getting a better view over the heads of others.
I hadn't been to this museum in a long time so it was nice to familiarize myself to its setting and architecture. It's an attractive building, inside and out.
I'm always happy to see cute little cactus wrens out and about. They are such busy little birds and they aren't shy when a camera is pointed in their direction. This one was happy to sit still and pose for me.
There are lots of patterns included in the architecture of the convention center. It makes for great photo ops.
As I mentioned yesterday, here are three more employee art pieces that were on display at the Heard Museum.
The one above is three individual round canvases painted by Sylvia Richardson a sales support specialist. It's called "Messengers: Cicada, Butterfly & Dragonfly". They were painted in acrylic paint.
To the left is a piece called "Airborne Worm Dance II" by Jay Payestewa - Daugherty who is a shop associate and buyer. This one is a mixed media piece.
This last one is painted by Rebeka Peshlakai who is the Institutional Giving Coordinator. It's called "Hi Dad". Her message said it was a painting of one of her dad's favorite fishing spots. I particularly love the way she painted the clouds and cliffs in this one.
I'm always impressed by the amount of talent that makes up our world.
I took this photo in the room at the Heard Museum where the Artful Mornings lectures are held. You can see the beaded bag and the soft sculpture I featured yesterday on the table. About once a year, this room is filled with art works that are created by members of the Heard Museum staff. You can see three of them behind the speaker.
I really like the one to the left also. It was painted by Nolan Lightfoot (security officer) and it's called "The Hunt". If you look closely in the bottom left corner, you will see a figure in a red shirt among all that yellow. It made me think of someone making his way among a forest of aspen trees.
I'll show you a couple more tomorrow.
Yesterday morning, I was at the Heard Museum for another Artful Morning lecture. This time it was about artist Jamie Okuma.
Ms. Okuma has been working with beads since she was 4 years old and her artistic career has evolved into fashion and what is called 'soft sculpture'.
She created the outfit and the beaded bag to the left.
Here is an example of a soft sculpture. It also contains a lot of beaded work.
She created this beaded bag for the 2025 Heard Museum Indian Fair and Market. The whole thing is carefully beaded.
There is a very tall eucalyptus tree located in the courtyard area of Biltmore Fashion Park. It's been standing there since the beginning of the mall which was 1963.
Just recently, I notice a little plaque on the side of the tree.
On closer look, I discovered it was a memorial plaque to someone named Ruben Mendez. I tried to find out who this was but could find no link of someone named Ruben Mendez and Biltmore Fashion Park.
I might take a wild guess that he might have been a landscape gardener or grounds keeper.
It's an interesting little memorial. I have no idea when it was placed on the tree.
Something tells me that the owner of this Jeep is a dog lover.
What a cute spare tire cover!
The last time I visited this spot at the Desert Botanical Garden, someone had taken everything off of this shelf. I've mentioned before that I enjoy seeing how the shelf gets arranged with plants and water buckets throughout the year. On my most recent visit to this spot, there were two plants on the wall along with a row of water bukets.
Someone did a careful job of lining up those buckets in a nice, neat row. I look forward to my next visit to see how the line-up changes.
My new passport arrived last week and it prompted me to take a look at all my old passports. As you can see, I now have 50 years worth. If you want to get a "fast forward" look at yourself aging over the years, just take a look at the photos on all your passports. It's a sobering experience.
17 years ago I did several posts about a little enclave of homes built where a date farm used to exist. The buildings at Palma Viva at one time belonged to the Phoenix Date and Citrus Company. Some of the buildings housed workers while others were business offices. Today, they have all been converted to homes.
Last Sunday, I took another look around the place. All those years later, it looks very much the same.
The place has remained well-kept and shaded by those very tall palm trees and the many old eucalyptus trees that dot the area.
There is only one entrance into this enclave and that entrance is through a very narrow opening in a wall. It's not a place you happen drive through. You have to make the effort to find the entrance. That gives this place a sort of isolated feel even though it's right in the heart of the city surrounded by busy streets.
