Early Morning Observations

 

I observed more than the sunrise and the Desert Pulse art exhibit when I was at the garden last Wednesday.  The cute little Gamble's Quail were out and about and scampering around as they often do.  In fact, the quail and a few mourning doves were the only birds I saw on that morning.  I wonder where the rest of the birds were.

There were also a few blooms to admire.  I'm not sure what the name of these daily-like flowers are but they were sharing a pot with some aloe plants.

I found these pretty blooms growing a spot where I frequently find flowers strange to the garden.  According to the AI search feature, this is a Cape Plumbago.

These cheerful desert marigolds were blooming in several spots.  

They are such happy looking flowers. 

Framerate: Desert Pulse

 

Being at the Desert Botanical Garden so early and on such an overcast day, gave me the opportunity to enjoy the latest art exhibit going on at the garden.  It's called "Framerate: Desert Pulse" and it is a multi-sensory art exhibit using images scanned using LiDar technology to capture 3D images.  It was put together by ScanLAB Projects, an artistic and scientific team pioneering the artistry of 3D imaging. Cameras were set in place for long periods of time to capture growth and activities.  Many of the cameras were set up at the garden.  In fact, I saw at least one of them and wondered what it was all about.   There were digital screens set up in several places in the garden showing short 3 to 6 minute segments of the images.

The longest segment of images was in the exhibit hall where there were 14 large screens around the hall all showing different view points of the subject being scanned.  

The videos in the exhibit hall cycle through a 24 minute loop.  I thought when I entered that I'd watch a few minutes and then leave and come back another time.

That didn't happen.  I stayed through the entire loop and I'm sure I'll go back again.  It was mesmerizing.  

My photos here only show some of the desert blooms scenes.  There were construction sites, farming land and rain and water flows also.  It was all enhanced by original music for each different scene.  

I loved it!

Sunrise Magic

 

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden again on Wednesday morning, this time for the "member's hour" at 7:00.  As you can see, it was pretty dark when I arrived but it gave me an opportunity to photograph those pretty Chihuly sculptures at the entrance one more time.  (As if I need an excuse.)

On my way up to the hilltop view spot, I passed some more of the holiday decorations.  

At the top of the hill there is a good viewing spot to watch the sunrise. It isn't perfect because of all those electrical wires but at least they are barely visible in this zoomed shot.  

Without the zoom, you can see those power lines better.  You can also see that we only got a sliver of brilliant sunlight on this morning.  It was so heavily overcast that we never did get to see the fiery ball. The early morning visit was worth it none the less. It was like having the garden all to myself.  I enjoyed it so much, I stayed for two and half hours.  

Theme Day: Photo of the Year

 

My photo of the year was a tough choice this year. As I scanned my 2025 posts, I found so many photos that I loved.  I narrowed it down to two photos.  

This one is a portrait of Alexis, one of the three dogs that belong to my friends David and Riley. I posted it in July.  It was sheer luck that Alexis posed so perfectly and long enough for me to grab this shot.  

This second one I took at the Phoenix Art Museum.  I posted it last May. I had just recently taken that class on iPhone photography and I was practicing the use of the "portrait" mode. There was a colorful painting on the wall a few feet behind this Buddha statue and the portrait mode blurred that painting into a perfect backdrop.  

There are still a few of us City Daily Photo bloggers out there.  If you would like to check out their Photos of the Year, click here.

Happy New Year to All!!

Sunset on 2025

 

Today the sun will set on 2025 and tomorrow we are off to a new year and new adventures.  It seems like only yesterday that we slipped from 1999 to 2000 and here it is 26 years later.  I enjoyed my adventures in 2025 and I'm hoping 2026 will be just as good.  Enjoy your New Year's Eve celebrations!

Holidays at the Garden

 

I made a trip to the Desert Botanical Garden yesterday.  I knew I hadn't been there in a while but I was surprised when I checked the time stamp on my photos that I hadn't been there since mid-September. That's way too long.  No wonder my legs felt a little stiff climbing the high trail.  

Here is their holiday tree at the entrance.  

One of the many holiday decorations scattered around the park.

They had these pretty wreaths in different locations around the park.  This on was on the wall of the gift shop.

It wasn't too busy when I arrived around10:30 but it was crazy busy when I left about two hours later.  It's that time of year!  

Winter Blooms

 In the midst of winter when most of our deciduous trees are losing their leaves, the cassia trees are starting to bloom.

These pretty yellow blooms with just a hint of orange in them are a welcome sight.

Holiday Tableau

 

When I was getting out all the Christmas decorations for the season, I came across some of last year's Christmas cards.  You might remember the little Christmas tree pop-up card my sister sent me.  I posted photos of it here.  I also found the Santa card that a friend sent me.  I thought they might look cute together so I set up a little tableau using a white towel as a back drop.  

I think it looks kind of cute.

Since the back drop was all set up, I decided to photograph two of my favorite Christmas decorations.  

First is my little glass Christmas tree.  I bought this tree in 1998 when I was working in Chicago.  It served as my holiday decorations for my home away from home.

I also photographed my little, sleek Santa.  I bought him on my 2013 trip to London in the village of Amersham.  He is currently standing guard in the window at my front door.

I love the little things that bring back fond memories.  

Fall Colors are Showing

 

While all the holiday festivities have been going on, I started to notice that some of our trees were starting to show their fall colors.  Last Sunday, I stopped at a big corporate center to take a few photos.

These trees have quite a bit of brownish-red in them.  I bet if I had seem them one week before, they would have been totally yellow. 

I'll be keeping my eyes out for more around town.

Christmas Eve Dinner

 

I enjoyed a lovely Christmas Eve dinner at my friends David and Riley's new house.  They had the place decorated beautifully. I loved the silver tree.

It was a fun evening with lots of stories of past Christmas celebrations and other memorable events.  When friends get together, laughter is in abundance.

We even had Christmas crackers!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Of all the Christmas trees I've seen this season, this was my favorite of them all.  I found it at one of my favorite grocery stores, A J's Find Foods.  I think someone from their floral shop put it together and they did a fine job.

I hope everyone who sees this post is having a wonderful Christmas Day. 

Happy Holidays to all!

There Are Christmas Trees Everywhere

 

We see all kinds of Christmas trees at this time of year.  Here are a few I've observed.  

This one is sitting on the lawn in front of St. Francis Xavier Church in Phoenix.  It appears to be formed on a cone-shaped frame and I'm not sure what that light at the top does.  

I found this tree in the book store at the Heard Museum.  It was full of handmade ornaments and surrounded at the base by some very colorful stuffed animals.

I saw this tree glowing inside a restaurant that left its doors wide open.  It was a kind of warm and welcoming scene.

Giant Balls & Other Decorations

 

I've seen all kinds of holiday decorations this season.  These giant ornaments were in front of a restaurant at Biltmore Fashion Park.

Here is another holiday tableau that I saw at the Phoenician Resort last Saturday.  

Above I found some very elegant and sparkly reindeer pulling and equally sparkly sleigh in front of someone's house.

Across the street from the house above, I found a giant, inflatable reindeer standing guard at this house.  

There are quite a variety of decorations out there.

Holidays at the Resorts

 

On Saturday, my friend and I went to three of the big hotels here in the Phoenix area to see how the holiday decorations looked.  Our first stop was the Arizona Biltmore and I was encouraged when I saw this pretty tree as I entered the lobby.

However, when I turned the corner I saw that they had the same ugly brown trees they used last year in the  main part of the lobby.  Last year I called it a decorating blunder.  I did notice that they didn't use quite as many of those 'brown' trees as before so I guess that's a good thing.

We moved on to the Phoenician which sits on the border of Phoenix and Scottsdale on the side of Camelback Mountain. They had lots and lots of holiday decorations everywhere we went.  This tree decorated the main lobby.  Those are some giant ornaments.  

They also had little decorations scattered all around the resort.  I liked this little Christmas village scene near the elevators.  

In the area where the shops are located, they had one space set up as a cute Santa Land for the kids to enjoy.  That's a great photo backdrop the one wall.  

Our last stop was at the Global Ambassador Hotel.  They had a much more low-key set of decorations.  Just two trees like the one to the left located on either side of the door and a vast amount of poinsettia plants outside the door.  You can see a glimpse of them to the left in this photo.

But, what they lacked in decorations, they made up for in food.  We stopped for lunch in their French restaurant where I enjoyed this utterly delicious quiche and greens.  

It was fun to roam around these places to check out how they celebrate the holiday season.  

The Perfect Gift

 When I was at my friend Glenda's house last Thursday, she pointed out this little nativity set she just got in the mail from her sister-in-law.  Isn't it adorable?  Glenda is a true dog lover.  She loves all dogs in all shapes and sizes so this gift was simply perfect for her.

Glenda's house is decorated for the holidays.  I love her skinny Christmas tree.

When I was at her house the week after Thanksgiving, we sat in the living room in front of the fireplace.  Well, not exactly.  She found this fireplace video on YouTube and had it playing on her TV.  It was surprising how just the look of a fireplace gave the room a warm glow.

Close, Closer, Closest

 

I'm revisiting that poinsettia tree at Biltmore Fashion Park today.  I pictured it back in November when it first went up.  This photo is a little closer than the one posted here.  

For this shot, I stood at the base and pointed the camera straight up.

For this one I just focused on all those lovely poinsettia plants.  

Red is the color of the day!!