Sunshine and Rain

 

I snapped these two photos yesterday morning when the rain was coming down while the sun was shining.  It was just the remains of that crazy storm that happened on Friday. The top photo is looking northwest where the rain was coming from. The second photo is looking southwest where the skies were clearing.  Both photos were taken minutes apart. Rain and sunshine at the same time happens quite often in the desert.

The rain only lasted a few minutes and then things dried up until late in the day when I poured down rain again.

I copied this photo from the AZ Central online news.  This is what it was like on Friday when I was driving home.  Desert cities aren't built for rainy weather.  When we have storms like Friday's, the water accumulates quickly and floods streets and yards and causes flash floods in normally dry washes.  

I heard that flights were grounded in Phoenix from 11:00 AM to almost 7:00 PM.  It must have been chaos at the airport.  Friday was one crazy day in Phoenix.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

 

It had just stopped raining when I left my house to go to Scottsdale.  While I was in Scottsdale it started coming down like crazy.  

When I got back to my car, the street where I parked was flooded and I wasn't sure how I was going to get into driver's side without wading through a river of rushing water.  I finally got in the back seat, slid across to other side, got out where the water wasn't so deep on the street side and then got into the driver's seat.  

However, getting into the driver's seat wasn't the end of the trials.  It was raining so hard it was hard to see anything and the streets were flooded in all directions.  It was very slow going but I made it home unscathed.  Then I got completely drenched in the short distance from my car to the covered walkway.  It was kind of like someone threw a bucket of water on me.

I haven't seen a storm like this in this area in a very long time.  It warranted four emergency alerts like this one.

A Roadrunner Visit

 My friend Glenda captured some great photos when this friendly roadrunner stopped by her garden for a visit.  She shot all of these photos through a window and with her iPhone and they turned out so great that I just had to share them.  Above he was looking toward the window.

In this shot he spread his wings and flew over to that chair.  What a great action shot.  It's rare to see a roadrunner taking flight.

And here he is after he landed on the chair.  

These are some very impressive photos especially considering they were taken quickly and through a window.  Great job Glenda!

Books I Found in London

 

I love London book stores so while I was there, I visited several of them.  This one is Foyles and I even had a very tasty lunch in the cafe at this store.  

While browsing, I spotted the book to the left called "Capital Christie."  It's a collection of Agatha Christie stories all based in London.  I decided I wanted it and thankfully, we have Amazon so I can buy it when I get home instead of loading up my luggage with books.  So, click, I snapped a photo to remind me.

I also stopped at Hatchards book store and seeing the display for the book on the left, I decided I wanted it too.  It's called "The Artist" by Lucy Steeds.  Once again, I took a quick photo to remind me.

Those photos worked to remind me to place the order and I did the following week after I got back.  That's when I noticed that the delivery date was over two weeks away.  I think they might have had to find a vendor that could get the books from London.  "The Artist" arrived last Saturday from a place in New York City and with a different dust jacket and "Capital Christie" arrived just yesterday from a place in Rochester New York.  It took longer than expected but I'm happy to have them.

I think I will enjoy these two.

Yellow: The Color of the Day

 

Last Sunday I saw a lot of pretty yellow blooms everywhere I went.  

It started in the morning when I saw the yellow blooms on a canna lily plant in a planter in front of where I live.

Around noon, a friend and I had lunch at AZ88, that unique Scottsdale eatery that always has changing art displays.  These gorgeous yellow gladiolas were decorating the dining room.

The pretty gladiolas were matched by the equally pretty yellow Peruvian lilies on the tables. 

All those yellow blooms brought their own form of sunshine to an overcast day.  

Sunrise Beauty & Noise

 

Early yesterday morning around 6:30, I heard some scraping and banging noises coming from outside.  I went outside to investigate and before I could spot the noise maker, I was struck by the beauty of the rising sun lighting up the mountains north of me.

After admiring the view, I noticed that there was some type of construction going on in the street below.  Could it be the start of the job to fix our electrical problems?

Just an hour later, our parking lot was full of heavy equipment and the noises of trucks, jackhammers and diggers. Yippee!  They have started to work to lay new underground cable.

Three big spools of cable are sitting in the parking lot waiting.  It looks like we are going to get the electricity outage problem fixed.  That makes me very happy.  

Colorful Corn

 

I saw this mural when I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch last Friday. I decided to head back home on the same path so I could get a photo of it.  It's on the side of a new building called Osborn Point owned by Native American Connections and it recently opened as a permanent, supportive housing community for people in need.  The mural was painted by Native American artist Jesse Yazzie.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.  

Sunshine on a Stem

 

There is a patch of these wonderful daisy-like flowers at the Desert Botanical garden.  I think they are in the same family as sunflowers but they are smaller.  

When I stopped to admire all those pretty yellow flowers, I noticed some rustling going among the blooms.  That's when I noticed that a group of goldfinches were in there eating the seeds from the flowers.  

I tried to get a good photo of one or two of the birds but this was the best I could get.

Double Discovery

 

I was enjoying the sunrise at the Desert Botanical Garden last Sunday when I noticed this rock formation on the buttes.  It looked like there was a bubble shaped rock popping out from that plateau.  

So I zoomed in a bit to get a closer look.  When I downloaded the photos, I noticed that I had captured two people walking up there near that big rock.  Can you see them?

If not, here is a cropped version.  It's not just two people, it's two people and their dog.  They were taking an early morning walk on those buttes that surround the garden.  

Friendly Quail

 

When I was at the Desert Botanical Garden last Sunday, I encountered lots and lots of quail scurrying around.  In fact, the one to the left walked right up to me.  When I snapped that quick photo, she was literally six inches from my foot.

This chubby fellow found a spot of sunshine to warm up those feathers.  They were all very friendly, following me along the trail and periodically running toward me.  I had a great time visiting with them.  

Busy Bees

 

When I was at the garden last Sunday, I was headed toward the hilltop viewing spot when I passed this huge toothpick cactus and noticed it had several blooms on it.  I decided to take a few photos of the blooms.

This was right before sunrise so the colors in these photos are quite muted.

When I zoomed in on the blooms I noticed that each one of them had lots of bees buzzing around.  Not just lots but literally hundreds of bees enjoying the flowers.

Obviously there is some very tasty pollen produced by these pretty blooms.  

Enjoying the View

 

One day last week, I was asked to join my work supervisor at our office in east Phoenix.  This is the building with the fabulous view looking toward Tovrea Castle and Camelback Mountain.  The city of Phoenix owns all the land around Tovrea Castle so the view stays wide open.  

However, there are other obstructions.  Power lines run across the sky and the light rail trains run just below along the street.  But still, you have to admit that is some view!

I looked at my old posts and it's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since I was last in this office.  I posted about that visit in 2022. 

Some of you might also remember that I volunteered on the work the city did to get the Castle open to the public.  That was way back in 2011 and 2012.  I can't believe it's been that long.  If you click the Tovrea Castle label, you can see all those older posts.

Sunrise at the Garden

 

On Sunday I took another early morning walk at the Desert Botanical Garden.  I arrived before the sun was up and made my way up to the high point to watch it appear over the mountains to the east of Phoenix.  

I love how that early morning light makes the buttes around the garden glow a deep shade of red.

I also like how the sun was peeking through the arms of an organ-pipe cactus.   

It was a perfect morning for a long walk.  The temperature was around 74 and it felt good to be out doors.  

The Table is Set

 

I found this little vignette on the back side of an antiques store.  The yellow background is painted but the table, chairs and window are put together with what looks like disassembled furniture.  It's a clever little display.

Taking part in Monday Murals.  

Warts and All

 

Have you noticed that the signs of fall are starting to show up?  For us in the desert, the signs don't come from temperature.  We see the signs in our local retail outlets.

These very 'warty' pumpkins were in front of my local Whole Foods store.  The sign said they were "goblin pumpkins".  I have no idea if they are edible.  

They did have some smooth-skinned pumpkins too but, the ones with all the warts really caught my eye.  

Desert Rose

 

Of course, when I went walking at the Desert Botanical Garden last Sunday, I couldn't resist a photo or two of the pretty desert rose blooms.

We probably have another month or so of enjoying them before they go inside the greenhouse to protect them from any overnight winter freezes.  

Artistic Expression?

 

On one of my walks in London, I happened to notice an opening between two buildings and the building that was peeking through in between. That building was The Royal Society of Arts, an organization with lofty goals.  Their website says they are a society for "arts, manufactures and commerce - a global network of change makers enabling people, places and the planet to flourish in harmony".  

I didn't know all of that when I snapped the photo.  However, after snapping the photo, I saw something strange sitting on that ledge to the right.

I wonder if this was someone's idea of artistic expression.  It's every bit as interesting as some of the strange pieces of "art" I've seen in a few museums.  

What do you think?  A candidate for the Tate Modern?

Sleeping Beauty?

 

I have another post from my London trip today.  When I visited the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, I found this interesting artwork located in the center of the Fountain Court.  It depicted a woman sleeping inside this glass box and was complete with breathing sounds and dreamlike music.  

I did some research to find out more about this artwork and learned that it was part of 25th anniversary celebration and is called either "The Spell" or "The Dream".  The artist is Tai Shani.  

I took this close-up shot to see the sleeping lady's face.  Here is a quote describing the piece: "Drawing on fairytale archetypes of enchanted sleep, the work comments on society's 'curse' of capitalism and necessity of imagining new ways of being".  Interesting idea.