The Trials of Modern Living

 

We started the month of July with an electrical outage and we are ending the month with a water line break.  I was leaving the house around 4:00 in the afternoon on Saturday to meet some friends for drinks and dinner.  I saw this river of water gushing up from the ground and flowing down the street outside the gate.  In fact, those two cars you see were driving very slowly so as not to splash the water.  

When I came home around 10:30, this was the scene.  A City of Phoenix construction crew was hard at work digging a hole to get to the water pipes.  By that time, the water had been shut off.  That was something I quickly discovered when I turned on a faucet.  Luckily I had a full water bottle to get me through.  Sometime around 3:00 AM, the water was back on and the construction team was filling in the hole.  

Water and electricity....we take these things for granted until they fail us.  In spite of these two recent inconveniences, I consider myself very fortunate to live where I do.  There are far too many people around the world who have neither of these or other basic benefits.  

I Recognize Those Birds

 

Another mural from the Rosevelt Row area in downtown Phoenix.  I recognized those birds immediately.  They are the work of Lauren Lee and this new mural is  called "Three Birds in Bloom".  Over 10 years ago, I posted a photo of a mural of birds that look just like these.  You can see it here.  That building from years ago was torn down so that mural is now gone.  This new project is on the wall of a new electrical sub-station.  The sub-station is behind that wall and in front is a bus stop.  That's what those shade structures are for.

Next to the three birds is another mural.  This one is called "Art is Life" and it was painted by Brian Boner.  

Here is a view of the two murals together.  They are going to make a nice addition to all the art and art related businesses that flourish on this street.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

My Mountain Views

 

I've featured photos of the mountains to the north of where I live many times before.  I feel lucky to have some very nice views surrounding my home.  Yesterday, the air was so clear it made the mountains looks so crisp.  I couldn't resist a photo.

Sometimes I'll snap a photo because the play of light contrasts so well with the clouds that are rolling by.

On another occasion, I snapped a photo because the sunset was turning the sky and mountains a shade of dusky pink.

And on this occasion, I took the shot to capture those puffy clouds that were hovering over the top of the rugged peaks.  There seems to be and endless supply of appealing views no matter the weather or time of year. I'm lucky I get to see it all.

Search for Shade

 

I had an appointment with the eye doctor yesterday and when I arrived at the parking lot, I was hoping I'd find a spot in the shade.  We Arizonans are good at finding a little sliver of shade anywhere we can.  I lucked out and found a spot under this huge, old tree.

I took the top photo from my car window.  When I got out and walked around the row of cars, I spotted an agave plant with a tall bloom stock growing under the tree.

It looked sort of out of place hiding under the shade of that big tree.  But I bet it was happy to be out of the sun.  

"Fruity"

 

The prickly pear cacti are simply overflowing with fruit right now.  Just look at all that ruby-red fruit on this plant.

Each of the nopals (pads) have about a dozen tunas (fruit bulbs) on them.  It looks like all that fruit might weigh those nopals down but it doesn't .

This type of prickly pear with its short, brown thorns is sometimes called a cowboy whiskers prickly pear.  

The fruit are used to make jams and syrups.  I've had both and they taste fruity and sweet.  Every gift shop in the desert southwest will have jars of prickly pear jelly for sale.  

What's Blooming

 

I did see some plants that were blooming when I was at the garden. The roses surprised me.  The heat had burned the edges of most of them but this one was still looking good.

The guayacan shrub had some pretty purple blooms on it and they were attracting the bees.

The chocolate daisies had a few blooms to display. This one was smiling at me.

And of course, I couldn't leave without one or four photos of my favorite, the desert rose.  

It might be the HOT time of year in the desert southwest but we still have some pretty blooms to enjoy.

A Curious Little Plant

 

When I was at the garden on Sunday morning, I came across these very small plants that sort of resemble artichokes.  I have no idea what they are and there was no sign to give me a clue.  

They were planted in the Aloe garden and were surrounded by all kinds of aloe plants.  

However, these look more like agaves than aloe plants.  

I wonder what they are.

An Unexpected Walk in the Garden

My weather app said it was going to be about 82 degrees first thing Sunday morning and cloudy.  I decided to see if I could do a 6:00 AM walk on Sunday.  It turned out to be quite pleasant.  Without that giant fireball pouring its bright and radiant heat all over everything, I could enjoy being outdoors.  And, only a few other members decided to do the same thing, so it was wonderfully peaceful too.

It was a good morning for wildlife.  I saw this very cute little rabbit scouring the ground for bits to eat.  

The quail families were all out and about.  Here's papa with two of his young ones.

And, here's momma with another young one in the background.  They were out foraging with the family in tow.  

This white-winged dove must have gotten up even earlier than I did.  He decided to take a little nap while perched on a prickly pear cactus.  

It was nice to get a walk in during the month of July.  That is a rare opportunity indeed.  

 

Beautiful Flowers

 

I found these colorful flowers painted on the front of a tattoo parlor in downtown Phoenix.  The two names to the left are both tattoo artists but I'm getting the impression that they also painted the mural.  It's certainly beautifully done.  I love that they included the little bee to the left.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.  

An Unintentional Selfie

 

I met my friends David and Riley for dinner Friday night at Pizzaria Bianco.  While we were waiting for our table, I spied the overflowing  candle on the little antique chest.  I'm not sure how they got that candle to melt like that pouring out of the lantern box.  

I inadvertently caught myself and my friend David in the reflection in the mirror.  

I've posted photos from this place several times before  most recently in June and once in April.  

Electricity Update

 

I could hear the noise early Thursday morning so I went out to see what was happening and I caught sight of the electric company filing in the hole they dug to fix the outage we had two weeks ago.

I see they had a Bobcat to help them this time instead of the Kubota they used four years ago.  I did talk to the mangers here and they told me that the electric company knows what is causing the problem but that it will take a large amount of digging to lay new cable to completely fix it.  Supposedly, this last outage bumped us up on the "needed construction" list so we should see some work being done sometime in the next year.  Fingers crossed!

House Finch

 

When I was out roaming the streets one morning, I spotted a house finch in the distance sitting on the edge of a decorative fountain.  Since I had my camera with me, I zoomed in to see if I could get a good photo and this one turned out better than I expected.  It looks like he was posing for me.  

What's Precious

 

Before leaving the Heard Museum last Saturday, I made a pass through the gift shop.  To me, the gift shop is like going into another gallery because of the many beautiful things there to see.  

I found another new sculpture by the artist I've mentioned several times before, Roxanne Swentzell.  This one is called "What's Precious".  I love the expression on this little lady's face as she peers into the palm of her hand and something "precious" inside.  

I've posted so many of Roxanne's work on this blog that I decided to create a label to identify the posts containing her work.  If you want to see other posts, click the label below of "Swentzell".  

While I was searching my photos to find all the "Swentzell" photos to put the label on, I came a cross an old photo that never made it onto the blog.  This is another Roxanne Swentzell sculpture called "Emergence of the Clowns" that I photographed in 2017.  This sculpture represents the ascendance of the Pueblo People into this world.  The Koshare or Sacred Clowns are remembering the migration of the First People.  

Just one more wonderful sculpture to add to my collection of photos of her wonderful artwork.  

Sun Protection

 

I noticed on Saturday that the Heard Museum has found a unique way to protect the beautiful flower planters from the direct sunlight.  

I've admired those planters for a long time and posted many photos of the flowers pouring out of each of those planters.  I was hoping they would survive the heat of our brutal summer months.  

It looks like they are doing okay under those umbrellas.  That puddle under the planters tells me they should be getting plenty of water.

More From Bob Haozous

 

After the lecture at the Heard Museum, I wandered through the main gallery again and snapped a few more photos from the Bob Haozous exhibit.  Above is a small sculpture called "Market Chief".  It's carved from African wonder stone.

I love this larger sculpture called "Portable Pueblo".  

I admired the sketch above of Bob's grandfather, Juan de  Dios Gallegos.

To the left is another sculpture called "Totem Princess".  

Haozous has produced such a wide variety of art.  

Winged Horse

 

I found this very dramatic mural in downtown Phoenix along the Roosevelt Row Arts District.  It was on the side of a building as you can see.  This area is full of galleries, shops and places to eat.  I'm not sure what was inside this building but I'm sure it was something artistic.  I don't know the artists name but the mural is quite an attention grabber.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Pandemic Survivor

 

I was at the Heard Museum yesterday for another of their Artful Mornings lectures.  This time it was about the work of Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty.  

She made this soft sculpture in 2021 working on it during the pandemic.  It's called "Wakitantanka (Strong-willed) Pandemic Survivor".  The curator explained how some of the details in the sculpture are made.  Those copper "pennies" are actually tiny replicas of actual pennies. That front panel is woven from dyed porcupine quills. Other elements include glass seed beads, cloth and ribbon. 

I did this close up so you could see the detail in that beaded mask.  This statue was only 20 inches high so its head is about the size of a Barbie doll's head.  The detail in the tiny mask is incredible.

One of the members attending asked how they gathered porcupine quills and she told us that Native Americans do things to scare the porcupines.  That raises their quills quickly and they tend to lose some in the process.  They gather up what is lost. 

I love these lectures.  I learn so much and I appreciate the art even more.

Big Bobby

 

Here is another curious piece of art that I found at the Phoenix Art Museum on my last visit.  This is called "Big Bobby and the Rest Motel".  

The artist is Rodney Alan Greenblat (b. 1960).

The description says that Greenblat was a prominent figure in the New York East Village art scene during the 1980's. Having grown up in the 1960's, he uses exaggerated caricatures to capture the nostalgic experience of watching cartoons or stopping at quirky roadside attractions.  

I think since I traveled a lot as a child and have seen my share of quirky roadside attractions, this resonated with me immediately.  It gave me a nostalgic feeling of childhood explorations.

Unusual Art Projects

 

About two weeks ago, a friend and I went to the Phoenix Art Museum to spend some quality time out of the desert summer heat.  In one of the galleries, they had an exhibit that included what I would call some rather unusual art projects.  This very large balloon was part of a project back in 2015 that consisted of 26 of these tethered balloons stretched over two miles of desert near Douglas Arizona and all the way to Agua Prieta, Sonora Mexico.  

Here is a photo of the project when it was up.  The artist worked with the governments of both countries to allow the project to stay up for 5 days and host a binational art walk and symposium.  

The images and colors of the balloons reference a common garden deterrent known as a "scare-eye balloon".  Birds are fooled into thinking a predator is near and avoid the area.  The artist's statement about the project reads: 

"The purpose of this monument is to bi-directionally reach across the US/Mexico border as a suture that stitches the peoples of the Americas together."

I wish I had seen it in person.

The Robins are Back

 

I snapped the photo to the left with my cell phone one day last week when I spotted a couple of robins hanging around the courtyard.  So the next opportunity I had I took my camera down there to see if I could get a better shot.  The one above was the best one out of the ones I took.  

The very next day, I found this fellow standing in a puddle of water.  He was probably trying to cool off.  It was pretty darn hot when I snapped this photo.

Decorated Palm Trees

 

Here is another odd thing I found on that Sunday drive around town.  I saw a house surrounded by palm trees and a block wall and each of the palm trees was decorated in some way. I might add, the wall was decorated too.

As you can see, the tree that I got out of the car to photograph was still very much alive.  The two next to it look like they've had their heads chopped off.

I couldn't find any reason for all the decorations.  It must just be a random art project.