Looking back....

...at 2012!

Hey lady......

......have you seen Dale around here anywhere?  

(at least I think that's what Chip was saying to me.)

Lunch time..

This bright colored house finch was enjoying this tasty cactus fruit when I spotted him.

Remember the Village People?

I went to a Phoenix Suns game with my friend Janet Wednesday night and the half time show was performed by a guy called Christopher from Las Vegas.  He does a one man Village People act.  I have to say, it was pretty funny.

You should have seen him do YMCA!

Even the mouths on the mechanical people moved so they could sing a long too.

Santa leaving town

I pulled into a parking space at the grocery store, looked to my left and couldn't believe I was seeing Santa in the car next to me backing out of the space.  He must have made Phoenix his last stop.  I guess the sleigh is not so easy to use in the desert so he's opted for a minivan instead.

Sorry about all the reflection but, I had to be quick to catch this shot.

A touch of red

A touch of holiday red found in the Encanto Palmcroft historic district.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Holiday Decorations

I was shopping at the Scottsdale Fashion Square shopping Center one evening last week when I noticed these huge holiday ornaments hanging from the ceiling.  So I snapped it with the iPhone and it turned out pretty good.  Have a wonderful Christmas Eve everyone!!

Holiday Lights

This is the park next door St. Mary's Basilica in downtown Phoenix.  I posted a photo of this beautiful little park before and you can see it here.  For the holidays, they've wrapped all those trees in beautiful lights.

Bouquet

Today I'm featuring a beautiful bouquet of roses to celebrate my sister Pam's birthday.  Happy Birthday Pam.  I'm hoping you get a little snow for Christmas!

Holiday smiles

Sometimes the simplest holiday decorations can put a smile on your face.

Park Gate

I found this gate to Encanto Park a few days ago.  I had never seen it before.  It was nicely decorated with holiday wreaths and red ribbons.

Even wooden horses....

......are getting into the holiday spirit.

I found this guy just down the street from the trimmed fence that I featured last Friday.

Santa....flying

I posted a picture of this flying Santa in his sled two years ago and told you that this display has been hanging between these two buildings during the holidays for as long as I've lived in Arizona.  That's over 40 years in case you were wondering.  Here he is again this year looking as though he hasn't aged a day and neither have I...... well, at heart anyway.

Italian Santa

I found this "Santa in a Gondola" at World Market and thought it would commemorate my trip to Italy this last year and be a nice addition to my collection of Santa ornaments.  He looks quite happy rowing along on my Christmas Tree.  He looks like he's getting awfully close to France though, doesn't it?

Cart

An old cart full of poinsettias makes a very nice holiday display.

Poinsettia Tree

The Poinsettia Tree is a holiday tradition at the Biltmore Fashion Square Shopping Center.  This year I used a feature on my new camera to isolate only the red in the photo and keep the rest in black and white.  I was surprised at all the red that I hadn't noticed when I took the shot.  Even those two shoppers on the left both have red shirts on.

Happy Birthday to my nephew Brian!  Have a great day!

Holiday Looks

Christmas will be here soon and I haven't yet featured a single holiday post.  So here is my first one.  A very simple but, very pleasant holiday decoration along a fence.  I like it.

Blushing Rose

I found this perfect rose on one of the rose bushes at Steele Indian School Park.  

I'm sending out Happy Birthday wishes to my very close friend David!  Look what's waiting in my 'fridge' especially for you.

Encore!

Look who's back!  I went to the garden again this Monday and sure enough this Roadrunner was back again and very interested in my lunch.  He has turned into quite the little beggar.  He was so close this time that all got were "head shots".

I think his motto is "will pose for food".

Diner

I had lunch at this downtown diner on Sunday when I was out looking for photos to feed the blog.  It's called Chloe's Corner and it was great atmosphere and food.  They have a huge counter that extends to three sides with the cooks doing all their work in the center so we can watch the preparations.  A very friendly staff added to a very pleasant lunch.

Phoenix at Night

I finally found a spot where I could get a good skyline picture. 

Fall in Phoenix

It's beginning to look like fall in the Phoenix area just in time for winter to start.  I took a walk at Steele Indian School Park yesterday afternoon and could easily see the trees turning and the long shadows of a southern sun.  But, it was still warm enough for those two young boys to play in shirt sleeves and shorts.

Game Night

I went to a Phoenix Suns's Basketball game with my friend Janet Thursday night and used the opportunity to test the 42X telephoto lens on the new camera.  I took the above shot from my seat in the 11th row.  Not bad!  That's Marcin Gortat in the photo.  He always begins a game with the trainer doing some leg stretches on the floor of the court.  His expression makes it look like it doesn't feel so good.  We have some players with unusual names on the team this year; Marcin Gortat, Goran Dragic, Hakim Warrick, Diante Garrett, and Markieff Morris.  As I heard the announcer call off the names at various times, I was reminded of the bar scene (my favorite scene, by the way) in the movie "Star Wars".

The photo to the left is from the opening extravaganza that happens right before the start of the game.  They usually have a lot of fire in this part of the show but, they didn't on Thursday.  Maybe that shooting fire isn't good for the TV cameras.

Paintings right out of the camera

My new camera has an "Effects" setting and one of the effects is called "painting".  If you use that setting the photo processes right in the camera.  I took the top photo using this setting last Monday when I was at the Desert Botanical Garden.  You'll recognize the Chihully sculptures that I've featured so many times before.  The effect has a kind of white, chalky look to me.

Look down....see the cactus

I forgot about this photo!  About three weeks ago I attended an event at the Phoenix Convention Center and while I was taking photos of the event I looked down and noticed that the carpeting in the convention center is designed in a pattern that looks like large barrel cactus.  I shot this photo looking straight down toward my feet so you could see the pattern.  It looks like you are walking on the tops of the cactus.

Soaring above it all

I looked up and saw an almost perfect set of vapor trails cutting through the blue sky.  I took a chance and pointed my telephoto lens skyward to see what I would capture.  I was surprised at what I saw.   From where I was standing, I saw only two perfectly even vapor trails.  Now I can see there are actually four of them.  The plane itself looked like a spec of silver, in the photo it looks like it's made of glass.

Close Encounter

Yesterday, I experienced a close encounter with a roadrunner.  I was having an iced tea in the outdoor cafe at the Desert Botanical Garden and watching the hundreds of quail that hang out in the area when suddenly this fellow came into the picture.  He must have noticed that the quail were having good luck enticing the lunch crowd to toss out some crumbs and he thought he'd see what he could get.

He stayed around long enough for me to get about 30 photos of him.  About 15 of those photos turned out pretty darn good!  I talked to a lady from Boston who arrived in time for this fellow to walk up just a few feet from her and stand there long enough for her to take some photos.  We both agreed that it's  great to be in the right place at the right time and have your camera ready.

Basketball Season

It's  basketball season and whoever owns this car must be an all-out supporter.

Spotted in the U.S. Airways arena garage on a game night.  I wonder if it belongs to a fan or a team employee.

Whoosh...

The light rail whizzing up Central Avenue.

Theme Day: My Street

I was surprised to find that there was a "Sharon" street here in Phoenix.  I had no idea there was a street named after me somewhere in the city.

But, just so I'm not cheating on the theme, I did photograph the water pipe access cap right out on the street in front of my house.

To see how other city daily photo bloggers expressed "My Street", click here and go to the Theme Day page.

Paris Dreams

Did I ever tell you that I have a "thing" for dishes?  Well I do.  I have way more sets of dishes than is reasonable.  The set I have pictured here is not new but, I got them out recently when I fixed a French themed dinner for some friends.  Using these dishes made the Beef Bourguignonne taste even better and brought back memories of Paris at the same time.

Guitar Player

I found this amusing sculpture of a skinny guitar player in a courtyard at the Montelucia Resort.  

Rock on!

Dramatic Backdrop

This home in east Phoenix is situated with a dramatic backdrop of Camelback Mountain.

Symphony

I apologize for the fuzzy iPhone photo but, I wanted to show you the inside of Symphony Hall from Saturday night.  I went with friends Julie and Dave (Scottsdale Daily Photo and Tamarindo Costa Rica Daily photo) and Julie's mother Glenda and my close friend David to see a performance of "Carmina Burana".  It was exceptionally well done with that full chorus you see seated in the back of the stage.  I enjoyed that powerful music very much.

The evening was so much fun that the group went to see the comedy group called "Capitol Steps" the next day at the Scottsdale Center for the  Arts.  So it was a busy but thoroughly enjoyable weekend!

Renaissance Square

Since I posted my Renaissance Man yesterday I thought I'd remind you of what the Renaissance Square Buildings look like.  It's those two tall towers one of which has Ernst & Young on the top.  They are joined by a skywalk that you can just barely see above the roof of that low tan building below.  Renaissance Square was designed by the architecture firm Emery Roth & Sons, a firm who designed many iconic New York apartment buildings.

Renaissance Man

The statue in front of Renaissance Square in downtown Phoenix.  I've featured photos of the two towers that compose Renaissance Square before but, I've never photographed the statue in front of the entrance before.  The title of the piece is "Full Life Reach" and there is a short poem at the statue's base presumably written by the artist Trevor Southey.  It reads:

We
of humankind
hearts quickened to compassion
hope with inward vision kindled
to risk
the searching of our souls
to dare
the unexpected
to master
barb and thorn
and hear the whisper of eternity
Trevor Southey, 1987

All For Orange

I happened to catch this shot of the light rail decked out in an ad for the Phoenix Suns as it was passing the U.S. Airways Arena where the Sun's play basketball.  It seemed like perfect timing.
Have a great weekend everyone!

Soothing Butterfly

I thought a nice soothing butterfly photo might be the best photo for today as we all recover from way too much food and celebrating.  I was lucky enough to experience food and fun at two different houses yesterday and in the process I consumed a lot of excellent food.  I think I'll give my stomach a rest today.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers.  I thought I'd use this picture of the sculpture of "Fall" from the Four Seasons collection on view at the Desert Botanical Garden by artist Phillip Haas.  After all, he is made up of all the foods you will be seeing on the table on this day of thanks.

Totem

My favorite pieces of art that I saw at the Shemer Art Center were these colorful ceramic totems.  The artists name is Janet Orr and she was at the gallery on Saturday and had a beautiful collection of these garden totems for sale.

You can see more of her wonderful ceramics by clicking HERE.