Steamy Walk in the Garden

A storm rolled through the area Saturday evening bringing some showers in certain parts of the valley so when I got up Sunday morning it was cooler than usual.  Cooler and wetter.  In fact, it was about 70% humidity but, it was still cool enough to take a walk so off I went to the Desert Botanical Garden.

And, I'm so glad I did.  I didn't expect to see so many cactus blooming and the overcast skies made perfect light to get some pictures.

Usually this time of year, I only see white blooms but yesterday there were white, pink and yellow blooms on the different varieties of cactus.

I especially noticed that the Octopus Cactus had blooms all over their skinny, long legs.

See what I mean?

I had a good long walk even though the weather felt more like Costa Rica than Phoenix.  

The Colors of the Market

I was having a craving for some of that chili cheese bread that I get at the Farmer's Market so yesterday I braved the heat and strolled around the big market on Central Avenue.

I was probably only there for 30 minutes but, it was enough time to admire all the colorful vegetables so beautifully displayed.

There seemed to be an abundance of chilies and other peppers at the different farm stands.  There must have been a bumper crop.  Even with the huge coolers placed at the four corners of the market, it's still too warm to be outside for very long.  I don't know how those vendors manage it.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm celebrating the Mother Road.

All Sizes

Phoenix police cars come in all shapes and sizes.  

Some are compact.

And, some are down right tiny!

And this group doesn't show the ordinary four-door sedans that are usually patrolling the city.

Mystery Man

These shots aren't candids but, I have had them around for a while so I thought this might be a good time to post them.  I was attending a special wine tasting event in downtown Phoenix when I spotted this guy looking very mysterious.  I asked if I could take his picture and he willingly obliged.

There certainly is a air of mystery about him, wouldn't you agree?

What to Wear to a Game

When my friend Janet takes me to a Phoenix Suns Game, one of the things I enjoy seeing is the wide variety of attire worn by the spectators.  I'm usually wondering why someone would dress up so fancy to go to a ball game.

However, when I saw this young lady, I was totally flabbergasted.  I can't begin to imagine why anyone would purchase and outfit like this let alone wear it in public.

It's a mystery to me!

Striking a Pose

The Phoenix Art Museum has been doing something called "Family Weekends" this summer when they open the museum free of charge.  If I happen to go during one of those weekends, I can be assured that it will be crowded.  On one such day, I was leaving the museum when I spotted this young lady wearing what I found to be a rather strange outfit for museum visit. I reached for my camera just in time to catch her striking a pose so her boyfriend could snap a photo.

Life is full of surprises. It pays to have the camera ready.

A Style All HIs Own

I was enjoying a cool drink in one of the public plazas in downtown Phoenix when I saw this fellow taking a walk around the fountain.

He was sporting a style that was clearly all his own.

Street Photography

I've got a file folder for candid street photography and when I looked through it recently I saw a few that I have never posted.  Believe it or not, this shot has been sitting in that file since 2013 when those very tall platform shoes were much more popular than they are now.  I saw this young lady walking with two guys and when they paused to light a cigarette, I snapped the shot.  I had to laugh after I downloaded the shot because it looks like that one guy is checking out her shoes. Or is he admiring those legs?

I'll dig out a few more of these candid shots.

Goodbye Samurai

Remember back in March when I had some photos from the Samurai exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum.  You can see those posts here and here.  Well I happened to be at the art museum over the weekend and caught a peek into the closed gallery where they were dismantling the exhibit.  It looks like it's a slow process to pack up all those historical pieces.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I visited "Bearizona" last week when I was on my Arizona road trip and I have pictures from that visit.

Want to Start a Band?

I found this row of guitars at a used book store.  Obviously the store sells more than used books, they have used games, records and CD's, magazines, a few toys and of course, musical instruments.  I usually go there to find a book I'm looking for but this time this row of guitars caught my eye.

Phoenix Bird

Sorry for the late post today.  This Ed Mell Phoenix Bird is located in a plaza area in downtown Phoenix.  It  was commissioned back in 2006 as part of an arts and culture celebration.

I love Ed Mell's art so this one was fun to find.

Selfie in Space

I found this mural on the side of a strip of businesses recently.  I was pretty close to it so it took me a minute to see what it was.  I believe that astronaut is taking a selfie while on a space walk!  All I could think of is what if he drops that phone.

Summer Scenes

This scene just says "Summer" to me and I'm not sure why.  I never had a swing hanging from a tree when I was a kid.  We had the regular metal swing set instead.  But  for some unknown reason, to me that swing hanging from the tree just makes the perfect summer scene.

Not far away, I found this colorful wagon in a yard.  It doesn't necessarily say summer to me but I like it just the same.

Adventures Up North

I'm back from my little road trip up to the northern part of Arizona.  I have a couple of iPhone photos today but as soon as I get the photos edited a bit, I'll have some posts about places I visited on my travel site.  One of the stops was the Grand Canyon.  I was hoping to escape the intense heat we've been having but it seems there was no escaping this weekend.  The Grand Canyon was reaching some record highs for that altitude and it was quickly felt.

Even the bears were trying to find ways to stay cool!  I visited the city of Williams Arizona which is the gateway to the Grand Canyon and also home to a new attraction called "Bearizona".  It's also a big place for Route 66 memorabilia.  Williams was one of the last cities to be bypassed by Interstate 40 and it used to thrive when Route 66 was the main highway right through town.  It's thriving again today with new attractions to lure tourists into town.
After Williams, I went down state a way to the city of Cottonwood.  I wanted to experience that central Arizona wine country.  I did manage to visit a national monument and one winery during the day and then I visited a few tasting rooms in the evening.  It was a fun trip in spite of the heat but, I could have done a whole lot more if it had been a few degrees cooler.

The Black House

Lincoln Drive is a busy thoroughfare that runs from East Phoenix through the heart of town of Paradise Valley and into the city of Scottsdale.  Along that drive in the middle of Paradise Valley, one can't help but see this ranch style house that has been painted completely black.  Even the perimeter wall is painted black.

It seems quite unusual given our desert heat.  I would think that house would absorb the heat and hold  on to it which would make cooling the place even more difficult and costly.  It makes you wonder.

On the South Side of the Valley

From the far north of the valley where the city of Cave Creek is located I've now traveled to the far south of the valley to Chandler Arizona a fast growing community where I worked many years ago.  When I was working out there I would sometimes have lunch at Abuelo's Mexican Restaurant.  This last spring I took a drive out there to have lunch there once more and I snapped these photos.

The word "Abuelo" refers to someone's grandfather and it looks like someone has put a statue of "Abuelo" in front of the restaurant.  I don't think that was there when I used to eat lunch here.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm featuring my favorite place to stay when I visit Tucson.

Things for Inside the House

The Desert Foothills Gardens and Nursery in Cave Creek also has a small store crammed full of some very unique decorator items.  These Chihuly-style glass bowls are very attractive.

Or maybe a light pillar with the look of marble might fit into your abode.

And who wouldn't love a chubby chicken to decorate the kitchen.

Or maybe the chicken's friend the googly-eyed rooster might work.

Visiting this place is quite an experience.  There are all kinds of indoor and outdoor items to enjoy and of course, plants too.

Garden Decorations

Since I had the rusty stagecoach yesterday, I thought I'd show a few more things that can be found at that place in Cave Creek.  It's called Desert Foothills Gardens Nursery and they have a little bit of everything to decorate and landscape a big yard.  You might want some of these very tall stone pillars.

Or maybe a fountain would be appealing.

You can make a stone arch or add an Easter Island style Moai to your yard.

A rusty bull might add a western touch.

Or a smug looking lion might add just the right touch of elegance.  

They have pretty much anything you can think of to decorate your yard and many things you never would have thought of.  

Tomorrow I'll show you some of the decorator items you can find inside their little store.

Road Trip

I'm headed out today on a little weekend road trip so I might not be around to comment on sites for a few days.  I will however have posts up every day while I'm gone.

Fortunately I'll be driving a nice. air conditioned car and not riding in the rusty stagecoach that I found at a landscape nursery in Cave Creek Arizona.  That will make my trip a lot more comfortable than traveling this way.

Bridges and Blood Drives

I made a quick stop at the Tempe waterfront last week to take a couple of photos of the pedestrian bridge that crosses Tempe Town Lake.

It was early on one of our excessive heat days so there were only a few people out on the trail that the bridge follows.

The bridge is located right by the Tempe Center for the Arts and on this day, a big blood drive was going on so I was greeted by this rather friendly looking giant red guy.  There were lots of people coming and going from the center so it looked like they had a very good turnout.  

Optima Apartment Living

I watched the new Optima apartments in Scottsdale being built and I have been driving past and admiring their unique architecture for the past two years.

I finally decided to pull into the parking area and take a look around.  This complex was built by the Optima group, the same people that built that wonderful high-rise in Phoenix that I love to photograph.  You can see it here.

This complex is called Optima Sonoran Village and once again the builders have used vivid colors and lots of plants to adorn the buildings.

The apartments are located in a prime Scottsdale location within walking distance to the Scottsdale Fashion Square and the Scottsdale Waterfront area.  The Optima group is building another complex similar to this one at Kierland, that north Scottsdale shopping area.  I'll have to get over there and take some photos one of these days.

University Growth

Downtown Phoenix has grown by leaps and bounds over the past ten to fifteen years as the university presence  gets bigger and bigger.  Quite a few of these "school" buildings are clad in copper which makes them very distinctive.  I've mentioned before that Arizona State University is the dominate player in the valley but, the University of Arizona is also operating in the downtown area.  This building is the U of A's Health Sciences building.

Some of the buildings on the downtown campus are shared by both colleges but, I only saw the U of A sign on this one.  In fact, you can see a big "A" stuck in one of the windows.

All of these buildings with the copper siding are interesting architectural works.  I wonder if any of the architects are ASU or U of A graduates!  That would seem very appropriate.