Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween is a time for pumpkins to be turned into jack-o-lanterns.

I found this group at the Desert Botanical Garden when I went last week.  They certainly have the look of Halloween carved right into their faces.  

The Gang is All Here

 

I drove past my former neighbor's house to see if the Halloween gang was once again cavorting in his front yard.  And there they were, all present and accounted for.  

It looks like this year, the ladies in red were putting on a little fashion show for the rest of the crew. There's no end to what this group will get up to.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm looking at California critters.  

Pumpkins & Skeletons

 

Here's an unusual Halloween decoration.  A combination of pumpkins and skeleton features.  He might be a strange creature but at least he's a friendly one.  That sign behind him reads "In this house we believe Black Lives Matter, women's rights are human rights, no human is illegal, love is love, kindness is everything".  I think I like these people.

Here is another skeleton I found.  This one is a giant seated in a giant chair.  It's funny seeing the things people come up with to celebrate Halloween.  

Halloween and Fall Decorations

 

I took a stroll around my apartment complex to see what decorations I could find and I found quite a few.  It appears that many of my neighbors are celebrating the season. 

Some decorations were just simple door hangers.  

Others were fully committed to the Halloween spirit.

This place appears to be haunted by a rather creepy figure trying to get in through the patio.  

Making Work Fun

 

The non-profit organization I work for held an employee retreat last Monday and it was day full of fun activities.  It was also an opportunity to meet employees from all over the state.  

I didn't expect to see a dinosaur among the participants but there it was wandering around and meeting all the team members.  

My favorite activity was a presentation by Liberty Wildlife, an organization that rehabilitates injured wild animals.  They brought along this handsome fellow.  He's a great-horned owl and you can probably see that he has damaged wing.  Since he can't be released to the wild, he now works with the volunteers at Liberty.

The group also brought along this red-tailed hawk.  Another beautiful bird that lives at the facility.

I enjoyed their presentation very much. 

Theatre Night

 

Last Thursday I joined a friend to see the Phoenix Theatre production of "Bandstand".  I snapped this photo as I was walking to meet my friend at a restaurant for dinner before the play.  

When we returned to go to the play, it was dark and this is where I spotted that mystery shadow I featured yesterday. You can see just a sliver of that bench and wall on the far right of this photo.

Mystery Shadow

 

I spent quite a bit of time looking at this shadow on the wall trying to figure out what was making that triangle shape.  I finally figured it out.  Those lights in the ground that are shining up are catching the ends of that bench and casting the shadows at an angle on both sides forming the triangle.  It had me perplexed for a while.  I love a good puzzle. 

Mural Memorial

 

Here is another garage door mural.  This one appears to be a memorial to someone who has left this world however, the person isn't named.  I'm guessing the person reflected in the left lens of those glasses might be the one being honored.  There was no signature on this one.  

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Strange Garden

 

I went to the Desert Botanical Garden Friday evening to attend an event called "Strange Garden".  The last time they had this event was back in 2019 and it featured characters made from pumpkins.  I featured posts of those here and here.  

I was looking forward to seeing similar creative creatures but the event was a little different this year.  

To the right is the decoration at the garden entrance.  

The "Hocus Pocus" ladies were entertaining the youngsters.

There were skeletons and goblins strategically placed around the garden.

And, there as a display of reptiles and night creatures like this very handsome owl.  I thought this was a great-horned owl but the handler said it was an Asian owl that had been living at the shelter for many years and is very used to large crowds of people around her.  She is a beauty!

This event was very different than the pre-pandemic events.  This was very much a family event and there were lots and lots of kids all dressed in costumes and having a wonderful time.  

Blogger note:  I found 14 comments that were made on posts in October of 2014 in my Spam folder yesterday.  All were legitimate comments made by followers that were previously posted.  Clearly, there is something strange going on with Blogger these days.

Signs of Fall....For Sale

 

We don't have the beautiful fall colors like many of you have been posting here in the desert but the local retailers are making sure we know that fall has arrived.  

The stores would like it very much if we would fill our homes with reminders of the season.  

I think I'll just admire them from the distance.  Although, there was a time when I would have found those dishes with the tiny pumpkins on them very tempting.  

Exploring Old Town

 

When I'm looking for inspiration for new photos, I sometimes wander around old town Scottsdale looking for interesting things to photograph.  One place that always seems to have something worth photographing is Bischoff's Gallery.  It's a beautiful building surrounded by a garden full of sculptures and plants.  

Hanging on the side of the building is the huge ram's skull that I've photographed many times before.  It's in an awkward spot for getting a good shot but the last time I photographed it I was able to line it up petty well.

This is one place I return to often to see what might inspire me to press the shutter.  

My Feathered Friends

 

It's time to feature a few more of my feathered friends.  They are all so busy making nests and hunting for food.  I've seen quite a variety lately.  Above is one of my favorites, the cactus wren.  It looks like he's collecting materials for a new nest.

This curve-billed thrasher was watching the garden activity.  His curved bill is very obvious in this shot.

This woodpecker was making his way up the side of a saguaro cactus.  I'm sure he was looking for those tiny insects that crawl around the cactus.

Here is everyone's favorite, a handsome roadrunner.  I do enjoy catching sight of these speedy birds.

Unusual Sightings

 

Last weekend, I encountered several unusual sightings while going about my normal business.  First up was this cute little fellow peering at me from the fuel door on this car.  There were no other decals or stickers on this car, just this guy looking like he wanted to get out of that small space.  

My next strange sighting was this fellow walking down the street with a "cow" under his arm.  Right after I snapped this photo, I saw another guy with a kangaroo under his arm but he popped into a car before I could get of photo of him.  

Then while shopping, I saw this group clustered behind some "caution" tape inside Macy's department store.  It looked like a crime scene and maybe it was.  Someone has certainly stolen all the clothes from these headless ladies.  

Lots of strange things start to show up in the month of October.  😃

It's Pumpkin Time

 

Pumpkin season is upon us.  I see pumpkins everywhere I look.  There are piles of them in front of grocery stores and some shopping centers have created pumpkin towers.  And that doesn't even count all the pumpkins flavored things available inside the stores.  I've seen pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancake mix and pumpkin ice cream.  

Do you have a favorite pumpkin dish?

Love This Town

 

I recently found this mural on the side of The Banner Church in Scottsdale and the images in it looked very familiar.  To the left you see the church that I featured yesterday and the day before.  Next to it is the Blacksmith's shop that I featured last week.  I see Camelback Mountain in the background and floating above the mountain is the bucking bronco rider that is a Scottsdale symbol. You will see that bronco rider on the bench that was in Saturdays's post.  The horses in the foreground either represent the pony express which is reenacted every year, or the fact that Scottsdale has a history of Arabian horse ranches.  The cowboy to the right is a mainstay of old town Scottsdale.  I featured him in this post.   This is a real tribute to the city of Scottsdale.  

The artist for this mural is Michael Swearngin a well know "cowboy" artist in Scottsdale.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

 

When I stepped inside Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, I was somehow surprised at how beautiful it is.  It might be both old and small but, it is well cared for.

The altar is beautifully adorned with statues and candles.  In a side room I found some beautiful paintings and artifacts collected over the years.  The church also had several beautiful stained glass windows.  

I'm glad I finally went inside to take a look.  

The Old Mission

 

Just down the street from the blacksmith shop I featured yesterday is this historic mission.  I've posted photos of parts of this Scottsdale landmark before but I don't think I've ever shown the whole front of the church.

This bench sits on the sidewalk in front of the church.  While I was there, I decided I should go inside the church.  I might have photographed this church before but, I had never been inside.  Tomorrow I'll show you some photos from inside.

The Blacksmith

 

Old Town Scottsdale is full of lots of shops and restaurants and galleries but, there are also some historic buildings in the area too.  One of them is the old blacksmith's shop.  The building is an old adobe building and it still houses an active blacksmith.

Most of the work that is done at Cavalier's Blacksmith Shop is decorative ironwork but there was a time back around 1900, when wagon wheels and horse shoes came out of this shop.

The building is always fun to see when I'm exploring old town Scottsdale.  Once or twice I've actually seen those doors open and people working inside.

Colorful Sculptures

 

There is a new art exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden.  It just opened last week and it features the sculptures of Rotraut Klein-Moquay and artist who is known by her first name, "Rotraut".  I hadn't heard of this artist before but I'm sure I've seen some of her works in my travels. She is a German-French artist and she now lives in Arizona.  

Her sculptures are very large and are formed in a variety of shapes.  They pop with brilliant colors.

The garden describes them as having the "energy of the seasons".  

They are another colorful addition to the garden's desert plants.