Summer Light Experience

 

Monday's unexpected storm gave me the perfect opportunity to do that night time stroll at the Desert Botanical Garden so I could see the full light experience that has been created for hot summer months.  The sky was still full of clouds so I was hoping for a nice sunset but this display made up for the weak sunset.  The combination of the green lights and purple lights makes for a perfect scene.

I loved the way the this tall saguaro looked with the colored lights shining and those small lights surrounding it.

Those metallic discs that I photographed a month ago look completely different at night.  They have lights shining on them so they create all kinds of light patterns on the big open space in front.  They combined that with some disco music playing and they've created a sort of dance floor environment.

This is the spot where I often photograph birds getting a drink in the water feature that surrounds the spot.  I had to stand awfully close to a prickly cactus to catch that reflection in the water to the left.

I Missed My Anniversary

 

I just discovered that I missed my 18 year anniversary for Phoenix Daily Photo.  It was last Saturday on July 11th.  I can't believe it's been 18 years.  The time has just slipped by at the speed of light.  When I discovered that I had missed the date, I couldn't figure out what I should post so I looked at that very first post and decided to post an updated photo of the Arizona State Capitol building.  I just happened to have one in my handy photo files.  

So here I am 18 years later and still posting photos every day.  It's been a fun ride, I think I'll keep it going.  

Fireworks & the Dogs

 

I did get to see some fireworks on the 4th of July.  I was at my friends David & Riley's house and we viewed some from their upstairs balcony.  

I didn't bring my camera so this shot is just an iPhone shot.

Their dogs were with us on the balcony and they were not the least bit interested in the fireworks or the noise.  I think the display was far enough away that noise just wasn't that intimidating.  

Here's Kasper watching the final preparations before dinner was served.  

We had an all American meal of barbecue ribs, potato salad, mac & cheese and corn.  And, Riley baked some sourdough chili and cheese bread that was delicious. I got to take some home.  Yum!

Summer Solstice

 

I raided the archives to find this sunset photo to post today since today is the longest day of the year.  Here in Arizona we will get a little over 14 hours of sunshine.  For those of you further north, you will be getting almost 2 hours more sunshine than we get. I'm sure there will be solstice celebrations all over the world.  I know there will be a big one at Stonehenge.  

Disclosure Day

 

I went to see the new Steven Spielberg movie "Disclosure Day" and loved every exciting minute of it.  And, there were a lot of minutes to enjoy, it runs 2 hours and 25 minutes.  That might seem long but the time just flies by.  The movie is in same genre as "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".  It also has all the heart-racing excitement of "Raiders of the Lost Ark".  

Can you tell I loved it?  I might even go see it again and that says a lot since I've only seen 3 movies  inside a theatre since 2020.

It's Champagne Thursday

 

I have a little indulgent secret that I'm going to share with you.  For the past two years, my friend Glenda and I have been celebrating Thursday by drinking champagne and talking about the week's events.  We call it "Champagne Thursday".  We usually split a bottle of champagne while munching on lite snacks.  Sometimes it will be popcorn other times potato chips and every now and then cheese and crackers.

Last year when I took that iPhone photography class, I got into the habit of taking an iPhone photo of my champagne glass using the portrait mode.  Then I got to thinking that I would create a little photo book with some of the photos I've taken.

We usually meet at Glenda's house. I'm always looking for the perfect place to take the photo and Glenda decorates for the seasons so around the holidays, there is always some new place to get the shot.

One day last spring, we sampled a sparkling wine from South Africa and I thought putting the glass on the desk in front of this photo would set the mood.

So now you know my little Thursday night secret.  I decided I'd gather a year's worth of photos and then put a little book together to celebrate my indulgent habit.  I might put one or two on this blog from time to time.

Two Museums and an Opera

 

It was a busy weekend.  On Friday I saw that the Phoenix Art Museum got a mention in the New York Times about a spring exhibit called "Color Wear: Kaleidoscope of Fashion." It was curated to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Phoenix Art Museum's Fashion collection.  I'll have a few photos to share in the coming days.  On my way to see the exhibit, I passed this sort of Calder-like mobile sculpture.  I discovered it was created by Tuan Andrew Nguyen from metal scraps from unexploded artillery and bomb shells salvaged in Viet Nam. If you look closely, you will see my reflection in one of those discs.

Fashion exhibit was also worth seeing and as I said above, I'll have a few more photos from it to share in the future.  For today I'm just featuring this Salvatore Ferragamo shoe-print silk scarf,  It features images of some of Ferragamo's shoe designs over the years. 

On Saturday morning I was at the Heard Museum for another Artful Mornings lecture and Saturday evening I attended the opera with a group of five other friends.  We saw "La Cenerentola" which translates to "Cinderella" in English.  The story was not quite the same with a nasty step-father instead of a step-mother and no fairy godmother.  The opera is very amusing prompting lots of audience laughter. 

On Sunday, I rested up! Phew!

    

Habitat for Humanity Event

 

My close friend David is the Development Director for Habitat for Humanity here in Arizona and Friday night was their annual fund-raising dinner held at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel.  I snapped the above photo as we gathered at our table before the tasty dinner and entertainment began.

David has been the development director for the past four years and I've always donated things for the silent auction.  This time is was that framed photo of a castle in Italy along with some smaller art works I had around the house.

The theme of this annual event is Blue Prints and Blue Jeans and guests are encouraged to wear blue jeans or other denim attire.  I always love seeing how people dress up those every day blue jeans.

It was a great evening mixed with good friends in a party atmosphere while supporting an incredibly good cause.

Spring Party Pics

 

I have a few more photos from the party I wrote about yesterday.  Here we have guests beginning to arrive and gathering around the food table in their spring floral finest.

More guests gathering in the living room to prepare for some entertainment.

Some very lovely entertainment.  Riley is a pianist who coaches opera singers.  One of his singers sang three beautiful arias to entertain the group.

                                                                                                                                                                           

   After the majority of guests had left, the dogs came out to entertain the few remaining.  I only captured Kasper (above).  The two little ones were busy chasing each other to burn off all that built up energy.                     

Celebrating the Vernal Equinox

 

My close friends David and Riley had a party this last Sunday to celebrate the vernal equinox,  The party was in the form of an afternoon tea with traditional tea fare and as the invitation put it, "a plethora of liquid refreshments". Guests were encouraged to wear florals for spring which complimented all the flowers scattered around the house.

One bouquet featured pretty yellow roses.

Another bouquet was filled with a variety of pretty blooms.

A vase of sunflowers were surrounded by copies of the invitation that was sent to the guests.

It turned out to be a wonderful event with lots of people in attendance all dressed in their spring attire.  

I haven't enjoyed myself that much at a party since the last party David and Riley hosted.  They are the ultimate party hosts!

More photos tomorrow.

A Big Announcement & Rain

 

My good friends Julie and Dave hosted a patron's event at their house late Monday afternoon. The event was to announce the new Phoenix Symphony Music Director.  In the top photo we see Peter Kjome, the Symphony CEO and to the left is Paolo Bortolameolli, the new music director. He is a Chilean-Italian conductor who has performed all over the world and will start leading the Phoenix Symphony for the 2026-27 season.

After the announcement, a quartet of symphony musicians started playing some beautiful selections of music for the attendees to enjoy.  

After about 3 minutes of great music, the skies opened up and the rain started pummeling everyone on the patio.  We made a very speedy retreat getting the musicians out of the rain followed by the trays of food that had been placed out for all to enjoy.

The whole change from patio to living room took less than 8 minutes and that beautiful music now filled the house.  After the music ended, everyone retreated to the kitchen to enjoy all the great food that had been rescued from the rain.  It's a good thing that Julie and Dave have a big kitchen.  The event was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone in spite of the unusual weather disruption.

The Phoenix Symphony Gala

 I was treated to an evening of music and friends on Saturday night.  It was The Phoenix Symphony Gala and my friend Julie was the co-chair of the event.  She invited me and other friends to join her at her table.  Before the gala dinner, we saw the symphony perform the music of Danny Elfman.

And then, Danny Elfman himself came out to sing a few of his songs from some of those famous Tim Burton movies.

My friend Julie snapped the photo to the left.

After the performance, everyone walked across the street to the Hyatt Hotel for the festive dinner.  I snapped this photo of our table just as a red spotlight swung by and made that candelabra centerpiece glow.  

I think I had only seen one of the movies featured in the concert but the music played by our symphony members was so good I enjoyed it all.  I wish I could share a video of the pixie-like violinist who performed one of the songs.  Her name is Sandy Cameron and she was fabulous.  Check the link to her bio and you can see a photo of her leaping into the air with her violin.

Zorro!

 

It was the first opera of the season on Saturday night and my friends and I enjoyed a brand new opera called "Zorro".  It was about that historic, sword-wielding, masked man of legends.  It was an excellent opera and production.  I was riveted to the words and music.  

Some audience members really got into the spirit of the night!

Celebration of Fine Art

 

I just realized that I had only posted one photo from this year's Celebration of Fine Arts.  I attended on March 21st, that weekend that was so busy with all kinds of events.  Let me show you some of the beautiful works of art that I saw there.  

First above is an artist whose work I always enjoy seeing.  She is Gabriela Aguilo. She calls her work abstract inner landscapes.  I love them.

To the left is a work by Martin Blundell. He does landscapes using bold colors.  

Above is the work of J. Todd Paxton.  As you can see, he does huge sculptures along with huge paintings with a Native American theme.

To the right is Kirk Randle working on one of his paintings.  He does beautiful landscape paintings.

Above are some cast glass sculptures by Seth Fairweather.  He does a huge array of sculptures using metal and glass.

To the left is Tina Roy. I enjoyed talking to her.  She actually lives in Scottsdale so she didn't have to travel far to be part of this show.  When I was there, she was working on this round painting.  

It was another great show.  I'm glad I got there before it ended on March 30th.  

Mini Concert

 

My good friends Julie and Dave, hosted a fund raising event for the Phoenix Symphony on the patio of their home in Paradise Valley last Sunday.  It was a wonderful afternoon event with music provided by a string quartet from symphony performers.  The weather was perfect for this outdoor event which you can tell from the reflection of the mountains in the window behind the musicians.

As you can see, they had a pretty good turn out for the event.  There were more people behind me.  I think everyone had a good time.  I know I did.

Twirling Skirts

 

I was in downtown Phoenix last Friday for another performance of the Phoenix Symphony.  Walking to Symphony Hall, I saw that there was some kind of Mexican festival going on right across the street.  They had food vendors out and this group of women were dancing to some lively music.

I snapped a couple of quick shots and captured the blur of those colorful skirts twirling around. 

Busy, Busy Weekend

 

This last weekend was a busy one for me.  On Friday I attended the annual dinner for Habitat for Humanity at the Arizona Biltmore.  You can see above the crowds of people bidding on the many silent auction items.  I donated two framed photos for the auction and you can see one of them in this photo.

On Saturday evening I went to the Symphony Hall for another performance of the Phoenix Symphony.  I was able to catch a photo of the whole orchestra on stage while they waited for the guest pianist to appear. It was another excellent performance by our wonderful symphony.

Just before the symphony my friends and I had dinner at new downtown restaurant called Pa'La.  They cook everything they prepare in a wood burning oven.  We tried several dishes and all of them were delicious.  It's great to find another eating option close to Symphony Hall.

On Sunday afternoon, I attended a smaller musical performance put on by the Arizona Bach Festival.  Their mission is to bring the finest in Baroque music to Arizona.  They did Vivaldi's Four Seasons, one of my all time favorites and they were fantastic.  They performed in a church with surprisingly good acoustics.  It was a busy weekend but I loved every minute of it.