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.

Let's Talk About Electricity

 

We don't see any wires or other equipment hanging from poles like this in the neighborhood where I live.  I snapped this photo somewhere else in town.  All of our utilities are under ground where they should be safe from storms and vandals.  

Why then, does the power go out at my house every other July?  And, why do they have to dig up the exact same spot in our parking lot every time it happens?

Back in 2021 I mentioned the outage in a post about the Kubota tracker they used to clean up the debris. 

In July of 2023, I snapped this photo of the guys from the electric company when they arrived to try figure out what was wrong. Once again, it resulted in digging up the same spot in our parking lot and me spending the night at a friend's house.

And here we are once again on July 1st of 2025 with a big hole in the parking lot after another 12 hours without electricity in the middle of extreme heat July. 

Now I might be looking at this a little too simplistically, but if this event happens almost like clockwork, every two years couldn't we find the cause and fix it or at least learn how to fix the problem in less than 12 hours.  

Oh the joys of modern living!

Odd Collection and a Little Humor

 

It's time for me to unload a few of the extra shots that have accumulated in my files recently.  

Above is a Great Blue Heron who is looking a bit scruffy.  He was busy grooming himself which he obviously needed.

To the left is an old International truck that was hiding among the trees that day I went to the plant nursery. It's an intimidating looking vehicle.

About 3 weeks ago, there was a little excitement at my complex.  We had a gas leak.  There were five big fire trucks, two smaller fire trucks and a whole load of firemen asking us to leave our apartments.  The whole thing lasted about an hour and the leak was coming from one of the gas grills in the courtyard. There is no gas going into the apartments so no worries there.

My friends David and Riley just moved into a new house.  This photo was taken before they moved when they were measuring things.  Their dogs were enjoying those tall windows that are low enough to the floor for the little ones to look out.  

This last one is a little "political" humor that someone sent me. That's one way to show your disdain for a certain billionaire with a tarnished image.

Geoffrey

 

I was on my way out of Macy's yesterday when I caught sight of Geoffrey the Giraffe relaxing in the children's department.  I couldn't resist a shot of him.  He looks so relaxed sitting there.  Clever fellow, finding a bench with his name on it.

Wild Menagerie

 

I was at my friend Glenda's house last week and while she took a phone call, I was wandering around and caught sight of this little menagerie of interesting animals.  This room is decorated with all things related to the animal kingdom.  I posted a photo of this room back in 2020 when we were slowly emerging from the pandemic.  I love walking into this room because I always see something new.

Posing Frogs

 

Shortly after I admired all those Buddhas I posted yesterday, I came across these frogs who appear to be mimicking a Buddha pose.

Their smiling faces caught my eye.

This visit to the nursery started out as a search for a white peacock (see Tuesday's post) and even though I didn't find the peacock, I did find a lot of other interesting things to photograph.  It was a worthwhile adventure.

An Abundance of Buddhas

 Buddha is a very popular garden ornament.  So unsurprisingly, the nursery I visited last weekend had an abundance of them for sale.

I took photos of some of them.

They exuded a calm and peaceful atmosphere over this section of the nursery.  It was a nice change after finding that dinosaur that I featured yesterday. 

Jurassic Park at the Nursery

 

I took a walk around Whitfill Nursery on Saturday hoping to see a white peacock that I heard was roaming the grounds.  I had no luck finding the peacock but I did run into this fellow.  It was a bit of an unexpected encounter. I had no idea I'd find dinosaurs hiding among the trees.  

Manhole Covers

 

Remember when I did those home/garden tours back at the beginning of March?  The last house I visited had a yard full of all kinds of interesting objects like the fire-breathing dragon I posted here.  I mentioned back then that I had a lot more photos from that place.  So here are a few more.

The owner had a large collection of manhole covers from different cities around Arizona.  One of docents told us that he has a certificate for the purchase of each of these just in case there was ever a question of how he got them. 

The covers were being used like stepping stones in one section of the garden.  

I would never have thought of manhole covers as collectors items but I have to admit, they made for interesting garden decorations.   

"Kinky Boots" and a Driverless Experience

 

I have a couple of observations from the last week's activities.  I'll start with these very fancy boots spotted at that Habitat for Humanity event.  The theme for their dinner is "Blueprints and Bluejeans" so instead of dressing up in gala clothes, you wear blue jeans or denim and dress that up.  This lady got out the sparkly boots.

I finally rode in one of those driverless Waymo cars.  It went very smoothly and was ever so quiet.  However, there was one incident where another driver changed lanes to right in front of the car causing the car to have to brake.  There was no reason for the lane change so I'm sure that driver  did it on purpose.  The car responded quickly and smoothly and without any hesitation.  I wonder if the Waymo got a photo of the license plate number of that offending car.  I'm pretty sure everything is recorded.

Theme Day: Motors

 

The February 1st theme for City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Motors" and I must admit this one had me totally stumped.  Motors are actually everywhere you look.  They are on lawn mowers, motorcycles and of course cars.  They also run appliances like food processors and blenders.  None of that inspired me.  Finally, one day a week or two ago I was shopping Kierland Commons and I passed the Tesla showroom and saw this motor in the window.  So I went inside and took a photo of this display of the motor that runs that electric car and decided that would be my February 1st photo.

To see other blogger's ideas of a motor, click here.

The New Driverless Phenomenon

 

I was sitting at a traffic light in the left turn lane with three lanes of traffic to my right. I glanced over at the car that pulled up next to me and noticed that it was one of those driverless cars.  Even though they are all over the city right now, it still seemed strange to see a car with no driver in the lane next to me.

This photo was taken in October of 2022 when Waymo had a car set up for display.  The marketing person insisted that I have my photo taken with the car.  They were promoting the service as a new driverless ride-share service.  So far, I've never ridden in one.  My close friend David has on several occasions.  

Their marketing has been a huge success.  There is never a time when I'm driving that I don't see at least one of these cars.  If I'm in downtown Phoenix, they are everywhere.  

Loud Noises and Other Distractions

 

I was busy working on Monday but I kept hearing a grinding kind of noise somewhere outside. I finally went out around 3:00 to see what that noise was all about.  That's when I saw that the pool here at my complex was getting some kind of refresh treatment.  It looks like they were sanding it down all day long.

While I'm talking about things that drew my attention, take a look at this tree.

It's just a small tree but it caught my eye as I was passing by and I decided to turn around and see why it stood out. It was located in an empty parking area but it was dusk and there was a light shinning above it making those leaves glow red.  It's just a little tree but it grabbed my attention.  

A Silly Observation

 

I sat down at my desk and saw this lion staring at me from my computer.  He's reflected in the mirror-like Apple symbol on my laptop.  

He was reflected from this photo that hangs over my desk.

That lap top must have been sitting in just the right position.

Encounter with Something Scary

 

I took a short drive in an area north of me that I hadn't visited in a few years.  That's where I found this guy looming over the wall around a house.  I've seen lots of skeletons around town but this one is truly scary looking.  He appears to be wired with lights to light up at night.  

At this time of year I am used to seeing images of Santa and Snowmen but, why skeletons? It's puzzling to me.

Hiding in the Trees

 

I mentioned yesterday that I visited a friend's house a few days ago.  When I pulled onto her driveway, I caught sight of this guy who was hiding among the trees in her neighbor's yard.  

My friend said that her neighbor leaves him up and decorates him for the different seasons.  I believe he's carrying a Santa's hat in one hand.  

I have to admit, it was a bit of a shock to find him there.

Nothing Wrong With Being Green

 

I found this lovely lady at my grocery store yesterday.  

She looks a bit like Elphaba from Wicked, don't you think?

The store had lots of Halloween decorations to choose from.  They are certainly ready for the big day.  

Blue and White

 

I mentioned a little over a week ago that I visited a plant nursery on the other side of town.  I found this display of Delft-like pottery at the garden center.  It was another great option for the theme of blue.

The color blue has such a calming effect on me.  It's a color that my eye always goes to.  Maybe that's why our blue desert skies are so appealing to me in spite of the rising desert temperatures.

On Final Approach

 

Last Sunday and Monday I posted two photos I had taken from the airplane window as the plane was approaching the airport and flying low over Tempe Arizona.  Well this photo is taken from Tempe looking up at one of those plane nearing the airport.  I wonder if anyone inside that Southwest Airlines flight is snapping photos out the window as they pass over the city.  It's a good, clear day so it's perfect for photos. I can't be the only one who does that.

More Editing Fun

 

Do you remember when I posted this photo back in May?  It is an ancient ceramic piece called "Standing Male Dignitary" that was on display at the Tucson Art Museum when I was there.  

I thought this might be a good subject to run through some photo editing styles to see what would happen.

Here are the results.  This application made him look a bit like a child's toy.

This one has a cartoon drawing look to it.

This one looks a bit like a plastic doll.

This last one is using that recent effect that I've been playing with.  This one looks almost human.  He looks like a soldier in some type of armored uniform.  I said "he" but it could easily be a woman too.

I am fascinated by the differences in all of these.