In-Fill Housing

A few weeks ago I took a long walk heading in a different direction than I usually take.  I was walking through a neighborhood of modest homes that have been there for many decades.  In fact, I used to live on one of the streets I walked on back in the 1970's.  However, the neighborhood has changed a lot since then.  The older places are still there but there has been quite a lot of in-fill construction for multi-housing units squeezed in between the older homes.  The one pictured above certainly has a rather stark, almost prison-like look to it.  But I like the way the symmetry of it makes a nice photo.

Just a block down the street from the first one was this condo building with a very traditional, almost colonial looking facade.  There is certainly an eclectic mix of architecture along this street.

Fool Me Once.....

When I stopped at the Japanese Friendship Garden last week I got kind of excited at the sight of two swans in the little lake.  I had never seen swans here before.  As I snapped a couple of photos, something in the back of my mind was saying "something is not quite right here".  Sure enough, upon closer inspection I saw that they were plastic swans floating on the lake.  Why on earth would they put plastic swans in the water?  I have no idea.  Do you suppose they are supposed to attract the real thing?

Birds of a Feather

I was taking a walk at the Japanese Friendship garden when I spotted this fellow watching me from behind a large bush.

Then I moved a little so I could get a better view.  He stayed put and posed beautifully while I snapped a few photos.

Then he decided I had taken enough and he flew up into a nearby tree.  I snapped one more before he flew off into the distance.

I'm so thankful that I live in a big city with all the amenities it provides but I still have so many options for communing with nature.  It's a perfect combination.

Arizona Fall Colors

The trees in the Phoenix area are finally turning golden and shedding their leaves.  Scenes like this remind me so much of growing up in Illinois.  The only difference is, it happens about four months later than the midwest.

On an entirely different subject, I went to see the new movie "The Post" last weekend.  I highly recommend it!  Especially if like me, you were around in 1971 when the Pentagon Papers were published.  In addition to the obvious storyline, it subtly shows a glimpse of the gender roles that were normal for that era.  It is almost shocking to see even though I'm someone who was building a career and navigating those norms at the time.  Steven Spielberg is a genius filmmaker.

Budding Opera Stars

I've recently become acquainted with a pianist who happens to be a graduate student at ASU working on his PhD.  I was invited to attend a recital at which he was playing for a group of students from around the country who were being hosted by ASU for the weekend.  They were all opera singers who could very well have been performing in any major production.  I mean to say, they were all FANTASTIC!  I'm going to keep this photo that I took at the end of the performance because I'm betting I'll be seeing more from these talented young people very soon!

After I took the top photo, someone in the audience yelled "now for the silly shot" so I snapped another photo to catch them in their dramatic poses!  What amazing talent in all of these young singers!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  Are you someone who likes to escape the cold of winter?

A Blast of Color

Lot's of color and many, many patterns.....all the things I love!  During the last week of December, I went back to the Phoenix Art Museum to see the show featuring Brazilian artists one more time before it came down.  I was captivated by this painting by Beatriz Milhazes from Rio de Janeiro.

It has all those elements I like in contemporary art works.  The description says it has an atmosphere of Carnival and evokes Brazil's lush landscape.  I think it does that and so much more!

Another Gladiator Sighting

A few years ago I encountered a very large gladiator being transported in the back of a pick-up truck. You can see it here.  A few weeks before Christmas, I spotted this guy sitting on the loading dock of a used furniture store.

Well, I guess they pretty much sell used everything here.  But a gladiator??  I wouldn't think there would be much of a market for used gladiators.

For Book Lovers

When I took that walk on Mill Avenue in Tempe last week, I happened pass a wonderful old book store.  It's called Old Town Books and they sell used books of every type.  Doesn't it have the perfect cluttered charm of a vintage book store?  Shakespeare & Co. in Paris came to mind immediately when I stepped inside the door.  If you've been there you know what I mean.

The window display is what stopped me but, browsing inside was pure magic.

A Tale of Two Davids

I tend to mention the two Davids in my life quite often so I thought it might be helpful to identify the two of them so you can tell them apart.  David on the left has been a very close friend of mine for over 20 years.  We worked together in various locations including the time I spent consulting in St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco.  I always refer to him as "David".  On the right is Dave, Julie's husband and you might remember that he had the blog of Tamarindo Costa Rica Daily Photo for a while.  I always refer to him as "Dave".  We were all together with a large group of friends on New Years Eve so I snapped this photo of the two of them together so I could make a proper introduction!  

Party Like It's 1999

I haven't partied on New Year's Eve in ages but, I was thrilled to join a group of friends for a fantastic celebration for the 70th Anniversary of the Phoenix Symphony.  It was so much fun!  We had a fantastic dinner that was topped with the spectacular dessert pictured above.  That chocolate piano was delicious.

The Phoenix Symphony entertained us with some wonderful music and I thoroughly enjoyed watching some very adept couples waltzing beautifully to Strauss' "On the Beautiful Blue Danube".

Before and after the symphony performance, we were entertained by The JJ's Band.  They were so good that almost everyone at the party was on the dance floor including me.

It was the perfect way to welcome 2018!

Theme Day: Photo of the Year

Happy New Year!

Another year has begun and since this is the very first day, it's a theme day for City Daily Photo Bloggers.  The January 1st theme is always "Photo of the Year" where we repeat our favorite photo from all those we posted last year.  My favorite turns out to be one I just posted last week.

I had a couple others I liked such as my Luhrs Tower shot back in August.

And that rusty stage coach shot in July.

All things considered, the wine glass wins!


If you want to see other photos of the year from around the world, click here.

A Classic

Parts of the Valley of the Sun are growing so fast that visiting them seems like visiting a totally foreign city.  That is exactly how I feel about Tempe Arizona and I used to live here at one time.  I decided to take a walk down Mill Avenue earlier in the week and although there were some familiar places, there was so much growth and construction all around that some landmarks were hard to recognize.  One place that looks exactly the same is the old Valley Art Movie Theatre.

It not only looks exactly the same but, it's still in operation.  I remember coming here for the first time back in 1970!

The theatre is now operated by Harkins Theaters, a local chain of theaters but, they are preserving this one!  Good for them!


I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  If you like wild animals, check it out.

No Sleigh For This Guy

I took a drive way down on the southern tip of Phoenix yesterday to have lunch with my friend David at his office.  He started a new job earlier this year and I hadn't been to his new location yet.  On my way to his office I passed this most unusual holiday decoration.  It's Santa with his sack full of goodies riding on a rocket.  So that's how he gets all the way around the world in one day!

Holiday Light Show

Wednesday evening, I joined my friends Julie and Dave to take a drive through a holiday light show that was set up on the far north edge of the city.

These first two shots were taken from the slowly moving car so they are a little on the "fuzzy" side.  Too bad you have to be moving the whole time because  the displays were gorgeous.   I wish I could have captured them all.

At the end of the drive-through part, there was a little village set up especially for kids that we could walk through and I got a few better pictures here.  I loved giant ornament.

The giant snowman was also cute.

And the giant Christmas Tree made of colorful orbs was also fun to see.

I hadn't seen one of these light shows in many, many years and this one was a lot more elaborate than the one I saw eons ago.  It was all timed to music that you tuned in on a radio station.  Great fun!

Simple and Pretty

I found these simple but pretty decorations placed in a planter at the end of the driveway of a home.  I like them.  It's just a touch of holiday cheer.

The Busy Season

The last few days have been a flurry of activity with shopping, planning, dinners and parties.  On Christmas Day I joined my good friends Julie and Dave (many of you know them) at their house for an afternoon of cooking and then eating.  I took the top photo from their patio around the time the eating began.  The sun was getting low in the sky and lit up the distant mountain beautifully.

I caught Julie and my good friend David putting the finishing touches on the main dish.  We had a Moroccan themed meal for our Christmas dinner.  Julie picked all the recipes and our group got to work putting it all together.  We had a persimmon and pecan salad, a chilled mango soup, an aromatic and delicious lamb tagine and roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower with spices and parmesan cheese.  I baked an orange almond cake for dessert and Julie made some orange and pistachio ice cream to go with it.

It was a nice enough day to have our first two courses on the patio.

I snapped this photo while we were enjoying our salads around the fire pit.  It took a few shots to get the fire lined up perfectly but, I finally got it.

Frosty

Frosty the.....er...squirrel is hoping that everyone had a fabulous Christmas, got a few nice gifts, ate delicious food and treated yourselves to something sweet.

I know that I did!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Eve

I think this colorful Nativity scene is perfect for a Christmas Eve post.  I found it on the roof of the chapel of the Valley Lutheran High School.  It seems a perfect setting under that stained glass window.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm peeking into some Holiday shop windows.

Five Thousand Dollar Christmas Tree

I've written several times about AZ88, the very eclectic restaurant located at the Scottsdale Civic Center.  They always have changing contemporary art exhibits that decorate the restaurant and they always have some very creative Christmas decorations.

This year's tree is no exception.  It is literally a $5,000.00 tree because it's composed of about 5,000 one dollar bills.

Here's a close-up view.  They are real dollars, I asked just to make sure.

The star on the top of tree is made up of shiny new pennies.

From the table where we were seated, I liked looking at the view of the tree in the big mirror that is on the back wall of the restaurant.

I go to AZ88 because I love the atmosphere and the food but, the creative art keeps me coming back time and again.

Holiday iPhone Snaps

Today I have a selection of iPhone photos that I've taken during the Holiday season when I've been out and about and looking in the shops.  I loved this cheese plate from Williams-Sonoma but, even though tempted, I didn't buy it.

A bucket full of fuzzy candy cane ornaments caught my eye.

This little elf (and his half-hidden buddy) was found leaning up against a silver ice bucket at my local Pottery Barn.

But, what really caught my eye was this holiday raccoon (is it a raccoon?) that was peeking out from inside the silver ice bucket.

This year's poinsettia tree at the Biltmore Fashion Park shopping center was as pretty as usual.  They used to have this tree as the main tree in the center courtyard of the shopping complex but, now they've moved it down a little way between the shops. They now put a big green tree in the courtyard spot with Santa's big chair in front of it.  The poinsettia tree is still my favorite.  

Holiday Atmosphere at the Garden

The Desert Botanical Garden does a good job of decorating for the holidays every year.  They almost always fill the fountain at the entrance with poinsettias and they did again this year.

The Christmas tree looks very nice this year with both large and small bulbs adorning it.

Around the corner, they always put up a poinsettia tree and this year was no exception.

And they've decorated every door with really beautiful Christmas wreaths.  Because of the annual event "Las Noches de las Luminarias" the garden gets a lot of traffic during the month of December so, decorating for the holidays is very important.

You can even pick up a Santa Cactus in the garden gift shop.  Now there's a gift idea!