Pick your poison

I know which one I’d choose.

Hey, look at me

This bird was a bit of a show off!

Unplanned

This was one of those moments when I stopped in my tracks, ripped the point and shoot camera out of my handbag and hoped for the best. It’s not the best exposure, but you get the picture.

Open Pit Mining

Last summer I mentioned the five C’s that fuel Arizona’s economy, Copper, Cotton, Cattle, Citrus, and Climate. Today I show you an open pit copper mine located in the high desert east of Phoenix. This mine is commonly called the Ray Mine and it is currently operated by ASARCO (American Smelting and Refining Company).

I took these pictures standing at a view point and looking into the pit. I could see and hear the equipment working below. From where I stood, they looked like Tonka toys way down there.

Beauty of the Desert

Here is a collage of some of the beautiful flowers blooming in the desert. These are all from the Boyce Thompson Arboretum.

Outback Walkabout

One of the trails at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum is identified as an outback walkabout. This structure is on the trail and the faint sound of the didgeridoo can be heard coming from it.

A little bit of Aboriginal art can be found along the trail.

Chance Encounter

On Saturday when I as at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, I encountered this hummingbird along one of the trails. I didn’t think there was any chance of catching him with the camera so I must admit I was surprised when I downloaded photos. Not bad for a chance encounter.

A Hike in the Desert

Yesterday I drove 70 miles (112 K) east of Phoenix to visit a state park called The Boyce Thompson Arboretum. There are many hiking trails there and an incredible collection of plants and wildlife. I hadn’t been there for many years and it has grown in the years I was away. With the desert in bloom, it was a good opportunity to see more wildflowers and cactus blossoms. The top photo is of the main trail head.

The small photo is of one of the hundreds of cactus blossoms begging to be photographed.

Colour Box

This is a public art piece that lines the sidewalk near the entrance to the Phoenix Art Museum. The museum underwent extensive remodeling and enlarging in 2006 and this art work by Jun Kaneko was part of a program called “Percent for Arts”. This program is a legislation that uses a percentage (anywhere from .5% to 2%) of a publicly funded capital improvement project for the commissioning of public artworks that usually reside in, on or near the project being constructed. The artist was born in Japan in 1942 and now resides in Nebraska. He named this piece “Colour Box”.

Goats will eat anything

At least that's what I've been told!

A sculpture from the Celebration of Fine Arts

Two Lips

……or should I say Tulips?

Birdman

My friend Janet took me with her to the last season home game of the Phoenix Suns vs. the Denver Nuggets. I was fascinated by the tattoos on Nugget's player Chris Andersen. He has some strange looking tattoos covering both arms, his chest and on his lower legs. But, that isn't how he got the nickname "Birdman". Apparently he has a habit flapping his hands like bird wings whenever he makes a particularly aggressive play. I didn't see any flapping last night because the Phoenix Suns soundly beat the Nuggets 123 to 101. The Suns were ahead by 18 points within the first 5 minutes of the game and never looked back. A good night for the Phoenix fans!

Wildflowers & Champagne

I was up the mountain again this last weekend at my friend’s cabin. He hosted a little dinner party for friends and arrving guests were greeted by a huge bouquet of wildflowers harvested from the desert and a bottle of chilled champagne. Terrific host, don’t you think?

Solar Powered

I think this camper has converted to solar power!

Play Ball

Baseball season is in full swing and if you want to watch the Arizona Diamondback’s play, you will want to visit Chase Field in downtown Phoenix. When this arena was built, it was affectionately called BOB because its official name at that time was Bank One Ball Park. But, Chase Bank bought Bank One and now we have Chase Field. This field even has a VIP box that contains a swimming pool. Imagine that, baseball and swimming all thrown together.

Thorny Beauty

While walking around in the desert and enjoying the many varieties of wildflowers, I came across this cactus bloom soaking up the sunshine. I love finding these beauties blooming in the wild.

The small photo is a group of bright yellow wildflowers that were growing right at the very edge of the road. I have no idea what they are called but they are certainly intricately composed beauties.

Pink, Orange & Yellow

Another cluster of wildflowers blends some pink flowers with the orange ones that are backed by some tiny yellow flowers blooming on that shrub in the back. That beautifully shaped saguaro signals that you are in the desert southwest.

The smaller photo shows a close up of the purple flowers that were carpeting the desert floor in another location.

Orange and a hint of purple

These bright orange flowers dotted the desert landscape and if you look closely can see the purple hue of the desert lupine climbing up toward the cactus at the top of the rise. Enlarge to photo to get a better look.

The small photo is a close up of those orange blooms.

Desert ablaze with color

I mentioned yesterday that I spent the weekend with a close friend at his cabin northwest of Phoenix. To get there one has to drive through about 70 miles of desert before climbing the mountain to the high desert location. The drive can be a bit boring during the hot summer months, but on this trip it was so beautiful that I found myself stopping along the way to take some photos. Those rainy days we had have worked their magic on the desert landscape. I pulled over to the side of the road for today’s photo so I could share with you the abundance of wildflowers lining the highway.

In the smaller photo you can see the spread of desert lupine growing very near the road creating a purplish glow that draws the eye in that direction. Tomorrow I’ll show you some of the things I saw by pulling on to a side road to get a better look at what nature has provided.

Blue Jay

Over the last weekend, I visited a close friend at his cabin in the mountains about 70 miles northwest of Phoenix. He has quite a collection of birds that visit his yard and chow down on the food that he leaves for them. The favorite meal of the blue jays are peanuts and they squawk loudly when he fill the feeder. I’ve watched them on many occasions, but this was the first time I got a really good shot of them raiding the feeder.

Luring the Easter Bunny

It appears that my neighbor a few doors down from me found a sly way to entice the Easter Bunny to visit their house. That explains why there were no chocolate eggs at my door!

Happy Easter

I spotted the Easter Bunny hiding among some floral arrangements! Have a wonderful holiday everyone.

Well Blended

Everywhere in the desert, things are starting to bloom. These agave blooms seem to blend very well with the color of the wall behind them.

More RED

This was my back-up red photo. You can’t go wrong with bright red flowers.

Theme Day – Red

I may have mentioned before that I have special love of shoes. Well, okay….it’s more like an obsession. Whatever! I spent a lot of time trying to think of something unique for the red theme day without much luck. Then I thought of my collection of red shoes. So, here you have it, an assortment of red shoes straight out of my closet.

If you think this is bad, you should see how many pairs of black shoes I own. :-)



Click here to view thumbnails for all participants