Zoo Lights

 

Here are few scene from a very different kind of Zoo Lights fund raising event put on by the Phoenix Zoo.  This year, because of the pandemic the zoo arranged a way to for participants to drive through to enjoy the  lights.  We entered through the arms of this giant gorilla.

And, once on the trail, we were greeted by some very large and glowing insects.

My favorites of the night were the animal lanterns.  Polar bears on an iceberg and great woolly mammoths were just part of the excitement.  I'll show you a few more tomorrow.

Abstract Gone

 

I took this photo of a colorful abstract mural on the side of the Sun Up Brewery a few months ago.  Just yesterday I pulled into the parking area at a restaurant next door to pick up some take-out for lunch and I noticed that the mural was all gone.  It's been painted over with a solid orange paint.  It makes me wonder why.  It's a great mural.

Taking part in Monday Murals.

Time To Celebrate

 

I'm breaking out the champagne to celebrate a positive end to this troubling election year!  Joe Biden was confirmed as the winner yesterday and it seems like the best thing that has happened this entire crazy year.  History was made with his Vice Presidential choice of Kamala Harris.  Not only the first woman in that role but also a woman of color.  

On the downside, it appears that the loser is going to scream and yell like the child he is.  The legal battles have already begun.  It will be a true test of our legal system and our endurance.

For now, I just want to celebrate!

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  It's lunch time with a view.

Feathered Greeters

 

The event I went to last Sunday night  started with greetings from some interesting characters.  First up was this Spectacled Owl. It's called that because the white color around its eyes looks like it is wearing glasses.  He looks very "wise" doesn't he?

The next one offering greetings was this yellow crested cockatoo.  I love that slight blush on its feathery cheek.  

The last of the feathered greeters was this Hyacinth Macaw.  We were told that this fellow doesn't care to be out doors after the sun goes down so he was about to depart for  his in-door perch.

All of these wonderful birds were part of the greeting of guests at the opening of the Phoenix Zoo's annual Zoo Lights event.  The event will be staged a little differently this year.  It will be a drive-through event.  My friends Julie and Dave are zoo supporters so they were able to go to the opening fundraiser and they invited me to go along.  It was fun.  We never got out of our car but we enjoyed the feathered greeters above along with dinner from a variety of food trucks and then as the sky darkened we got to drive through the zoo and enjoy the lights.  I'll have some photos of the "lights" in future posts.

Viewing the Sunset

 

A few minutes before the sunset I posted yesterday, I saw this crowd of people up in the "hole-in-the-rock" at Papago Park.  It looks like lots of sunset viewers had gathered to watch the sunset develop.

I zoomed in a little more check out the crowd.  They certainly have a good vantage point to see that spectacular sunset.  But given the rising Covid-19 numbers, it seems a little too congested for my taste.  

Arizona Sunset

 

Last Sunday evening produced a spectacular sunset and I just happened to be in a good place to photograph it.  I'll tell you in the next few days where I was and why I was there.  

Still Waiting....but Hopeful

 

As I write this late on Tuesday night, we still don't have sound election results.  It looks like it might take a day or two or maybe three to get a solid answer.  It hasn't turned out to be a solid win like we were all hoping.  I'm troubled by that.  

To top things off, blogger is acting horribly strange.  I've spent way longer than usual trying to upload a photo and finally had to use a different  computer and a random photo of a palm.  Then it wouldn't let me align the photo the way I wanted.  Clearly something is amiss in more ways than one.

GO VOTE!

 

Now it's your turn!  A message to all my American followers, Go Vote!  If you've already voted, bless you!  I can't think of a time in my lifetime when it was more important.  I'll be wearing my sticker proudly today.  

Butterfly Beauty

 

Weekend before last, I went to the Desert Botanical Garden and took one more stroll through the butterfly pavilion.  Visits to the pavilion are now scheduled and timed so it takes a bit of pre-planning.  I'm glad I made the effort though because the butterflies were actively enjoying all the flowers.  I got another shot of my favorite, the Malachite butterfly.

I also got rare glimpse of the underside of a Gulf Fritillary.  

They almost always sit with their wings spread wide open like this so it's kind of rare to get to see them sitting with their wings up and the underside of their wings are so pretty.  You can tell from the blur of the wing tips in my second photo that I caught this one just before it was about to spread it's wings to display the top side.

Theme Day: Kindness

 

I didn't know what the theme for November 1st was until yesterday morning so I had to scramble a bit to find a photo.  The subject was doubly hard for me since I haven't really been around very many people for the past 8 months.  I scoured the archives and found this photo of a young woman helping another into her "Quinceanera" dress.  She was getting ready for some photos to be taken in the nice park setting at Steele Indian School Park.  I took this one a few years ago and happily it was still sitting in my files ready to be used.

To see other random images of kindness from around the world, click here.

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm visiting the gardens in the Temple Area of London.

Happy Halloween!

 

Halloween has arrived and it's sure to be a bit different this year.  I don't think there will be any children going door to door in their creative costumes.  And, there probably won't be many Halloween parties.  On the good side, maybe a few of those anti-maskers will finally actually put on a mask!

Enjoy something sweet!

The Trick or Treat House

 

This house has pulled out the stops to celebrate Halloween in style.  It looks like they are offering Tricks and Treats at their spooky abode.

This fellow looks like he's willing to crawl out of that coffin to see what kind of treats are on offer.  

Scarecrows and Spiders

 

The house above has some very sinister looking scarecrows in their front yard.  I see they've added some lights in front of each scarecrow for night time viewing.

The house to the left has a bit of a problem with insects I think.  It's funny how scary a giant spider can be.  But believe me, the thought of encountering a real live spider that size sends chills up my spine.

Signs of the Time

 

Back in my old neighborhood, I found quit a few other yards decorated for the season.  This one has a very ghoulish looking character floating about in the yard.

While right next door I saw a group of witch hats floating about.  Who knows where the witches have gone.  😊  Near the house you can see a yard sign.  It reads "No matter where you are from, we're glad you are our neighbor".  It's written in English, Spanish and Arabic.  I saw several of those signs scattered around the neighborhood.  They made me feel good about the people who live here.  

The Pumpkin Patch

 

I went for a walk at the Desert Botanical Garden last weekend and I saw the pumpkin patch all ready to go for the evening festivities.  They are hosting Halloween family nights with limited attendance and they sold out the reservations in record time.

The Halloween celebrations at the garden are very scaled down this year for obvious reasons so there weren't as many decorations up as usual.  

However, I enjoyed a stroll through the pumpkin patch to snap a few photos before the kids started taking them away during the evening festivities.  

It's All a Hoax...Until....

 

When I made yesterday's post, I realized that I hadn't been on a drive around the city in quite a while so I set out to get some photos of seasonal decorations.  My first stop of course was my old neighborhood where I knew my former neighbor was one who put up elaborate Halloween decorations every year.  Well this year he put a little political statement in his skeletal grouping. 

It's not 220,000 skeletons but it's enough to get the message across.  I'm surprised there aren't a couple of MAGA hats on a few of those skulls but I admire my former neighbor for not purchasing any even if they would have been for decoration only.  I always enjoy this guy's Halloween decorations.  This year his skeletal family is mixing the normal Halloween humor with a serious message.  Be safe out there and for heaven's sake VOTE!

Halloween is Getting Close

 

I'm starting to see signs that Halloween is fast approaching.  I haven't been out as much as previous years but I found one Halloween decoration right from my balcony.  A neighbor has placed some lights within  the trim on his balcony wall to make a jack-o-lantern face.  The funny thing is, he had these on for two nights back around the 10th of the month and he hasn't had them turned on since.  Maybe he'll turn them back on this week.

The second sign I saw was Friday evening when I was leaving and I saw this crow (or is it a raven?) sitting on the carport cover and having a look around.  I've never seen him around here before.  

Just a couple of signs that the "spooky" season has arrived.  

I have a new post on Sharon's Sojourns today.  I'm looking through the "Inns of Court" in London. 

From Office to Condos

 

There is a large bank building on the corner of Central Avenue and Camelback Road that has lived through name changes and tenants.  However, now it's going through a major change from an office building to condos.  It's a prime location for condos so I'm pretty sure it will be a success.  They are hard at work making the conversion.  It looks like the bank will still maintain some office space on the ground floors but it won't be long before people are living up above.  

I posted a photo with this building in the background back in 2014.  You can see it here.  

Floral Trip Around the Valley

 

I've found some flowers blooming in a variety of places recently so lets take a trip around different parts of the valley of the sun to see what I've found.  Here we have some very pretty roses blooming next to the fountain at the Scottsdale Civic Center.

Some Globe Mallow blooming in Gilbert.

Pretty yellow poppies blooming over in my old neighborhood.

And finally, some Texas sage blooming along side the road in Paradise Valley.  

Lot's of pretty things to see!

Wild vs. Tamed

 

In one part of town I saw this tree that has kind of gone wild with branches going in every directions.  It actually looks like it might be trying to crawl away.  

In another part of town, I saw these trees and shrubs that have been trimmed and shaped.  What a difference between them.  One is quite wild looking while these look more like pets.  

Eye-Catching Patterns

 

I took this photo back in December of 2019 on a trip to the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall.  It was a display in the window of the Louis Vuitton store and it caught my eye because of the great pattern.  When I pulled this photo out of my archives, it occurred to me that I haven't been to the mall in over 7 months.  That is certainly a record for me.  

Here is a pattern shot that I took just last Sunday.  I went to Julie & Dave's house for brunch.  Julie served brunch on her huge patio with five of us all spaced out at safe distances.  It felt great to see friends and do something normal for a change.  Julie has a set of really great juice glasses that she bought in Venice years ago. After I drank my juice, I held my glass up to the sky and aimed my cell phono into it to get this shot.  What a great pattern it made!

Crossing Over the Buttes & Spotting Helicopters

 

One of the routes I take when returning home from a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden is one the climbs over the Papago Buttes.  Those are the reddish-brown piles of rock that surround the garden.  You've seen them in the background of some of my garden photos.  This road goes uphill toward and between the mountains.

Then when you get to the top, you get this spectacular view into downtown Phoenix.  I don't go this way very often but every now and then when I think the air is clear enough for a good view, I'll head this way.

If I would have swung my camera to the right from that vantage point, I would have been looking right over the Army Reserve reservation that I mention a month or so ago when I had the photos of the military helicopters I've seen flying over the garden.  I took this photo of the sign for that base a few months ago.  

I'm not sure what they were up to on Sunday when four in a row flew right over the mountains near my house.  Some type of military exercise must have been going on.  

This One is a Year Old

 

I've been reviewing all the major art exhibits that I've photographed at the Desert Botanical Garden and now I'm up to date with the most recent show and the one that is still at the garden.  Normally, this show would have ended in May of this year but the pandemic lock-down up-ended the schedule.  The company that put this show together is called Cracking Art, a collective of artists from Italy.  The show is called "Wild Rising" and it features a variety of wild animals all made from recycled plastic with each display having an environmental message.  In the photo above, the meerkats are standing around the Chihuly "Desert Wildflower Towers".  The garden purchased these sculptures after the very first Chihuly exhibit back in 2008 and now they have a permanent home at the entrance to the garden.

You've seen the giant snails I've posted photos of before (here is one) but, I've never posted a photo of one of the small, metallic ones that are scattered about. 

And, the gray wolves are still lurking among the prickly pear cactus.

The penguins are wondering what all those prickly things are all around them while a little cactus wren had decided that penguins make a nice perch.  

I have no idea when this exhibit will be packed up.  Since October is historically when new exhibits go up, I'm guessing this one might need to stay put a little longer.  It could be a while before the normal rhythm of things returns.