• clouds,  desert,  landscape,  sunrises,  writing/reading

    What are the gifts of new days for?

    Predawn light along Peralta Trail, Arizona – 2016

    The gift of a new day (I touched on that in Thursday’s post) always offers the opportunity for something new to experience that will only happen or begin on this day. I’m so much more aware of that than in my youth. So here is a list of some opportunities that pop into my mind as I write this post, which could be totally different next week. It’s short because I’m expecting each of us to add our own.

    So, new days are for writing our first poem, begin or finish our autobiography, face the blank canvas of our first painting, bake our first pie and be brave enough to eat it, write our first song or maybe just the chorus, take dance lessons or dance in the rain, find the courage to ask her out for dinner, give our granddaughter her first driving lesson, develop our fist black and white print, watching our first sunrise in the desert in a state of awe, running our first marathon or accepting the fact it ain’t gonna happen at this age, begin a new adventure as we are never too old, plant a vegetable garden, learn to ride a horse or a unicycle or snowboard, and the list goes on and on….

  • Cityscapes/Urban,  grass,  lifestyles

    What Happened to the Grass?

    Not looking too healthy
    Not looking too healthy after scalping and thatching

    Since arriving in the Phoenix area, I’ve made 3 trips to visit my parents in Gold Canyon. A couple weeks ago I was shocked to see the condition of the golf course in their community. The grass that was green the week before now looked like it was dying, and it was. So, what happened?

  • Cityscapes/Urban,  Fujifilm X-T10,  sunsets

    Last Nights Sunset

    Last Nights Sunset
    Last Nights Sunset

    I walked over to the golf course to see about finding some images of the moonrise but clouds prevented didn’t allow those images. But, as many “good photographers” know we must also look behind us and in this case the lingering sunset is what was being given me. This is a jpg file exposure and tone adjustments then cropped to 16:9. The exposure settings were 30s at f22 with an ISO 200. Hand held.

    Just kidding. 🙂

  • Black and White,  Cityscapes/Urban,  quotes,  shadows,  trees

    Again, It Was the Shadows

    Early Morning Shadows
    Early Morning Shadows

    They tell me down here that they are liking this beginning of winter and the cooler temperatures. Yes the 65 degree mornings are nice but, man, it quickly gets up to 95. This Colorado lad has to rethink this. Since, I am somewhat intelligent, and please don’t listen to anyone who says otherwise, I try and get my walk in before 10:00 am.  In doing so those shadows I discover are spectacular. So, again it was shadows I was seeing this morning.

    “What is at the core of my work is, in essence, a mediation on being a human being.” – Eli Reed

  • architecture,  Art/Design,  Cityscapes/Urban,  lifestyles,  sunsets

    Fountain at Sunset

    Fountain at Sunset
    Fountain at Sunset

    I do not have a grill back in Colorado at my condo because of a city fire code. Anyway, now that I’m house sitting I have been able to use my brother-in-law’s grill, twice. Last night it was spicy sausages. 🙂

    While things were cooking I was drawn to the neighbors back yard and the little fountain they had. The scene was beckoning me to grab my camera, step over near their wall, kneel down, compose and press the shutter. To me it represents the life people live down here.

    Let me tell you, I am not used to this heat at night. Back in Colorado we cool down at night, but not here. It can still be 85-90 when I go to bed. It would take some adjustment for me to live here.

    Oh, and in case you care to know, the sausages were Awesome!