Filed under: Greater Good, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Global Community, Phoenix, Photography, Religion, Scottsdale
The Franciscan Renewal Center (“The Casa”) is one of my favorite places in the Phoenix area. It’s a “center for the experience of spiritual growth which transforms and moves us beyond ourselves in the service of others.” Although they are a Catholic community, they are welcoming to all in the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. They are located on 25 acres of beautiful desert, surrounded by mountains. The grounds are open to anyone.
I spent a couple of hours there this afternoon and despite the 108 degree temperatures, it was peaceful, as always.
One of the most interesting things at The Casa is the labyrinth.
Labyrinths have existed since prehistory. They can be thought of as symbolic forms of pilgrimage; people can walk the path, ascending toward salvation or enlightenment. In earlier times, many people could not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel. Later, the religious significance of labyrinths faded, and they served primarily for entertainment, though recently their spiritual aspect has seen a resurgence (from Wikipedia).
Very primal, huh?
What a gorgeous setting!
Many newly made labyrinths exist today, in churches and parks. Labyrinths are used by modern mystics to help achieve a contemplative state. Walking among the turnings, one loses track of direction and of the outside world, and thus quiets the mind. The Labyrinth Society provides a locator for modern labyrinths all over the world (Wikipedia).
There is going to be a workshop on the labyrinth in October which I plan to attend.
I took a lot of photos at The Casa today so they will be appearing in my blog in the future. During the spring, winter, and fall, The Casa is especially beautiful as there are gardens all over so I’ll have to go back then.
Filed under: Cats, Collecting, Photography | Tags: Antiques, Cats, Collections, Photography
The camera on the left was Tony’s parents’ camera, the one on the right was my parents’.
The camera on the left was Tony’s childhood camera; the one on the right, the Bullet, was mine…today is a good day to date myself.
This is the infamous Argus “Brick,” first introduced in 1939 but produced until the ’60s. I got this one at my neighbor’s yard sale years ago. I think it is probably from the ’40s, from what I’ve read on how to date them. Apparently it’s made from Bakelite.
It came complete with dust to make it more authentic…(so I kept it that way)…
…and a flash…and a leather case.
This CP 301 was made in the ’60s by Konica and sold by Montgomery Ward. It has a pretty Seiko lens.
That is my unintentional vintage camera collection. There are also several newer film and digital ones that don’t quite qualify as vintage yet (although I guess any film camera would, technically).
Solid camera, solid cat.
Do you have some vintage cameras? Any really old ones, maybe 1800s? If you do, I’d like to see a link.
Filed under: Art, Blogging, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Art, Blogging, Coffeehouses, Phoenix, Photography
That term has yet to make it into Wikipedia or the Urban Dictionary but if you google it, you get tons of results. I’m not blogcating but it seems as though the authors of a lot of the blogs I read regularly are currently doing so–because of burnout, health issues, personal reasons, etc.–and I know my blog stats have been way down the past few days. How about yours?
The only reason I haven’t blogged as often lately is lack of photos due to extreme humidity (for AZ) and laziness about venturing out into it. I have plenty of places I want to go, I just can’t bring myself to do it. So here are some photos taken last night during a brief jaunt around central Phoenix, with no tripod.
This totally retro sign looks like it’s from the ’50s. I know it was here in the ’70s but I can’t find any info about it online. Apparently it made the Wall Street Journal in January in an article about GM’s problems.
At the Light Rail station at Central and Camelback,
both ways for the trains, but look at what you will also see–Phoenix’s own Stargate:
It’s actually called A New Path by Ilan Averbuch, another New York artist trying to capture the spirit of the desert, but I would assume most people would think Stargate when they see it. The matchsticks are supposed to be people (??).
I crawled through it and found myself in downtown Phoenix on the other side, close to our neighborhood Starbucks.
I see that Starbucks is now selling crafts from African artisans and more fair trade coffee so that is a good thing.
I hope to be daytripping at least one day this coming week so that I have some more material for future blogs and when I do go on vacation in August I plan to blog on location so I will not be on blogcation.
Come back, bloggers, we miss you in the blogosphere.
You can’t do pretty much as you please
on the earth
not for long, anyway,
not unless you want the bubble to break
and the blackness come pouring in
like black rain down a cold rainspout.
There’s the earth
under your feet
and there’s mist of green
and white
for clouds
and blue water.
There’s the earth
with lives dreaming on it
sucking life in lonely places
fern valleys
and mountain lakes, forests, most of all the
green places
where life is thick.
Every particle of every thing
rock, water, flower, human
has been in the same place flaming
in the heart of our ancient sun
before the earth
came flying out of it.
These verses are from the book Only a little planet, published in 1972 by Friends of the Earth. If you were around in the ’70s, remember how caring about the environment was a big deal? We worried about depleting our natural resources, having too many people on the planet, pollution. Then what happened? It seems like in the ’80s and ’90s, everyone pretty much forgot about all that and concentrated on living the good life, practicing conspicuous consumption. Now, in the last decade, being “green” is cool again and we’re again worried about depleting our natural resources and destroying the earth. Too bad we missed those thirty years in between.
This isn’t what I was originally going to post today but then I thought I should acknowledge the anniversary of what happened 40 years ago today: July 20, 1969…since I remember it vividly.
So here’s to you, Moon, the round thing we all love to look at the most and wonder what secrets you hold…especially on the Dark Side.
And, of course, I’ll be kicking myself for days as I come across better round photos than these…
The Arabica coffee plant has been appropriately repotted, giving its roots more room to grow.
The grapefruit tree is yielding its fruit.
And soon we will achieve breakfast sustainability.
Filed under: Jewelry, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Jewelry, Phoenix, Photography
Jewelry is one of my favorite things but I have quite a bit so I try not to buy much anymore. However, I couldn’t resist this necklace from Shutter Sisters. It represents a vintage flashbulb (which is made from botanical bilberry–sounds very herbal, doesn’t it?) and is a symbol of the sisterhood that is shared by women with a passion for photography. Part of the proceeds benefit Girl Power Africa. Shutter Sisters has a lot of fun, interesting projects and they attempt to make a positive difference in the world.
It was only 109 degrees today but we are heading back into a heat watch for the weekend (115 on Saturday). The monsoon season has arrived in Arizona, the time of year when we actually have some humidity, too, and that combined with the heat makes it pretty miserable. A dry heat is really a lot different than a humid heat. It’s pretty difficult to be outside for any length of time during July and August.
Dust storms roll in many evenings as well as a lot of lightning and, if we’re lucky, it rains but more often than not, it just threatens to rain. The wind gusts can be very violent, blowing trees down, often knocking power out (and then it gets really hot). Brush fires can break out and sometimes develop into wild fires, which often destroy a lot of forest land. Tonight was the first big storm of the season. In our area, it only gusted a little but there were more severe storms elsewhere in the valley and the night isn’t over yet…
It’s hard to motivate yourself to go out and take many photos this time of year. Breaking out the frosty margaritas and blog surfing is pretty much all you can do…it’s really my least favorite time of the year, weather-wise.
But I have some photo projects planned and may take a day roadtrip or 2 in the not-too-distant future. How are you keeping cool? Unlike me, is summer your favorite time to get out and take photos?
Candace
Corny, huh? So it goes with the kitschy subject of this post. First, I’m excited to report that my Trompe l’Oleil post of June 26th has been featured on Wendy Vee’s Roadside Wonders. Wendy’s site is full of tacky, kitschy, big, weird, and funky roadside finds and is a fun place to visit. If you have some photos of something that fits that description, contact Wendy and she’ll probably include it on Roadside Wonders. And if you’re heading off on a summer roadtrip, check out her site for sights to see on the way!
And that gives me the perfect lead-in for a little more kitsch which, incidentally, is located about a block away from the mural mentioned above. My ‘hood is a tacky area, obviously.
She is a beauty, though. She is located on a business called Truckmasters and is signed “Medina ‘02.”
Got kitsch?
Candace
Filed under: Arizona, Phoenix, Photography | Tags: Arizona State University, Phoenix, Photography
Besides sunflowers, roadtrips, watermelon, fireflies, ice cream cones, corn on the cob, and the beach, summer means fairs. Although the Arizona State Fair is in November and our county fair is in March, because of the heat, I grew up in the midwest so I still think of fairs as summertime fun.
These photos were taken many years ago at the Arizona State Fair with my Nikon FG and I processed and developed them in my first photo class.
Lugging tripods to the fair was a little cumbersome but we had fun (the whole class went). This next one is an open shutter pan of the outside of the fairgrounds when we were leaving.
Are you going to a fair this summer? An amusement park? Riding a roller coaster while shooting photos?
What kinds of things does summer mean to you? Hot fun in the summer sun?
Candace
Bring me then the plant that points to those bright Lucidites swirling up from the earth,
And life itself exhaling that central breath!
Bring me the sunflower crazed with the love of light.
Eugenio Montale
Nothing quite captures the feeling of summer like a sunflower, does it? I don’t see them too often in Phoenix so I had been eyeing a bunch of them at a house a couple of streets away. Yesterday, I went and “stole” some shots from their yard. I was thinking of asking the homeowner if I could photograph them but they were just pulling out of their driveway as I got there so I decided to go for it since the flowers were close to the front sidewalk and I didn’t need to trespass.
The summer heat has been taking its toll on them because they looked decidedly more wilted than a few days ago when I was looking at them.
Sunflower saturation~but I might not have the opportunity to photograph anymore this summer…not in Phoenix, anyway.
“Crazed with the love of light,” I love that!
Candace
