These guys live about a mile from me and I pass them going to and from work everyday. They live in a residential area that seems almost rural even though it’s in central Phoenix, close to the freeway, major shopping, and busy streets.
I haven’t been around horses much in a very long time so I forgot that they are curious animals, too, and these two bounded over to check me out…maybe hoping I had a tasty snack for them but I didn’t.
They were being bothered by flies so there was a lot of tail-swishing and ear-twitching going on.
A horse is a horse, of course, of course.
And some well-groomed horses…seen in Gilbert a few weeks ago:
Filed under: Home, Phoenix | Tags: Butterflies, Flora, Home, Phoenix, Scottsdale
This isn’t the first butterfly I’ve seen this year but it’s the first one I’ve been able to photograph in my yard. And it’s another one that is new to me that I had to ID on the internet: a Checkered White!
Hi, there!
Click for better detail on any of these.
Like many places, Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden has a butterfly exhibit every spring as well as a Monarch exhibit every fall but I’ve never been. I guess I assume it would be so crowded it would be hard to shoot. But I also like the challenge of finding them on my own, au naturel, in my yard, mostly, and then trying to identify them.
On May 25th, a whole new butterfly experience is coming to town, in Scottsdale, very close to where I work, Butterfly Wonderland: A Rainforest Experience. It looks interesting so I’m sure at some point, I’ll drop by.
Meanwhile, my yard is my favorite place capturing these assorted beauties. Here’s part of my collection from the past:
Gulf Fritillary~Painted Lady
Variegated Fritillary~Giant Swallowtail
Gray Hairstreak~Skipper
Filed under: Art, Phoenix | Tags: Art, Calle 16, Downtown Phoenix, El Mac, Lalo Cota, Murals, Phoenix
Well, the murals have been here all along, thriving and growing in numbers. I just didn’t get out to take photos of them for awhile due to the holidays, changes at work, life. Now I’ve lost track of where all the new ones are. Although I’ve tried to keep up through Facebook, it’s going to take some doing to catch up on them all.
But Calle 16, which is quite close to our house, was an easy way to jump back in and there have been a lot of additions and changes there. Check out this previous post of mine from almost a year ago to see how some of the murals have changed since then.
The El Mac portion remains unchanged while Lalo Cota changed his part of it, on the above wall.
This particular wall is all new work that was done in December 2012 and January 2013 by several artists.
This is along the back and side of Barrio Cafe. The owner, Chef Silvana, was the impetus for the whole Calle 16 project several years ago.
This wall is also shown in the previous post mentioned above, as it appeared then. So you can see that there have been some overpaintings and changes while other walls remain the same.
If you’re ever in Phoenix, check out our alleys for lots of colorful surprises.
Filed under: Arizona, Art, The Route to Work | Tags: Arizona, Art, Flora, Home, Paradise Valley, Phoenix, Scottsdale
He’d always had a quickening of the heart when he crossed into Arizona and beheld the cactus country. This was as the desert should be, this was the desert of the picture books, with the land unrolled to the farthest distant horizon hills, with saguaro standing sentinel in their strange chessboard pattern, towering supinely above the fans of ocotillo and brushy mesquite. ~ Dorothy B. Hughes, The Expendable Man
Everything that ever happened to me that was important happened in the desert. ~ Michael Ondaatje, The English Patient
Encanto Park is one of the oldest parks in Phoenix. I hadn’t been there for many years but on New Year’s Day, Tony and I took a walk around it.
Located in central Phoenix, there is a lagoon with paddle boats.
And an amusement park on Enchanted Island.
Still decorated for the holidays…
With inflatable ornaments…
Colorful sculptures all around…
Winter in Phoenix often looks like autumn elsewhere.
It was a bitterly cold brisk day (for us Arizonans), so we didn’t walk as long as we had planned.
Yet it was nice to see that the park is well-maintained and attractive, being enjoyed by many.
