Ranches and Palm Trees

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After all these years in Los Angeles, I'm still taken aback by a view including a ranch-type gate and palm trees. This gate is at the stable Jim manages in Lake View Terrace.

Roses

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I celebrated a birthday a few days ago, and my husband not only took me to to Samy's Camera Store for some new toys, but surprised me with two dozen roses!! A dozen each of red and white. We both got a huge kick out the fact that they weren't the expensive florist shop style bouquets. (Sorry, if anyone has a florist in the family and is offended.) I just had to take a few pictures to savor their beauty. Now hubby is sick, so today has been a trip to see the doctor followed by plenty of sympathy and pudding. I think he liked the pudding best of all.

In case you are thinking of making out your Santa list and you are interested in developing your photography skills, you might think about Scott Kelby's book, “The Digital Photography Book”. His Volume 2 is available for pre-order now, if you have already read volume 1.

Trees—You Know Me

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So many distractions since the last post that to go into all of them in any detail would be...well, distracting. The brief version is a couple of family members in crises, some travel for us, and some big projects in the works.

The photo above was taken during one of my favorite stops, at Dead Horse Ranch State Park in Arizona. I wanted to move there. Unfortunately, you can only visit. Like so many others, I imagine, I was curious about the odd name for this beautiful park. I found this at the website http://www.pr.state.az.us/Parks/parkhtml/deadhorse.html

"How Dead Horse Ranch Got Its Name
The story of the park's name begins with the Ireys family, who came to Arizona from Minnesota looking for a ranch to buy in the late 1940's. At one of the ranches they discovered a large dead horse lying by the road. After two days of viewing ranches, Dad Ireys asked the kids which ranch they liked the best. The kids said, "the one with the dead horse, Dad!" The Ireys family chose the name Dead Horse Ranch and later, in 1973, when Arizona State Parks acquired thepark, the Ireys made retaining the name a condition of sale."

Veteran's Day

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I am pathetically late, but I wanted to put up something to commemorate Veteran's Day. This picture from an old, rather isolated cemetery, near Del Norte, Colorado seemed an appropriate way to salute the vast numbers who have protected our freedom for so many decades.

Tossing Logic Out the Window

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Of course if I had any self-discipline I would post the shots from Arizona in some sort of logical order. But, what the heck, too much self-discipline in areas where it isn't necessary may be bad for the digestion. Who knows?

This is another shot taken on the West Fork Trail in Oak Canyon. I found it difficult to cover much ground on the trail, because every twist and turn in the path revealed another amazing delight. I had to pause for a few minutes and breathe it in before I could even think about raising the camera.

Our Green Friend

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This fellow was unbelievably cooperative when Jim urged him to climb aboard the stick you see and was amazingly patient for his close-up. When Jim first coaxed him aboard, I desperately snapped at the first opportunity thinking I might well get in a single shot before Mr. Grasshopper was on his merry way. To my surprise and delight he decided to enjoy his moment in the spotlight. He did keep a wary eye on both of us to make certain our motives were pure. He lives near the enchanting lagoons in Dead Horse Camp State Park in the Verde Valley. Near the end of our Arizona adventure, we camped there for two and a half wonderful days soaking up the peace,quiet, and beautiful scenery. As always, we had to move on far too soon.

The West Fork Trail

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We spent the better part of a day hiking the West Fork trail in Oak Creek Canyon. While three days there would have been much more to my liking, we had a limited amount of time to spend. So, the next day we explored other areas.

The Wupatki Pueblo

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After a week in central Arizona, I have too many favorite pictures and couldn't decide where to begin this series. Finally, I picked this shot from the Wupatki ruins north of Flagstaff. We enjoyed the fact that we could walk around in and explore the structure. This pueblo was built by the ancestors of the Hopi and Zuni tribes, among others, and was an important trade center approximately 800 years ago.

Home Again!

We just got home from a few days in central Arizona where we had a wonderful time. We saw beautiful places that were difficult to leave behind. As usual, I am already looking forward to getting back there.
We didn't always have WiFi, so I was out of touch much of the time. I will be posting some shots soon, but tonight is about unpacking, laundry, and catching up on phone and e-mail messages.

Standby and Devastation

What people in southern California are enduring during Inferno 2007 is heart-breaking, yet the behavior of most of them is profoundly inspiring. People all around the area are pitching in to help one another and so many of those who have lost their homes are managing somehow to hold their heads high and look to the future. Jim is on standby to help evacuate horses for a fellow who is a cousin of a friend. (That fellow and his property appear to be safe now. Still, like many in our part of the world, his trailer remains packed and headed out in case he has to load animals and get out in a hurry.) Monday evening, that friend of ours left dinner with us a little early to evacuate cats for a work colleague. (In that case it was only a precaution, thank goodness) On the other hand, a woman who is a key figure in the southern California endurance racing world (she and her daughter run a couple of rides) lost everything Monday evening except their eleven horses and what tack they could throw in the trailer. When I heard about a fire in the Temecula region, my heart stopped for a second. We have a friend down there with forty-fifty horses on her place. I can’t reach her, but after scanning the internet for fire updates I feel somewhat relieved. It appears the fire is far enough from her to make her anxious, but not require evacuation. San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium and Del Mar Race Track are packed with refugee humans and horses. Let’s hope the weather predictions are accurate and we get some changes fairly soon.