An eye for rust
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An eye for rust

As an aficionado of texture, when I came upon this old shack, I was in seventh heaven. Consider that great rusty barrel, the rain-stained wood, the stovepipe hanging at an angle, that old window missing one pane, the tattered, rusting side-panels. It was perfect! And then I discovered why is was perfect. It’s not real. This sheep…

Don’t always believe what you see
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Don’t always believe what you see

I was attracted to this spot by a smell that took me back to childhood, the wonderful aroma of grape Kool-Aid. This is a Texas Mountain Laurel, or Mescal Bean plant, native to the southwest. And then when I got there, I discovered this amazingly beautiful butterfly, a black Pipevine Swallowtail. One gives pleasure to…

Tenacity of the vine
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Tenacity of the vine

This was such a cool discovery! It is both a model of design, with all those zigzagging textures, and the actual event, a wisteria vine too stubborn to quit. When the plant found itself blocked, it changed direction not once but several times. And it isn’t a young whippersnapper of a vine. Take a look at the…

The magic of being still
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The magic of being still

Every now and then, nature presents us with a joke, if we are only receptive enough to catch it. Here, I found a perfect bow tie in the middle of the Dead Horse Park lagoon. Just waiting for someone to turn it around and paste it onto a beautiful package. Or perhaps, it already was the ideal…

My mind is like Fibber McGee’s closet
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My mind is like Fibber McGee’s closet

When I was poking about in Jerome’s suburbs one day, I came across this old shack. The roof was still intact, although patched with tin. The windows were gone, but that didn’t matter because there were plenty of openings to let in the great views. What struck me, though, were the myriad of things piled up in…

These rocks, my friends
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These rocks, my friends

These basalt boulders are at the Ensinoso Park in Oak Creek near Sedona. In low-water times of the year, there is a crossing here where the white water is. You can just hop from stone to stone to traverse the creek. In the winter, their crevices become miniature caverns of ice. In the summer, their…

Sometimes what you see is not there
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Sometimes what you see is not there

At first glance, this appeared to be a tragedy: soft downy fuzz, longer tail feathers. Had an owl met its match with a bobcat? Oh, no! And then I took a second look. Not tail feathers at all, but rather, Eucalyptus leaves. Not down but cottonwood tree cotton. Whew! I like owls. And I like…

The direction of light
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The direction of light

We are used to looking straight ahead as we gaze into the distance. But sometimes it is useful to look up. Here, a shaded walkway is transformed into a beautiful design of latticework that creates a dual pattern: looking up, looking down. Light that speaks! An artist’s chiaroscuro dream. Painting is poetry that is seen…

Stories in tombstones
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Stories in tombstones

When I visit in the eastern part of the country, I love to visit old cemeteries. So many old stories are contained in the family plots! This one interested me, in that all of the gravestones seemed to be tightly contained behind a walled barrier, as though saying, this is our plot, all ours, and don’t you…

The road less traveled–recently
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The road less traveled–recently

I discovered this scene in Zion National Park at the golden hour of sunset. What is special to me are the leaves scattered in the path. It appears that the route, although well-traveled in the past, hasn’t seen much action recently. That, for me, makes it irresistible. What fun, to discover something of value that…