March 2022

Fan Blades
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

Crosses
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

Remains
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

This walled graveyard was used as a cattle pen by locals for a period of time after the mission was abandoned.

Plaster Abstract
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

Lasting Impression
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

A few little decorative traces of what was once an eloquently finished wall are overshadowed by the rugged forms of the mission’s structure.

Invitation
Tumacácori National Historical Park, Arizona
2022

Mushroom Clouds
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Stop, No Entry
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

The number of U.S. Border Patrol vehicles roaming around this part of southern Arizona (literally hundreds based on the parking lots full of them we saw) made me wonder how many were out there running around before Trump’s wall was completed across this part of Arizona. Given the number of Border Patrol vehicles we saw, as well as the amount of discarded camouflage clothing and empty water bottles I saw while hiking near the border, not to mention the fact the wall has reportedly been scaled with inexpensive makeshift ladders and cut with tools easily available at hardware stores, I’d say this stop sign is just about as effective as the wall in preventing undocumented entry into this country.

Pipe Insulation
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

This section of a dying organ pipe cactus looks very much like pipes I’ve seen wrapped in thick tubes of insulation. To complete the analogy, I note that the wooden cores of the skeleton arms of such cacti are hollow, like pipes.

Doing the Wave
Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona
2022

Unusual undulating shapes of the arms of an organ pipe cactus.