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Ocotillo Abstract
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2025

Tube Man
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2024

A tube man, also known as a skydancer, air dancer, inflatable man and originally called the Tall Boy, is an inflatable stick figure comprising sections of fabric tubing attached to a fan. As the fan blows air through it, the tubing moves in a dynamic dancing or flailing motion. (Wikipedia.)

Splayed Out
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2025

Some catastrophe knocked over this large prickly pear cactus but I was impressed by how carefully it appeared to be spread out along the ground.

Pluto’s Nose
Tucson Mountain Park, Arizona
2024

This angle on the new little saguaro “bud” had me thinking of Pluto (Disney’s, not the dwarf planet), or maybe Goofy. But speaking of the dwarf planet, I’ve never been happy about it’s demotion. That it used to be a full-fledged planet but is now a dwarf planet even though it hasn’t changed at all comes across as some oddball form of astronomical inverse shrinkflation.

Chain Fruit Sprout
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2024

A new offshoot from a chain fruit cholla cactus, a.k.a. jumping cholla or hanging chain cholla.

In the Thick of It
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2024

Wandering around in a crowd of saguaro cacti.

Saguaro and Cat Mountain
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2024

We’re back in the southwest for a while, and spent time in Tucson just before and after the New Year. Cat Mountain, just west of town, has quite a movie history; because it is situated adjacent to the movie sets at Old Tucson, it has appeared in the background of many westerns filmed there since it was first built in 1939. I should probably make a climb to the top one of these days so that whenever I see it one of those old movies filmed there I can say “I’ve been on top of that mountain.”

Lives Real and Imagined #49
Chicago, Illinois
2024

Once again, life unintentionally mimics art.

Cactus Ball
Wichita, Kansas
2024

Painted Snake Charmer
Wichita, Kansas
2024

A very interesting sculpture. I more or less get the salamander and the snake but not the inclusion of the sculpted paint brush. It was in the kids area of the Botanica, the lovely botanical gardens in Wichita, but there weren’t any kids handy at the time to explain the meaning to me.