Adobe Abstract #2
Tucson, Arizona
2015

Palo Verde Pose
Tucson, Arizona
2015

After I wrote this title it came across as hard to read properly because the first two words are Spanish and the third word, while in English, could also be read in Spanish. But it turns out it doesn’t matter as it means the same thing in both languages, although it’s pronounced as a two-syllable word in Spanish. (Palo Verde by the way is the name of the tree and translates as green stick.)

Still Life With Salt and Pepper
Tucson, Arizona
2015

Spring Green
Saguaro National Park, Arizona
2015

It was so green and lush when we were in Tucson, I thought I ought to post at least one color photo of the desert. It’s probably greener than a desert ought to be. The rain and fog that started this day certainly had something to do with that look.

Fern Forest
Wasson Peak, Arizona
2015

Ferns growing in the shade of a boulder (not generally the kind of plants I expect to come across in the Sonora Desert). From this angle, the scene looks like an aerial shot of fir trees against a tall cliff.

Glory Days
Bozeman, Montana
2015

I took this photo back in January but didn’t have a real reason to post it until now. The sign is outdated, but it’s relegation to the trash is perhaps a reminder that all fame is fleeting. So Duke, enjoy it while this year’s championship is still fresh.

The Value of Parkland
Tucson, Arizona
2015

Since I lived in Tucson some forty years ago, the population of the metro area has more than doubled. Places that used to be empty desert are now choked with development. It was quite disconcerting in a way. Yet  because they were protected, Saguaro National Park and the Tucson Mountains just west of the city seemed just the same as they did all those years ago. In this view from Wasson Peak it was hard to believe that the valley in the background contained some one million people. (The haze was due to clearing rain and fog, rather than smog–although Tucson has it’s share of that.)

Repent
San Xavier del Bac Mission, Arizona
2015

Framed
Tucson, Arizona
2015

Similar in structure to yesterday’s photo, this is another example of simple geometric shapes surrounding a more irregular, in this case organic, focus point.

Porch Light
Green Valley, Arizona
2015

If I sit somewhere long enough I seem to find something worth photographing just about anywhere I am. In this case I was enjoying an extremely pleasant afternoon reading on our friends’ patio. Apparently I looked up often enough to have the surroundings register on me. The longer view from the patio was of the nearby Santa Rita mountain range–in general a more picturesque subject. But these geometric shapes on the neighbor’s house is what tickled my photographic fancy at the time. I like the nested rectangles and the contrasting skewed porch light adds a point of contrast to the simple shapes.