Locomotive Rock
Ajo, Arizona
2025

Like last year we are again spending time in Ajo, Arizona. And also like last year I’m spending quite a bit of time riding my bike around on the various desert trails. So already I’m finding myself photographing some of the same things I photographed last year. Locomotive Rock is a good example. Hopefully I am photographing these repeat subjects in enough of a different way this year to justify posting the new images. I’m not quite sure I achieved that in this case though. Compare the photo above to last year’s photo of Locomotive Rock below. The new photo was taken from farther away than the one from last year, but at almost the same angle. There is haze in the sky in both photos, more this year than last year. But overall, it’s much the impression of the two images is much the same.

City Lights
Tucson Mountains, Arizona
2024

The glow from the city of Tucson light the night sky on New Year’s Eve 2024. Not the best for star-gazing but rather cheerful that night nonetheless.

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.