More Lower Antelope Canyon

Lower Antelope Canyon

So today was the first that my sinus infection eased up enough for me to look at the photographs I brought back from my recent trip, part solo and part with my wife, daughter, and her friend to Arizona. Even with four days of rest I'm still a long way from 100%. The most exciting part for me, and I'm pretty sure the girls as well, was Lower Antelope Canyon. So here is an image from those. And I'm excited to delve into the rest of them as well as all the trip photos!

Shallow Water!

Back home from Arizona. For some reason I picked up an allergy related ( I think) sinus infection that has left me pretty miserable. Picture editing is going to have to wait. My daughter, her friend, and my wife flew into Phoenix last Saturday where I picked them up. We headed north- Grand Canyon, Lower Antelope slot canyon near Page Az, Monument Valley, the Four Corners, Chinle and Canyon de Chelly, and officially "finished" the trip at Ganado at the Hubble Trading Post. It is one of the oldest continuously operated Native American trading posts. From there it was about a 1240 mile drive home! And of course there was lots of driving as a part of the trip... nearly 3400 miles for me.

A huge frustration for me was the amount of time the girls spent on electronic devices ( kindles and cell phones) And as huge a frustration for them was so much time with NO SERVICE and Jim banning the use of those devices from time to time.

Now these two girls are very smart, inquisitive and mature for their age. They are honors students in the eight grade taking advanced course work , involved in both sports, artistic and intellectual activities after school. Too often I forget that they are still kids!

So, because of their so often ignoring the world around them for cell phones-- I called them shallow! And when I first did it I will have to admit it was the unfavorable meaning of the word I was using. And then, as we drove, I got to thinking about a little stream, maybe three feet wide and a half a foot deep in the Chiracahua Mountains I had spent several hours sitting by early in the trip- before they joined me. It was bouncing over rocks, sparkling in the sun, and making all kinds of noise! So clear and fresh you could see every stone in its bottom. And I compared it to some of the big rivers I have seen- wide and deep, making little sound though often moving far faster and much more powerfully than that little stream. Very rarely clear enough to see through or into very far. Those big and old rivers carry a burden, of time and experience- some wonderfully happy memories and many sad ones. They have been on their journey for a long time. When they encounter an obstacle they sweep it away. The stream bounds over the rock, runs around the log or flies over the precipice in a million shining drops to reform below! 

I used the word shallow to describe them, and it turns out I was right! but not in the way I meant-- they are shallow in that they are young, they are full of life, eager to move- not sit and reflect. They are many years from where I am and even in that the world turns at a different pace than it did when I was young. I envy them their journey and am so glad I get to share a small part of it.

Cactus

Well yesterdays photography was mostly about airplanes and todays is mostly about saguaro cactus. While many of those planes were over 100 years old saguaro can live for more than 150years! They don't grow their first side arm until they are more than 75 years old. They produce an edible fruit ( eat carefully, the spines are sharp) in June so I didn't get to try any of those. And that's about all I know about saguaro!

and by the way I cant tell whether the values or color are any good or not. the laptop I'm using is not calibrated. Left click on picture for a bigger image.

I can speak strongly about my meal tonight at Lerua's ( on Broadway in Tucson) they have been open since 1922 and the food is wonderful. Tonight I had a "crisp" sort of a Sonoran pizza- cheese, carne seca, and green chiles. I made a deal with the waitress to take  it away after I ate half so I would have room for another green corn tamale. I also tried a beef tamale, which was great also but nothing touches those green corn tamales!

 

 

android photo, kept trying to do a mode called beauty face?

Some Observations

The police report in one small town in South-Eastern Arizona had some different listings, among them a report of two goats in the road and another by a concerned citizen that a red pickup parked at the laundro-mat had so much stuff in the cab they ( the citizen) didn't see how the driver could see. It was parked.

In Tucson ambulances cruise the streets, kind of like wrecker drivers in an ice storm. Just waiting!

The restaurant I ate at tonight has been drying beef on its roof since 1922 to make its carne seca. I don't know what year mine was but it was delicious!

Of a certain age the standard uniform seems to be knit shirt, tucked into khaki shorts( knee length) with a black belt and black socks. The shoes vary quite a bit.

People are truly friendly.

Did I mention that the food is delicious?

Right turns take a really long time. Really long. There may be a market here for those knobs you put on your steering wheel.

And besides seeing a LOT of airplanes today at the Pima Air Museum I learned that the pilot of the P-51 Mustang had the rare distinction of serving in both theatres of WWII and shot down German, Italian, Japanese, and US airplanes. The US plane wouldn't respond to his radio messages! It had nurses on board ( no one was hurt) and one of them turned out to be his girlfriend!

"Trip" Delay

on account of "trip" induced soreness! It seems that "trip" I took out in Van Horn has caught up with me! Frequent applications of advil have only masked the symptoms of soreness. My left rib cage is bruised pretty badly and a cough, or worse a laugh, makes for quite a bit of pain. My hand is no longer black from bruising and I can move my thumb. As I sleep on my side a nights rest isn't too much fun either! So I've decided to take a day and do little of nothing and see if that gives my body a little time to heal. I'm in Tucson and it is full of great places to eat- I went straight to Leruas for green corn tamales when I got in yesterday afternoon. I believe going out for a meal balanced with plenty of naps and feet up time should be just what the doctor ordered! My only regret ( offset by all the food choices) is that I'm not doing this up in the Chirachua mountains next to a stream on the tall grass in the sun!

 

 

left click to view image larger

And Here

is that picture! I guess its worth the soreness.

To Live is to fly

Both Low and high
So Wipe the dust off your wings
And the Tears out of your eyes!
            Townes Van Zandt

I stopped on my way west in Van Horn, Texas just before sunset to see what I might see! And there were the Sierra Diablo mountains, wonderfully side lit by the setting sun. Rising in front of them about 50  feet off the road were the SP train tracks on top of a 10-12 foot embankment and the sun gleaming off the rails! I walked over to the embankment and started up to get just the right angle. Did I mention that the embankment rose at 60 degree angle? About halfway up my body started to lean backward! Thinking fast I turned around and started back down,, FAST, too fast! Two steps and I was running to keep from falling, one more and the Dust was gone from my wings and I was FLYING! I reached level ground and not surprisingly found that my feet were unable to keep up with the speed my body had reached. Gravity decided even quicker than my lightning fast mind that it was time to very ungracefully visit the earth head first. So I did. My photographers instinct took over and held the camera in the air until the last minute, saving it from serious damage. As I lay there hoping nothing was broken and trying to get my breath back all the dogs in Van Horn started barking and I expected them to be over me any second to finish me off! But they didn't and I picked my self up very slowly and headed back up the embankment to GET MY PICTURE! And I did! ( Picture to come later) Those tears, well it wouldn't surprise me if my body doesn't reward me with enough soreness to bring the tears tomorrow morning when I wake up!

Here it is March!

and we're are still having freezing temps, some icing, and now next week forecasts show a chance for snow! Nothing at all as serious as the North East is having or as they have in upper Minnesota every year. Still, a late winter for us! I cant get any porch time in! ( in jest- but I do seem to have less tolerance for colder weather)