Chihuly in the Desert

I haven't yet shared some of what we saw on our trip to Arizona. (though you may have seen some of these on my Facebook page.)

Karen went all out to entertain us with a hike or expedition each day.

There was an installation of Dale Chihuly glass at the Desert Botanical Garden. This would be the most colorful of our outings, though all were equally as interesting.

 

Snow Rollers (look below for my COLD post)

Tom posted some snow rollers for his cold post.  He has some great images of them as they are created by the wind blowing across the snow.

I have not seen them created this way, but the same structures are created by the snow rolling down the slope in avalanche prone areas in the mountains.

 We moved through that area  quickly--didn't want to be downhill of the main event if it occurred

 

COLD!

Cold! Yes, that's what I have all right. Runny/stuffy nose, red eyes, sneezing, coughing and all that.

Oh, but that's not what the them of "Cold" is supposed to be about, though if  picture of myself with a cold would not be so dreadfully unflattering, I would post it as my header for this week. I'm not the least bit vain.

You wouldn't have thought that our vacation in Arizona in winter would have been cold. It wasn't, for the most part. But the day we went to Fountain Hills for the Chinese Lantern Festival it was downright chilly.

But let's get down to some real cold. The festival was cold because we were not expecting it. When you are prepared, then the cold can be fun.

So let's go to our favorite place for cold weather fun--Mt. Rainier.

First of all, a couple of waterfalls. This one is on the east slope of the Naches Loop Trail. We hiked it this last summer and saw this waterfall:

which we had also seen when we did the same trail a few years ago in November:

And Narada Falls looks a bit different in the two seasons.

The plants high on the mountain adapt themselves to sometimes frigid temperatures. Look how the lupine leaves handle the frozen dew (this was taken in August.)

 

Still pondering which of my cold images will make the header this week. I had first thought this bit of ice on the Nisqually River. I may come back to it.

 ...or these icicles. I'm still looking. You will see soon.

Some of my headbanger colleagues are locked in the winter blasts that are hovering over the Eastern US. That perhaps was the inspiration for Lew proposing this theme.  You can see what they did with it by clicking their links in my sidebar.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was looking for some enormous icicles, and the frosted barbed wire. But finally settled on the iced over pond near our son's home in Spokane for the header. It really looks cold, but we had on our boots, snowpants, gloves and hats. It's all in being prepared.

Er--Let's not go there.

Headbangers are each doing their own thing this week.

I think my theme is TODAY. 

What does this image have to do with TODAY? 

Well, we are in Arizona and we went hiking here today.

And today I am working with my traveling computer which has limited photo-editing--or maybe it is not limited and it is just my knowledge of the machine and its possibilities and my unwillingness to learn more about it. But it is tiny, and takes up next to no space or weight in the luggage.

It is also limited in that it is not hooked up to my photo files which are at home in Washington.

 Did you know that saguaro cactus are 70 years old before they grow their first arm? (Is it a coincidence that we came to Arizona to celebrate my husband's 70th birthday?) These cacti must be real old-timers.

And they can grow VERY VERY tall.

There was some mention of including a header from the past in the post. I looked through the collection and decided that this one is the most appropriate for the week. It is from about this time last year. The theme was Skyline, and the competition took place on Ranney's actual birthday.

We expect to get some snowshoeing in next month. We continue to do everything we can to enjoy our favorite activities between rounds of doctor visits and within the limits of energy that his cancer imposes. This includes travel, hiking, family, and volunteer work.

The other headbangers are doing THEIR own thing in their blogs linked near the top of my sidebar. Drop by and see what they are up to.

Wild Animals

Wild Animals? Oh, Christine you have unleashed a monster. Don't you know that I live in the Wild West, hike, and love to travel?

Christine has given us the theme of "Wild Animals" for this week's header challenge. Well may the others in our little cadre of competitors come up with some great critters, but they probably will not have come from as far flung as mine. You can find their choices from the links in my sidebar.

Just to the left of the tree to the left of the redhead--there--do you see them?
ELEPHANTS

No?

Well, those little lumps on the ridge are elephants--a delightful treat on a cruise on Lake Periyar in Periyar National park and Tiger Reserve in India. Ah well, we did not see any tigers--I've only seen tigers in the zoo and featured one when we did "Boxes" a few weeks ago.

I've been to zoos in, let's see, four countries, and national parks in seven. I did say I travel, right? Or at least I have in the past been privileged to do so.

The mama monkey and her baby were at a Hindu temple we visited.

Back at home we have spent much time in our closest National Park, Mt. Rainier, where this marmot was curious about who we might be. These guys come out of hibernation skinny in the spring and eat, eat, eat, and then eat some more so that they will be nice and fat for their next winter's nap.

 On one hike about five years ago we rounded a bend and encountered this young chap. What a delight. We hadn't seen one in the park for nearly 30 years. We've seen lots since.

 This American White Pelican we saw at Pelican Bay when we cabinned at Crescent Lake in Idaho. We have a flock of them that summer here in the Yakima Valley, and it is a wonder to watch them as they fly in formation.

Are Scottish frogs friendlier than those in other locations? 

In Denali National Park this Grizzly was on his way away. That was fine with me.

 I was less concerned about these Dall Sheep, though I wouldn't want to get in the way of those horns.

 

Or this moose.    Of course all three were photographed from the bus.

Our whale watching tour out of Juneau gave us sights of some of the largest of wild critters.

 Alas the tallest and my favorites I've seen only at zoos--in fact I had the chance to feed one a few years ago at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. It was a birthday present.


Oh, yes, my camera! it's not one of the fanciest, but I fancy the awesome zoom lens that is one of its features.

Would I come so close to these wild critters otherwise?



The giraffe and the gorilla were in San Francisco.

 

 
 
These guys were all in Phoenix. (Love the Meer cats!)

I chose this Alaska Brown Bear from the Alaska Wildlife Center for the header. That he is rescued and rehabilitated does not make him any less wild.

 

And so, for now, I'll go, good bye.

 

 

 

Rushed Reflections

I was rushed this week--no one's fault but my own--and should have looked back in my files for a multi-reflection with people. This one, the very first image I took with my cell phone in December 2011. That phone does not have a way to get the image off, so I had to text it to my daughter, who then e-mailed it to me. It was taken in the corner mirror of the restroom in the restaurant where we were eating.

 

Multi-Reflection with People

Don't do this with a flash if your car is dirty.

It works much better without.

Of course, washing the car would be another option.



 

Don't do this in a hurry or you will not get the best of results.

Multi Reflection


Don't do it with flash if you are shooting into a mirror.
 

There is a person in the reflection, but it isn't multi.

Some other less than perfect results from hurry.

too much noise, no person



Too dark for reflection--don't shoot while driving--I missed the mountain silhouette anyway.

But I have to settle for something and my time is running out.

Mac gave us a challenge this week and I have dropped the ball by taking some rushed images. See how the others did with the links on my sidebar.

Ideal Weather

Out Header Challenge theme is Ideal Weather.

Well, at the moment there are few places on earth experiencing ideal weather. Storms, record low temperatures, icy roads. Today many local school districts had delayed starts because of the weather.

I had been at the church late this afternoon (Tuesday) preparing for the evening's classes and started getting texts from the volunteers. Are we having class tonight? Well, yes, didn't I text you yesterday to remind you that we were starting up again this week? But what about this weather?

Weather? What is it doing? It was raining a bit when I came in an hour earlier, and you don't get much view from my basement office.

Sure enough. The bit of rain had turned to freezing rain and snow. We cancelled classes and had parents take kids home as they arrived. No need to have them have to come out in icy conditions twice.

Tomorrow (Wednesday's) lab, doctor, and chemo appointment in Yakima is an early one. We will allow at least time and a half of normal travel time, but if the school districts between here and Yakima are on a delayed schedule, we will call North Star Lodge (cancer center) to get a reschedule.

Ideal weather depends on your plans. This weather is ideal for curling up with a good book.

On this day last July, the weather was ideal to hike the Naches Loop Trail.

 But a good December or January day of snowshoeing looks more like this.

Our Headbanger group sets a challenge each week and vote among ourselves as to who has best captured the spirit of the theme. This week's "Ideal Weather" was proposed by Craver VII. You will find his link and the others in my sidebar.

It's All New!

It's a New Year.

And it's a new moon.

Not only is it a new moon to start the new year, but it is also a supermoon--one of the times of the year when the moon is closest to the earth.

This would be especially cool if you could actually see it.

The new moon is barely visible because it rises with the sun and sets with the sun, and there is not much of it to see because  it is such a slim sliver of visible reflected light.

And it is not visible at all today because it is so darn FOGGY!!

So I am presenting these shots of a crescent moon taken a couple of years ago. It is about as close a shot as I can come up with of a new moon. A few days after (or was it before) the moon is truly new.

And since Tom gave us the theme "It's All New!" I usher in the new year with the new (or only slightly used) moon.