When I was at the Desert Botanical Garden last Sunday, I encountered lots and lots of quail scurrying around. In fact, the one to the left walked right up to me. When I snapped that quick photo, she was literally six inches from my foot.
This chubby fellow found a spot of sunshine to warm up those feathers. They were all very friendly, following me along the trail and periodically running toward me. I had a great time visiting with them.
This was right before sunrise so the colors in these photos are quite muted.
One day last week, I was asked to join my work supervisor at our office in east Phoenix. This is the building with the fabulous view looking toward Tovrea Castle and Camelback Mountain. The city of Phoenix owns all the land around Tovrea Castle so the view stays wide open.
However, there are other obstructions. Power lines run across the sky and the light rail trains run just below along the street. But still, you have to admit that is some view!
I looked at my old posts and it's hard to believe that it's been 3 years since I was last in this office. I posted about that visit in 2022.
Some of you might also remember that I volunteered on the work the city did to get the Castle open to the public. That was way back in 2011 and 2012. I can't believe it's been that long. If you click the Tovrea Castle label, you can see all those older posts.
On Sunday I took another early morning walk at the Desert Botanical Garden. I arrived before the sun was up and made my way up to the high point to watch it appear over the mountains to the east of Phoenix.
I love how that early morning light makes the buttes around the garden glow a deep shade of red.
I also like how the sun was peeking through the arms of an organ-pipe cactus.
It was a perfect morning for a long walk. The temperature was around 74 and it felt good to be out doors.
Have you noticed that the signs of fall are starting to show up? For us in the desert, the signs don't come from temperature. We see the signs in our local retail outlets.
These very 'warty' pumpkins were in front of my local Whole Foods store. The sign said they were "goblin pumpkins". I have no idea if they are edible.
They did have some smooth-skinned pumpkins too but, the ones with all the warts really caught my eye.
Of course, when I went walking at the Desert Botanical Garden last Sunday, I couldn't resist a photo or two of the pretty desert rose blooms.
We probably have another month or so of enjoying them before they go inside the greenhouse to protect them from any overnight winter freezes.
I didn't know all of that when I snapped the photo. However, after snapping the photo, I saw something strange sitting on that ledge to the right.
I wonder if this was someone's idea of artistic expression. It's every bit as interesting as some of the strange pieces of "art" I've seen in a few museums.
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What do you think? A candidate for the Tate Modern?
I have another post from my London trip today. When I visited the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, I found this interesting artwork located in the center of the Fountain Court. It depicted a woman sleeping inside this glass box and was complete with breathing sounds and dreamlike music.
I did some research to find out more about this artwork and learned that it was part of 25th anniversary celebration and is called either "The Spell" or "The Dream". The artist is Tai Shani.
I took this close-up shot to see the sleeping lady's face. Here is a quote describing the piece: "Drawing on fairytale archetypes of enchanted sleep, the work comments on society's 'curse' of capitalism and necessity of imagining new ways of being". Interesting idea.
One of my favorite birds to observe is the cactus wren and this one posed for me last Sunday morning so I could get this photo. Cactus wrens are always busy foraging on the ground or inside the tangle of of thorns of a cactus. I was actually watching a group of quail when I turned and spotted this fellow sitting atop a cactus with the early morning light shining on it. It was in a perfect position to get a great profile shot.
I went to the Desert Botanical Garden early Sunday morning and encountered two very large patches of datura blooming with their distinctive white trumpet-shaped flowers. I had never seen such large patches of the plant before.
The patches of blooms were making the bees very happy. Both sites were covered with bees of all sizes enjoying the blooms.
I was curious as to whether any of the poisonous effects of this plant can transfer to the honey produced by the bees. According to my research, it wouldn't be of high enough concentration to cause any ill effects. Phew!
This is a mural I photographed last month when Steve and I went to see the V & A Storehouse in Hackney Wick, east London. We saw lots of colorful murals on the walk to storehouse. Steve posted some of them here.
This one appears to be the work of multiple artists. There are so many different styles and concepts happening in this mural. A couple of the images (upper right and left) have the look of some of the Edward Gorey characters.
Taking part in Monday Murals.
I did learn something new from yesterday's electrical outage event. Have you ever wondered how they put those very heavy steel plates over the construction trenches on our roadways? I found out watching this process take place. They use a big robot machine resembling a dinosaur. They pick up the steel plate with what looks like a magnet.
Then they swing it into place using some kind of remote control device. That man in the lower right of this photo is operating the control.
After it's in place, the man with the remote folds up the robot while the other two workers put down some sealing asphalt around the edges of the plate.
The guy operating the robot packs it up and drives away. It's an interesting operation requiring a lot of heavy equipment that must cost a lot of money. I'd say they would be wise to get this issue fixed soon before it costs more money.
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I only found one of the wonderful Gille and Marc sculptures on this trip to London. You might remember that I found several of them when I was there in 2023. This one was great with all the wild animals jumping on a very long scooter together.
This display was all about endangered species and supporting a project called Go Wildlife Go. Sounds like a worthy cause.
When I was exploring Canary Wharf in London, I encountered these very green people living in the various gardens between all those tall buildings.
The two above were the first two I spotted, then I started seeing them in other locations.
They were very quiet people so I let them go about their "growing" business. I learned they are part of a living art installation called Nature Rising. There are 21 humanoid figures but I only saw a few. They are made of moss and dried flowers. It's an interesting art project. I wonder how they will fare in winter.
On Monday evening, a storm passed through the Phoenix area with some heavy winds and wonderful rain. All those clouds roiling around help create a great sunset.
I wondered what I was seeing hanging from that open window. I zoomed in and saw that a bird feeder was hanging from the window and two lovely, green parakeets were feasting on those seeds.
That same evening when I was near the restaurant, I spotted this cute fellow observing what was happening below him from a balcony.
To see other bloggers Vanishing Points, click here.
I made it home safe and mostly sound. The long flight and strange hours has me feeling a little dazed at the moment. Since I don't have anything new to report from the Phoenix area, I thought I post a few photos I took over the past two weeks of the beautiful flowers I saw everywhere in London.
Because of our extreme heat here in the desert, we don't see flowers at every turn.
In London, they are everywhere.
I will certainly miss seeing so many all around me.
