Thing of Purpose

Sunday was a sunny day with a fresh breeze: a good drying day, so we resolved that after the weekly laundry was finished we would return to Confluence Park and try to reach the actual confluence this time. We had a weed whacking crew in earlier this week in an attempt to preempt the growth of the tumbleweed that overwhelmed the yard last year and the Asian pear appears to be thriving. Any identification of living organisms offered here are strictly on the understanding that as Ben Jonson might have said, 'He has small biology, less ornithology, negligible botany, and no zoology', but definitely without intending it as a compliment. Feel free to pity, abuse, and correct me over these shortcomings. Knowledgeable critics are the most welcome and encouraged. Arriving at the trailhead, when looking through the camera at this inclined outcrop, I became unsteady. As far as I can tell the image is vertical, but that should have served as a warning. Later in the day as I was getti...

The clear air and bright sunlight of a high desert at our latitudes is a mixed blessing: colors are usually deeply saturated, but the contrast is often outside the working range of the camera sensors. When that happens, the photographic choice is loss of detail in the shadows, or blown highlights. Yesterday was an opportunity to walk the neighborhood in overcast conditions and take some photographs of the flower… and photos of fruit… and photos of berries… and a photo of a cat!  The King-cots are developing ahead of all the other fruit in the valley. I was told these berries are a Bittersweet hedge over a fence. In the autumn and winter the berries will be bright red. That is how the hedge and berries looked in October  of last year, when they were at their most colorful. Not until making this gallery did I realize what a high proportion of the flower photographs were of yellow blooms. Ah yes, the cat! The people who live in that house feed the local feral cats, which...

Yesterday, acting upon reports that the first cactuses were blooming in the purlieus of the city offices, we paid an early evening visit. The roses and those red-leaved shrubs are coming into bloom all over town. The bright orange Indian paintbrush grows widely around here, but the shy and delicate purple flower was the only example we saw. We trod carefully, but almost missed the brave little cactus that could. The display spilled out beyond the boundary fence and into the semi-natural desert landscape of the undeveloped adjacent plot. A delightful place, notwithstanding it is where we have had to go to court—just once after the collie herded a boy scout—and to pay our taxes, and a credit to whosoever maintains the gardens.   --------------------oOo-------------------- The blog author almost never checks emails or comments.