A Life in Snippets

Pretty decorations on the upper balcony of Camarones.

Leaving Phoenix.

It was too cloudy to take photos of New Orleans from the sky.

New Orleans Superdome, as we zipped by in the taxi.

The front doors of our hotel. (Which were broken.)

First sight of the Lobby.

My hotel room door.

Now for a quick tour of the hotel room.

And a bit more of the hotel outside my room.

Sitting area next to the elevators.

Fresh flowers in the hotel lobby.

Exterior of hotel.

I interrupt our regular programming to bring you a video from my bellydance performance.

I've been processing photos from my photowalks back in January! Yes, I really am that far behind!

This photo is from a park not fifteen minutes from my house. Weird to think that this area is actually surrounded by concrete, freeways, and houses. I do live in the fifth largest city in the US (by population).

The guy on the second horse was actually playing a harmonica! It was a a real old west moment for me! I asked them if I could take their picture. I think they liked that.

This valley is where the wild poppies bloom. They don't bloom every year, only every five to seven. We've gotten so much rain this year, that I'm really hoping they will bloom. I went on this photowalk to take some "before" type photos, hoping I'll get some afters later in the season. The line that is across the photo, between the dark hill in the midground, and the hills in the background, is one of the major freeways of the city. I like this park, because the hills block the view of the city, and it feels like you are out somewhere distant.

Motivationally speaking, I have a hard time taking desert photos. The colors are so washed out, and the vegetation is so sparse. Not much to inspire me. Though I have to laugh, because ahurimoo keeps saying how she isn't inspired by her winter photos (for similar reasons), and I go gaga over them whenever she posts them. So maybe someone will find my desert pics inspiring and wondrous for the glimpse of a different place they offer. So to speak, anyway. Right outside my front door is concrete and asphalt, and cookie cutter homes that look just like mine. But that's not a very inspiring photo, either. Unless it's pouring rain in the middle of the night, then I like to snap a few shots.

Today is our third day in a row of rain. This is extremely unusual. I live in a desert, after all. Looks like it is going to be a green spring this year. This is also rare. We only get green springs about every five years or so. I did take a photo of the rain clouds moving in.

It's official, and I'm a bit crushed about it, but my peach is dead. There are no buds this year. This past summer was particularly hard on my plants, and when the peach leaves turned brown I was worried. I did so hope that it had some last grasp of life and would come alive again this spring, but alas and alack, it is not so.

Here is my sad, scraggly little yard. It needs a lot of loving care, and there are just no yard work people in this house! Looks like I'll have to muster myself up to it this coming season, because a green spring means the weeds will go crazy. Desert weeds, they grow damn fast. They can get to be a foot tall in just a week, or something like that.

My African Daisies are coming up. They will really like this rain. I forgot to seed them this year, so I'm glad to see some obviously seeded naturally from last year's crop. They are still tiny, I think these are only about three inches tall. I took this photo just as the first raindrops were beginning to fall, but I knew I'd want to show them just started out, and the forecast was for rain for days, so I had to get out there.