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Desert Rain

bwlight — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:00:12 +0000

What I love about the Chicago suburbs is that there are forest preserves along many of the major highways. I love pulling over and taking a walk in the woods. (Not quite as much in the winter months though.) In these months, I go looking for some green in the desert after the recent rains. In the “Valley of the Sun,” you’ll not find forest preserves, but Sonoran Desert Preserves with easy trail access. And there I found:

Grassy Desert

Green!

We were hiking in the Cave Creek Preserve area, about thirty-five miles due north of a more well-known landmark, Camelback Mountain:

Camelback in the distance

The plant in the foreground is one of my favorite in the desert. I gasped when we came around a bend and faced a field of them! (The photo doesn’t capture just how “surrounded” you feel by these interesting plants reaching skyward.) Folks try to grow these for domestic landscape use, but they seldom seem to fare well. In the natural world after the big rain, these are looking especially lush.

Must find out what they're called

Like many varieties in the desert, they aren’t as friendly as they look though:

I’ll go back when they bloom. These will turn into what look like orange tags. They’ve got quite the flair against the green:

Quite the dramatic vegetation. Here’s another, imploring “Y!” against the bright blue sky:

Y? Because it rained! Here’s what’s left of the rain… (We’d come four days earlier and this was a running wash…it sure disappears quickly!)

Where waterfall had been!

Just a trickle remains:

Back through the wash on our way out. Most things happen slowly in the desert. Moist things disappear quickly:

Sorry I’m Out…

bwlight — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:25:41 +0000

I'm Windshield Thinking

…please visit me at windshieldthinking.wordpress.com

See you en route!

‘Tis the Season…For Hummingbirds!?

bwlight — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 06:35:45 +0000

The first holiday I ever spent in a warmer climate was: Thanksgiving, 1989 on Captiva Island in Florida. I said to myself, “hmmm, this isn’t so bad!!

This year, I spent Christmas in Phoenix and we were visited by a winged angelic creature – a hummingbird.

I used to be bummed as kid in Chicago when I got a bike or skateboard and the streets were filled with snow — that, or it’d be so cold, it’d chase the likes of me back indoors in a hurry!! In Phoenix, when you find out you’ve gotten photography lessons, you can run outside and practice for awhile with your newest lens.

Christmas flight:

wings

wings!

more wings!

green

the "usual" hummingbird photo

again

neck?

feet!

lovely.

satisfied

less than satisfied

It does get chilly here…this is frost on December 24, 2009. Tee-times delayed by hours and hours!!

Troon Golf

I know, I know…life is rough!

Happy holidays wherever you may be…

(And joking aside, “please be safe”…just finished reading msn.com about weather hazards.)

Doctor’s Orders? Breakfast and Christmas on the Fly at D.V. Aiport

bwlight — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:02:03 +0000

Christmas at Deer Valley Airport

Survived the doctor’s visit on “Bloody Basin Road” (heehee, scary!) so went for a big breakfast at Deer Valley Airport’s restaurant before finding out that we need to watch ~~cholestero~~l?

Breakfast!

Love to watch the runways:

Take-Off

Pre-flight done, this guy’s ready to taxi:

Ready to Taxi

We are ready for pie!

PIE!

OK, the doctor will be pleased to know, we skipped the dang pie! But I just love these display cases! In case you want to go:

Deer Valley Airport & Restaurant

Deer Valley Airport Restaurant

…and Merry Christmas:

Desert Winter Sunset, Moon Moves In

bwlight — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 16:13:55 +0000

December 19, 2009

Hello moon:

I’m learning to take pics and I realized there’s nothing around the moon to give it perspective. When my husband climbed the ladder to do a measurement, that’s when I saw my “frame”:

So I tried working with it:

Distance to the Moon

Without measuring:

Crossbeams, Moonbeams

What do you think?

Scottsdale Spectacular on the Lake

bwlight — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 05:05:58 +0000

McCormick Ranch, off Scottsdale Rd

You can’t miss this great light show on the east side of Scottsdale Road at the entrance to McCormick ranch…the great thing too was..

so many lights

…as I stood outside and got closer to the tree…walking on the grass toward it…what was I hearing…

inside the limbs and lights

…GEESE!! There were what appeared to be at least a hundred of them floating on the lake in the darkness. They did make themselves heard though.

Wonder if they were honking, “Merry Christmas?”

Atwood Cafe in the Hotel Burnham

bwlight — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:33:35 +0000

State Street Entrance

Gleaming floors and vintage Chicago warmth welcome you to the Hotel Burnham via the State Street entrance. Just to your left in the photo (above) are the open doors that lead you right to the Atwood Cafe where you’ll find:

Cozy Views of State Street

Afternoon sunlight spilling in from Washington Avenue

Yes, we had to wait 90 minutes (this is how we spent it), but it was worth it! (Make a reservation if you’d rather not take the scenic route to lunch!) If you love food and quotes, the menus here will bring delight:

Temptation

However, a bloody mary is only truly tempting if I can add fresh horseradish ~ and there was none available. (Note to self: pack fresh horseradish.) Kidding. I’d never admit that I would do that!

On to ordering:

Lemon poached loch duart salmon nicoise

VERY pleased with my salmon nicoise salad. It was a “big salad” as stated on the menu and the salmon was perfectly prepared. (Sometimes cooked salmon can get “fishy” on me and I love fish so it’s really off-putting when it goes so far that I don’t like it.) You’ll note the pickle and onion off to the left side – garnishments of the angus burger across the table that didn’t have a chance of being photographed! The salt-pepper fries were outstanding, too!

** I had a really tough time choosing: would love to hear if you’ve had the “crispy lobster rangoon” or the “graham cracker fried calamari”…**

We’d have ordered more main course food but it was the day after Thanksgiving and we thought we’d surely be satiated with what we’d ordered. We were pleased that we underestimated our bellies since that left room for a bit of dessert (ok, we were plenty full but the dessert menu had so many options!)

Mid-way through warm Michigan apple-walnut dumpling

I show you this dish, already slightly devoured – an homage to the aroma, the appearance of this delectable dessert – irresistible. I lost my head. The camera-phone slipped to the floor. It was the “When Harry Met Sally” Meg Ryan diner moment. Phew. Ok. You get the idea.

Peppermint always brings a girl back to her senses, so it was the white peppermint hot chocolate for me:

That IS a giant homemade marshmellow!

In the end, yes, we felt like we could leave the table with an “oink” but we came in just under the advisory of a very well known celebrity:

Pig with sage advice

The quote above is from the dessert menu and is well heeded advice, there are so many desserts here I’d like to try.

Thanks in advance for recommendations ~ OR if you haven’t tried one, which one sounds too good to pass up for next time!?

warm roasted banana-white chocolate bread pudding banana caramel	$8.00
lemon-buttermilk panna cotta summer berry compote, fresh mint	$8.00
fresh key lime tart toasted coconut crust, blackberry coulis	$8.00
summer strawberry shortcake vanilla-butter pound cake, lemon custard, chantilly cream	$8.00
fried fresh peach pies cashew brittle, bourbon sauce , vanilla bean gelato	$8.00
brown sugar cheesecake creamy butterscotch sauce	$8.00
warm tart cherry dumpling lemon curd gelato, apricot compote	$8.00
vanilla bean crème brûlée fresh raspberries	$8.00
dark chocolate soufflé cake rum zabaione, chocolate sauce	$8.00
gelato and sorbet selections vary daily	$7.00
prairie fruits farm artisan cheese plate little bloom on the prairie: Champaign, Illinois krotovina: Champaign, Illinois roxanne: Champaign, Illinois

FYI: The Atwood Cafe is located at 1 West Washington, Chicago, IL 60602

Phoenix 100 Club Tree

bwlight — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:05:58 +0000

I popped out of Chicago just in time, what with the chilly temps! I took a couple classes this past week in Phoenix and saw this little gem in an office window:

Phoenix 100 Club Office

cute

remember service professionals

sweet

Phoenix 100 Club Office

Interestingly, later that evening, I saw the front page of local paper, The Foothills Focus (Dec 9, 2009 issue), “Couple’s light show aids families of service personnel” – a story about the home of Mike & Barb Mulvenna which features over 70,000 lights and this year is accepting donations for the 100 Club. ”The 100 Club is a non-profit organization that comes to the aid of the families of police and fire personnel who are seriously injured or killed in the line-of-duty.”

The Mulvenna home is located at 505 E. Desert Ranch Rd in Phoenix and the lights run nightly from 5:30 – 10 pm until January 9, 2010.

Now, that’s bright Christmas Spirit! I’ll post pics from our future visit to see these lights!

Project Onward…Project Ornaments

bwlight — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 03:21:57 +0000

WHO?: PROJECT ONWARD, a group of talented artists on-site in an open studio, creating original artwork on ornaments.

WHAT?

ORNAMENTS!

WHEN?: There until December 19, 2009 but year-round for general artwork

All-season artwork

WHERE?: The Chicago Cultural Center – 1st floor, phone (312) 742-1445

WHY?: Beauty, special, Christmas, unique!

I picked up my ornaments and was fortunate enough to meet one of the artists: Fernando Ramirez:

Fernando and his hand-painted ornaments

Fernando told me that he can even “paint to order.” (Time permitting, of course, as the studio closes December 19 so if you want him to do a custom piece for Christmas, I’d contact him Monday!) I asked him if he could even do a portrait on an ornament and he said that he could! Otherwise, regular portraits are available by Fernando (as well as the other artists, based on availability):

And yes, only $5.00 on paper (on the ornament is additional.)

Back to the ornaments though…Fernando’s had caught my eye because he was painting nudes. There’s a long story behind this for me, but suffice to say that someone was encouraging me to pose nude for artists this past year! I appreciate the human body, the study of it and artistic development, but I’m a bit shy for this kind of gig! Anyway, I thought it would tickle this person if I got him a nude on an ornament. I thought Fernando’s work was impressive:

And, he has a sense of humor, for on the other side:

I purchased six ornaments in all, by a variety of artists:

Here are the close-ups:

According to Rob Lentz, Program Director, these creatures are the artist’s “protectors”…Mr. Lentz couldn’t recall the name of the lion but the hawk is Hank:

I like having protectors around

Here’s one by Winnie:

Here’s another ornament, not sure of the artist as it wasn’t indicated:

(Gee, I mean, that’s just one ornament!)

And if you’re waxing more traditional:

The candy-cane artist is “J.H.” I’m thinking it’s James Hall (as he’s the only J.H. from the website, but I shall find out for certain!)

And we round out the group with a trip back to Fernando:

The ornaments I purchased ranged in price from $5 to $25. Does anyone else think this is a tremendous amount of talent and value for such beautiful work!?

Remember, even if you miss out on holiday art, there’s the all-season artwork and I did see MANY works in progress!

All-season artwork

There’s one artist, James Allen, who specializes in trains (I really like trains). I believe the kitties above were done by George Zuniga. Here again is the main link because you can click on artist’s names on the page.

In summary:

“The mission of Project Onward is to support the creative growth of visual artists with mental and developmental disabilities. Project Onward provides studio space, art supplies, and professional guidance to emerging artists in a communal workshop environment…”

Excerpt from “Mission” on pamphlet

: “Project Onward” Tree, studio at Chicago Cultural Center

Share the beauty!

Christmas Flies at Midway Airport

bwlight — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:18:03 +0000

Christmas flies at Midway Airport

En route to A-gates, I spotted this cute little tree off to my left. Christmas and a white picket fence!