Category: Street & Travel

X Marks the Spot

Shadows fall on a wooden X adorned with ribbons in Scottsdale, Arizona on December 29, 2024. Original: _A678172.ARW

Bear and I pay our respects at the grave of someone who was important or at least well-loved, given the many colorful ribbons on their marker. They must have died long ago as this area is surrounded by subdivisions now. Perhaps someone who got rather lost trying to find the Oregon Trail. Perhaps a member of the Donner Party who was lucky enough to be spared the arduous journey through someone’s bowels.

The Wandering Tank

A close-up of graffiti and rust on an old water tank in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 6, 2024. Original: _ZFC8964.ARW

A close-up of the old water tank out in the preserve, decorated by Mother Nature and human nature. I don’t know if it was left there as a nod to the area’s past or if it’s deemed too difficult and damaging to the desert to remove. I don’t think it’s that hard though, one of the decorations is from a bike hotel in Canada so clearly the tank is sneaking out at night and wandering the world. Set up a trail camera to see when it leaves, spring a trap when it returns, problem solved!

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50 DX
🗓️: January 6, 2024

Where There’s Smoke

A distant view of firefighters walking through smoke in the desert in Scottsdale, Arizona. Original: _A671981.ARW

Last weekend as I drove Bear home from our hike I saw smoke in the distant foothills. At home I could see through my long lens that the firefighters had it under control, yet another fire started by new home construction. Usually they’e put out pretty quickly but last year one got out of control and burned a swath of the desert.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: May 11, 2024

The Fallen

A fallen tree lies along Vickery Creek in Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Roswell, Georgia

I took the Christmas tree down today and post this picture of a fallen tree in memory of Emma & The Tree She Loved Too Much. Perhaps old age or disease or storm damage felled this one but I wouldn’t be too surprised if there’s a black panther haunting Vickery Creek that loved to sleep high in its branches and one night made it a little too top heavy for its base to support.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50 DX
🗓️: February 2, 2024

The Old Man and the C’s

A close-up of four horseshoes at the edge of the parking lot for horse trailers at Granite Mountain in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on January 9, 2024. Origina: _Z721039.NEF

I’m a big fan of public art, even if it’s very much with a lowercase ‘a’, even if it’s just a bit of whimsy. This photograph is me feeling playful at the end of a wonderful walk with Bear at Granite Mountain, I love how they lined the parking area for horse trailers with old horseshoes. Perhaps they’ll regret it down the road if it makes it more expensive to resurface the lot, but I like the reminder that not everything – and everyone – needs to be some flavor of beige.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-200mm
🗓️: January 9, 2024