More exploring:

Yes there is water in AZ.  Was trying to find an area to get a picture of the super duper moon last month and thought a bridge east of town would be a great spot.  Got the moon rise time wrong.  But discovered that a mini imitation of the Paris bridge lovers locks. 

I did eventually get a picture of the moon.  Tried again the next morning and again didn't check the time of the moon setting but enjoyed the dawn of morning. 

 Not as spectacular as previous sites.

Introducing another peep to geocaching.  This was our 2nd cache and it was a bit of a chore to find, micro cache.  The first one was easy and out 3rd one we didn't get even close as we heard a swarm of bees between us and the cache.

 After a lovely lunch we went exploring an area that last week had a fire and we found fall.  The rest of the country is experiencing winter we are seeing the brillant fall colors.

My eagle-eyed companion spotted this woodpecker doing its thing in the midst of a recently burned cacti.

 Working on some more black and white paintings.

 

2013 trip to Bend, Oregon.  Throughout the city are roundabouts with different sculptures in the center, not always easy to get a picture as you can't always stop.

And there were going away parties...

There was a skit of Kevin & Cindy's life, dancing, food and fun.

And Simon says dancing!

Whether you were a part of the dancing or just watching, it was great entertainment!

 Candid shots also yielded great shots...

 Mt Lemon, Arizona

This shot seemed to have all the cacti from the area all in one spot, not sure if they all bloom at the same time or not but if they do would be a great shot.

The views on the drive up are incredible.

Rock outcroppings and lots of vegetation to add color and texture to the striped rocks.

Yes, there is autumn in Arizona, you just have to go high.  Elevation at the top is 8,000 and quite a bit cooler than Tucson.

 So many mountain ranges here.

Rocks form so many interesting sights.

Not sure when I turned Orange but not liking this at all!

Art...it certainly is in the eye of the beholder.  Watching tv programs like "Love it or List it" and "Property Brothers" I amazed at the art that is hung.  Having a personality that is more black and white/realistic the paintings that are more abstract seem to be beyond my understanding.

The more "doodling" I do in connection with therapy the more I understand the works of Salvador Dali.

In attempts to develop my technique, here is some of my works:

Loved the way that the fencing came out on this one.  A youtube.com how to video.


This one is also a youtube.com how to video.

I had my camera on a black and white setting with 1 color highlighted before noticing and the picture below is what turned out.  Really like it, hmmm.

 Deserts are a lot of details, painted it in black and white with a little burnt umber and it was a bit of a challenge.    The stump in the above turned out really well, IMO.


 Also black and white paintings, I am pretty happy with it.

Lightning

Much to my grumbling resistance after being awaken by thunder and lightning I crawled out of bed at 5:45 am because I had yet been able to catch lightning on film and the opportunities were closing with the end of monsoon season.  Headed to the outskirts of town so I wasn't right under the storm and turned on the video (there was little chance that clicking was going to capture what I wanted since it hadn't worked to date).

An interesting sight was captured shown by these back to back frames.  There was a band of light that showed up horizontally.  Not sure if it is a photographic phenomenon or a result of the lightning.

 Double rainbow appeared.

 Sunrises during a thunderstorm are always interesting.





The breaks in the storm make for spectacular views too.

Through the raindrop speckled window.

More exploring...

Headed out to who know's where yesterday, choice between Nutrioso, AZ or the Chiricahua National Monument.  What, you say?  You've never heard of Nutrioso, AZ?  Or if you have heard of it maybe you are asking why I would think of going there.

The reason I know of Nutrioso, AZ has to do with the morning news, specifically the weather report.  In the list of cities showing the temperatures it lists Nutrioso, AZ and the temperatures are quite a bit lower than elsewhere.  Thinking it must be up in the mountains I looked it up on google maps.

7,671 ft is the elevation, the population though is 26 according to the 2010 census.  Why exactly would this little place merit mention on the list of weather cities?  I don't know and that is why I thought of going there.  Being an almost 5 hour drive and having got a late start I decided to go the Chiricahua National Monument even though I had been there before. 

Off I went, to the top and back down, here are the pictures:

 I didn't see this face until at home looking at the pictures on the computer.  Happy little accident.

  

I feel an odd connection with these rocks.  To get to the park required a long drive and traversing many mountains barricading to get to these rocks hidden in the center.  They are fractured and yet standing.  Yes, these rocks mirror my soul.




Not satisfied with my exploration I decided to take the road that goes from the park over to Portal, AZ.  Five years ago it wasn't open due to the recent fire and danger of flooding (it was mid Monsoon season).   This time it was open.  The distance is 24.5 miles over a dirt road.  Well at  15-25 MPH that is a really long drive I came to find out.  At this time of year its not in bad condition but with 360 turns and really steep declines it is not a quick trip. 

Fires had really opened up things and there were lots of flowers and grass and lots of deer.

 The deer here are in beautiful condition, very healthy looking.  Nice buck below, almost didn't get him.

There has been a lot of haze thee last couple of days, hard to see the distance clearly.

Another one of those happy accidents, didn't notice the limbs forming a frame around the rock I was shooting.

 Beautiful area, even creeks with water in them.   Pinery Canyon Road also known on Forest Road 42 was worth the drive.

The ensuing events of a flat tire and the search to find some place to fix it since those worthless spare tires are...well, worthless was another story.  Thanks to a very kind couple and their chocolate lab for stopping and changing my tire and a great tire repair guy, Jesus Gandarilla East 2 West Towing & Repair in Lordsburg, NM for fixing my tire so I could get home.  352-262-5108 if you are in need of assistance.