“Live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece.” — Dale West
“When a good man is hurt, all who would be called good must suffer with him.” — Euripides
“Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.” — Jim Rohn
“I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: ‘O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.’ And God granted it.” — Voltaire
As most people can imagine, there isn’t too much in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona that would innately remind the casual visitor of the overall Christmas/Winter Holiday Season. It does get cool during the late fall and winter evenings. We hit temperatures in the forties many nights during the end of November and through December. We can also get more rain this time of year, but generally not as much as January.
So residents of the Phoenix area use their creativity to devise ways of decorating for the winter holidays.
Here is a photograph of a variegated agave we had in our landscape at one time. The plant has thick leaves with sharp edges and each leaf has a sharp point on the end. That is how it survives in the desert. Without all those sharp edges and points, it would be eaten to death by rabbits, javelinas and other denizens.
People have discovered that those sharp tips at the ends of the leaves have another good use!
Gold colored Christmas balls create a crown-like appearance on top of this agave in the front yard. They play well against the green of the agave and the rest of the residential desert landscape.
If solid gold is too regal for you and you want more of a standard Christmas color scheme, a variety of colors would work just as well.
The increased color palette (above) plays well with other holiday ornaments such as the foreground cactus with Santa hat.
Instead of plain poinsettias, how about faux poinsettia leaves attached to the branches of the Ocotillo?
(BTW – If you want to see what an Ocotillo looks like during the active growing season with leaves and without fake ornamentation, click HERE)
For a more subtle spot decoration, smaller colorful Christmas balls can be uniquely placed in planters.
As we worked our way up the trail, we arrived at a point where the tree line thinned and because of the altitude the trees that remained were not quite as tall in many places. As we rounded part of the trail, the top of Sentinel Dome came into view. While Yosemite has many domes, Sentinel Dome had a very round shape while others, like Lembert Dome, were only round-ish.
That rounded mound of Sentinel Dome looks relatively close in this photo, but was a fair distance off and of course hikers need to stay on the designated trail which wasn’t a straight line forward, but circuitous. Tomorrow’s post will proffer some indication of just how far away we were when I took this photograph.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 159 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 0344.NEF
Capture time: 11:26:24 AM
Capture date: June 9, 2016
Exposure: 1/80 sec @ f/18
Focal Length: 18mm
ISO 100
Nikon D3300
“When an elephant is in trouble even a frog will kick him.” — Hindu Proverb
“I feel I can talk with more authority, especially when I say, ‘I don’t know.’” — Peter Ustinov
“A belief is not merely an idea the mind possesses; it is an idea that possesses the mind.” — Robert Oxton Bolt
“The one prediction that never comes true is, “You’ll thank me for telling you this.” — Judith Martin
The picture above provides some indication of the general aspect of the Sentinel Dome Trail. When climbing to an elevated view, one should expect that the trail would lead upward and it certainly did. There were times when the trail would taper off a bit, but it is basically uphill all the way. I wouldn’t say it was strenuous, but as this shot shows, there is some rock scrambling along the way.
As yesterday’s post indicated, there were wildflowers along the trail and they would provide a good excuse to pause and catch our breath as we examined the floral beauties. Although this is a bit of a traipse at times, the vistas and wonders to be seen are well worth the effort if you are fit for uphill hiking.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 158 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 3560.JPG
Capture time: 11:22:02 AM
Capture date: June 9, 2016
Exposure: 1/800 sec @ f/4
Focal Length: 6mm
ISO 80
Canon PowerShot A590 IS
As a pickleball Ambassador for North Phoenix, Arizona, I am privy to much information that is shared among the various ambassadors via the USAPA Pickleball Ambassador’s Forum. In a recent posting some information was disseminated that I think would be of interest to the pickleball community at large.
When we are playing pickleball and all players are standing just behind the boundaries of the non-volley zone, we are only about fourteen or fifteen feet apart. If there is a heated volley exchange, that ball can come flying by pretty fast. Did you ever wonder how fast that ball is traveling when it whizzes toward you?!
Well, a couple of USAPA Ambassadors have done some research based on speed tests using a radar gun and here are the speeds of balls in various sports.
**NOTE** All numbers presented are MAXIMUMS. Obviously, the ball could be hit with less power and thus be slower.
Pickleball
How About Other Sports?
**NOTE** – A baseball can be thrown more than 90 mph, but the distance between the batter and the pitcher is 60.5ft. This would allow a reaction time of nearly half a second at the faster speeds.
“Live with wolves, and you learn to howl.” — Danish Proverb
“There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats.” — Albert Schweitzer
“Those who serve arrogance as their main course will eat humble pie for dessert.” — Frank Sonnenberg
“If I had my way, any man guilty of golf would be ineligible for any office of trust in the United States.” — H.L. Mencken
As a photography enthusiast, I follow a number of professional photographers via their blogs. One such photographer is Australian-based Gina Milicia. Not only is Gina a wonderful photographer and podcaster, she also appreciates quotes.
“I told the universe (and anyone who would listen) that I was committed to living a creative life not in order to save the world, not as an act of protest, not to become famous, not to gain entrance to the canon, not to challenge the system, not to show the bastards, not to prove to my family that I was worthy, not as a form of deep therapeutic emotional catharsis … but simply because I liked it.”– Elizabeth Gilbert
I am fairly certain this is from Giblert’s book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.
I heartily recommend Big Magic to anyone who has the least bit of creative inkling in their bones. It will change the way you think about creating and about life.
ALSO…if you haven’t visited Gina Milicia’s website and you are interested in photography, I can recommend that as well. I have listened to a good number of her podcasts and I admire her not only for her skill, but for her willingness to share her expertise with the wider photography community. Even if you are not a professional photographer, there is a lot to learn by subscribing to her newsletter and/or keeping up with her blog.
This somewhat dainty plant was abundant during our late Spring, 2016 visit to Yosemite. It is most likely Spreading Phlox (Phlox diffusa). The color of the phlox ranged from light purple or pink to very pale renditions of both bordering on near white.
We would often come across pockets of phlox clusters separated by only a few feet which sometimes looked as though someone had strewn beautiful bouquets along our path. I hope all the hikers took time to appreciate the beautiful display.
Do you have a question about our visit to Yosemite? Ask it in the comment section.
See previous Year of Yosemite (YOY) posts HERE. If you want to read the introduction to the YOY series, CLICK HERE.
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Meta Data – Day 157 YOY – Year of Yosemite
File Name: 0341.NEF
Capture time: 11:03:27 AM
Capture date: June 9, 2016
Exposure: 1/60 sec @ f/18
Focal Length: 42mm
ISO 140
Nikon D3300
“If ya ain’t got it in ya, ya can’t blow it out.” — Louis Armstrong
“When you choose the behavior, you choose the consequences.” — Dr. Phillip McGraw
“The world makes way for a person who knows where they are going. [ed]” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth.” — Erma Bombeck