Catch as Catch Can

My sweet Luna & Cottonwoods.  Yarnell.

October was full of large-scale photographic trips; to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Northwestern New Mexico, and Arizona’s White Mountains.

November was a little different.  My computer crisis was a decidedly unsatisfying way to spend a couple of weeks.  Then there was El Tour de Tucson and the Through each Other’s Eyes 30^th Anniversary Exhibit.  Much as I wanted to get out and shoot, there just wasn’t much time.

There were, however, a few opportunities.

 

1920s spotting device, South Rim Grand Canyon

An out-of-town visitor is always a good excuse to indulge in a little tourism myself.  This particular friend, from Ohio, had never seen the Grand Canyon.  We had a lovely visit to Phoenix’s Desert Botanical Garden (During the Día de los Muertos celebration) and to Walnut Canyon, as well as an overnight stay at the big ditch.  I didn’t shoot a lot and most of what I did was phone snaps, but I did drag her up the road to Shoshone Point for sunrise.  We had some great walks on the rim, too.

Lake Pleasant Sunrise

I snuck away a couple of times to Lake Pleasant Regional Park, once for an overnighter.  It was quiet there, and in the dark the herd of wild burros was a little unnerving.  I hadn’t been to the lake in quite a while.  Arizona Highways ran one of my images made there in the November issue, which reminded me that this park is really close and quite pretty.

Watson Lake Moonset

My husband an I scrapped our Thanksgiving road trip because he’s concentrating on building our new house.  His blog about that is called “Where’s my Hammer,” by the way.  I considered traveling alone but decided instead to stay with him in Yarnell and do day trips.  The decision turned out to be serendipitous as another walk in the dark, this time at Watson Lake in Prescott, yielded some of my favorite images of the year.  Cottonwoods were at peak in Yarnell and Prescott about that time.  The header image of my dog and cottonwoods in Yarnell makes me smile.  I know; it’s probably a shot only a mother could love.

 

Moonrise over Downtown Los Angeles

Last weekend the whole family gathered for my Mom’s 90^th birthday in LA.  Long-time readers will remember that my sister lives in a 25^th floor condo.  I couldn’t resist getting up Sunday at 2:00 AM to see the crescent moon come up over downtown, all in my jammies.

I’ve managed to put a band-aid on this antsy-ness, but in truth I’m really looking forward to our solstice road trip.  Stay tuned.