August

Crepuscular Rays from North Timp Point, Kaibab Forest Arizona

It's been a minute.  

Here's a little update on thoughts and journeys for August.

When I lived in the desert, I called this the least wonderful month of the year.  Here in the high country of Southern Yavapai County, Arizona, the weather is not so bad.  We've had robust monsoon storms and things are green and blooming.  Most nights we can sleep with the windows open, cool the house, and avoid that months-long-canned-air feeling I remember from relentless air conditioning.

Arizona Poppies near Kirkland Arizona

Speaking of blooming, I got a tip early in the month from some neighbors about a carpet of orange flowers off State Route 89 a few miles north. I love to follow up on those "you've got to go take a picture of this" conversations.  It turns out they were summer poppies, or Arizona poppies.  To the casual observer they look like the poppies we see in the desert in March, but they're actually unrelated.  I crawled under the barbed wire and did some contortions to conceal the nearby highway in the images.

Aspen Sunrise, North Kaibab Forest Arizona

Then it was back to the North Kaibab Forest, getting back into the swing of camping alone.  It's much quieter up there, perhaps because school has started or perhaps (dare we hope?) camping is no longer the latest trend.  In any case, I hardly saw anyone; the introvert's dream.  There were lots of what has come to be called 'intimate landscape' shots, including mushrooms everywhere.  I also was able to witness the amazing sunset on the header image from North Timp Viewpoint and to return to a favorite aspen grove.  I think I finally got the sunrise shot I've been working on there for several seasons.

Crossbedded rocks near East Clear Creek Arizona

We've rescheduled a trip to Northern California, mostly because it seems to be on fire.  Sigh.  Instead we packed up the dog and hung out in the forest on the Mogollon Rim, east of here.  My husband fished, I photographed, and Gypsy ran around like a nut case.  The bull elk have started singing their haunting love songs to the cows, too. It was pretty much the ideal short trip; green damp, and again, pretty quiet.

Amanita mushroom emerging, Kaibab Forest Arizona

That's a lot of blessings for one month; I'm looking forward to September.  Next up, southern California.