Photos and comments from Arizona and around the world
I am guessing that the epitome of fame is to find your picture on a sign on an obscure dirt road in the middle of the Arizona desert. I can say that I was flattered to find out I had such an extensive market penetration (OK, I thought is was pretty strange...
As long as we are talking about Western Icons, here is one that is slowly disappearing and fading from our memories. Us old folks grew up with these. But I venture to say that most of the younger generation has never seen a real one, outside of pictures...
Sometimes you have to take the photographs where you find them. This was a spectacular Arizona sunset, but I was traveling on a highway at 65 mph. (Oh, I was not driving) It could have been better or worse. But the photo did come out OK.
Old tools hold a fascination with their utility and age. This is a tool I could have used many times and have used its lineal descendants on many occasions. You never know how long something like this might continue to be used.
Sometimes there are magical moments when the light hits objects and makes them glow and seem to dance in the sunlight. This is one of those magic moments. The setting sun gave an unreal glow to the Spanish Moss hanging from the trees. I have several of...
I think of butterflies as flying flowers that capture the light in the air and carry the light with each beat of their tiny wings. I have always been fascinated by their uneven and darting flight. Photographs do not do justice to the light on its win...
I see faces as I walk about. You can too.
This is a classic design of a metate and mano for grinding grain and corn. As you can imagine, it took a long time to get enough ground to feed a family. In addition, the grit from the basalt stones would get in the food and wear away the teeth of those...
Theoretically, you could enjoy the colors of Fall all year. You would just have to keep traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole all the time, spending time in each place where the Fall leaves were turning. But maybe that wouldn't work. In the...
My feeling for Fall are contradictory because we don't really have a "Fall Season" as such in the desert. Our Fall consists of lower daytime temperatures. Some tree's leaves do change but not all at the same time. Most of the trees are green all year...
This tree has all the colors, from green to red. I think that Fall exists to give Winter a rousing send off. We need time to get ready and the trees and bushes give us fair warning that cold days are ahead (unless, of course, you happen to live somewhere...
There are a lot of references to millstones, even in the Scriptures, but I would guess that not too many people these days have actually seen one. Here is a millstone. They are most of all made of stone, usually a hard variety and very heavy. This one...
Black Hawk was the manufacturer of a number of models of grinding equipment. A corn sheller was used to mechanically remove the corn kernels from the corn cob. OK, I usually do this with my teeth when I eat corn-on-the-cob, but if I had to do this for...
I haven't ever had the opportunity to spend much time on or near the Mississippi River. I am usually just crossing it going east or west. But I did get to ride a river boat once and I have had the opportunity to walk along the bank and take a few pictures....
A few days ago, I had one of the very much older volunteers at the Mesa FamilySearch Library ask for some help with a tablet computer. The experience started me thinking even more about the challenges technology add to the already substantial challenges...
Who is there whose heart is not gladdened by seeing a butterfly? There are so many things negative in the world today, we need to remember that some things are just joyful and butterflies are one of those things. It is amazing how they can fly and even...
I can usually identify a flower or a bird or a butterfly without too much trouble. Some of them turn out to be a complete mystery. Usually, because they are found completely out of context. I don't recall ever seeing this flower before or since. Anyone...
When the wind blows over sand, the landforms mimic those in the larger world of hills and canyons. Here the more consolidated parts of the sand resist wind erosion and form miniature ridges which if larger and tilted up on their edges, would look like...
Some of the formations in Arizona resemble the fabled Labyrinth of antiquity. There are places where travel is difficult, if not impossible, but the areas are usually confined to relatively small areas. This fantastic canyon is one of those areas, lost...
The concept of secondary versus primary sources is a tremendous oversimplification of the process of evaluating evidence and determining validity. The complexity of this subject, in general, can be illustrated by reference to evidence presented in a litigation...
One of the overriding impressions I have of the Eastern United States is that of lots and lots of trees. Sometime it is hard to see large cities because of the trees. Since my area of most emphasis is the West and particularly Arizona and sometimes Utah,...
The ostensible reason for classifying sources into categories is to enable the concept of proof. However, proof in the absolute sense is unattainable in genealogy because there are really only tentative conclusions, always subject to revision with the...
As I noted in a previous post, there are several crucial features still coming in FamilySearch.org's Family Tree. Those of you who do not yet have access to the program and those who do, will possibly need to wait a while longer for a fully functional...
Despite the frenzied efforts of the world to turn Thanksgiving into just another reason to buy and sell products or to watch sports, I began reflecting on the real reason we need to be thankful. To borrow a phrase from Abraham Lincoln, we seek after...
Sometimes colors are bright and vibrant, other times they are subtile and less intrusive. I look for both patterns and color and sometimes one or the other wins out. In this case they are both important. If you click on this photo you will see the detail...
