Arizona Sunshine at Capitol Museum
Another window. Inside, but not looking out. Too much sun. Too bright. Keep those shades closed.
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Posts tagged as:
Southwest
Through the Window
Office window, downtown Tucson. Lots of plants in a sunny window, and a turquoise watering can.
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Arizona Capitol Museum
Built in 1900 as Arizona’s State Capitol Building, it was replaced by rather typical office buildings for the legislature in 1960. Now it has been restored and is used as a museum, mostly for the state’s school children. Exhibits are quite basic and focus on the history and culture of Arizona from its early days to the present, Arizona’s symbols, natural history, the story of Arizona’s statehood, and a display about the USS Arizona.
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in the Sonoran Desert
The Organ Pipe Cactus is one of the giant cacti, second in size only to the more iconic Saguaro. Instead of having a single trunk with branches, the organ pipe has 6 to 20 stems all growing from a central trunk. It will typically grow about 15 feet tall, though specimens have measured more than 20 feet in height.
Its habitat is limited to Sonora and Baja California, Mexico, and southwestern Arizona. In the United States, the largest number are found in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument located near the Mexico/Arizona border.
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Saguaro National Park
It’s not too often I get the opportunity to photograph the desert, especially the desert after a heavy rainfall that leaves large puddles of standing water with perfect reflections of prickly pear and saguaro cacti.
We visited one of the more isolated areas of the eastern part of Saguaro National Park. We hiked the Mica View Trail, which offered great views of the Tanque Verde Peak and Mica Mountain, but I was most fascinated by the puddles and spent a fair amount of time sprawled on the damp desert floor taking photographs.
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Staring into the burning desert sun. Desert heat
rises, sears my soul, the searching soul, seeking light.
I sink into the sand-earth, the desiccated cactus roots cannot support me.
Be not distraught. Reach out. Stand upright.
The sun drops off the edge of the world, night slips in quietly, settles,
A star shimmers and
another.
I have journeyed long,
watched sunrises and sunsets, and the ascents and descents of many moons.
And now a multitude of stars alight the heavens, milky streams of light, and with faith
I await the return of the sun.
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This is a contribution to the poetry challenge being run by the Abbey of the Arts: Entering the Desert’s Fire. In the invitation to share a poem Christine writes:
I invite you this week to write a poem about your own invitation to enter the refiner’s fire – in alchemy lead is transformed into gold through heat and this becomes a metaphor for the human soul. What is the lead within you ready to be transformed into something treasured?
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Saguaro National Park
This saguaro cactus is nearly bulging at its seams. The Sonoran Desert region in this part of Saguaro National Park has had a rainy period and the saguaros were able to soak up the rain water and store it in its ribs. As the weather becomes hotter and drier, the saguaro will use the stored water and the ribs will shrivel and become more ridged.
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Steeple against the Bluest of Skies
Before we left Phoenix for the trip to Tucson, we got off the Interstate for awhile and drove the streets in downtown Phoenix. I saw this church a few blocks away, and said the now famous phrase, “That would make a great photo…” I am getting so much better at accepting that it is OK to go back for photographs, and so we drove in circles a bit until we found the right streets and the church.
I thought I remembered that the church had written on the front, in huge letters, “First Historic Church”. That made me curious. I get the historic part, but I wondered how it could claim first in that category. It didn’t look that old. Then I went back in my photo archives and realized it said “Historic First Church,” so that made more sense. Amazing how a turn of words implies a different concept.
When I Googled “Historic First Church,” I discovered there are numerous church buildings that are historic and first – Brooklyn, Pasadena, Albany, and yes, Phoenix. But I gave up trying to find much information about the building in Phoenix after several more Google searches.
I did learn that this was the first Protestant church organized in the Arizona Territory and that it has served downtown Phoenix as the First Presbyterian Church since 1879, but I could find nothing about the building itself.
And on a side note, Arizona has the bluest skies I have ever seen.
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Tubac Arizona
On my recent trip to the Southwest, I noticed one big difference between Arizona and Wisconsin. Summed up in one word – SUN! The sun seems to shine all the time. Now I know that is an exaggeration. We actually had one day (out of ten) that was cloudy and we did get caught in a rain shower. But for the most part, the sun was shining in that big, bright blue sky.
The sun makes for some great photo opportunities of shadow play. This adobe building not only had strong shadows from the wooden ramada, but also had more subtle shadows from a nearby palo verde tree.
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Prickly Pear Cactus
Today is the last day of our Southwestern adventure. It’s also Valentine’s Day, though in our family we have celebrated our son’s birthday on February 14th more than we celebrated Valentine’s Day. Or at least we have until the last few years.
Fitting that my Valentine’s post is a sweet heart of a prickly cactus from the Sonoran Desert just west of Tucson. Love that desert!
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