Phoenix. Mayo and Theresa

Drove up to Phoenix this morning. Short visit to Mayo Clinic to see my oncologist for a consultation, semi annual check and clean bill of health.  All good.
     Then I had the pleasure of lunch with this fantastic lady.

Theresa and famity transitioning from Indiana to Arizona but we know them from 3M/Imation days in Minnesota and Grace Church about 15 years ago.  She suggested Chelsea's Kitchen and it was really amazing.  Got to get Will to take me back.

Great Horned Owl

This beautiful lady was resting in one of the mesquite trees in my back yard yesterday. What a treat. Showed up mid day--on the hottest part of the 102 temp day and first landed in tree near patio to check things out. After posing for a bunch of pics for me, she moved to the back of the yard and settled in for the rest of the day. Flew off after sunset for her nightly prowl. Don't know exactly what she is doing with that wing to make her look like she is posing but that is the way she stayed for a long time.  Wow, she is a huge bird!! We have little Western Screech Owls frequently that we catch glimpses of, but first for this Great Horned. Hope she comes back. . .I have plenty of little field mice around that she would enjoy.

Lia's first day of Kindergarten

First day of school at Yew Chung International School in Shanghai, China. New school, new shoes, new school uniform, new friends, new bus. . .
  First day was big success.

Such a big school bus!

The barrels are blooming

The barrel cactus bloom in late summer and they are coming into thier own right now!

Will and Lia to Shanghai

Will flew out to New Jersey and picked up Lia and the two of them headed for Shanghai.  She is the best little traveler.  Even with a stop over in Toronto she survived the long flight just fine. Probably better than Grandpa.  

Will and Lia are still waking up early, gotta get over that jet lag and get into routine. Since they were all up early, how about Minine Mouse pancakes!! Gotten to be a tradition at Dad's only now Lia is stirring them up!

Visit to Arizona State Capitol

We have lived in Arizona for 14 years now and have never visited our state capitol.  We decided to spend a hot summer day becoming more aquainted with the the state government block.  The big copper domed building was built in 1900 as the last home for Arizona territorial government until statehood in 1912.

It has been remodeled, added to over the years so that now the original building is actually an Arizona goverment History museum.  The work of government happens in adjacent buildings.

It still contains the state reference library which has some wonderful murals that were done in 1937-38 portraying the major phases of Arizona's history.

The outdoor capitol mall is interesting to walk around and ponder all the memorials but we will have to return to really take them in. Wasn't a day to spend too much time outside.  

We stayed over at a Hampton Inn near airport so Will could catch an early flight to New Jersey. He has a date with Lia.  I will join them shortly.

Pink sunset

Couldn't resist stopping the car to take a couple of pictures of Catalina mts from my neighborhood. Our monsoons are active all around us since we got home and this sky means it is raining up near Oracle.  It produced an amazing sunset view of Catalinas.

Back home once again

It's time. Home calls. Stayed a night in Gallup, NM and then last night at Fool Hollow State Park near Show Low, Arizona.  We have finished our summer several times there. It's a nice park.
  It's Monsoon season and rains fired up several times as we drove home. We didn't have any problems driving but we witnessed some interesting skies.

Got rain too. Oh well, RV needed a good washing. We got to Tucson just as a thunderstorm blew through. Nice to see a well watered back yard.

Almost a spiritual experience.

There is a short hiking trail that starts in the campground at Ghost Ranch and circles around behind and up this mesa and then across the top to a point where you look straight across to those odd shaped spires plus a dynamite view of the valley below and the surrounding mountains.  When we started out we noticed a blanket of fog in the valley.  Part way up a breeze came up and before long that bank of fog began to move up the valley and before long it was enveloping us.  By the time we reached the top we were completely socked in.  

Couldn't see a thing!  

So we sat down to have a snack before we headed down.  Thats when a tiny miracle happened.  As that cloud rolled over us and the sun dissipated that fog, we were suddenly in a fairy land.   The vistas peaking through as the cloud broke up, the sun light spotlighting particular rocks or pinnacles was pure magic.  My camera couldn't begin to capture it.  All we could say was Praise the Lord!!  Our timing was perfect because anyone coming up the trail behind us missed it and we couldn't explain what an amazing experience we had just had.

And when the valley opened up. . .we could see forever.

Doug spoke at a conference in Shanghai

Isn't this a great picture.  One of his company's partner companies had a conference with a few thousand people.  He said his talk was mostly PR for them but I think it looks like a headline speaker!  Fun to see anyway.  

Ghost Ranch Landscape tour and Georgia's house and painting sites

We climbed in a van with  about 8 other people and a guide who took us out a few miles on the ranch to see Casa de los Burros.  This is the 7 acre property and house that Georgia O'Keeffe eventually bought from Ghost Ranch and lived and painted from 1940 until she moved into her compound in Abiquiu.  Even then she spent long periods of time out here.  The house is now owned by the GO'K museum and you can't go inside, infact we couldn't get out of van to get a good look at it.  But what was even more interesting anyway was to see the places and particular landscapes that she painted. We made 4 stops in the van and got out to really find them. The docent would hold up a picture of a painting and point to a mesa or hillside, etc and it was easily recognizable.  She was an abstract artist but she had measure of realism in her work.  She might paint the same scene and change the perspective, or the color, or alter the subject in ways that pleased her but the sense of place remained.  I thought it was great and made her work come alive for me.

A pic of her painting next to what she saw.  And she did several of this small hill in different light, different moods

Two paintings and the real thing.  In fact the red hills is the first thing she painted when she first discovered Ghost Ranch in 1934.

This part of the ranch is not open to the public unless on tour which you can easily arrange for a fee. Sign up early, its a very popular tour.

She had a view from her house of Paternal, a 11,000ft flat top mesa/mountain that she painted often. Its 10 miles across the valley from us, and 12 miles to the base so it is quite imposing. Apparently she made the starement that God said He would give it to her if she painted it enough.  It shows up subtly in many paintings, so is fun to look for it.  She actually climbed that mountain when she was 68 and her ashes were supposedly scattered up there when she died so in my way of thinking, its her's.

I liked taking pictures of it in its many moods too.

Ghost Ranch and Abiquiu

Down New Mexico Hiway 84 to Ghost Ranch. 

This was a dude ranch in its early years and has a interesting and extensive history.  World famous paleontology and archeological sights on the property, guest ranch for the rich in the early part of century.  Now belongs to Presbyterian Church and is extensively used as retreat center, event center, artist workshops, spiritual and personal renewal center and is open to public to just come and enjoy the property and all the amenities.  That is what we decided to do for a couple of days.  Found a space in thier campground that works for us and settled in.  We were here maybe 5 or 6 years ago and did the same thing so remember what a pleasant place it is.  We took a short walking history tour of the place this noon to refresh our memories.  The most famous person who stayed here was Georgia O'Keeffe and she had a presence here and in the area for over 50 years.  She started coming out to New Mexico for parts of the year in 1929. In 1940 she bought a 7 acre parcel of land situated on Ghost Ranch property.  In 1949, after her husband died she moved permanently to New Mexico, dividing her time between her Ghost Ranch property and a renovated Spanish Colonial-era compound in the village of Abiquiu just up the road.  She died at the age of 98 in 1986. This area is OKeeffe country big time.  I went into Abiquiu to tour her home and studio.  I took the tour when we were here last time but had forgotten so much.  I wanted to take pictures inside so badly but of course that was not allowed.  Only the outside, her huge garden that is still being maintained, and many of the views from the house that showed up in many of her paintings. She was an incredibly interesting personality. 

   While I was touring, Will went to the local county fair also near Abiquiu.  He watched them judge rabbits and checked out all the animal barns, 4H projects, etc.  He did not take pictures.

The garden is flood irrigated by an ancient "acequia" or irrigation ditch that dates back to Spanish colonial days.  Water flow is still controled by the village authorities and shared by entire village.

Driving back to Ghost Ranch we ran into New Mexico monsoon that was an amazing downpour.  I was a tad uncomfortable, actually I didn't like it one bit.  The sky was so black. But typical of these thunderstorms it passed in due time and sky was bright again.  We have had quite a bit of rain in the last few days.  Just not what one expects in this part of New Mexico.

I guess he did take pictures at the Fair.  He found a new (to him) breed of cattle.  Braunvieh. Today 40 % of the cattle in Switzerland are Braunvieh.  They may be the oldest pure breed on earth with records dating back to 800BC.  How about that. What you learn st a local county fair.