The remains of an aspen tree that had just been cut down

so happy together

here before us, here when we're gone

Speaker on new desk

last of the fall color

Swear by the iron moon

take me somewhere

I love going home - from last winter

Clash of textures

Still going strong

Simple and classic

a pile of bricks

Sharkocaster

Rose hips in my garden

Fall colors

Nothing makes me happier.

You again.

Pigeons

Inviting alley in San Francisco

An inviting alley, just a block or two off The Embarcadero.



(I'm not crazy about how Blogger always insists on displaying my pictures at a reduced size and only displaying full-size with a click.)

Downtown SF

Click to enlarge.

8-3-05 San Francisco, CA

(As usual, click the pictures to see them full-size.)

Anti-pigeon devices
The building across the way is lined with hundreds of tiny wire spikes, designed to discourage pigeons from resting and therefore crapping on the building. I can tell they work very well.



Lunch
Every day is beautiful in San Francisco. Lots of people enjoy eating their lunches along The Embarcadero next to the Bay. I saw this scene and had to capture it.



Self
Portrait of the artist in the bright Pacific sun.

8-2-05 San Francisco, CA

I flew from Phoenix to San Francisco this evening. To me, this is literally like flying from Hell to Heaven. Out the window as we flew along the peninsula, the even blanket of clouds stretched as far as the eye could see, and it was curling around the mountains right at the coast. I took this shot and decided it looked best in black and white.



After getting checked into my hotel room, about an hour later there came a rapping on my door. "Room Service!" But I didn't order room service. "Milk and Cookies!" What!



No lie. I have no idea how or why I was the lucky recipient, but I didn't argue. Is this Heaven?

8-1-05 Phoenix, AZ

Besides the various kinds of cactus dotting the landscape here, besides the strange green-skinned leafy trees, there are these very pale little shrubs. They look like normal shrubs with all the color sucked out. They look like dried arrangements you'd find in some home furnishing store.



Here's an interesting view. It's from the second story of the building across the street. This shot gives a good idea of how things are — cheesy, vaguely southwestern-ish architecture, some palm trees I'm sure aren't native but they seem quite happy in the arid heat, a parched rocky mountain just across the parking lot. Dirt and dust and rocks and desert plants and mock-itecture and a baked moonscape.



Along the path to the entrance of the building is this simple but impressive water feature. It's a bold solid straight stroke, filled with flowing water in the middle of the desert. I want one.

Checking In

It's time to put my stake in the ground.