Phoenix 2.0

We left City of Rocks and returned to Phoenix . First I have to say that the drive was beautiful with the "super bloom" array of Mexican poppies in full flower. Much of the landscape was coated with these bright golden yellow flowers swaying and nodding in the breeze. And … I finally saw my first live roadrunner in the wild. He quite literally "ran" across the road in front of us! Beep beep. Finally, I have to add that we stayed in the Usery Mountains regional campground which was fabulous. The sites, spacious and private, tucked right into the desert with the Usery and Superstition mountains in the background. Oh, and speaking of deserts, we were back in the lovely Sonoran desert which was green and blossoming. 🌼 We were back in Phoenix planning to repair/replace our awning that ripped off last September when we were doing our COVID thing. That didn't happen and we are still waiting, 🙄 but let's focus on other matters. I had been thinking I was getting a bit tired of the desert and perhaps needed to see some green … But this looked like it was going to be a lovely place to stay, so maybe I could hold off a little longer. 😁

While there we went to Taliesin West II, Frank Lloyd Wright's house, workshop and school in the desert. It was fascinating. I really appreciated the "lines" and use of indoor and outdoor space. I couldn't quite reconcile a few of the concepts with my practical New England side, (Haha) but I found it to be creatively stimulating and it did provide an opportunity for me to work on my creative photography. 🤭 We also visited the Heard Museum, which houses a collection of traditional and modern indigenous peoples art and art forms curated not only informatively, but also sensitively and beautifully. Pueblo Grande, an archaeological site and museum, and the Japanese Friendship Gardens.

We spent a fair amount of time in the park, hiking and biking, of course, and at our campsite which was like a nature show unto itself. We had an extended quail family, a jackrabbit, a cottontail rabbit, thrashers, lots more birds, deer, coyote and our neighbors saw a rattlesnake head across the road and into our campsite (when we were gone) I had been doing a fair amount of exploring in our backyard desert until I heard that 😱! Afterwards I kept out a sharp eye and didn't venture too far from "home".

Here are the pics: blooms, greenery, wildlife, lines and artsy stuff😏

Driving across NM. We took some smaller back roads, found mountains and super blooms of Mexican poppies. Really pretty.

Taliesen West II

Frank Lloyd Wright's desert workshop

Note how the rooflines reflect and continue the lines of the mountains

His office

At an intersection. Here at this patio the two indoor living spaces and three major outdoor spaces can all be accessed.

Most of the lines in his desert workshop were angular, reflecting the shapes of the mountains, the washes coming off the mountains creating triangular features, changing levels. The indoor space below contains the dining room and kitchen and the architect's design workroom

Architecture and design = form and function

These chairs are made of one piece of plywood (ok, thicker plywood than we typically see today). The salon, where they all met for music and conversation before dinner. As to the question of function … you'll have to ask Martin if the chairs were comfortable.

Originally there was no glass in the windows so this jar fit perfectly on the windowsill, crossing the dimension of internal and external space. When they added glass to the windows and it no longer fit on the windowsill, one might have chosen a new placement for the jar... But not FLW, instead, the window was altered so the jar could remain in its cross dimension place of honor.

More shapes

Even the door reflects the lines of stacking mountains

A long arbor of bougainvillea provided shade and bold shadows

The design workshop

The hall leading into the cabaret

More "artsy" style pics of glass jars with shadow

Pueblo Grande

The Hohokum ancestors were most likely the inhabitants of this place.

Replica of the single person back strap loom .

According to the most current discoveries the Pueblo Grande had a big house much like the one at Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. Now, I am no expert on any of this, but in my mind, I compare them to Stonehenge in England. They are incredible structures that appear to be a kind of calendar. One that can be used for very practical purposes, agricultural purposes like when to plant and when to harvest crops.

On the grounds of Pueblo Grande:

The grounds were a combination of excavated ruins and reproductions of various buildings that would have been found in such a compound.

Here's a perfect example of a cactus wren's nest built in a chain fruit cholla cactus. Bonus, the cactus wren is looking on in the background.

and here's a close pic of it.

Buds and new growth

Patterns

Inside a round hut

Japanese Friendship Garden

The garden was not as large and varied as many of the more well known Japanese Gardens, but it is a lovely compact bit of stillness, serenity and greenery in the midst of the hustle and bustle of sunbaked Phoenix.

Reflections in the still water,

beautiful blossoms,

water falling

Ducks napping

A tiny oasis in the desert city.

And now some pics from our campsite and the park.

Sunset from our campsite 🧡

and a full moon over the Usery and Superstition mountains

Fairy duster

Gambel's quail

Curve-Billed Thrasher

Another Gambel's quail

Coyote. He would head down beside and then along behind our campsite every night between 6:00 and 7:00.

One night there were quail on the ground and he hesitated, pricked up his ears and nose, turned and started to head back towards the quail. What an uproar. The quail usually have a spotter up in a tree (see previous quail pics) and I thought the poor thing was going to have a heart attack trying to make sure all of its charges got off the ground in time. They all did, but it was rather undignified with less than graceful flying. Just squawking and feathers everywhere! The coyote stood there awhile and then turned and headed off to where he was headed in first place. No easy snack for him.

Deer (mule deer, I believe)

More poppies. We stopped by the side of the road to take these pics.

Globe desert mallow , the orange was spectacular.

Lupins and poppies

Just driving down the road in the park. These yellow flowers are brittle bush and were growing in big clumps all over everywhere. The red 🤷??? Just gorgeous.

As we head into the Tonto Wilderness on one of the hikes.

The cacti are blooming!

A type of Cholla

Engelmann's Hedgehog

I thought this was a mesquite tree from the leaves, but then it had these glorious little orange pom-pom seed pods, so … ???

I decided I needed to make a little succulent garden for myself. One that wasn't too large but interesting plants that would help me remember our winter and spring of the desert. This is the result. I was quite pleased with it. The plant on the left is called ogre ears. I got that to honor lyric's Shrek. 😂