Escaramunzas at El Dia de San Juan

One of the team members of Florecitas del Desierto, a local escaramuzas team (women’s precision side saddle horse riding group) that performed at last night's El Dia de San Juan festival.  I like the way this picture turned out; I had to keep moving with the horse to try to capture part of downtown Tucson in the background.  Click on the pic to check out her hat.

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Links: Here are several videos that I found on the internet that show other teams in other places to give you an example of what this style of riding / competition is like:

missing symmetree

a peer amid building reflections

The "upside down pyramid" in east Tucson has housed a number of different banks over the years since being constructed in the late 70's for Western Savings and Loan.

 The angled mirrored glass gives lots of different perspectives that vary with position.

 looking up at the building captures me in the parking lot -- hard to do that with most building designs

I remember when there was grass being reflected off the bank, but they have since shifted to a low water usage landscape.  There sure would be a lot of things one could do as short term displays / art to take advantage of the angled reflection as seen by passing cars.

on the left, cars headed north on Wilmot; on the right, part of Speedway headed west

outstanding in the alley

 This is a really cool mural painted along an alley wall in central Tucson.  Click on pics for larger views...

Lots of great elements on this mural, gotta love the all the creatures.  What's your favorite creature in this wall mural?

Ted DeGrazia's Gallery in the Sun from the ground

 My longtime blog visitors know that I really like the Ted DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, a free art gallery found in north Tucson.  On a visit this morning, just to try something different, I took all the pictures for this blog post from the ground.  The picture above shows three of the many rooms in the gallery with a bench in the furthest room.

 here is the back room with the bench on the left that was shown in the first picture

 Looking up at one of the many fireplaces, interesting wall textures on the left and right.

 a skull resting in another fireplace

 still on the ground, now out in the courtyard area

 this lizard was exceptionally patient while I took several pictures

 you have to be careful not to get stuck by sharp horns found on many desert plants

 Outside in the little chapel -- ceiling on top, wall mural, adobe wall

 Angels flying around a corner area in the memorial area of the chapel

a tall agave stalk seems to check out a figure on top of a stone sculpture

For some of my past pictures of this gallery taken from a normal height, click here and also here.  If you ever find yourself in the area (Tucson, AZ, 6300 N. Swan), its well worth the visit.

Happy Rooster murals

Murals on the front of the Happy Rooster Cafe on South Sarnoff Drive.

spotted owl

A couple of weeks ago I drove past this telephone pole on Cortaro Farms Road.  Needless to say, I had to pull a U turn to go back and check it out.

Its kind of unusual to see an owl perched on a telephone pole in the middle of the day, let alone canvasing the area like this.  Nicely done!

It certainly makes for a distinctive marker for this side dirt road.