another blooming night on the patio...

Easter Lily Cactus, Tucson, Arizona (04/21/2013)

I was out on my patio tonight and for the first time ever was able to watch my Easter Lily Cactus go from closed bud to full bloom in a little over an hour, way cool!  Obviously I had to take a night picture of it to share.  My blog readers may recall some daytime photos I took of it blooming in July, 2012.

Cyclovia Tucson 2013

Cyclovia, Tucson, Arizona (4/7/2013)

Here are a few pictures from Cyclovia in downtown Tucson / South Tucson.  Cyclovia is a fun, free, all ages, all community event where about 5 miles of streets were closed off for the day, absent of cars and open to bicyclist, skateboarders, and walkers.  There are two Cyclovia community events in Tucson this year, the second one will be held on April 28th.  Well worth attending for a short bike ride or walk among your greater Tucson neighbors,

Great Horned Owl

"Departure"
Great Horned Owl @ Free Flight @ ASDM, Tucson, AZ  (4/4/2013)

I had the day off work on Thursday and spent part of the day out at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) where I took this series of Great Horned Owl pictures during their Raptor Free Flight demonstration.  During the cooler months of the year, twice a day, they put on a very impressive flight demonstration of a number of larger desert birds.  Check out the talons above!

"Arrival"

"Landing with flare"

It's really nice to be able to see these birds close up as they land for food from their trainers, then take off and soar high overhead.  On this particular morning, the demonstration included Ravens, a Prairie Falcon, Great Horned Owl, and a Red Tailed Hawk.

Click on any picture for a larger view...

growing fireworks

plant at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (4/4/2013)

hula hoops

hula hoops at MoctoberFest, Tucson, AZ (3/30/2013)

Tucson MoctoberFest 2013 Photos

Here are a few pictures I took at MoctoberFest on Saturday.  MoctoberFest is a fun All Souls Procession benefit and spring carnival held at the Mercado San Agustin in Tucson.  Above, belly dance performance by Skirt Full of Fire.

Mamaxe put on a great show of West African dancing to the beat of Planet Djembe.

... and offered the chance for folks to get up a learn a few moves

The Mamaxe dancers (front) with Planet Djembe drummers (West African music and dance)

In addition to their evening performance, members of the Flight School acrobatics group put on an amazing demonstration out in the courtyard of the Mercado.

just sitting around on a Saturday afternoon... they make it look so easy...

ok, supported by one foot, this is just an amazing pose!  

The propane tank at the top of the stack above was part of a cool, make that warm, large flame that would periodically go off during the evening lighting up the entire performance area.  Pretty neat!

Circus Electric was there with their very large as well as this small Van de Graf generator to light up the night.  My blog entry/photos from last year's MoctoberFest has some pictures of their large Van De Graf generator performance.

It's always fun to try to take night pictures of led hula-hoops.  It works better with a steady camera support, but still fun to take.

Main music stage to the left, and aerial silks hanging in the breeze awaiting silk artists later in the evening.

igniting a hula hoop for a fire dance

Since my still photos don't do any justice to the sound and motion of the festival, here is a short collection of quick video clips taken with my phone of fire dancing by the always great Orbital Evolution Hula Hoop Troupe, the large Van de Graf generator with Circus Electric.  Perhaps this event would be better shot in video?

MoctoberFest 2013 was a great way to kick back and enjoy a beautiful spring day in Tucson --  gotta love Tucson and the performing arts community of Tucson!