The Day the Zunes Stood Still (a.k.a. Z2K)

Hahahahahahahahaha! I think this has got to be the goofiest thing ever, not to mention a fitting end to 2008!
I own a Zune30, which along with every other Zune30 decided to "freeze" at exactly 12:00 Midnight PST. By "freeze" I mean it rebooted itself, but got stuck at the Zune boot screen. No series of button presses or screaming at it (as demonstrated above) resulted in getting it past the boot screen. My next thought was "Well, I guess I could just let the battery run out, plug it in and see what happens." That's when the light bulb went on. "Why don't I just disconnect the battery and reset it that way", I thought. Well, after verifying how to take my Zune apart, I proceeded to do exactly that, and voila! -- my Zune is up and running. People have been posting some pretty funny stuff -- someone even went so far as to create a video dedicated to the event.

Here are two more funny images related to the problem.

Cotton Candy Clouds

Sunday evening's sunset was absolutely spectacular. I stepped outside and captured this image just as the clouds were turning a beautiful cotton candy pink. Tonight's sunset was even more spectacular, but I didn't have my camera with me.


If you like beautiful sunsets as much as I do, you should visit Missouri Skies. Lots of great sunset photos!

Celestial Trio

Sky & Telescope is calling tonight's celestial event the "Venus & Jupiter Show", but hey, let's not forget the Moon. ;)
Tonight the crescent moon joined Venus and Jupiter forming a beautiful celestial triangle. While I was getting the shot, a little cloud decided to pass in front of Venus, but it's so bright it came through anyway. The Moon, as you can clearly see is surrounded by a lovely halo, and Jupiter is the bright star to the far right of the image.

Aerial Jewel

I have always loved hummingbirds. I put up a feeder a couple of months ago, which has attracted several of them, but one in particular (a male Anna's Hummingbird) seems to have claimed the feeder as his own. Hummingbirds are very territorial, and this little guy defends his feeder at all costs. Today was one of those lovely cool overcast days, so I took advantage of the lighting and snapped a couple of pictures of "my" little guy. One of the best things about the male Anna's is the fact that they sing. He sits in the trees in front of my house and sings his little heart out on a regular basis. Right click this link to download an MP3.

Coming in for a landing.

Here's the jewel part -- his beautiful neck feathers. I'm going to keep trying to get closer to him. These pictures were my first attempt after letting him get used to me over the past two months. He didn't seem to bother the flash going off, so I'm hoping I'll get some good shots as time goes by.

Lions and Tigers and Spiders! Oh, my!

Wait! That's not right. We didn't see any lions or tigers, but we did see one heck of a spider! I took a day trip out to the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum on Sunday, hoping to find some Fall color. Well, I didn't find any color, but I did find a few surprises. First, there were numerous butterflies and hummingbirds flitting about due to the plethora of flowers in the aptly named "Hummingbird Garden." Then, I stumbled across a beautiful garden spider. He (or she) was absolutely huge! In order to get the close-up shot, I had to stick my lens about 1" from the spider. I was sure it was going to scramble up its web, but it stayed put and allowed me to get my shot. Later, after hiking the high trail, I stopped in the "Aussie Walk-about" and took some pictures of a decaying Power Wagon. Man, I would love to restore that thing. I'm guessing it's a late 40's or early 50's model, but it could even be a 60's model as they didn't change a whole lot after the war. Finally, we headed home, but while doing so we noticed a large cave-like hole in the side of one of the mountains within the Superstition range. My daughter was pretty sure it contains an old Native American cliff dwelling. Well, I did a bit of Internet research, and concluded that it might be the Rogers Canyon Cliff Dwelling, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, after reading about this ancient (600 year old) ruin, I'm determined to hike to it before summer comes around again.

There were several old world rose bushes in the garden. I captured this image of a large fly who was hanging onto the underside of the flower. I'm not sure, but it appears that his left (compound) eye is reflecting the underside of the rose. Click the picture to see it at full size.

Here's a little Painted Lady. We see large numbers of these little beauties in our own backyard.

This beauty is a Pipevine Swallowtail. Unfortunately, of the several specimans flying around, none of them would hold still long enough to get a decent shot, but at least this picture captures its beautiful blue coloration. And yes, the orange flower it is sitting on is really that orange!

A glorious (not to mention, very large) female Banded Argiope (Argiope Trifasciata) spider. I've not seen one quite this big before. I estimate her body was at least 1.5 inches in length.

Ah, the old Power Wagon, complete with a lucky horseshoe.

I love the color, it's my favorite. :)

Chiquita and the "Bug"

My birthday falls a few days before Halloween, so I can be assured that my birthday will include creepy crawlies and ghoulish delights. Last year, my oldest daughter and her then fiancé gave me some special Halloween cup cakes, complete with large plastic spiders on top. Well, my little dog, Chiquita, absolutely loves to play with real bugs (i.e., crickets, spiders, etc.). So, as Halloween draws near, I got out the plastic spiders and let her have some fun. I believe she thinks they are real! When I first let her play with them, she scratches at them for a couple of minutes. This is what she does with real bugs. Then, once she is sure they won't be able to bite her ('cause they're dead), she'll pick them up with her mouth and have a ball. See for yourself.

Cheryl's First Race

Cheryl ran in her first race today, the 17th Annual Frank Kush 5K, which was held at Tempe Town Lake. Being a true family event, people were encouraged to bring their kids and their furry children (i.e., dogs). As always, you can click on any of the photos for a larger image.

There was a pretty good turnout for the event.

I provided the morale support.

Cheryl's pumped up and ready to go!

The early morning light was reflecting so nicely off the bottom of the old Mill Avenue bridge.

They're off! The winner (see red arrow) finished the 5k in just over 16 minutes!

I tried my best to get a shot of Cheryl as she ran by, but the best I could do was capture her head and one leg. Interestingly enough, there was a young man running with a log. Cheryl said he almost whacked her in the head with it a couple of times during the race.

Here's Cheryl on top of the bridge, just a few minutes from the finsh line.

She did it! I timed this photo just right, as her time is recorded (above to the right of her head). Cheryl had a goal of finishing the race in 40 minutes, but to her delight she beat her time by almost 2 minutes!

Superstition Wilderness Hieroglyphics Canyon

This weekend ushered in wonderful Fall weather. The temps were in the 70's with a strong breeze, so we took advantage of the change and went out for a hike on the Superstition Wilderness Hieroglyphics trail. I feel the name is a bit of a misnomer. A "hieroglyph" is an image, which is part of a writing system that is carved into rock, whereas a "petroglyph" is a picture made by scratching or scraping an image onto a rock surface. I guess either term is okay, but I've always called the ancient drawings in Hieroglyphics Canyon, petroglyphs.
Okay, now that the English lesson is over, let's get down to the real story here. Basically, the petroglyphs are truly awesome. According to what I could find on the Internet, the drawings are anywhere from 200 to 2000 years old (as they were added to over the years), and are attributed to the Hohokam peoples.

Click the sign to view it in greater detail. It contains a nice history of the area and how the trail came to be.
At the start of our hike, we came across a downed Saquaro that appears to have been struck by lightning. Cheryl wanted to get a closer look.

This is a highly zoomed image so it isn't as clear as I would like, but I was really struck by the "teetering" rock. From this angle, it almost looked like it was actually moving due to the high winds we were experiencing.

I took another picture once we got closer. Click the image to get a better view of the rock.
While hiking, we came across two Collared lizards. One was just a baby (his body was about 3" long), while the other one (pictured below) was a juvenile (body about 5" long). They allowed us to get pretty close. Cheryl really wanted to catch one, but I talked her out of it.

The skin color of the older of the two lizards had a really pretty green cast.

We didn't get a picture of him, but Cheryl found a Chuckwalla lizard hidden away in the rocks near the petroglyphs. At the time, we didn't know what type of lizard he was. She thought it was an Iguana, and when we got back home and "Googled" him, we found she was actually right. Chuckwallas are related to Iguanas. :)

I'm a sucker for pretty flowers. These were tucked between some rocks just off the trail. Their color first caught my eye, but I was amazed at how small they were, which was barely half the size of a dime.
I call this the "Kitchen Rock". As you can see, there are several large holes, which were used by native peoples to grind food.
Cheryl's pointing to the cave (it's the small-looking hole in the center of the rock face) she had hiked to while I was exploring the canyon. It looks really small from this perspective, but she was able to get inside it.

I saved the best for last. The petroglyphs were spectacular. I am amazed and grateful that they've survived this long without being total defaced by vandals. There are many, many more drawings, but these epitomize what the canyon has to offer.

If you haven't hiked this canyon, you've got to make it a point to do so. The hike is relatively easy, but it is very rocky, so sturdy hiking boots are recommended. The total distance from the trailhead to the canyon is about 1.5 miles. Here's a link to information and driving directions: http://www.arizonahiking.org/Hyrogliph.htm#Title. Note that the parking situation has changed since the referenced article was written. When I first hiked the trail back in 2002, parking was almost nonexistant. Today, there is an adequate parking lot that can accomodate at least 50 cars, and it now has a porta-potty!

How lucky I am to have this treasure a mere 25 miles from my home (not the porta-potty, the petroglyphs, duh!).

Sedona! Room With a View!

These three pictures were taken from the balcony of an acquaintance's home in Sedona. Can you believe this is what she gets to look at every day from her home office window. I'm so jealous!

A Face Only a Mother Could Love

Isn't she lovely? This little girl was hanging on the side of my garage late this afternoon (the black outlined object behind her is one of the coach lamps), so she's hanging precariously (although you would never know it). I had to hold the camera at a vertical angle to get a good shot of her, and the lens was about 1" away from her. However, she was a very willing subject and posed nicely for me. I tried repeatedly to get her face in focus (hmmm, do bugs have faces?), but after about a dozen tries, I settled with this photo. She'll show up again, so I know I'll have another opportunity before too long.

Crepuscular Rays - Say that 5 times fast!!

Purty, aren't they? I looked up the definition on Wikipedia: Crepuscular rays, are rays of sunlight that appear to radiate from a single point in the sky. These rays, which stream through gaps in clouds or between other objects, are diverging columns of sunlit air separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions. The name comes from their frequent occurrences during crepuscular hours (those being dawn and dusk), when the contrasts between light and dark are the most obvious. Various airborne compounds scatter the sunlight and make these rays visible, due to diffraction, reflection, and scattering.
When I was growing up, I thought Angels rode the rays from heaven down to Earth and back. This image was taken looking West down my street during the early evening (5:40 PM).

Arrrr, Matie!

Avast, ye! It be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Don't be caught with yer knickers down, or ye be thrown in the brig!

Another Weekend Getaway

This past weekend, I was treated to a weekend at a friend's cabin, which is located 15 miles north of Payson. The cabin is located in a secluded area surrounded by National Forest land. Early Saturday morning I ventured out to take a few pictures. The first thing that caught my attention wasn't anything I saw, but what I heard. While looking around I heard this really high pitched squeaky, screamy sound. It took me a moment to realize that what I was hearing was the rutting call of a bull Elk! I've only heard them while watching a documentary on TV and it was really something to hear one in real life. I didn't get to see him, but captured a nice dewey, misty image of the forest he was walking around in.
Shortly after arriving at the cabin, we realized that the phone there wasn't getting a dial tone. My friend was able to contact Qwest using her cell phone and they promised a technician would be out no later than 3:00 PM the next day. Well, true to their word, he showed up at about 1:30 and proceeded to diagnose the problem. It turned out to be a connector that had been blown out by lightning. At least that is what the tech surmised. I'm sure he's seen a lot of that in his day-to-day work. He completed his work and left, but returned in about 5 minutes. At first I thought he had left something behind, but it turned out that someone had locked the gate, so I followed him back and let him out. Just as I was closing it, something scurried by. It was a tiny, baby horned lizard or "horny toad" as I called them when I was a kid. I was able to pick him up and brought him back to the cabin. To provide the proper scale, I photographed him in a rubbermaid container next to a quarter. Cute isn't he? And yes, I did put him back in the wild.
Here's to bugling Elk, baby horny toads, dewey mornings, and friends with mountain cabins. I hope to be able to do it all again soon.

Silly Kitteh!

You gotta love my daughter's cat, Bones. He is such a character. Now that my daughter is 18, she is spending quite a bit of time away each weekend and her cat misses her horribly. So, he has no choice but to bond with me. Here he is joining in while I'm enjoying my Sunday morning routine -- me on my laptop -- and of course, Bones is right there in the middle of it. For some reason, he loves snuggling up behind my laptop while I'm working.
Here is is again snuggling up to the salt and pepper shakers, snoozing away. What a goof!

Marshmallow Clouds

Today was one of those "picture perfect" days. White puffy clouds and beautiful blue skies. Something I've always wanted to photograph are the silver grain silos near my house. The first picture shows off the gorgeous clouds and skies.

This next picture provides a more panoramic shot. As always, you can click any of the pictures to see them in greater detail. In the second one, you can even make out the Phoenix sign near Usary Pass.

This last shot is of Red Mountain, which is just to the left of the silos in the previous images. I took this picture out at Tyler Ranch, which is just north of the 202 (Red Mtn) at the end of Val Vista.

White Lightning!

Wow! Talk about lightning. The storm we had this evening had more lightning than I've ever seen. It was flash after flash after flash, just like a giant strobe light, with continuous thunder for at least four hours. I checked the Southwest Lightning page and my mouth fell open. The entire southern and eastern portions of the Valley of the Sun were being inundated with lightning. The red dots reflect lightning that has occurred in the last 10 minutes. I think you could say we got hammered!

This video shows a small portion of what we experienced. If you pause the video at just the right spot, you can see just how bright the lightning was. It lit up my front porch like it was the middle of the day.

Whoa!!! Hold the phone! I thought the storm was over when I sat down to add this post, but it just started up again in earnest. I think we're in for a wild night! Here's another lightning flash count. The storm has converged into a ball over the Phoenix metro area. Amazing!

Surprise Lunchtime Visitor

We've been experiencing quite a bit of rain over the past few days, which is always welcome during our hot Arizona summers. Due to the rain we got overnight and early this morning, the outside temperature at noon today was right around 90 degrees instead of the usual 104+. When I lived in California, anything over 82 degrees was downright hot to me. After 8 years of living in the desert Southwest, I've become pretty acclimated to the hot temps, so 90 feels absolutely great! Due to the lower temperature, I decided to go out for lunch and after getting inside my car, I rolled down all of the windows to let the warm breezes through. Just as the last window was down, a little brown damselfly floated in through the passenger window. It really took its time, hovering just above the dashboard, slowly moving from the passenger side to my side of the car. But, just before it exited my window, it stopped right in front of me and hesitated for a moment, almost as if to say "Nice day, isn't it. I hope you don't mind me taking a shortcut through your car." After a second or so, it gently made its way out my window and was on its way. Was a sweet little surprise.

Summer Escape

Ah, the White Mountains of Arizona. What a great place to escape the desert heat. Last weekend, I accompanied my RVing friends to the annual Bluegrass festival, which is held at the Hon-Dah Resort and Casino. You can count on the summer rains and the cooler temps. A perfect place for a summer escape!

I'm still learning how to use my new camera and took a few snaps of the wildflowers that were all around our campsite. You can click a picture to see it at a larger size.

These red flowers were everywhere.

Check out the little beetle on the upper right flower.

Pretty little wild daisies.

This one reminds me of the desert mallow that grows near my home in the Spring.

I don't know what type of flower this is, but there was this big, fuzzy, orange bee I was trying to photograph. He ended up on the wrong side of the flower, but after taking the picture and viewing it at full size, I was amazed to see there were lots of little black beetles crawling all over the flower.This one was interesting. Not exactly a flower, but I thought she was cute. Of course, this is my little "Chiquita" taking an afternoon nap.