Morning walk in wash~Nature Notes~122211

This morning was bright and clear and I headed out for a morning walk.  Hubby and I are staying at the Desert Ridge Canyon Villas, in Scottsdale, AZ.  I love to walk here whenever we stay here and I often walk through the wash which runs alongside their golf course.  Hehehehe!  I can hide from the gardeners in the morning and from the early-morning golfers.  They don't even know I'm there!  And, I get to see quail, roadrunners, cottontails, and morning doves.  This morning, the wash was full of wet smells from the 2 days of rain previously.  I'm glad I was able to get out and enjoy this walk.  Here are some photos I took this morning.  Nature Notes for December 22, 2011. To visit Nature Notes, please go to:  http://ramblingwoods.com/

Museum church~Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors~122011

This little church is at the Superstition Mountains museum, which offers a spectacular view of the mountains from the top of the mountain above the museum.  It was dark and cloudy, but you can still see the window above the door.  It is a very nice little museum, with a lot of information, and it's right down the road from the Lost Dutchman State Park.  Whimsical Windows and Delirious Doors for December 20, 2011.  To visit WW and DD, please go to this link:    http://iwishiwereaphotographer.blogspot.com

Clouds on the Superstition Mountains~Our World Tuesday~122011

I've always wanted to photograph the Supersition Mountains with snow on them.  There wasn't snow today, but there were low clouds around them, which was almost as good.  We arrived mid-afternoon, but it was so dark and overcast that there wasn't any sun on the mountains.  So, I focused on the clouds instead! Our World Tuesday for December 20, 2011.  To visit OWTuesday, please go to:  http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/

Protecting the crops~Nature Notes~120911

The Coachella Valley, California's second largest agricultural valley, has had hard freezes all this week.  My school is out by some of the largest fields near Coachella and this morning, I took my camera with me to photograph the smudge pots.  Only they weren't smudge pots.  I remember a couple of years ago, when we had a few days of hard frosts.  The growers were burning bales of hay.  I'm not sure what they were burning this morning.  It looked like piles of hay or straw.  All I do know is that the lower end of the valley was full of smoke and after driving by, my car, my hair, and my clothes were full of smoke, too!  According to the local news, their entire crop of bell peppers has been lost because they froze on the inside and turned to mush.  There were fields and fields of table grapes and artichokes, which have both survived, at least, for now.  Fields of onions appear to be okay, but the peppers are gone.  Nature Notes for December 9, 2011. To visit Nature Notes, please go to:  http://ramblingwoods.com/