Not Something You See Everyday

...but, in the desert, you should never be surprised at what you see! (which is why I love it so much)

feel free to embiggen any of these

How about a 400 foot long Sea Serpent in the middle of nowhere?

The metal work in this thing was amazing

My wife is standing by the head to give it some scale.  It's big!

I didn't know that Sea Serpents had rattle snake tails.

Wife not needed for scale, she's just photo bombing...

You can't touch this thing during the summer, when it gets up to about 115 degrees on a regular basis.

Just gotta love the textures and colors.

The artist created statues all over this section of the Anza-Borrego desert. They are near the little desert town of Borrego Springs. There is one stop light in town, but no others for about 50 miles. We're camped about 40 miles from here and regularly come down the mountain to explore. Most of the art in desert areas falls into the "folk art" category, but these are big time sculptures. The same artist has done many other pieces in the area, I'll post some of them in a future post.

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More New Year's Day Sunrise

I was running all over that mountain ridge, freezing in my PJ's at the break of dawn. It was eerie because of the many wolves I could hear howling.  I took a lot of pics, but will only burden you with these few...

So far, this is my favorite photo of the trip. Maybe one of my favorites ever. The little slice of reflection just below the far mountain range is the Salton Sea. It's over forty miles away. Many years ago the Colorado river burst it's banks, creating a 400 square mile lake. Because it has no outlet, it has become VERY salty over the years. It is the second largest salt water lake in the country, surpassed only by the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It is also one of the very lowest spots in the U.S. It is only 5 feet higher elevation than California's Death Valley.  Other than cropping, this photo has not been enhanced in any way.

This was the second photo I took on that day, and was less than a minute after the one I posted last week.

I got so excited running around because I was witnessing nature's "art" at it's best.

When I turned and looked to the west, I was happily surprised to see this amazing cloud formation lit up by the new day's sunlight.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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Some Odd Sights

Just a few odd things I've seen in the past couple of weeks. I've had a lot going on recently and I promise, I'll get back to "real" posts very soon...

I was trying to take a photo of the two deer in the photo. They were heading up that hill and I had to shoot from the hip (not very well).  I thought the yellow thing was just some kind of farm machinery, or plumbing thing.  It's a small submarine!  Submarines aren't all that rare, but submarines sitting on top of a mountain at over 5000 feet above sea level, is very rare...

Everybody knows what rabbits are because they are pretty much everywhere. BUT, this is not a cute little cottontail. It's also not very good to eat.  It's a jack rabbit. They are more wild animal than bunny. I bet this guy was twenty pounds.

It's strange enough that these woodpeckers are making holes in this cabin. It's even more strange that they seem to be doing it in the shape of a square.

Of course there are always abandoned and/or junk cars in the desert. This one just happens to be a Plymouth Barracuda and pretty valuable.

Sorry, I just couldn't help snapping this one. Just one more reason not to smoke! The stub of a finger, was a real bonus.

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This post was just for fun, real stuff coming up next...

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Free Angela Davis

I just went through a pretty long period without a hair cut. It got so bushy that I wouldn't leave the house without a hat on.  There is no telling what I'd do to my hair if I was a woman.

It's like steel wool and if I don't have gel in it, I look kinda like Angela Davis. If you don't know who she is, maybe you remember the free Angela poster people used to hang in their houses, or maybe this button. This was way back in the day, so most of you probably don't know who she was. I'm not black, or even a woman, but ungelled and grown out, I do sport a wickedly awesome natural Afro...

Love her or hate her, nobody can deny that this brave and brilliant woman made an impact on America. She was an outspoken political activist in the 60's and 70's and most definitely an agent of change.  I didn't agree with everything she said or did, but she was willing to pay whatever price needed, to get her message out. And she did pay a heavy price. Angela Davis turns 67 this month.

If you have no idea who I'm talking about, a quick trip to google would be well worth your time.
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back to photos next post...

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Two Types of Reflections

Sunrise, January 1, 2012

For me, 2011 was a year for the ages...

1. My wife and I bought an RV in April. Since the start of May, we've spent about 60 nights in it while away from home. We're getting reacquainted with nature.
2. After three years of dealing with/ignoring it, my thyroid cancer is gone.
3. Last, but certainly not least; a lady came out of the woodwork thinking we might be related. Three weeks and one DNA test later, I have a sister! I never knew about her and I'm happy as can be about it.  We've spoken and exchanged a lot of messages and soon we'll be spending some time together.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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