Archive for April, 2009
Mel’s Color Commentary: Day Seven
by Mel on Apr.17, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
I was planning to save red rock-red for today, but well, the Grand Canyon is just… grand. Grand as in if the light is not perfect (which it wasn’t) and the air is a litlle bit hazy (which it was), you don’t really see much of the bottom or the other side, even with binoculars. So all the colors I collected today were brownish-greyish-blueish-greenish views of something grand ? too grand to inspire awe or fasciniation in me. Quite disappointing actually…
Bury my Heart at Twisted Ankle
by Nevok on Apr.17, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
So, today was one of the great days. A whole day of Grand Canyon, South Rim, was ahead of us.
Although the last two days were kinda featuring a slight flurry of snow, which quickly melted away, we were not quite prepared for what we saw when opening the curtains this morning. There actually was a blanket of snow. Not one of those big, fluffy ones, but enough to leave us a bit concerned regarding our trip.
Mel’s Color Commentary: Day Six
by Mel on Apr.16, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
Today was a difficult day to pick a color. I was considering the dark green of the ponderosa pines we passed on our way to Sedona ? too boring. Or the garish pink of the pink jeep tours ? already had hot-pink. Or the turquoise in the Indian Jewelery boutique where one piece of turquoise-silver jewellery was uglier than the next (which led to a pretty high ugliness-rating for the 5.258.237th bracelet in the showcases…). But I finally decided to go with red. Not the red of our first red-rock we’ve encountered on this trip ? I’ll be saving that color for later when we will see much more of that. I’m talking about the bright red used in a water-color drawing by Sarah Roger of “Willow”, a silhouette of a cat of exactly the same build and pose as my favourite fuzzball Jana. This painting struck my eye when we entered the art mall and if they’d had a unframed version, I would have bought it on the spot. So I guess I’ll mail-order it from home.
Winter…Wonderland???
by Nevok on Apr.16, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
A rather early morning was followed up by our short road trip to Sedona.
I have to give you this, those Red Rocks…simply amazing, especially in sunlight.
The road there is another one of those scenic highways….and justifiably so. I took some amazing pictures, shame though that the bird I got was just a black vulture and not an eagle. I still have to find a soaring eagle somewhere out in the wild.
Now, Sedona though….
Mel’s Color Commentary: Day Five
by Mel on Apr.15, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
After Colin whined so much about the temperature drop between the desert below and and mountains around Flagstaff, I am not going to pick "white as snow" as today’s color. I’ll pick the blue-grey of the American Kestrel’s wings instead. When we entered the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, this beautiful bird of prey was presented by a handler in the "meet an animal" ramada next to the entrance. A Kestrel is a relatively small hunter, just a little bigger than the average city dove. The male is extremely beautifully colored - you really need to look at the picture gallery of today.
Frosty, the Snowman
by Nevok on Apr.15, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
Gosh golly darn,
What’s up with the title you might want to ask.
All in due time. Patience, grasshopper.
(continue reading…)Mel’s Color Commentary: Day Four
by Mel on Apr.14, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
I’ll make it short and painless: today’s color is cactus green. What else do you expect when we spend a day in the desert, looking at dozens of different kind of pricklies living there in the wild. But cactus green does not equal cactus green. Like with all living things, there are myriades of shades to it. I’ll offset that with the unpaved sandy roads of the Tucson Mountain District of the Saguaro National Park, which were quite "interesting" to navigate with a non-offroader - despite what the travel guides said.
Cactus Jack is back
by Nevok on Apr.14, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
Ooooook.
I’ve never seen that many…cactuses…cacti…whatever you wanna call them, folks, as today.
And it’s been hot. Sheesh. But, yeah, seriously, I have to admit that I can, more or less, stand this heat we have here. Stop snickering, people from Arizona who might read this, I know we ain’t seen nothing yet, we had upper 80s (30 degrees for you Europeans) and you can go 115s (don’t ask, my fellow old-worlders….). Still, upper 80s here feel less harsh than in Europe. Yeah, dry heat, yadda, yadda, but having your face melt is having your face melt, you don’t care if the heat is dry or humid.
L-O-V-E in the USA
by Nevok on Apr.14, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
Alright, this is just a kind of interlude blogging, but seriously…
Yes, we have our window facing the I10. I can live with that, although the freight train is a bit of a trial. On the other hand, when I was living in Harrisonburg, I had a freight train every morning at 4 AM, blowing its horn for minutes because of the crossings it had to slow down at. So…eh, I am not too shaken by that one.
Mel’s Color Commentary: Day Three
by Mel on Apr.13, 2009, under Next Exit: US of A
Colin already mentioned our shopping trip to the AF Country Store. For all German readers: that’s the local equivalent of a Raiffeisenmarkt. We went there to do some horse shopping, show blankets and such. But I forgot that we are in Roping and Barrel Racing country. So seeing two 5yd racks full of rainbow colored lariats, the ones I only know in used and yellowish-brown was something very Frederick. Therefore the color of the day is pastel colored hot pink, lemon yellow and acid green.
I wonder if they are glow-in-the-dark…..
