Move Over Kodak

I've been playing with a digital camera rather than attending to my blog post. I didn't think it would take this long. Sorry this posted late. Opps.

Maybe I'm too 'old school' but I enjoy using my 35mm camera much more than this one. Perhaps I'll mess with it more and get the feel of it.

There is something about the weight of a camera (mine is from the early 1980s) around my neck that says, I'm here to take pictures -- not snapshots.

I like sizing up the shot, flicking the release on the bayonet mount lens and switching to the desired lens. I like deciding if this photo shoot needs the auto winder, a tripod, or just me. I like the feel as I spin the lens rings to find the focus. I like being able to adapt the aperture to just the look I'm after.

Frankly, I know I need to read the manual a couple more times. And the software that comes with the thing is so 'dummy proof' that it isn't easy to use. Why do they always assume we don't want to make choices and decide things? Yeah, I know, I'm the first one to contact tech support when I need help. But seriously, it is much easier to take an on-the-go snapshot with my $18.00 cell phone. And it plays MP3 too!

I have no idea what I was going to write before I got sidetracked, but here is a picture of the foothills (are they foothills if there are no mountains???) with snow on them at Sierra Vista last week.

Road Trip Ends...

After the storms, which were many, I left Sierra Vista Saturday morning. On the advice of a local, I headed to Tombstone. The pristine desert was beautiful in the overcast light. Those are the days to get the best pictures since more of the UV light is filtered by the rain laden clouds and the colors are not washed out, but brilliant. Even the brown brush was a rich brown and the straw-yellow weeds were a beautiful contrast.

I didn't stop to take pictures, since I was aware that the soaked sand along the road can be easy to get stuck in and I didn't bring the Jeep for this trip.

Tombstone was a major disappointment as I followed the highway through town. The town would fit into our Arrowhead Ranch neighborhood. South of town I turned back, not willing to go to Bisbee on this trip.

I happened to spy a sign that pointed west. After parking and exploring a leather shop on the highway, I walked in the sprinkling rain to the heart of the treat of Tombstone. There were speciality shop after speciality shop on the boardwalk streets. The street was closed to cars and it was very welcoming to wander around town and look at all the treasures Tombstone holds.

I am most certainly going back to explore Tombstone when it isn't raining. I want to ride on the Stagecoach, maybe even the trolley. And I am going to go into every shop they have. I can probably do without the reenactment of the shootout at OK Corral. I'm not much of a gun person, but this is definitely an old west town that is more than a gimmick. With heavy heart, I turned north to return home.

I am falling in love with southern Arizona. I could do these road trips forever. I wonder if Arizona Highways would hire me?

Even More Road Trip

The plan for today was to repair my lights - did it. It turns out that I didn't need screwdriver after all.

A short drive around town revealed a lovely place. Much more shopping than I expected, several places to get Chinese food, and very new and very old neighborhoods.

Since it was dark when I arrived last night, I missed the planned turn, and it was overcast today, I still haven't gotten my sense of direction. It will probably right itself one I go out in the sunlight.

I didn't stay out long enough to go exploring on a mini road trip to get desert rain photos because the southern Arizona weather included:

1) Rain - more than we get in a year, which brings...
2) Flash flooding (remember the flood of 1981?)

and in nearby areas was a tornado warning (been in one - sounds like a freight train when they hit your house) and

blizzard conditions for the mountains near Tucson.

A side note to Carrie: Remember when we went to the Grand Canyon? The place where we stopped for fuel on the Indian Reservation was Verde Valley. From there to Flagstaff, the road closed today. They have three feet of snow and two more coming.

The Governor's office has declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Arizona.

That's all for now...

More Road Trip

This is going to sound really odd. (Don't they all?)

The drive wasn't as pretty or tiresome as going up to the Rim Country in Pine. I haven't been to Tucson in about thirty years. I don't remember the desert being so overgrown, which is a really stupid thing to say considering most cacti grow about an inch a year.

There was no rain on the drive, which I had hoped for. I rolled into town (look up Sierra Vista, AZ) after dark. I was promptly stopped for having the licence plate lights out on my car. That was a bit funny since I haven't had a violation of any kind, not even a photo enforcement speeding ticket, since my university days. (Being a scholar at the time, I quickly realized that tickets were a waste of good money and one that I could control.)

I pulled over and rolled down my window, only to have this young (the age of my kids, I think) officer tap on the passenger side window. It wasn't a ticket, only a repair order and they don't even require the parts receipt sent with the form. In this documentation world, that seemed odd.

Finally a light mist started as I reached the populated part of town (about 10 miles from the place where the Highway Patrol stopped me about my light) and missed the main turn (they don't have the street names well lit here). I went to the auto parts store and ended up buying only a Phillip's screwdriver, but left with the directions to two other parts stores and the part number for the Mustang light I needed.

At the second store, there were only a handful of shoppers - all in the light bulb section, I might add. So in the morning I will swap out the bulbs. I don't think what I bought looks anything like what the guy at the first store showed me on my car. He went out in the cold damp air, in the dark, and showed me how to swap the 'lamps' -- things come apart, then the glass bubble without any metal end, snaps in the holder part.

Anyway, as I was going to mention in the first place, there is something about this town that seems 'home' - and I've never been here before. I've moved many places I've never been before for a job, so it isn't a problem for me to go into the unknown. I actually like exploring - watched too many StarTrek reruns as a kid, I guess. I am most anxious to go look around tomorrow, which is today since my blog posts at 2 minutes after MN.

Good job I didn't go north to Flagstaff. They are expecting 60 inches of snow in the next few days. There is no way my baby Mustang would manage that.

So in a few hours, I'll go explore Sierra Vista. I'll let you know what I find...might post a picture too.