Classic Sedona Views!

We wandered out to Red Rock State park today and just enjoyed ourselves. I think our pace was about 15 minutes per 1/2 mile :-)

Beautiful day, beautiful place - moments of beauty in the midst of life.  Very intriguing to sit and watch the hummingbirds, and watch the pace of humans compared to the pace of the wildlife.  We move WAY to fast.

  

 

 

The luxury of time!

Taking the time to wander and look at the world differently is a very incredible luxurious feeling and experience.  This morning I wandered about the complex and came up with these pictures - just looking and thinking and envisioning what could be!  Except the two gardeners; they requested the picture!!

I am fascinated by the light in the cactus - always seeing how I can capture the essence.  Not there yet but still trying..

 

Sedona and Red Rock

No trip to Sedona is complete without some picture of red rock - sunrise or sunset or both!  Caught a nice light tonight on a small spire.

Then I walked in the condo and Rick was silhouetted by the disappearing light.

Zach and the Bass!

We're in Sedona, AZ, this week on vacation with our friends from NC, Rick and Carey.  On the way down, we stopped in Flagstaff to watch our godson, Zach, perform at a Jazz Madrigals concert.  He and his drummer, Ron, played backup to the young folks singing in the concerts!  What fun to watch him, altho he pretty much played low-key as the singers were center stage.

Later that evening we had dinner at Dahl & Diluca in Sedona where Z plays on Fri and Sat evenings.  Here we got to witness some of his skill, as he had several solo's during the evening and played very well.  "Girl from Ipanema", an old favorite, was one that he performed, with the piano as a backup.

Very nice to spend time with him - here's a couple of pics from the events.  Interestingly, all of these were taken at an ISO of 3200 or higher.

 

 

The outdoor restaurant

At the refuge yesterday, and caught this kestrel having breakfast! (Click on the refuge link below left to see some other neat bird shots).  Just a vivid reminder of what all the birds and other animals are doing all day - eating or being eaten!  Is that different from the human day at work in cubicle city?  Perhaps in the end result (death) but sometimes it seems that there is not much difference!

Dairy Queen night!

Mom and I went out for a Dairy Queen Wednesday evening, Murphy came along and oogled the cones!  Mom gave him a lick (after she had eaten the chocolate off) and looked at me astonished when I told her not to feed him human food!
But we had a great time, remembering many DQ's that had gone before and enjoying the taste that makes DQ unique!

Cards

I've been going through my raptor pictures preparing to review them with Hawkwatch as they want to order some cards.  I'm kinda amazed at all the great bird pictures I have; and the stars of the show are the American Kestrel and the Northern Harrier, with the Bald Eagle right up there also!  Sharp-shinned and Coopers hawks along with a few Redtails and Rough-legged make up most of the rest. 

Here's a real keeper:    A male Kestrel preening himself showing his feathers at a unique angle!