I took this picture at Boyce-Thompson Arboretum in Arizona. I don’t know the actual name of this unusual plant.  It looks like the cactus version of a sunflower.

These pictures were taken at sunrise in Chandler, Arizona.

An event that should have never happened!

Prehnite is also known as tourmilated quartz.  The crystals are 8mm that are a light green under artificial (fluorescent) light, and are a pale, muted lavender in natural and incandescent light.  The triangle silver toggle was a good match for the stone shape.

I love the old traditional lighthouses and with this is one of my favorites–overlooking the ocean but not surrounded by it. The keepers of the light did not have an easy job to do without electricity.  It must have been a solitary,  yet somewhat peaceful way to live.

This is an informative video from HGTV on making beads and bead jewelry.

I was in Trinidad, Colorado for my daughter’s wedding in May, 2007.

Trinidad is an interesting and beautiful little town that used to be a border town long ago, and was large in Coal production. It has an interesting downtown disctrict where all the streets with Trinidad red brick that was a signature of the city since it began.  Each year the brick was designed differently.  Since Trinidad is on historic route 66, these bricks remain and cannot be paved over.

The place is rich with history and interesting tales. One location the Frank G Bloom House was both eccentric and a bit spooky.

This is pretty neat, here you can check in on the small town Trinidad daily newspaper to see what is going on.

We took the Amtrak Southwest Chief which was an interesting first experience. Overall it was a great time in the viewer car being able to see the changing landscape. But that is a tale for another day, let’s just say, don’t order the Angus burger on the Diner Car.