Tag Archives: Arizona

Color Encroachment

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There is a growing problem here in the West. You don’t hear much about it in the media because there are powerful influential groups that profit by it, and by powerful I mean the entire states of Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Arizona is a particularly bad offender, New Mexico, and yes, parts of Colorado. The problem is color encroachment.

Color encroachment is an insidious problem that insinuates itself into your experience of the west in many ways. For instance, lets say you are driving along one of the back roads in any of the afore-mentioned states, gazing occasionally at the  bland, unremarkable scenery passing by, all grays and tans and pale washed out, bluish tints of the sky, when out of the corner of your eye you notice a small seemingly insignificant amount of color creeping into view. It may just be a lighter shade of tan with a hint of yellow in it amongst the roadside vegetation. Or perhaps a reddish hue to the distant rock faces and a deeper purple-ish color to the low-lying mountains off in the distance. Then you come around a corner and it smacks you right in the face.

Incredible shades of indigo blue and deep purple, rose-colored hillsides and brilliant greens of trees next to lesser shades of yellow and pale oranges in the grasses, the deep earth tones of fences and boulders. This is color encroachment. This is raw elemental color and it is right in your face. This new spectrum of color doesn’t stay safely away in the distance, it comes right down to the roadside threatening to spill out right into your path. The dangers are obvious. Black tire marks on the pavement as vehicles screech to a stop. Burned private parts from the spilled coffee of unaware drivers who become GobSmacked by the sudden sight of this massive color change. Digital cameras of all types filled to the brim with the ones and zeros of abused pixels. The list goes on and on.

There have even been traffic accidents caused by this massive influx of color, none fatally so far, but it’s a real possibility that it could happen in  the future. Many of the states have begun to take steps to control color encroachment but so far it has been too little, too late. Wyoming for instance has started fencing in much of its color as you can see by the image above. This has helped a little but since the color can be overwhelming to those visitors who have never experienced it before, it isn’t enough. Utah and the main violator Arizona have begun running public service ads warning the unwary and first time visitors to their states about the dangers of color encroachment, but there is a powerful lobby of resort owners, tourist orientated businesses and the auto repair industry trying to keep these to a minimum, shown only late at night after the info commercials, and they are pressing fiercely to do away with them altogether.

What has been recommended by the various auto travelers associations to combat color encroachment, has been to prepare yourself before you leave on that trip of a lifetime, by looking closely at old copies of Arizona magazine, watch the various videos and documentaries that show the wonders and colors of the west and practice placing contrasting but harmonious colors on a sheet of paper with a selection of magic markers. This will go a long way towards making your trip a safe one and still allow you to look at the colors of the ever-changing scenery.

Following those few simple suggestions will get you there to that colorful wilderness you long for and bring you back again safely without harm.  And remember to pay attention to those signs posted along the highway saying, “Drowsy drivers cause accidents”.  When they should really say “Drowsy drivers fall asleep, run off the road and scream out over the cliff onto the canyon floor miles below much like Thelma and Louise. Don’t do that.” They haven’t posted the “Beware of Color Encroachment” or “Color Encroachment Ahead” signs yet but prepared drivers have them in the forefront of their minds as they drive the beautiful but colorful highways and byways on the West. Remember, Be Safe and as they say out here “Vaya con Juevos”.

Going To Check The Mail

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We all have our morning routines. Sometimes it’s just opening the front door and picking up the newspaper, or walking out to the curb to see if the mails come yet. Some of us have to make the arduous trek down three flights of stairs balancing a steaming hot cup of tea to the office to check the messages that may have come in overnight. Or you might turn on the TV to catch CNN to see what major catastrophe has caught the world unaware while you were sleeping. Whatever it is it’s a good bet you do it every single morning.

Others less fortunate than us, who live in a different place, like maybe Monument Valley, have an entirely different routine. They might have gotten up with the sun and dressed quickly because it is cold here in the morning in this open place, after all the deep blue starlight has been falling on this land all night long and that makes the ground very cold. Hurrying to miss the morning rush hour they have to go out and catch their ride for the morning commute. Luckily traffic is light this morning so that’s a good start to the day.

It’s a couple of miles down to the road from the house, then 17 miles to the front gate out on hwy 163 where the mailboxes are. Before they put the boxes in they would have had to travel an extra 22 miles to Kayenta to get to the Post Office. There had better be at least a Sears catalog in there to make the trip worth while. By then it would almost be breakfast time and a stop at the Blue Coffee Pot restaurant for some frybread and coffee would be in order. Now since things have gotten fancy everywhere they can go to Burger King for a Sausage Breakfast Burrito, or even a Croisanwhich if they’re more adventurous. But when the fun was over they had the return trip back home to look at.

That usually took up most of the morning and after turning Roy out into the corral they still had sheep to shear, horses to brand, goats to milk, Hogan’s to repair, tourists to look at, the catalog to read and all kinds of other everyday stuff to do. Just speaking Navajo all day long is a chore. Just try saying ” Tó Dínéeshzheeʼ “ which is Dineh for Kayenta a couple of dozen times and you’ll see what I mean.

And of course their biggest and most important job was Scenery Inspection, making sure that nothing had changed overnight. That all the buttes and mesas and wide open spaces were still exactly where they were supposed to be. Nothing out-of-place and all is still right with the world, at least as far as The People see it.

I’m beginning to think my morning routine and my whole day for that matter, needs a little perking up. How about you, are you satisfied with your day.

Point Of View

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Point of view. Everyone’s got one. Some are political, some religious, some just opinionated, (you know who you are) and for some it is simply what the words say, a point of view. Where you look. Photographers share all those other points of view too, but sometimes they have an extra point of view. A way of looking that is unique and different and perhaps slightly skewed from the normal way of seeing.

This can be a blessing or a curse. The good part is you see things that are new and different that many others have missed. The bad part is this happens all the time, constantly, everywhere you look. If you go to a new place you can be overwhelmed with new sights  to the point where you don’t know where to look next but you have to shoot it. It’s a situation where no shots can be left behind.

Many of these different views require you to do strange but weird things to get the image. Such as lying flat on your slightly but manly rotund belly on the ground in the middle of the path, kind of like a beached whale, blocking everyone else’s movement while you futz around trying to get the shot just right. Normally most people are understanding of your behavior because they know this is a beautiful place and it’s obvious you’re trying to get the ultimate shot, but others are less caring and more than a little impatient with you. These are the ones who are most likely to step on the back of your head with nary an apology as they hurry to get their sightseeing done. I don’t like those people. They’re also very likely to step on your elbow so they can get into a better position to step on the back of your head. These people probably don’t like puppies either, or Jesus, or John Wayne, or even art, the bastards.

However the results of your efforts, if you persevere, are often marvelous to behold and almost worth the knot on the back of your head. This image of a section of the lower portion of Antelope canyon is the result of lying on the floor to get this angle. The result was it brought out a small amount of detail that was down close to the floor and was missed by almost everyone walking by. Those kind souls who waited patiently and didn’t step on me were rewarded with suddenly seeing a part of the canyon they would have missed. And now you, for whatever it’s worth, get to share it too. Thanks for waiting.

Please Bear With Us…

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Please bear with a moment. Our weather controlling machine here at The Institute is on the fritz. This is a highly tuned, delicate mechanism that requires the steady hand of a highly trained professional brain surgeon to adjust it. Now some doofus intern with all the finesse of a nine pound sledge hammer, has pulled the knob off the dial that regulates the timing of the weather phase changes of major seasonal transitions. In other words the part that controls how fast we go from “My what a wonderful day.” to “Holy Cripes!  What the ….?” is out of whack. There are a lot of dials on this machine, some more important than others. Why this doorknob of an intern had to screw around with this one is unknown at this time but what is known is, this is why we use interns for mountain lion bait.

What does this means to you, you ask? Well it means that although this weekend was like a visit to Tahiti weather-wise, today is more like “Who’s doing that to that pooch?” as it applies to “where’s our nice day?” The dial that the knob is missing from isn’t just any old dial. It carefully regulates how quickly or slowly we go from good weather to bad by limiting how fast the needle on the dial can move. If it moves fast the weather changes according. If it moves slow we get to keep the weather we like longer. It should act kind of like the way the needle on your barometer moves, really slowly without any jerkiness or big jumps from one point to another. This is controlled by how tight you screw the knob down against the face of the dial. After finding the setting for nice weather, you carefully screw down the knob locking it in until you decide to change it.

Our head meteorologist Dr. Sunny Day, a recent graduate from UC Santa Cruz and designer of our exclusive but patented Weather Controller™ machine, home of the NCAA Div III “Banana Slugs’ (Go Slugs!), and former cheer leader is well grounded with a background of Pilates, Total Body Toning, Hatha Yoga, Sunrise PranaKriya, Foam Rolling and Tabata jam. Not to mention, Bikini Tying, Tanning, and her personal favorite, Belly Dance: both beginner and Intermediate courses. During her heavy load of classes she also had the opportunity to audit some meteorology classes, such as “The barometer: What it means to our weather. 101”  “That Dial: Its brass needle and its relationship to all those funny numbers. 102” (requires completing “The Barometer: What it means to weather 101.”) plus numerous other courses designed to give you a background in Meteorology. We were like totally stoked that she chose to work here at The Institute and cannot wait until she gets back from her sabbatical in the Polynesian islands. Unfortunately her absence is why we got the weather bollixed up.

Yesterday as you all know was a day of sunshine, light breezes, fluffy clouds and generally a sense of well-being, as if Indian Summer could last forever. But today after our doofus intern decided to crank the knob so hard it came off in his hand, locking the weather on stun, we have cold blowing wind, dark but ominous clouds, a general feeling of dread and the real possibility that he has royally screwed up our weather until further notice or at least until Dr. Day gets back, as she is the one who designed the machine and is the only one qualified to complete maintenance and repairs on it.

Today we had planned to run a picture of friendly weather with trees changing color and puppies, yes, real puppies gamboling in the meadow below The Institute’s headquarters. But that plan is shot all to hell now. So instead we’re bringing you color and lots of it from deep underground at Antelope Canyon in Arizona. Perhaps this peppy image will make up for having to dig your down clothing out of storage again. I mean it’s all we can do until Sunny, I mean Dr. Day gets back. So, Sorry. Anyway try and enjoy the provided image. It at least has warm colors in it.

Abstract Art

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Nobody does abstract art like Mother Nature. Walking through Upper Antelope canyon is a spectacular event in itself and it is only made better by experiencing a view like this. This is not a static view. Moments later there wasn’t a trace of this combination of light and dark and all the shades in between, left. The shapes stay the same, this is about as close to eternal as you’re going to come in the natural world, but the light filtering in from the ceiling above and its intensity that allowed it to bounce and reflect from wall to wall, ceiling to floor and back again, compounded the layers of color until this particular moment in time was formed.

This isn’t an image the photographer created by causing any of this to happen. This is just a reaction to the sudden creation of an incredible moment and having the common sense to push the shutter while nearly blinded by beauty. Contrary to what you may have heard I can do common sense and this may be one of my finest examples. I need to be immersed in wonder like this as often as possible. And to share it with you.

River Of Sand

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Upper Antelope Canyon Navajo Nation Arizona

This is Upper Antelope Canyon. If you have had a Southwestern calendar in the last 50 years you most likely have seen pictures of it. Many times you will have seen the famous images of this canyon with a single light beam coming down from the ceiling a hundred feet or more overhead to illuminate a spot on the floor. Or the classic shots of swirls of color looking like old-fashion pulled taffy.

The colors are what get everyone. The spectacular combinations of reds and purples, oranges and light yellows that constantly change their hues and intensities as the sun moves across the opening in the ceiling above. So mesmerizing are these colors that many times you forget to look around and take in some of the other aspects of this incredible place. You are totally caught up in examining this display of exotic hues up close. The immediacy of the walls, the narrowness of the canyon, the normally short viewing distances, make you feel like you’re locked into a stone rainbow or a slowly adjusting kaleidoscope.

There are several places where you can see into the canyon for a short distance and it gives you a completely different perspective. It looks as if the canyon goes on forever with a new secret around each twist and bend. The floor is made up of a river of sand the consistency of fine flour that feels marvelous beneath your feet. This slow-moving stream that has been moving through this canyon for eons wants to carry you into the depths and will if you let it.

Drama In The Desert

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DramaIntheDesert8Saguaro cactus Arizona                      click to enlarge

This is one of those old pictures of the desert with its Saguaro cactus I dug out of my archives because I realized I hadn’t been there in years and it is time to go back and update my portfolio. The Saguaro cactus hang out in southwestern Arizona and Mexico and are fond of sun, adequate but infrequent moisture, and nature. They like to stand in one place for very long periods of time and are impatient with chain saws or people who dig them up for yard décor. I believe that they are predominantly Gemini, Cancers or the occasional Sagittarius, although the one on the right is definitely a Taurus.

I was on a road trip to see an old friend when I stopped to see these two specimens standing along the road. I was interested in them for several reasons. One of those reasons was I was lost and wondered if they were edible. They’re not. Another was to marvel at how well they fit into the scenery, it’s as if they were native to it.

The Saguaro have many uses, from being a friend to the Indians who first dwelt here, and providing condos and town homes for small birds and other creatures, to being a tourist magnet which generates mucho dinero, which is Spanish for, a ‘huge freaking amount of money’ for the local economy. They are also used as a geographic waypoint establishing ones position on the earth as being in the Southwest portion of the United States. This is handy if you’re not sure what your position is on the earth. With this knowledge in hand you can figure out where someplace else is and go there.

Having rejuvenated my interest in Saguaros I now fully intend to revisit them and update their current conditions. I know they’re off this dirt road that you turn on just past that stand where they sell Indian jewelry and you go like maybe 18-19 miles until you’re absolutely certain you don’t know where you are and they’ll be right there on the left. See you there.