Schistocerca nitens is a species of grasshopper known by several names, including vagrant grasshopper and gray bird grasshopper. It is a close relative of the desert locust, which is in the same genus. This grasshopper is native to southern North America including Mexico and the south-western United States from California to Texas. Can also be found in parts of mid-Atlantic states. Recently found on Long Island, New York. It is also present in parts of Central America. It lives in many habitats including desert, woodland, and lower elevation mountainous areas. It is a large grasshopper, reaching lengths of 4 to 7 centimeters. It is mostly brown and gray spotted or patched in cryptic coloration. This species is known as a pest on ornamental plants and many types of crop plants. — Source: Wikipedia
On this 4th of July morning, I observed a Cooper’s Hawk bathing in our patio fountain. Many birds drink from the fountain and occasionally will splash water on themselves. However, this morning was the first time I witnessed a hawk bathing in the water.
For most of us, There is only the unattended Moment, The moment in and out of time, The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight, The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply That it is not heard at all, but you are the music While the music lasts.
— from Four Quartets, “The Dry Salvages” by T. S. Eliot
Court of the Patriarchs, Zion National Park Panorama — Image by kenne
The Court of the Patriarchs is named for three towering figures of the Old Testament. These sandstone peaks (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Peaks) hold court over Birch Creek Canyon and a section of the Virgin River, named in 1916 by Methodist minister Frederick Vining Fisher. The Court of the Patriarchs is just one of many majestic and inspiring views in the park.
kenne
My Zion
Stains across an aerie altar, white streaked red suspended above my reach, but not my sight.
Perhaps ancient titans sacrificed, honored, bled now revealed in golden strains of morning light.
My Zion, my refuge from all it is not.
Oh Zion, my haven where solace was sought.
Did angels take wing from that lofty perch? Does the stone truly weep for ages past?
I have been thinking about the stolen seat on the SCOTUS recently, During this debacle, the Senate Republicans refused to do their duty, advising and consenting to President Obama’s SCOTUS nominee, Merrick Garland, and the Democrats sat by the side wringing their hands. So, what would I have done?
Here is a description of the role of the Vice-president of the U.S. with regard to the U.S. Senate: the Constitution names the vice president of the United States as the president of the Senate. In addition to serving as presiding officer, the vice president has the sole power to break a tie vote in the Senate and formally presides over the receiving and counting of electoral ballots cast in presidential elections.
Hmm, “in addition to serving as presiding officer.” At the time, the VP of the U.S. was Joe Biden, a long-term Senator who knew the rules of the Senate…
Re Ann, Justice, and Katelyn after Katelyn’s Graduation on May 28, 2022 — Image by kenne
“Wear sunscreen.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they’ve faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.”
— from Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young by Mary Schmich
The sky is more than blue, it’s “Tucson blue,” as I walk the trails, sometimes in pain, but always convivial in fellowship with nature where there is strong medicine in the air —
. . . take one as needed.
Landscapes draw inspiration, subtle and complex as an O’Keeffe painting, everywhere you look (with a trained eye) stories of the past can be heard in your mind’s ear —
. . . take one as needed.
Allowing the mind to enclose infinity (yes, the mind can) for the moment to accommodate all the sounds all the smells all observable images –
. . . take one as needed.
Diversity, a word often heard when describing the Sonoran desert (the source of that concept) and the purposes all living things play trying to…
A first read of Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid (GEB), by Douglas Hofstadler, may leave you wondering what’s it all about.
But like any great work, its true meaning comes from where the reader is (self-representation) at the time of the reading.
As I constantly matrix my experiences, GEB, like a “popup” reminder on my computer screen, has crossed paths
with many of my current states of being. Again, I find myself driven to read what is not an easy book to master.
Often, the words used to describe the book are “turgid and confused,” words that may be used to describe me.
Past Shadows — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Court of the Patriarchs, Zion National Park Panorama — Image by kenne
Tucson Sunset — Image by kenne
Becoming is Superior to Being 
