“If you want to be world-class you must raise the bar to raise your game.”
It’s easy to say “I’m good enough,” but there is a big difference between “wondering vs knowing” you are good enough. If you want to ride with the stars you have to adopt their life style.
Attitude: A respectable humble champion is a jewel in the sport of rodeo. He lets his riding represent his character and do the talking.
Obnoxious winners lose respect and friends faster than a rock can drop to the ground. In the end it’s the friends you have that count anyway.
— Dave Red Boy Schildt
(Click On Any Thumbnail To See Larger Image In Slideshow.)
Panorama Views On The Hidden Pasture Trail In The Little Rincon Mountains by kenne
Images by kenne
There’s a special place on the east side of the Rincon Mountains, named “Happy Valley.” A primitive road goes past ranches as the terrain and vegetation evolve, creating a picturesque kaleidoscope of nature’s beauty.
The road slowly narrows with several curves lined with large cottonwoods, oaks, and sycamore trees, forming a belt along a fence-line above the trees.
On a previous trip into Happy Valley, we had identified a lone railroad post as a marker on the fence above a grove of trees where we could leave our car. Approaching the marker-post, we hiked the fence-line up through waist-high thorny bushes till reaching the gate to the Hidden Pasture Trail. Located in the Little Rincon Mountains, the trail slowly leads us through a maze of beautiful rock formations and scenic views.
The trail is not heavily used and can be difficult to follow, causing frequent misdirected diversions — not a problem as long as we followed a line parallel to Ash Creek, which snakes up the canyon below North Star Peak.
Flowers have spoken to me
more than I can tell in written words.
They are the hieroglyphics of angels,
loved by all men for the beauty of the character,
though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.
Jonn Richardson, Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore — Image by kenne
We have thought more about Houston lately and our many “blues” friends. Since moving to Tucson from The Woodlands, we have stayed in touch via the Internet, social media and other electronic media. Friday, we learned via Facebook that our good friend, Mary Harris (aka, Ken & Mary of Ken & Mary’s Blues Project) was in the hospital after having a lung collapse — gotta be hard on breathing! The news is good, she is resting and getting better all the time.
Each time we go to Houston visiting family, we tried to include friends, which is not always easy. So, Ken & Mary are a “must see,” because we love them and they are soooo connected to all our blues friends in the Houston area, therefore we try to schedule trips around Ken & Mary’s house concerts. (Sometimes we can only schedule lunch.) We could go on and on with superlatives, but we will let past and future posting on the blues and Ken & Mary do the talking.
When time allows, we stream KPFT on Sunday morning, listening to Mr. & Mrs. V, who we are pleased to say have been a part of our circle of friends for almost as long as we have known Ken & Mary — our circle has grown to include blues in Tucson and Phoenix, with the likes of Marty Kool , KXCI, and all the great blues Bob Corritore brings into Arizona at his “Rhythm Room” in Phoenix.
This morning, we were streaming KPFT, knowing the the V’s would mention Mary’s hospitalization. We stepped away from the computer for a moment, when returning we heard Diunna Greenleaf singing one of our favorite Diunna songs, “Growing Up and Growing Old.” Given Mary’s situation, having heard Diunna sing it on several occasions, plus having the CD, I kept saying to myself, “myself, I thing I videoed her singing this song when she and Jonn were here at Plaza Palomino’s Rhythm & Roots Concert Series, Tucson, Arizona, and the Bisbee Blues Festival. Hoping that I had not lost the clips from their time here in September 2012, my Sunday became an “age like fine wine” project, in more ways than one.
Here’s the video, dedicated to Mary — hope we continue to hear great news on your recovery, Mary!
kenne & joy
“I aspire to inspire, before I expire.”
— Diunna Greenleaf
Kino Sports Complex Soccer Stadium With Santa Catalina Mountains As A Backdrop — Teams Warming Up.
Houston Dynomo vs. San José Earthquakes at Kino Sports Complex in Tucson (February 8, 2014) — Images by kenne
(CLICK ON ANY OF THE THUMBNAILS TO SEE SLIDESHOW)
Harris Hawk on a power pole along the Sabino Canyon south border. — Image by kenne
Gray caps placed over wires to protect rafters from electrocution. — Image by kenne
Raptors are often injured or killed on electric power poles in urban areas like Tucson. The poles make attractive perches for the big birds
Last December a Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalist found a dead Peregrine Falcon below a utility pole on the border of Sabino Canyon Recreation Area. The Tucson Electric Power (TEP) was contacted, responding quickly with representatives from the University of Arizona to evaluate the area. To reduce the possible electrocution of rafters, TEP designed caps to be placed on the power poles (gray caps in the third image above).
Harris’s hawks occur in the United States only in the southern portions of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, with the largest concentration is between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona. Electrical power poles are like a magnet to raptors looking for the highest point they can find to perch, creating the largest single cause of mortality facing raptors.
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has stated that due to the hawks’ nesting and hunting habits, they are at greater risk of electrocution than other raptors. “Harris’ hawks are unique in that they breed, nest, and hunt communally, they are vulnerable to multiple deaths at once.”
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists training 8th grade students to become youth naturalists after a nature walk in the canyon.
— Image by kenne
“The end and aim of all good education is to make man more
alive to everything, or in other words to make
everything more keenly alive to him, to make ‘sermons in stone,
and symphonies in running brooks’ an everyday possibility.”
Tucson Rodeo Image by kenne
Desert Phlox Wildflower — Image by kenne
Carpenter Bee Image by kenne
Ride ‘Em Cowboy — Image by kenne (Tucson Rodeo)
Jonn Richardson, Diunna Greenleaf and Bob Corritore — Image by kenne
2014 La Fiesta de los Vaqueros – Tucson Rodeo — Image by kenne
Desert Chicory (February 14, 2014) — Image by kenne
Desert Chicory, February 14, 2014 — Image by kenne
Desert Landscape Computer Painting — Image by kenne
Kino Sports Complex Soccer Stadium With Santa Catalina Mountains As A Backdrop — Teams Warming Up.
Harris Hawk on a power pole along the Sabino Canyon south border. — Image by kenne
Gray caps placed over wires to protect rafters from electrocution. — Image by kenne
Sabino Canyon Volunteer Nationalists training 8th grade students to become youth naturalists after a nature walk in the canyon.
