Archive for the ‘Tanque Verde Wash’ Category
Migrating Turkey Vultures at Their Tanque Verde Wash Stopover (October 15, 2016) — Images by kenne
(Click on any images to see larger view in a slideshow format.)
The turkey vulture count has been down this October. One reason for the lower count might be due to the Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department doing major pipe construction alone the north side of the Tanque Verde wash near where the big birds spend early mornings before continuing their migration south. There is no doubt some irony found in nature’s sanitation department having to put-up with the county’s sanitation department.
— kenne
Turkey Vulture Computer Art by kenne
In the country the darkness of night is friendly and familiar,
but in a city, with its blaze of lights,
it is unnatural and menacing.
It is like a monstrous vulture that hovers,
biding its time.
— W. Somerset Maugham
“Vulture Universe” — kenne
This time of year turkey vultures are migrating north from Mexico and Central America. Each year one of their nightly stopovers is in trees near the Tanque Verde Wash, close by our home in Tanuri Ridge. I photographed this vulture early one morning with an almost white background. The big birds are often associated with death and darkness and not the important function they play in the removal of the dead animals therefore being very resourceful. A more appropriate symbol for this bird is renewal — a transformation from the dead to the living. These are just a few symbols I took into consideration creating the “Vulture Universe” computer painting.
— kenne
Dry Reeds in the Wash (Tanque Verde Wash, January 13, 2016) — Image by kenne
Try to be saturated
in the glimpse
so the brief remembrance
will return in a dream.
— kenne
American Kestrel Atop a Mesquite Tree On A Winter Day — Computer Painting by kenne
“Though you were watching me,
I neither ate nor drank, but what
you saw was a vision.”
Sacred Datura Prickly Seed Pods — Computer Art by kenne
A man of knowledge chooses a path with a heart
and follows it and then he looks and rejoices and laughs
and then he sees and knows.
— Carlos Castaneda
This thorny vine is very drought tolerant and can be allowed to grow up a wall or shaped into a nice landscaped bush. They are beautiful ornamental plants, but they are very frost-sensitive. A frost or freezing temperatures will kill the exposed plant, leaving a thorny dried-up plant till spring, at which time they need to be cut back. Because of their sharp thorns, this is not a pleasant task — one that I hate. In our five winters in Tucson, the bougainvilleas made it through the winter season only once.
The last two mornings we have had lows of 35 degrees without a frost — maybe on the top of cars. Getting freezing temperatures in the winter are more likely in Tucson than our big sister to the north because our elevation is 2,600 ft, vs Phoenix at 1,100 ft. Plus, we are usually drier here causing the upper-level cold air to drop closer to the ground over night.
At any rate, after hearing the weather forecast a few days ago, I decided to take a few photos of one of my favorite plants. In equatorial regions, they tend to flower all year round in. Elsewhere, they are seasonal, with bloom cycles typically four to six weeks. The actual flower of the bougainvillea is small and generally white, surrounded by three or six modified bright colored leaves.
kenne
Bougainvillea Images by kenne
View From a Villa
yonder is a flaming red, vintage corolla
basking in the sun in the yard of this villa,
casting no shadow,
while by the window,
dances a burning bush, blazing bougainvillea!
–Romeo Naces
Turkey Vulture Near Tanque Verde Wash — Grunge Art by kenne
