Sometimes a walk is like that. Ostensibly, my goal this afternoon was the bank -- and I did make it there. But on the way, I couldn't help stopping to grab a picture of this and of that distraction.
My one disappointment: the loud to-do among the acorn woodpeckers. Some five to seven in one pine tree, shouting loudly about Something of Great Importance to acorn woodpeckers. I'll never get a good picture of birds such as these until I graduate to a grown-up camera and expensive lenses!
In compensation, I was introduced to Linus. He is the Central American parrot sitting on neighbor Bill's shoulder. I also enjoyed a brief tour of his backyard garden (below).
Further along my route, free books, on a bench in front of the Dinner Bell. Somehow the preprinted plastic bag, although maybe a good idea during the monsoon, takes away from the spontaneity of the gesture. The books? A Lewis Gizzard and a John Grisham.
The seeds and the leaves of this tree along Granite Creek literally shout, "MAPLE!!!" Indeed, the boxelder is "neither a boxwood nor an elder, but a maple," says my
Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Uplands guidebook. One un-maple-like disappointment: no brilliant red leaves in the autumn.
Still further on my walk, after a session at the bank, where I foolishly left my walking staff, I spotted this brickwork at the Underground, a religious operation in the basement at the corner of Gurley and Montezuma.
Next pretty thing catching my eye -- parasols in a shop window across from the Courthouse. I've already bemoaned the
passing of the parasol from our sunny state.
And, finally, ceiling fans at The Raven, a new bistro over on Cortez, where I stopped, hoping to learn more about
Coyote Radio which currently resides there. Nobody was home so I had a huge (really huge), yummy club sandwich instead. By the way, it took more than a little PhotoShopping to make those fans visible...
There you are: a partial look of my picture-taking afternoon. Be warned by my experience: the more you shoot those nearly cost-free images on a digital camera, the more you see to take pictures of. Already I've got over 2,000 stored on my computer, awaiting the right time and place!
Today, we found not one but two out-of-work typewriters over at the NOAH resale shop. These machines were in the midst of all kinds of resale Stuff. Not often that you even see a typewriter these days. How many generations has it been since the Royal, Underwood or IBM was king of the office?
However, here are two portables that are enjoying a more upbeat fate as Art Objects over at the Raven Cafe. One is on a table, the other is taking the place of a painting, hanging, space bar down, on a wall.
All of which reminded me that I still have my IBM correctable, wide-carriage Executive in Stash, in the event computers are declared illegal or some such catastrophe. Do note the color: R.E.D! One of my proud possessions from an earlier age. Of course, it is kind of silly of me to hold on to an electric; if civilization collapses, a manual typewriter is the only possible solution. A Royal, preferably.
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