Monday, June 25, 2012

Getting My Green On!

So when it's hot, and boy does it get hot here in Tucson during the month of June, it's time to take a trip.  In fact, June and September are my most UNfavorite months to live here in the desert.  Unfortuneatly, I'm working in September to take a trip anywhere but I'm indoors with the A/C during the hot part of the day. 
So we escaped to green green green Wisconsin!!  In several days, I'll be taking you there for some fun visits to a couple gardens, parks and of course some historical insights from my childhood etc.  I'll be capturing a lot of desert monsoon action in the mean time that will hopefully be featured at the end of the month of July.  Today we take you to the gardens outside the House on the Rock. It's the only part of our visit that didn't scare me.  You'll see why next week.  This Japanese Zen garden is absolutely breathtaking.  On our first day there, we just sat absorbing the wonderful weather, sounds and views of this garden.  Swallows were flying around the ponds as were lots of other critters.
12 Spotted Skimmer(Libellual pulchella)
Dragonflies this year have been for me some of the most interesting insects to capture on camera.  Here is yet another variety of dragonfly with blue and black wings.  That's the fun about going to another place....new things to capture on film!!  I think I always have been a photographer at heart because my camera has gone with me everywhere....even before the I purchased the professional one.  But I will note.  This camera has allowed me to carefully observe behaviors in people or animals that I normally wouldn't have seen with my own eyes.....and I think that's where the camera has really made a difference in my own life.  Detail is everything. Birding has made me a better observer. 
And while in the garden, we couldn't help but notice this mature tadpole near the lily pads.
The mosquitos weren't bad and our hikes were wonderful.  Sometimes I forget about all the plants one can grow in the midwest.  I'm not jealous about this, but I did think about something as I was there.   There is so much forest and leaf coverage that it makes spotting wildlife difficult.   Then I think about my own desert home.  I have gotten really good at spotting desert wildlife all around me, but is it because I have been gone away from my birthstate so long that I've lost my ability to see things there?  I think I did okay, but I could have done better.  My ears were excellent at picking up noise but my eyes are terrible at times.  So I had my nephews and nieces to help me out.  But they had to be VERY VERY quiet....and they did excellent playing detective with me.
If you are new to the desert, it's not uncommon to desire a green space.  Most of us get our "green on" in June.  We head to San Diego, the tropics, or back home to visit loved ones.  It's all part of being a transplant to the desert.  The important part is that we all keep those green plants back home and not try them here in our water starved deserts.  So to fix this need, you have to travel and get your green on! Well that's my coping strategy for the nasty heat. I hope you enjoy this series of posts coming up.  There are more chuparosa challenges and property updates from El Presidio.  More tomorrow.....

19 comments:

  1. Good shots and nice to read Chris.

    Greetings, Joop

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey,
    What a great shots!! Wonderful all green and flowers and the little waters with the fishes. It must be fantastic to be in this environment.

    Greetings, Marco

    ReplyDelete
  3. You found some goergeous spots in this park!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It gets hot and sticky even in Wisconsin. I know, my family is from Iowa next door.

    I wish it was better weather here. It is 12 C (53 F) windy, cold and rainy. This is what San diego winters were like.

    Hopefully Dänemark will be better further south. We are on our way to Silkeborg for a week. Back Monday. The closet I've come to getting warm is finishing up my Mesquite Dune Experiment article.

    Wow I have got to get home.

    BTW, Silkeborg has a Jaz Festival going on again. Last time we found this perfect Mexican Restaurant. The decor was perfect and the food authentic. I had to just go back in the kitchen to find out who the owner and cook was. When I asked where she learned her menu and understanding of southwestern decor, she said she lived in San Antonio Texas for 15 years.

    Go figure!

    La Casita Mexican Restaurant




    -->> Kevin




    --

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There's nothing like a good Mexican Restaurant!:) Best food around. I think you need to make a visit:) That cold weather can really bring a person down. I know I have had those feelings when I lived in Wisconsin. I'd get so grouchy in the winter that I'd actively seek places that had an ecodome inside full of tropical plants. Once, we brought our swim suits and went to this Holiday Inn when it was 12 below and swam, played ping pong and just pretended that we didn't live in Wisconsin. A cockroach, which I usually gets me sick, walked past us and I felt like I was in a tropical world. But the evening came to a close, and our bodies went into severe shock as we walked back to our dorms in the severe snow blizzard. That night was so cold and a bitter reminder of why I needed to move out of state after college:) It was a fun night and one I'll never forget....but it's a reminder of why I love the desert so much:) Even if it is too hot.....

      Delete
  5. Wow, summer sounds awful there. Your escape to Wisconsin looks like a lovely time. The Japanese Garden is beautiful. I love the dragonfly, great captures. Have a happy week ahead, stay cool!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Boy do I know what you mean about green. I always enjoy a visit back home (or anywhere else). My least favorite desert months are June through September. :-) I am looking forward to living the lush life vicariously through you over the next few posts.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those gardens look so beautiful and peaceful Chris. Love the photos of fish and tadpole in the pools and the dragonfly is amazing. Look forward to reading more about your trip home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, the lush greens of the midwest bring back many memories. Yet I so agree that one can't transplant those plants in the desert. Which has its own beauty. Look forward to seeing more.

    ReplyDelete
  9. i don't want to get homesick, but bring on wisconsin anyway...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hi Chris, summer must be very challenging there. I've spent time in Central Australia, and it's OK if you slow down and are near a water hole for swimming ... but a Zen water garden sounds the absolute polar opposite! It looks divine with that waterfall. Interesting what you said about the camera picking up things the naked eye couldn't. i am very shortsighted, and am so pleased when I manage a closeup that I never could see otherwise. I look forward to more armchair travel in wisconsin! cheers, catmint

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ucieczka do pięknego, zielonego i kolorowego miejsca w czasie upałów, które panują w miejscu Twojego zamieszkania to wspaniały pomysł. Na jakiś czas wystarczą Ci wspomnienia z tego miejsca.Pozdrawiam.
    Escape to the beautiful, green and colorful place in hot weather, which exist in your area is a great idea. At some time you enough memories of this place. Yours.

    ReplyDelete
  12. HOT here too...but we have it MUGGY hot right now. an escape sounds wonderful! can't wait to see wisconsin!
    love the ponds...tadpole...and especially the dragonfly!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. oh the house on the rock....great place
    as is the Botanical Gardens here in Il
    glad you are happy in Arizona
    love the dragonfly

    ReplyDelete
  14. What a gorgeous place this was! I love water features in a garden also. I know..not good for out here in the desert. June was especially hot here this month. Ready for another trip up north, but I don't see one in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I envy people who can just leave the places inconvenient for them at the moment, and they have the means to support that lifestyle, and they don't need to just stay put for things that need to be done daily, like mouths to feed 3X or 2x/day. Oh how i love to be like that. Good for your privileged/blessed life Kreesh! ...and oh, that manmade waterfalls above is enough to sustain my waterfall-deprived consciousness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey now:) It takes lots of budgeting and good people to look after gardens and kitties when we're gone....but I do know what you mean. Don't envy me right now....I am back home working a terrible job in 110 degree weather right now....not fun at all! I'm working on saving up for a special Mexico trip this fall, but these next 3 weeks are going to be brutal!!! Just so I can take that trip! I figure you already live in paradise so you never have to leave:) Kreesh

      Delete
    2. hahaha, i am back here, can't help it! Even if it is 110F but your humidity is not that high then it is better off than what we have here at the height of the dry season. At least now in the Big City rain is already a daily afternoon event. I wish we have the system too where the efficient, diligent and knowledgeable can be properly compensated, by that time it is really paradise! Even if it's the opposite of paradise, i still love this country, so i don't leave even if most do!

      Delete
  16. Great post, beautiful photos.
    Those gardens are gorgeous, I'd love to have the first one.
    We sure could do with some heat here, it's still cold and windy and feels more like autumn.
    But we have to do the best out of it, according to the calendar it's summer.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by!