Here is a Halloween skull that was on a stake in the ground at a music concert that we went to.
Here is a photo of a Halloween Gunslinger.
This photo shows conclusively that this is not a cactus. Cacti don't have bolts and round screens. This is a cell phone tower. Rather than ugly cell phones, in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley they hide them in fake cacti and fake palm trees. They were installed by a contractor for AT & T, but other cell phone networks are trying to negotiate use of the towers aso.
This is a close up view of the cactus that I have been showing during the last few days. Upon close inspection, what look like thorns from a distance are not thorns at all, but are little painted dots. The skin of this cactus is not the green flesh of a saguaro, but is a painted cement or stucco. The paint is variable in color, with multiple shades of green, and a little gold accent. 
This is a closer view of the cactus that I showed yesterday, except it is not a cactus. I sure looks like a saguaro, however, with vertical ribs. But there is something odd and unnatural about what looks like a blemish on this cactus. I will show a closer view after continuing this tease a little longer.
I could have taken this photo to use for the "mystery object" theme for the October 1 theme day. This is not a cactus. This scene is only 2 blocks from our house. This is rather typical of roadside landscaping in the Town of Paradise Valley, which is tucked in between Scottsdale and Phoenix. 
Here is another view from last weekend's ArtFest in downtown Scottsdale. There was sculpture, as you see here, paintings, fine art photography, jewelry, and many other artists. 
Yesterday and today there is an ArtFest in downtown Scottsdale. They have blocked off the streets and set up booths for artists to display and sell their creations. This photo shows the beginning of the festival yesterday, as they had just set up and people were just beginning to arrive.
This is the final photo in my series on the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort. This shows the opposite view from my photo yesterday, with the scupper dropping water in to a pool next to the back lawn of the resort.
Yesterday I mentioned water features. Looking at this photo of the area below the swimming pools at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, I don't think you would imagine that you are in the middle of a desert.
Arizona resorts like to design water features in their public spaces. It makes if feel cooler, and the sounds of fountains has a soothing effect. It is somewhat strange, however, to have so much water used for aesthetic purposes in the desert. 
If you stay at the J.W. Marriott Desert Ridge to attend a conference, you can walk to the conference center indoors through the resort, but wouldn't it be a lot more pleasant to walk down the palm-lined sidewalk to reach the conference?
If you stay at a Scottsdale resort, of course you want to soak up some of the warm sun. From the used towels, it looks like someone enjoyed an early morning swim, then they dried off and warmed up by relaxing in these Adirondack chairs
Stepping from the patio I showed yesterday and walking out in back of the main resort building leads one to this spot for a pleasant vantage point to look back at the lobby. Resorts in Arizona will have both summer grass and winter grass. We do that with our lawn at home as well. That way there is green grass all year round. The flowers will be changed out several times per year also, so they are always in bloom.
As nice as the hotel lobby is that I showed in my photos during the last 2 days, people come to Arizona for the beautiful weather in the fall, winter and spring. So right outside the lobby is this large patio with table and lounge chairs to relax and be served.
After you reach the lobby and step inside, this is the scene that you will encounter. The lobby drops to a lower level with expansive windows that allow the glorious Arizona sun to bathe the lobby with light although the windows face mostly north so they do not get full sun.
After driving through the entrance, this is the drive up to the front lobby of the hotel. This entrance gives people an incentive to use the valet parking service, as otherwise it would be a long walk up to the entrance from the parking lot, which is about two blocks behind from where I took this photo. Of course, if you come to Arizona to play golf on a 7,000 yard golf course, who would mind walking to reach the entrance to the hotel.
Resorts, tourism and golf are crucial to the Arizona economy. They provide lots of jobs, as people from all over the country, and internationally, come here in the fall, winter and spring to enjoy our sunshine, warmth, hundreds of golf courses, desert activities, and the hospitality of our resorts.
The flowers that I showed in yesterday's photo obscured the fact that these horses are galloping through a fountain in front of the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort's front entrance. For visitors arriving from cold weather in the East or Midwest in the winter, this statue greets visitors with a reminder that they are indeed now out West.
After showing photos of the horse gargoyle sculpture at Indian Bend Wash, I thought I would post photos of another horse sculpture. These galloping horses are in front of the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort, which is only 3 blocks from our house. It was originally the Loew's Paradise Valley Resort, but changed its affiliation to Doubletree.
That's right. We even have cattails in the desert. I spotted these on the banks of one of the lakes at the golf course next to the Indian Bend Wash bridge that I showed during the past week.
This is my final photo in this series on the Water Mark horse statues at Indian Bend Wash. They are like giant gargoyles that decorate what would otherwise be an ugly concrete embankment. 
The red stripes on the bridge are not just for decoration. As this photo shows, the red stripes are 2 feet (.6 m.) apart and markers to show the depth of the water when there is water flowing in Indian Bend Wash.
This photo gives a perspective of the bridge over Indian Bend Wash. Before the bridge was built, the roadway was down where the bed of the wash is located. When there were heavy rains, maybe once or twice a year, the water would flow over the road. Usually it was just an inch or two and people would drive through the flowing river. But every once in a while, the water would be deep enough that a car would get swept off the road. 
This photo shows one of the horses in the Water Mark sculpture framing the head of Camelback Mountain in the distance. 
The unmistakable profile of Camelback Mountain is on display in this photo. This is the new bridge across Indian Bend Wash. Until about two years ago. The water would flow over the road during few times a year when there are rains that funnel water down Indian Bend Wash. 
From this angle the horse sculptures look like they are lined up for the start of a race. Each horse is 14 feet (4.25 m.) high, was made from 50 sheets of aluminum and contains 7 miles of welding materials. 
There are five horse sculptures marking the drop in elevation of Indian Bend Wash in the Scottsdale greenbelt as the wash dips under Indian Bend Road. A bike trail swoops in front of the sculptures, with each horse 125 feet (38 m.) apart.
For today's worldwide Daily Photo theme of "mystery object" I am showing this sculpture. I invite you to guess what it is and why it is here. I will show more and explain this tomorrow and days that follow.
