Photo: Theme Day: "Worker" -- Jose Orozco

Today's worldwide City Daily Photo Theme is "Worker."  I chose this street art mural of Jose Orozco behind the Bario Cafe in central Phoenix.

You might be asking yourself how this ties in with the theme of "worker."  Along with Diego Rivera, Orozco was one of the great Mexican muralist painters, and one of their recurrent themes was the life of Mexican workers and peasants.

I remember being quite surprised by the murals of Rivera in the Mexican Parliament building.   They promote the role of workers and contain scenes highly critical of government and the church.  They are far more political and ideological than would ever be allowed in the U.S. Capitol.

This week we are showing photos of a festival in Punahka, Bhutan, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of "worker," please use this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- Movement; a Rugged Arizona Jeep Trail

Today's theme for Daily Photo bloggers is "Movement."  For an Arizona interpretation of this theme, I am using another of Stuart's photos from one of his off-road Jeep trail trips.

I would never think of driving on territory like this.  Stuart is masterful at negotiating challenging terrain.

I mentioned on my post a few days ago that he carries a winch on his Jeep to help others.  Last Sunday is the latest example, as he pulled out a truck that was stuck in the mud.  Stuart explains why he is so helpful by saying that there are a lot of people out there who lack the proper equipment and skill and are influenced by having watched too many truck commercials on TV.

This we have posted photos of some of the mountain temples of Bhutan on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers interpreted the theme of "Movement," please use this link.

Daily Photo Theme -- Rust and Ruin: Guano Point at Grand Canyon West

Today's worldwide Daily Photo theme for the first of the month is "Rust and Ruin."  I chose the rusting ruins of Guano Point at the Grand Canyon.

The history of Guano Point is fascinating.   In the 1930's a boater floating through the Grand Canyon discovered a bat cave 2,500 feet (760 m) below the rim.  In the 1950's a company decided to mine the estimated 100,000 tons of guano in the cave, which is used for fertilizer.

They built a tramway using 30,000 feet (9,100 m) of cable to haul the miners down and the guano up.  They had to replace large portions of the cable twice in its first year of operation, once due to a construction accident and because the original steel cable wore out after only a few months.

It turned out that the mining engineer's estimate of 100,000 tons of guano in the cave was 1,000 times too high.  There were only 1,000 tons of guano, and the rest of the cave was limestone, which is worthless.  Guano was worth $100 per ton at the time, so the enterprise had invested $3.5 million to access a resource worth $100,000.  Oops.

Mining ceased in 1960.  A short time later a U.S. Air Force pilot doing some hot dogging flying through the Grand Canyon clipped his wing on the cable and broke it, although he returned safely to his base.  The federal government paid a claim for damage.

There at one time were plans to remove the ruins of the tramway, but people protested and saved this remnant of recent history.  Guano Point is now a tourist stop on the visitor buses at Grand Canyon West, where the Skywalk is located, operated by the Hualapai native peoples.  

This week with have photos of Ethiopia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the Rust and Ruin theme, please use this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- Take Away

Today's worldwide Daily Photo theme for the 1st of the month is "Take Away," or more commonly referred to in the USA as "carry out."

I chose a rather unusual carry-out food item.  These are mini green apples, covered in different types of chocolate.  They are about the size of Tootsie Roll Pops.

We ordered this carry-out dessert for a party, and they were very popular.

This week we have photos of the people of Guatemala posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of Take Out, use this link.

Theme Day Photo for "Zest:" A heavily laden grapefruit tree

Today's June 1 Theme for City Daily Photo bloggers around the world is "Zest."  Citrus flavors are zestful, particularly lemons and grapefruit.

This grapefruit tree is loaded with fruit waiting to be picked.

It can be a problem for people with citrus trees to find people to pick the fruit off the tree.  When we lived in an groves neighborhood there was a citrus company that had crews who came through and picked the trees, as it was too much for the homeowners to do.

 In some residential areas, people put little grocery bags of citrus in front of their houses with a little box for people to drive by and take some fruit and put a little money in a box on an honor basis.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the architecture of Budapest, Hungary.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted today's theme of "Zest," please use this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- "Squares"

Today's worldwide City Daily Photo theme for May 1 is "squares."  This is an iPhone photo of a masonry wall that serves as a privacy shield around the doors to enter restrooms near the gift shop at the Desert Botanical Garden.

Who would think that a visit to the rest room would present a photo opportunity for theme day?

This week we have photos of the architecture on Portugal posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of squares, please use this link. 

Photo: Theme Day "Triangles" in Public Art at Paradise Valley Town Hall

The worldwide City Daily Photo theme for April 1 is "triangles."  The town hall of Paradise Valley has about 5 of this triangular metal sculptures on its grounds.

Cut out into the metal are the shapes of Native American and Southwestern motifs.  There was a little stand next to one of the sculptures that I presume had the name of the artist, but the sign had fallen off.

Dave and I actually live in Paradise Valley, a suburb of 14,000 residents between Phoenix and Scottsdale.  Our next door neighbor's yard is the dividing line between Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

Paradise Valley has no commercial establishments except about 5 resorts, one pet resort, one home design gallery, and one medical office complex occupied primarily by cosmetic surgeons.

This week we are showing photos of the Sydney Opera House  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo blogers have interpreted the theme of "triangles," click on this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- "People on the Streets"

Today's worldwide City Daily Photo Theme is "People on the Streets."  I therefore chose this photo of runners during the P.F. Chang's Rock & Roll Marathon.

Crowds of pedestrians are a rare sight in the Valley of the Sun.  We do have people in the streets in the downtown Scottsdale gallery and shopping district.  But we do not have the crowded pedestrian scenes that other large cities may have.

That is because the Phoenix metro area has the lowest population density of any major city in the country.  Most people drive to nearly everyplace they go in their daily routine.  I therefore chose this photo of marathon runners to show a crowd of people in the streets for today's theme.

This week we are showing photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted today's theme, click on this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- Entry, into the Biosphere 2

Today's theme day theme is "Entry." I am showing the entry to Biosphere 2.   The Biosphere is an experimental enclosed ecosystem constructed between 1987 - 91.  Researchers lived inside the self-sustaining environment for several years in the early 1990's.

The envitronment inside the Biosphere recreates different ecosystems found on earth so that the researchers can live for years within the glass enclosure, without any interaction with the outside world.

It is called Biosphere 2 because the rest of Planet Earth is Biosphere 1.  Today the facility is owned by the University of Arizona and is open for tours.  It is located just a little north of Tucson.

I thought that the entrance to Biosphere, which the researchers entered only once for several years, would be a fitting post for the theme of "Entry."

This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is a charming Spanish colonial city.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of "Entry," use this link.

Theme Day: Looking Out

Today's theme for City Daily Photo bloggers is "Looking Out."  This mural of Diego Rivera seems to capture him looking out.

Diego Rivera was a a great artist, and is particularly well known for his monumental murals, so it is fitting that he is portrayed on a large mural on the back of a building that houses the Bario Cafe, a leading Mexican restaurant.

I remember seeing Rivera's murals in the building that houses the Mexican Legislature in Mexico City.  The murals are very ideological, supporting the cause of workers, and showing corruption on the part of government, capitalists and the Church.  I am sure such paintings would never be allowed in public buildings in the USA.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of the people of Ethiopia.

To see how other City Daily Photo blogers have interpreted the theme of "Looking Out," please use this link.

Theme Day Photo: "Height." A Downtown Phoenix Panorama

Today's worldwide Daily Photo Theme is "Height."  I am therefore offering this panorama of downtown Phoenix from the top floor of a high rise office building.

This is a 180 degree view to the north, taken with a the panorama feature of an iPhone camera.  The revolving restaurant on top of the Hyatt Regency is visible in the center of the photo.  To the right of it is the expansion of the convention center, and to the right of that is the roof of Symphony Hall, then the Collier Center hi-rise, and part of the baseball stadium is also visible.  The main part of downtown is to the left.

This week we are showing photos of Grenada, Nicaragua, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Theme Day -- Detail of Giant Sequoia

The Daily Photo theme for Oct. 1 is "Detail."  I post lots of macro photos of cacti and flowers throughout the year, so I thought I would take a little liberty with the theme by posting a photo from our neighboring state, California.

This is a detailed shot of one of the world's largest living things, a Giant Sequoia in Sequoia/King's Canyon National Park.  The late afternoon sun caught this knot and bark, whose rough texture also provided a habitat for moss and lichen.

Today is the first day of a federal government shutdown, so Sequoia and all other U.S. national parks are closed.  People cannot enter the parks, and people who are staying in the campgrounds and lodges in the parks are being told to leave.  What a shame for people who had planned their vacations, especially foreign visitors for whom this was a long and costly trip.  What a shame for our national pride and sense of identity, and as a reflection upon our political system.

This week we have photos of the Wadi Rum Desert of Jordan posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of "details," please use this link.

Theme Day: Pink, Pink, and Pink

Today's theme for City Daily Photo bloggers around the world is "pink."  For this theme I chose some of the outfits worn by attendees at the Scottsdale Polo Championships last fall.

I don't know what was more fun, watching the polo horses or watching the people.  They had lots of custom cars on display as well.  The event is coming up again this year on November 1 and 2.  Here is a link to the website for the event.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing photos of Tanzania, including some of its wildlife and people.

Here is a link to see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of "Pink."

Photo: Theme Day: Street lights

Today's theme for August 1 is "Streetlights" for City Daily Photo sites around the world.  This is a photo from last night on Main Street in Old Town Scottsdale.

Main Street is lined with art galleries, restaurants, and shops for tourists that feature western wear and Native American items.

There are large decorative street lights on lamp posts that line the streets, plus regular streetlights, and small lights strung across the street, which add a festive ambiance.

My husband and I actually live in Paradise Valley rather than Scottsdale.  (Our next door neighbor's side yard is the boundary between Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.)  We do not have streetlights on residential streets in Paradise Valley because the town tries to keep it dark to make it easier to see stars,  We also do not have any business streets.  There are no stores, gas stations, or other businesses except resorts in Paradise Valley.

This week we are showing photos Cabra Castle, northwest of Dublin, Ireland, on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  It is a castle hotel that is a delightful place to stay.

Here is a link to the posts of other City Daily Photo bloggers who are showing photos of the Street Light theme.

Photo: Theme Day "Facade;" A reflection of 119 degrees

Today's Theme Day for July 1 for Daily Photo bloggers around the world is "facade."  This is a reflection looking into a window of our house, showing the facade of the chimney of the house behind ours and the oleander hedge that separates our yards.

The reflection has a double image because our windows are double paned to save cooling costs.

This photo is from two days ago, on Saturday, a day when the high temperature in Phoenix was 119 degrees (48.3 C).  The sunset that evening was characteristically colorful as we often have in the desert, and we certainly welcomed the sun  retiring for the day.

Our thoughts and prayers today are with the families of the 19 fire fighters who perished fighting a forest fire yesterday at Yarnell, just outside Prescott, Arizona, about an hour northwest of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.  The newspaper just yesterday carried an article saying that with global warming, we have had so many forest fires in Arizona that 25% of our forests have burned just in the last 10 years.

This week we have photos of a night at the opera in Paris posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the "facade" theme, click on this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- The Creative Artisan

Today's worldwide Daily Photo theme for the first of May is "The Creative Artisan."  This photo shows two artisan glass blowers at work at the Sunday morning crafts fair at the Scottsdale Waterfront.

After the glass blowers got the glass quite hot in the furnace, as I showed yesterday, they took the glass out of the furnace and the artisan at the left  shaped the warm glass ball while the other artisan blew through the tube to enlarge the glass object.

The artisans invited a child from the audience to sit with them as they worked on making the glass, as you see here.  I think his family was buying the glass object for which he had a front row seat.

This week we are showing photos of an endangered species at the bottom of the Grand Canyon on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of artisans at work, click on this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- Pedestrians Crossing

The theme for City Daily Photo bloggers around the world for April 1 is "Pedestrians Crossing."  Here is a group of pedestrians crossing next to the footbridge over the canal at the Scottsdale Waterfront.

A week ago Sunday my mother, her dog, my husband and I had breakfast at a little cafe along the Scottsdale Waterfront.  When we finished this group came walking by.  I think they were runners, but they were taking a break from running.

It is perfect spring weather in Scottsdale right now, as you can tell from the way these men are dressed.

This week we have photos of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, believed to be the site of the Crucifixion, photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other City Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of Pedestrians Crossing, please use this link.

Theme Day: Cafe Chairs

Our best cafe is indoors or outdoors at our house.

Here is a dinner arty we had that had hats and all.  It was quite fun!

Happy Theme Day!

This week we are showing photos of Nicaragua on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site, featuring the doorways of the Spanish Colonial old city of Grenada.

Photo: Andis Winery Umbrella

Today's world wide Daily Photo theme for Feb. 1 is "Umbrellas."  I admit that I am deviating from the purity of this Scottsdale Daily Photo site because this photo is obviously not Scottsdale.

I am showing this photo although it is not of Scottsdale because I like this image.  It is a scene in the vineyards of the Andis Winery in the Shenandoah Valley of Amador County, California, in the Sierra Foothills, about one hour east of Sacramento.

One benefit of living in Arizona is that we are so close to California, including the wine country.  Rather than Napa or Sonoma, which we love to go to, about a year and a half ago we spent a few days in the Shenandoah Valley wine country.  It is like what Napa must have been like 50 years ago.  Smaller wineries where they take the time to talk to visitors.  We loved the rolling hills and took some wonderful photos, of which this is an example.

Oh, I should add.  The wines are excellent as well, especially the Zinfandel.  The oldest vineyards in California are located here.

This week we have photos of the wildlife of Africa posted on our  Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the theme of umbrellas, click on this link.

Photo: Theme Day -- My Street

The worldwide City Daily Photo Theme for November 1 is "my street."  This is the entrance to my street, which is actually in Paradise Valley, right next to Scottsdale.

This shows the gate house at the entrance to our street.  There is a littl water fountain visible in the bottom left of this photo.

There are 18 homes in our little neighborhood.  The Scottsdale city line is at the back of the development.

One of the expenses for our little neighborhood association to maintain is the trim these tall palm trees, of course.   It is nice to come home and be greeted by the flowers, trees and the fountain at the entrance.

This week we are showing photos of Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  We returned about one week ago.  It was a wonderful mix of native cultures, South Pacific scenery, a total solar eclipse, a volcano erupting at night, and colorful coral reefs.