Postcard from Quartzite – A Petrified Rock

Note: This may be my last blog entry until the first week of May, although I will try to get one in here or there. Am off on one of my road trips, first escorting a friend on her first trip here to southern Arizona, then off to Chicago for 10 days. Am excited about that trip as I have never been there. Will try and do a couple blogs while there, but no promises as I am not sure of my connections yet. But I will try stay in touch, at least by Twitter and Facebook. – JRC

I’ve written about Quartzite, AZ here before, this little town of 7,500 people in the desert that gets about 1.5 million visitors a year. There is a rock shop there that I enjoy visiting with my camera. On one trip, the owner took me into the back to see a large collection of colorful petrified rocks, most of them from trees.

This is one such petrified tree I have not shown here before. I came across it while doing some photo reorganization in my computer. I love the colors of this one and am surprised that I never showed it here before. Anyway, just enjoy the colors and the patterns of this beautiful rock.

Postcard from Zion

I was looking at this photo in my collection section today and wondering if I had ever shown it before. Sure enough, I had…nearly two years ago, I showed you this same photo in a blog. The problem was, it was all washed out! Something happened in the translation from its original file structure to JPEG, causing it to be nothing like the original.

I did not catch it at the time and subsequently have learned how to improve the images that I send along in the blog. Now, I will also be the first to admit, they still aren’t quite as good as the original, but they are pretty close.

Never-the-less, after looking at the original photo in the blog and seeing it again today, I wanted to show you a better version of this shot. I think it is worth redoing.

If you want to see the original blog post, just go to my blog Web site and search for “Zion.” You will find it quite easily. If you do, I think you will agree that is was worth doing again.

Postcard from the Navajo Nation

When one travels the deep back country of the Navajo Nation in Arizona, one never knows what one will come across. Especially if a visitor is not a part of the Navajo Tribe, as I am most definitely not. Such is the case with these twin rock formations.

I needed to get from Canyon de Chelly in Northeastern Arizona to Farmington, New Mexico on semi-urgent business. I was going to take the 2 lane highway near the National Monument north to another highway, then drive east into New Mexico. A park ranger, herself a member of the Navajo Nation, suggested a shorter route that would take me through the Nation’s back roads. Being an adventurous soul, I decided to take her advice.

And am I glad I did. I saw some beautiful country that took me past special rock formations and cliffs and high up into the mountains before dropping me into the plains of northern New Mexico. I have share a couple of previous photos from this trip before…and now you can add this one to that list.

Don’t ask me the name of these rocks, for I surely can’t tell you, and even if I could, I am sure I could not pronounce the Navajo name. No matter. I am just happy I got to see the sights.

Postcard from the Grand Canyon

Worn, whipped,
Battered, beaten,
Blasted, eroded,
Erupted, uplifted,
Over time and tide
And baked by the fiery heat of a billion suns,
Most of all shaped and formed
By the relentless flow of a great river
Called by man "the Colorado."

Each ancient rock of stone faces has a story to tell;
No storyteller can tell the true tale.
Words pale, inadequate to explain
The work of wind and rain, sleet and snow,
Tectonic plates and lava flow
That shaped this canyon grand.
Only the omnipotent hand
Could create the Grand Canyon -
Not from might alone; no, and not just art.
The omnipotent worked with power and heart
To create this magnificent canyon,
A masterpiece of soul and art.

From “The Grand Canyon Epic” by James L. Manniso

Postcard from Palisades – Another Truck

My last blog on the old tuck I found up in Palisades Canyon brought in a lot of responses, which surprised me a little. So, I decided to show you another interesting and somewhat colorful truck from the same place.

Obviously this is an old fire fighting truck…this one formerly belonging to the US Navy. It is not quite as colorful as the last truck I showed you, but it is in better shape and has a unique personality. I just wish I had pulled the weeks on the right side before I photographed it…but, of course, it wasn’t my property.

I hope you enjoy this one also.