Last Day in Oro Valley

...and I won't have my camera with me!

Totally unedited camera phone shot #1

Tomorrow is my last day at Interesting Manufacturer, or whatever pseudonym I gave the company three months ago. They actually ran out of work for me today. To keep busy I washed my desk, wiped down counters and tables in the kitchen, and even did other people's dishes; but I was still off the clock by 3:30. Tomorrow, if the HR director remembers her keys, I'll have a full day of filing and that will be that. Done. Finito. Unemployed.

Totally unedited camera phone shot #2

And I won't even be able to take one last set of semi-decent landscape photos or inadequate butterfly photos with my Canon Cyber-Shot. On Sunday, I served in church for the first time in a new capacity, as Verger. (I keep forgetting the title, and my brain keeps offering the term Valeyard instead, which is very different!)

The Verger is sort of a master of ceremonies and sergeant at arms in an Anglican church. At St. Michael's the job includes wearing a snazzy red medieval robe, which actually fits me. Since it was my first time wearing it except to try it on, I asked the two torchers (candle bearers) to take a few pictures of me during Mass. They did - but then one of them, who is about 12 or 13 years old, left with his parents about two minutes after Mass, with my camera still in his pocket! They live in the boonies, so I'm picking the camera up from his dad (who works evenings) after I get off work tomorrow. So, no final butterfly photo hunt!

Totally unedited camera phone shot #3

Funny thing, though. The company's head of IT, a great guy by the way, saw me taking a few lame photos with my phone tonight as he was leaving work and I was waiting for John.

"Hard to catch, aren't they?" he said, calling out the window of his truck.

Not sure I'd heard him correctly, or what he meant, I just said, "Yes."

"I've been chasing that black butterly for the last week and a half," he said. "It's just impossible!"

I nodded and chuckled, and he drove away.

Slightly edited camera phone shot

But I think tomorrow I'll email him this picture:

From Butterflies of Southern Arizona

Karen

Republicans or Butterflies?

I had two topics in mind to tackle tonight, alone or in tandem. I could rant for a bit about the nasty, bitter, wrong-headed speeches from the Republican National Convention tonight, which reached me in the form of page after page of two-line Twitter tweets from nprpolitics. A sample, from Palin's speech:

nprpolitics "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer except you have actual responsibilities."

It makes me angry, and if I try to explain why I'm going to get all frustrated and depressed.


Or I can tell you about my attempts to photograph butterflies today at lunch. Yes, I know I said before that I'm not that fond of butterflies, but I've become much more interested in them this summer working in Oro Valley, simply because there are a lot of them fluttering around out there. If I watch for birds, I might get a hummingbird, a flycatcher, a cactus wren or a gila woodpecker once every couple of days. Once there was a roadrunner, but he was gone when I returned with my camera. But the butterflies are pretty much always outside that lunchroom window. Frequently they're nearby as I wait for John's car after work as well.

So today, on the theory that

a) I'm down to my last week working out there,
b) it's not as hot as it was, and
c) I might be able to get closer and better shots of butterflies if there's no glass between me and them,

I went outside at lunch and walked the grounds a bit. The first thing I found worth photographing was this little orange and black bug. I have no idea what it is, but it held still, more or less, while I photographed it.


The shots of it aren't exactly crystal clear, but it's still pretty cool.



The thing is, I finally figured out why I can't get any really good photos of butterflies. I just have a Sony Cyber-Shot, which gets 8.1 megapixels of resolution. It's probably the best digital camera I've had to date, but it's not a serious, professional-grade camera. I'm starting to wish for a digital SLR with a nice big lens. Assuming I get my employment situation resolved, someday I'll have one.


Meanwhile, I must settle for blurry but mildly interesting shots, or, at best, a few sorta kinda almost decent ones.

Basically this afternoon I watched for butterflies to arrive at the flowers I staked out, pointed the camera in that general direction and started snapping. Some photos had no butterflies at all in them, but occasionally I got lucky with something my eyes never saw. The black ones in particular were impossible to get completely in focus. They were constantly zooming in and out. Even when they lit on a flower they were in constant motion, their wasp-like bodies vibrating. As closely as I've watched them, I still haven't quite been able to tell for sure whether the black with blue ones are the same species as the black with orange ones, just showing different bits of themselves, or catching the light differently. I think the blue ones are separate, but I'm not quite certain. Or they may all be Pipevine Swallowtails - except that there seem to be a few species like that in AZ.


There are definitely more than a few species out there, though. Beside the black ones there are at least three kinds of orange ones, and at least three kinds of yellow ones. I tried at lunch on Tuesday to identify them online, but when I asked for Arizona butterflies in black, blue, orange and yellow, the database gave me nearly 300 species! A different site gave me a more manageable list, but not everything has a picture. From what I saw, the very different orange butterflies seen in this entry may both be the Gulf Frittilary.

I'm semi-sure none of them I've seen lately are Monarchs, though, which were the main kind I grew up with. Some are similar to the color pattern I remember, but none are identical.

I like the plain yellow ones, too. I can buy into this critter being called a butterfly, because it's butter-colored, and it flies.


Here's the website I'll explore tomorrow: Butterflies of Southeastern Arizona. That's us! And I must say I'm intrigued by some of the nomenclature.

But I still prefer chordates.

Karen

A Bottle of Sleep

Well, here it is: tonight's attempt at a quick fix. I'm trying to work up the nerve to take it, because, you know, what if it tastes bad? It claims to be delicious, but what are the chances?

Shake-shake-shake! Open the bottle and do battle with a safety seal. Pour a capful. Blueberry-pomegranate concoction at the ready to wash it down. Here I go!

Well, except for the part where it overflowed onto my desk and my, um, skin, that wasn't bad at all.

I got it tonight at a vitamin and health food store, where the proprietor / clerk / whoever claimed that she takes the stuff, and that it's effective. We'll see.

Thanks to those of you who have offered advice and/or sympathy today with regard to my sleeping problem. I'll let you know how this works out! But yes, I realize it's just one small part of what I need to do.

Another piece of the puzzle is the coping at work part. Having read last night that caffeine can affect you for up to 12 hours, I didn't take any after 1:30 PM, unless you count a few ounces of Diet Cherry Pepsi. My main gambit for keeping alert today was to ask to tackle something other than this deadly dull project I've been working on for a few weeks, which consists mostly of writing the number 65 all over a bunch of UPS bills. There's more to it than that, of course, but not enough to keep the brain engaged. So I talked my way into doing something else entirely for a couple of hours. It helped a lot.

As I waited for John to pick me up after work, I noticed several butterflies (at least one yellow one, and two of the black-and-blue ones) zipping around the flowers behind me. Always curious as to whether I could ever manage a butterfly photo that's even a tenth as good as one by Carly or Steven, I made numerous attempts to capture one or both of the black ones digitally. Here are the best of the shots:

Extreme non-closeup

It seems a shame to have such a magnificent background and not show it off. But at this magnification, the butterfly could be anything from a large and scary beetle to a distant hawk. Zooming in on this particular shot doesn't help much, because he was moving and the focus isn't very good. Let's try the next shot:

Oh, it's a butterfly.

It's still not a detailed photo of the butterfly's markings, but at least you can tell it's not a bird or a beetle.

Aha! A flash of blue!

And here he is in flight!

Okay, I won't win any awards with my butterfly photography, but I had fun anyway.

Time's up! Good night - I hope!

Karen

Round Robin: Oro Valley, 7:43 AM to 5:21 PM

It's 2:38 AM on a Saturday morning. Must be time to post my Round Robin entry! This week's topic, "Morning, Noon and Night," was suggested by Vicki of the blog Maraca. Because her description included the words "natural light," I've abandoned my usual reliance on autoenhance, tone and saturation tools. Some photos in this entry may have been cropped or rotated or both, and all had been lightly sharpened. But other than resizing, that's all I've done to them. I took over 80 shots today, so what you're about to see is just a tiny sample of the variety of views from today, taken before work, at lunchtime and just before we drove home.

On Oracle Road, Driving In:

Late last night it rained heavily in Tucson: the monsoon is here. This morning the clouds over the mountains were dramatic and ever-changing. Forget different times of day - this particular ridge changed from minute to minute as we drove in this morning.

Pusch Ridge(?), 7:43 AM

Pusch Ridge(?), 7:44 AM

Morning Shots:

I arrived early enough at work that I was able to walk around and take pictures before I went in. Although the view was less dramatic than on Oracle Road, it certainly wasn't dull. Clouds covered the lower slopes of the familiar mountains, and John reminded me that a similar view of the Catalinas helped to inspire our love of Tucson back in 1986.

Behind our office building, 7:50 AM

From the street nearby, 7:51 AM

At Lunch Time:

By lunch time the clouds were starting to clear a bit, the ground was better lit, and the view of the mountains was sharper.

Behind the building, 12:33 PM

From the street, 12:32 PM

After Work:

When I came out of the office a few minutes late, John was there waiting in the parking lot. Nevertheless I took a few minutes to get the last shots of the day from this beautiful location before getting in the car. The sky was deep blue, the half moon hung over the mountains, and shadows from the office building covered patches of ground. I'm not actually in Oro Valley at night, so late afternoon will have to do!

Behind the building, 5:14 PM, with shadows

From the street, 5:15 PM, with the moon a speck in the blue

Oracle Road, Driving Home:

The dramatic shots of the drive in could not be matched from the passenger side of the car going home. This was the best of the lot:

Pusch Ridge(?), 5:21 PM

I'll probably have more photos of Oro Valley and the monsoon tomorrow night. Meanwhile, let's go see what the other Robins have photographed by morning, noon and night!

Karen


Linking List

Vicki - Posted!
Maraca
http://mymaracas.blogspot.com/

Karen - Posted!
Outpost Mâvarin
http://outmavarin.blogspot.com

Carly - Posted!
Ellipsis
http://ellipsissuddenlycarly.blogspot.com

Wammy - Posted!
The Ellis Family Cincinnati
http://theellisfamilycincinnati.blogspot.com

Jama Hameed
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Sandra
Strong Chemistry
http://strongchemistry.blogspot.com

Janet
fondofsnape
http://www.fondofsnape.com

Monica (Unable To Participate)
familyaffairphotography
http://familyaffairphotography.blogspot.com

Olive (Unable To Participate)
Ur Olive
http://urolive.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Robin - Posted!
Robin's Woods
http://robinswoods.blogspot.com/

Jan - Posted!
The Prytz Family
http://www.theprytzfamily.com/

Ourhomeschool ***Welcome, new member!*** - Posted!
...Through the Eye of my Camera
http://ourhomeschoolinthewoods.blogspot.com

Steven - Posted!
(sometimes)photoblog
http://sometimesphotoblog.com/

Teena - Posted!
It's all about me!
http://purple4mee.blogspot.com

Here Comes the Rain Again

The sidewalk today as I waited for John to pick me up

I think the monsoon has started, but the NOAA / National Weather Service site doesn't seem to actually say so yet. I can't remember the last time I was this blase about the coming of Tucson's rainy season. I guess I'm mostly distracted by the dog and the job and that tv show. Then again, it hasn't actually rained that much yet. We haven't had any really wild storms or amusing-but-nondestructive flooding. June's precipitation was well below the average. We'll see how July does.

Same sidewalk, solarized and in neon

It rained today, though. John was a few minutes late and I stood in the light rain, holding onto a tall metal post until I suddenly realized that's not a good idea during a thunderstorm. I took a few pictures, and it wasn't raining so hard that I have any basis for complaint.

The view from the sidewalk

I did enjoy seeing that after all my clear views of nearby Pusch Ridge, the mountains were rather obscured. There are times during the monsoon when you can be driving in Tucson and not see the mountains that surround the city. The bar for that is higher in Oro Valley where I'm working, because the Catalinas are so close by.

Tuffy and Pepper the Innocent

Meanwhile, here are my canine distractions again. You can see Tuffy's swollen neck, and one possible source of the gouges in her ear: Pepper. She had a fresh one this morning, near her eye. John figures it's either Tuffy scratching, Pepper biting, or the broken doggy door. I suspect the latter. John removed what was left of the flap this morning, just in case. The dogs do seem to get along pretty well these days, a bit jealous but following each other around. Tuffy certainly isn't avoiding Pepper, which I think she would do if the PepPep was acting like the Devil Dog I facetiously accuse her of being.

Karen

Breathless

This is to let you know I probably won't make the rounds visiting the Robins' entries until tomorrow. I'm sure they're great, but you see, I'm finding it hard to do anything tonight except listen to myself pant, and wheeze, and cough. It's only a cold, not worthy of overdramatizing, but dang! Unless I feel significantly better by morning, I'm going to call Kevin and Proscovia and tell them I can't make it to church this week. That's rare for me - I think I've missed church due to illness once in the last decade, and that was with a broken ankle. But one of the priests at St. Michael's is over 90 years old and was in the hospital recently, and another has been in and out of hospitals with emphysema. I could probably avoid infecting the one, but I might be called upon to serve at mass with the other. Besides, who wants an acolyte to sit panting and coughing all through church?

Yes, Kiva, I blame you - you and your cybercold, transmitted by bytes and pixels! ;)

And yes, I've also been busy obsessing about today's episode of Doctor Who, which is among my very favorites in the 45-year history of the show. I'd like to sit and watch it again, but for technical reasons that's not possible right now. Yet I can't seem to sit at the computer for long at a stretch, either.

I think I'll go see what, if anything, a hot bath can do for my bronchial tubes (or lungs, or whatever). But first, so this entry has something in it besides Doctor Who and self-pity, here are two recent shots of Oro Valley:

Can you think of a prettier spot to wait for John to pick me up?

The view out the break room window during a storm the other day

Karen

I'm Walkin' (Yes Indeed)

So to get some exercise in preparation for Disneyland, enjoy nature, do something interesting and maybe even lose a little weight, I've been walking down to Oracle Road and back on my lunch break. I may venture out onto Oracle itself tomorrow; we'll see. There is one shopping center within walking distance, but probably not close enough to eat something and get back in an hour.

It's also been closer to 110 degrees than 100, I think, officially but so far it hasn't been much of a problem for me. I'm not sure why. I just clicked close to Oro Valley on a weather map, and it gave a high today of 111.


Does this look like desert to you? This is the street between Oracle and the one Interesting Manufacturer is on. There are a variety of trees as well as cactus. But some parts of the desert do have trees; it depends on the elevation.


And yes, there are flowers, too. I'm not a flower fan, but I like these because of the bright colors and the variety of shapes and textures.

This saguaro has fruit on the ends of the arms, and holes for birds to nest in. Woodpeckers start the holes, but after that it may be home to doves, owls, cactus wrens, etc.

This is kind of a "Where's Waldo" shot. There is a cactus wren in this tree. Can you find it? I tried to photograph some kind of flycatcher (or was it a woodpecker? I forget) in a different shot, but could not find the bird myself.

I'm rushing to bed now. Last night I went to bed at midnight (a definite improvement!) only to lie awake for an hour. I'm tired enough tonight that I'm hoping the insomnia will let up for a change.

Karen

Weekend Assignment #220: Beautiful!

This one is a blatant excuse to show you some of the pictures I took today, while still giving you a topic worth thinking about (I hope!):

Weekend Assignment #220: Tell us about one person, place, concept or thing you find particularly beautiful, and why it affects you in this way. If you can demonstrate its beauty with photos, great, but as always, the primary emphasis for the Weekend Assignment is words. Extra Credit:Does something threaten to disturb or destroy that beauty?

Well, in the 22 years I've lived in Tucson, I've seldom thought about Oro Valley, the outlying town at the northwest edge of the valley, just south of Pusch Ridge. But having commuted into the area for the last two days, I have to say that the view from Oracle Road and vicinity, looking north, is truly beautiful:


This was taken behind the building where I work, at lunchtime today. Mesquite trees, cactus and succulents there prove that a desert can be green.

Landscaping behind the building leads us along a garden path toward more mountains.
'

Mountains and flowers and trees, oh my! It isn't even as hot here as in the city. It was over 100 in Tucson today, but not behind the IM office building. But what's that clumb of garish structures in the middle there? Is that a Porto-o-Let I see? Unfortunately, yes.


Yes, there's building going on in the Pusch Ridge foothills, and not just the half-hidden ones in desert colors. If you zoom in, you may see the bulldozer.

I can't quite explain why mountains and desert and blue sky press my "Oh, how beautiful!" button. I think it has something to do with nature, and getting out of my own head long enough to notice the world around me. Land like this also gives me hope that the Harris' squirrels and jackrabbits and even the bighorn sheep are still out there, somewhere, even if I didn't see them today. But oh, those houses! I can't really blame someone for wanting to be close to such beauty, but can't they be close to it from a little farther away?



Okay, so I've totally failed to explain myself, but I tried. Can you do better? Tell of something beautiful in your blog or journal, and please remember to leave your links from there to here, from here to there. I'll be back in a week to share the beauty!

Karen

First Day

From March 08. The Catalinas, but on another planet.

A similar shot, virtually unedited.

Your mileage may vary, of course, but I've noticed in recent years that the first day at a new job can set the tone for one's overall experience with the company. They are always stressful, but I've had a few good first days over the years, and a a few really bad ones, with the rest falling somewhere in between. The jobs themselves corresponded pretty closely to those initial experiences. Case in point: my previous job started badly, and though it's not the fault of that particular company, I was never really happy there.

Today was a really good first day.

Unless something changes, I'll only be with Interesting Manufacturer for 90 days or so, but I think those 90 days will be pleasant ones. The people are nice, the atmosphere is reasonably laid back, and the building is even closer to where John works than I'd realized. The work is very much my kind of thing, and has a relatively mild learning curve. And when I step outside to wait for John's car, oh! How beautiful it all is! It's just a modern but unexceptional office park, but it's surrounded by plants and flowers even I can't fail to notice. And behind it is one of the most dramatic mountain views in Southern Arizona. I mean, how does a mere office park rate a view like that?

I forgot to bring my camera this morning, so for now you'll have to make so with two shots I took between there and here on Maundy Thursday in March 2008, when John's car broke down at Oracle and Ina. Both pictures were taken along the Ina Road / Skyline Drive corridor between Oracle and Sunrise. For the top one I had the camera accidentally set on manual, and it was ridiculously overexposed. When darkened, it had interesting bits of unrealistic color; so I boosted the saturation, make it a little redder, applied both the negative and solarization commands, and autoenhanced. Voila! Alien mountains, perhaps designed by Slartibartfast of Magrathea.

Tomorrow night, you'll get to see the real view.

Karen