Round Robin: The Great Outdoors on a Cloudy Afternoon

The Round Robin Photo Challenge this time out is "The Great Outdoors." Not having a lot of time this week to really explore the topic, I headed for my default bit of the Great Outdoors: the lower reaches of Mount Lemmon Highway in the Santa Catalina Mountains, just north of Tucson.

From Mount Lemmon Highway

As I'd hoped, there was a cyclist on the road as I started up. I almost always see one or more of them, on the way up or on the way down. Mountain biking is an extremely popular way to enjoy the Great Outdoors around here. To me, though, it seems like an awful lot of work, especially in the heat and humidity of late summer in Tucson.



For once I skipped Babad Do'Ag Vista, the site of many past photo shoots for this and other memes. Instead I made my way to Molino Basin Vista. There are a few short nature trails here, one of which led me almost to the water below.



The trail in the other direction leads me toward a lovely cleft in the mountains. Unfortunately, the weather and the time of day meant that I could not take a photo as dramatic as what my eyes saw. If the land was properly lit, then the sky was whited out...



...and setting the aperture to catch the dramatic monsoon clouds meant leaving the land in shadow.



So I created a composite from two different photos!


I always enjoy my trips up Mt. Lemmon, even the abbreviated ones that take me just five or ten miles from the base. This particular trip was marred by the echo of nearby gunfire. I'm pretty sure it was guys from a pickup truck near which I'd parked my Kia, illegally shooting into giant saguaro cacti. Not that I would dare to confront such people. Heck, they might shoot me instead!




You don't have to be on a mountain to enjoy the Great Outdoors, of course. Even the drive back was dramatic because of the clouds and the beginning of sunset.

If you are facing clouds and rain this weekend due to Hurricane Irene (or any other storm), respect the Great Outdoors - and be safe!

Linking List
as of Saturday, August 27th
at 1:22 AM MST

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

Jama - Posted!
Sweet Memories
http://mummyjam.blogspot.com

Gattina - Posted!
Keyhole Pictures
http://gattina-keyholepictures.blogspot.com/

Tina - Posted!
Goodies for a Pleasant Life
http://leckeresfuermenschundkatze.blogspot.com/2011/08/herziges-blau.html

Anybody else this week?
Karen

Barren, Boring Pre-Monsoon Yard

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of something interesting in your yard (or take a picture of some fun happening). Front yard, back yard, side yards, it's all good. If you live in an apartment or otherwise don't have access to a yard, something at a local park or garden works well (or just take a picture of your windowsill garden).

Fortunately for this shoot, John just did a bunch of yard work. But that only makes the yard neat, not interesting. Still, let's take a look anyway:

Front Yard:

The bougainvillea that was snowed on in January, looked completely dead in March and April and started to revive in May and June, has one flower as July begins.

Not so this not so green evergreen. It's been failing for years.

Back Yard:

I seldom miss a chance to photograph Tuffy in the back yard, easily its most photogenic feature when she's there.

John recently lined up all our back yard furniture and other stuff on its way out of our lives, the better to get the rest of the yard under control.

You may have noticed that the grass and trees are dry, dry, dry, despite John's watering. But July is here, and the monsoon will start soon. When that happens, the desert will be greener.

Karen

Take it Outside

Your Monday Photo Shoot: Take a picture of people working outside. Because now the weather's right for it (mostly). If you have a photo in your archives of people working outside, that works too.

Humph. This is going to be tricky to do. I was barely even outside today. The only person I saw working outside was a next door neighbor, and I wouldn't presume to photograph him for this. So I need to go to the archives, but I can't, for the most part, because most of the photo files have been cleared out onto CDs to relieve my overburdened hard drive. Those CDs are in one of the many boxes currently stacked in the den as we work on fixing up my office.

But let's see what's still on my hard drive that matches the criteria, shall we? I've found a handful of pictures for you that I haven't shown off before, which show people working outside - but with a strong element of fun.



This latter-day Betsy Ross is sewing a flag in the tent village at the Picacho Pass reenactment. I don't know whether anyone is paying her for the sewing.


Here she is again. Note all the spectators, who are not working.


I also have lots of shots of the faux soldiers, who if they were the actual 19th century combatants could certainly be said to be working. But since these 21st century folks are instead playing soldier for fun (and probably spending lots of money to do it), they don't really count. This policeman, on the other hand, is definitely on the clock. Seems like a fun assignment, though.




This fellow was carving pumpkins at Disneyland last October. I'm guessing his admirer is interested in more than his skill with a knife.


And this chimney sweep, Bert by name, manages to avoid the appearance that he's working at all. Need I mention that this was also taken at Disneyland?

It occurs to me belatedly that John S. paid "people." plural, whereas I've posted individuals working essentially alone. Let's rectify that with a few more Disneyland shots. Full disclosure: John B. may have taken one or both of these last two shots, but I don't think so.



The Dixieland jazz band that works out of the "Disneyland Fire Dept" is a successor to the Firehouse Five Plus Two, a real, working band that included legendary Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ward Kimball.

And here we have Alice and the Mad Hatter arguing, which probably is a lot of work, at least for Alice!

Karen