Manai'a Explorations
HC SVNT DRACONES

Had a lovely day in the desert yesterday photographing snow birds, not too far from the sprawling metropolis of Douglas, AZ. There was snow on the ground and it was chilly when the wind blew across the muddy water. The big attraction is the sandhill cranes; big, beautiful, prehistoric birds. Supposedly there were 20-30,000 of them at this location, although I don't know how anyone could arrive at any sort of realistic estimate. You certainly couldn't count them one by one. The cranes have a lovely song and I am inspired to get a digital audio recorder so I can record their song to submit to NPR's Sound Clips . There was quite a flock of snow geese as well and when the smaller white geese flew with the larger gray and brown cranes, they looked like diamonds in the sky. I shot almost 200 images with my new telephoto lens, mostly of the cranes flying overhead, but right at dusk the local boys started hooting, so I ran over and caught these guys in the trees of the swamp before...

It occurred to me tonight that the dilemma of the corporate environment - being true to one's self vs. being complicit and rewarded - is simply a micro version of the same societal macro dilemma. A few weeks ago I was leading a group of 14 year olds in a conversation about what they wanted, what their dream life might look like. One young woman cut right to the core of existential angst when she confessed to the group that she just wanted to be pretty so people would like her. And there it is. We just want to be loved. But society doles out its rewards just like corporations do and few people get rewarded for being their true selves. You know, people give a lot of lip service to admiring people like Mother Teresa, but look at who our society rewards. The social workers and school teachers can't earn enough money to buy a home while egomaniacal liars and thieves are promoted to be CEOs of the most powerful institutions in the world. Nope, our society's values are no values a...

My new lens, in the living room, the mother-of-all-lamps.

My cell phone service provider suffered a small catastrophe a few days ago, so if you are having trouble contacting me, email is your best bet. Photography buddy BillyD has a great image up at a photog magazine ’s web page. So I have lived without heat in my house for a decade or so, but between this being a severe winter and my body fat being lower than it has been in 2 decades, I broke down and dropped a small fortune to have a new heat pump installed. The HVAC fellows were here this AM to remove my old heat pump and they had a little surprise when they found a rattlesnake wintering under the condenser. I caught him with my handy string-in-a-pipe and took him out in the desert and released him. It’s a good thing it is cold because he was quite unhappy being disturbed and if had been warm he would have surely been more aggressive. Last night I was reading before I went to sleep. Synchronicity at work: The selective withholding of one's opinions must also be practiced from time t...

Once upon a time, I worked for a big, political, bureaucratic corporation. The CEO came to talk to my department once a year. One year he asked us, “What is out number one priority?” “Safety” was the first incorrect reply. “Customer satisfaction” the second. “Customer value” the third. Finally the CEO gave us the correct answer, “Shareholder value.” Since he was and is one of the largest shareholders, this makes perfect sense in retrospect. ----------- There was a big power struggle that resulted in a reorganization of the management of my department. The guy I liked fell from grace and was stuck in a corner. He’s lucky he didn’t get fired. The guy who was made king was a bit of an unknown, but I was wary and skeptical. My peers who swore fidelity to the new king were promoted. I was not, which was quite an ego blow. One day, the king called me into his office for a little chat and the nexus of what he said was this; “You can be right or you can be effective. It’s your choice.” It made...

Shameless pork in my backyard, shamelessly porking

Brisket Mandy Sadie I'm advertising here in Tucson that I am available to rescue BTs.

No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous— Almost, at times, the Fool. I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. - from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot Most agree that The Love Song of J. Alf...

Seemingly random thoughts, but they are all connected together: Every Sunday in church we say, “Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart …” Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote that what eludes us “… is as a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” My butterfly is: To know who I am and what is my bliss. To be at peace in that knowledge. To be filled with desire to be my true self and follow my bliss. To have the strength and courage to become my true self and follow my bliss. To be my true self and follow my bliss. To be at peace as my true self. To accept and love and relate to life and other people as they are. To be loved as my true self. And now for something completely different. Hawaiian triathlete acquaintance Andy Baldwin ( who you remember as CA’s most eligible bachelor ) has been selected as ABC’s The Bachelor ...

Last night I dreamed of most beloved Boston Terrier Mandy, a troubled little girl from Chuuk (Micronesia) I used to work with at the homeless shelter in Honolulu, and Jean Michel Cousteau. I woke up with Phantom Walls by The The in my head ( lyrics ). I have to go to the grocery store today to buy black eyed peas, collard greens and cornbread for my traditional southern style new years meal.

Ah, the melancholy of the new year. The passing of time. Death. All captured in a lovely song that I cannot stop playing. Over and over. I even sing along. A little parable for New Years 2007 Once there was a puppy who loved to play ball, even to the exclusion of food and sleep. No one could ever wear her out. The person throwing the ball always got tired or bored before the puppy was ready to quit. Chasing the ball made her a sleek and beautiful athlete. She would leap into the air and contort her body like an acrobat chasing the bouncing ball. One day a hunter bought the puppy and took her to a new home. The puppy of course wanted to play ball, but the hunter wanted to train her to retrieve birds he shot out of the sky. For many weeks there was a battle of wills, the puppy trying to get the hunter to throw her ball and the hunter trying to teach her to retrieve dead birds. The hunter had no use for a ball chasing dog. He wanted a dog that would work for him, pointing at birds hiding...

It looks like someone else had very nearly the same vision as I did, though they got comet Hale Bop in their image. This supposedly came from an Arizona Daily Star article.

I was dutifully sitting at my computer yesterday working away when friend Tara called and suggested we go to see the snow on the Catalinas. Eager to get out of the house and away from the computer, I jumped at the offer but suggested we go to Signal Hill on the west side of the Tucson Mountains. The Hohokam left petroglyphs in the rocks there that some people think correspond to solar and lunar cycles. The winter solstice was just a week ago, so it seemed an appropriate time to visit (given that I am always late to everything). I took my D80, my 12-24mm, my tripod and a flashlight. We had to wait until after sunset for the Japanese tourist to clear out but I finally set up and experimented with "painting with light." I was pleased with the results. You should see the 10 MB version. I had to pay my 2006 estimated taxes the other day and it was a painful experience, not only because it was a big chunk of change, but because my tax dollars subsidize such foolishness as the war i...

I watched the movie Grizzly Man this weekend. Excellent. Reminded me of myself and my Puer Aeternus friends. Made me want to go to Alaska. Feel the wanderlust. I bought myself a Christmas present . I'm planning a trip to the Wilcox Playa in the next few weeks to photograph the sandhill cranes (hopefully I'll get an image that beautiful) so my present should be useful. Billy D and I are planning a trip to the Bosque in February for more of the same. If I have any success, maybe I'll take the summer off and go to Haines and then over to Brooks Camp and Denali . The Catalinas are covered in snow and it rained all day today. I forgot how cold it gets in Tucson. Every morning, under my blankets, I miss Hawaii. Ironman AZ is coming up quick. I have got to get on the bike. I've been reflecting on my inability to commit. Started re-reading The Road Less Traveled. Chapter 1, Discipline. Oh yeah. Definitely lacking in discipline at the moment. Speaking of which, I should...

Tiny photos of naked-man-running.

I did the Tucson Marathon today. The plan was to just have a long training day - 26.2 miles at my training pace, something like 10 minute miles. So I got up at 5AM and started drinking caffinated tea and eating, part of the prerace ritual get the GI tract going, but my body knew it was 5 AM and it was supposed to be resting. I hung around the house quite late waiting for the big evacuation, but finally I had to head to the race start. True to form, I arrived at the race start 5 minutes or so after the official start at 7:30. My body processes had finally kicked in so I had to duck into a port-o-john. When I finally crossed the start line, they were tearing down the scaffolding, so I thought I might be way behind the other runners, but I started catching the stragglers within the first mile. I was so excited to be racing, I was running 8 minute miles gobbling up the slow runners. I tried to slow down, to pace myself, but I wound up running 8 minute miles for the first 8 miles. And I fe...

Today was a good day. I feel my fortitude returning. From the backyard this evening:

I got myself somewhat stressed out this week, which kind of slid into depression, which kind of came to a head Friday night. So I did something for my soul today. I flew my paraglider at Box Canyon. Special Ed was there with Wrangler and Jammer, Dr. Fred, Morey, and a new pilot named Charlie. Conditions were absolutely perfect and my flight was very calming. Here is Morey landing just after sunset. That is the moon on the left and launch is just under Morey's right foot and 1500' up. What is the name of that purple color on the horizon?

Thus spake Freddie . I did El Tour de Tucson last week; 9000 bicyclists, 112 miles, 6 1/2 hours. Great fun. Yesterday I did a beautiful mountain bike ride up Reddington Pass with Special Ed and Anxious John. Spectacular sunset and a lovely ride back to the car in the inky black night.

I was putzing around in the bedroom, heard the javalina knocking over my garbage can in the driveway, went out to chase them off, heard pigeons roosting under the eve of my roof, crawled up on the roof to see if they had found a way into my attic, and BAM! I was yanked right out of myopia. Standing in my backyard, looking west, around 5:30 PM this evening: