NIGHT BEFORE THE FULL MOON

     What is it about the full moon that fascinates me. I'm not talking about travelling to the moon wishing I was an astronaut or living in some sci-fi, futuristic, moon station. Nah, I'm talking about the primal fascination of a full night sun that sets the world apart when travelling in the natural night light. I love the moon. Especially, either doing a moon shoot with my wife Sally trying to get the best moon shot with our camera's or backpacking in the Grand Canyon early in the morning to beat the heat of the day and the full moon leads the way; illuminating, foreboding, quiet, a different landscape to observe. 

     This evening I went outside to shoot the moon, taking into account my Canon is a high end point and shoot camera and I can only do so much tricking with it when taking a picture of the moon. Can't afford a SLR just yet, so, I had to plan the moon shoot this month when there is a bit of evening light left. Tomorrow is the full moon; however, it would have been dark by the time the moon topped the mountains. In short, I would have had a devil of a time taking a pic focusing on the moon and adjusting for the moonlight. 



       My moon shot this evening.

CROWN KING, ARIZONA MAY6th-7th, '11

     Depending on the time of year stand by for a hot and dusty road trip to a piece of Arizona's history high in the Bradshaw Mountains should you decide to have a bit of fun beyond visiting an air conditioned mall on your week-end. It is well worth it!

     Sally and I did just that after travelling 20+ miles, give or take, over a dirt road from I-17, Bloody Basin exit, Cordes, Cleator, and arriving at Crown King in the early afternoon. It was Sally's first time and though its been years since visiting, I've been in this neck of the woods on numerous occasions.



      First thing we did was checked into the Bradshaw Mountain Guest Ranch in downtown Crown King. And I was pleasantly surprised with the set-up. Nice.

       Then the rest of the time while visiting we explored. Found the one room school house which has the the town's library.  



     Had a awesome dinner at The Mill. And relaxed that evening.

     The highlight the following day was traveling up to Horse Thief Basin and visiting Tower Tony in the fire tower. He was generous enough to share his stories about the fire tower, the history of Crown King, and his awesome view of the surrounding country under his charge.

    

     

         

POET, HAIKU

        I mentioned I'm a poet, in fact, though I wrote some poetry far and few in between days, weeks, or months, my main discipline is haiku's and occsionally a tanka. More on that sometime later. Right now, I just want to share a haiku I wrote to Sally this morning.

"Nature and art hand

in hand as we together

traveling with joy"