It’s October and time to start decorating for Halloween and other Autumn colors. Click on the image to enlarge.
Culture
Lucky Strike
When McDonalds remodeled their restaurant near the Hassayampa River, they installed a new bronze artwork entitled “Lucky Strike” to depict the old mining days and our town’s heritage. I snapped this photo today on our way to the Wickenburg Sportsmen’s Club for some target practice. Click on the image to enlarge.
Roadside Native American Petroglyphs
On our trip back from California yesterday, Damsel managed to get this good shot of the Native American Petroglyphs along US 60 between Hope, and Harcuvar, AZ. We have stopped at this location a few times, but this time she took the shot while we were going 55 MPH as we passed the rock pile upon which the ancient artifacts are etched. Click on the image to enlarge.
If you’re interested in seeing this first hand, point your GPS to approximately 33.748822 (N. lat), -113.671906 (E. long). As you can see from her photo, it’s right there.
The Big House of Wupatki National Monument
This is the Wukoki ruins in Wupatki National Monument. Wukoki is a modern Hopi word meaning “big house.” I took this image today as we went through Sunset Crater and Wupatki on our way from Flagstaff to Page, AZ. The ruins in the area are very well preserved and to my delight were accessible along a short foot path. Unlike Casa Grande (also meaning “big House”) near Coolidge, AZ, I could walk directly into this big house that was built over 900 years ago. Click on the image to enlarge.
Happy Valentine’s Day
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year, behind Christmas. The association estimates that, in the US, men spend on average twice as much money as women.
The rise of Internet popularity at the turn of the millennium is creating new traditions. Millions of people use, every year, digital means of creating and sending Valentine’s Day greeting messages such as e-cards, love coupons or printable greeting cards.
Me? I’m sending you all this pretty red electronic valentine!
Christmas and Birthday Gifts
I hope everyone had a good Christmas. We had a very nice Christmas at home; we enjoyed preparing and eating our Christmas dinner and a pretty good NFL football game in the evening.
Image – gifts – click to enlarge
One of my (Christmas Eve) birthday presents is pictured in the left half of the image; it’s a nautilus necklace and earring set made from southwestern fossil materials, a little corral and Globe (Arizona) turquoise. I also received some colorful “candy” bracelets made up of Blue Turquoise, Mojave Green Turquoise, Purple Turquoise, Apple Coral and Spiny Oyster with Sterling Silver fittings, handcrafted by southwestern Native Americans.
For Christmas I got an Arizona Cardinals hooded fleece (image right) with the Cardinal emblem on the back and on the left breast. I also got a new cookbook, “Cook Like a Rock Star” by Anne Burrell of Food Channel fame. It has over a hundred fancy recipes that I’m anxious to try.
Merry Christmas
May you all have a joyous Christmas and a very Happy New Year.
This animated Christmas card is based on a famous painting “The Virgin with Angels” by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, oil on canvas, completed around 1900. The original painting is in a museum in Paris, France. The complete image can be seen here.
I can’t take credit for the animation since this appeared as an example of animating methods in a tutorial on the SWiSH website. SWiSH is the program I use for some of the flash seen on our websites. I modified the script in the scrolling text for our custom Christmas greeting.