Postcards

From our recent trip to Arizona.

Driving the Ohio Turnpike on the way to
Virginia this week.

The Great Lakes are all around us.
Lake Ontario is the farthest from Michigan.

A delightful alphabet from Iris Flavia's hometown Braunschweig.
My favorite letter is G for Carl Friedrich Gauss, the great mathematician,
born in Braunschweig (called Brunswick in English) in 1777.

Braunschwieg Burgplatz, with the statue of Henry the Lion,
Iris Flavia's iconic alter-ego. This lion is a copy of the antique original,
which is indoors for protection against air pollution.
I am grateful that she sent me some cards of her city.

Some people say it's hard to find postcards now. It's true that they are available in fewer places than in the past, but if you watch for them, there are quite a few around, especially the currently popular Art Deco types like my "Lake Ontario" (from a local Ann Arbor framing shop) and "Ohio" (from a rest stop on the turnpike). The demise of postcards is an ongoing reason for writers to wring their hands -- see this post: "Are Postcards Endangered?" which I wrote in 2008.

Animals of Salt Lake City

The long tunnel between terminals in the Salt Lake City airport is illustrated with beautiful murals,
depicting the animals of the region. Here are a number of photos of the images in the tunnel.

We walked through the tunnel on Monday while returning from
our Arizona birding trip that took place from May 22-31.

A description of the murals and the artists who painted them is available at the airport website.

Blog post and all photos © 2021 mae sander.

 

Flowers

The Saguaro Cactus were blooming everywhere as we drove around the desert in southern Arizona.

Many flowers were also blooming in the wooded areas of the mountains
and along the few running streams. The wetlands where we birded
frequently contained effluent from cities or runoff from irrigated fields.
Very few actual live streams have much water this very dry year.

This is known as cowboy's fried egg -- formally, Matilija poppy.

Other types of cactus also had vividly colored blossoms,
despite the terrible drought throughout the region.

On the wall of one of the highly decorated Mexican restaurants was this face with flowers.

Back in Michigan — 

And in our completely different environment at home, we have a beautiful
rhododendron in bloom, which greeted us when we arrived.

 Blog post and photos © 2021 mae sander.

Our Fellow Birders

Dave, our guide. Here he is at the wheel of the van in which we traveled.
He drove long, hard days, and would drop us at the hotel,
go fill the tank, get the dust washed off the vehicle, and buy food for picnics.
So dedicated!

Here's the group at the start of our first long walk in Cave Creek Canyon.
Our birding tour from May 22 to May 31 included our guide Dave and seven avid birders including me and Len.

We had several picnics. Here's Dave reaching for the chips -- everyone's favorite. Lois, Kendall,
and Phyllis have their plates and are getting ready to eat.

Looking for birds...

Kendall, from Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Woody, from Austin, Texas.

Susan, from San Francisco.

Phyllis, from Utah.

Lois and Woody, who celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary during the trip.

Len with his camera ready.

 

Lois, Len, Woody, and Dave, all looking for a special kingfisher. Unfortunately, it didn't show up.

Woody, Lois, Dave (with his back to the camera), and Len.

Dave, who lives in Tucson.

The van we traveled in, on a very steep road.

Loading the van at one of the hotels where we stayed.

 

Susan with the van. Fortunately, it was roomy, with seats for 12.

Me and Len at the last tour dinner:
a great Mexican Restaurant in Tucson.

Every night we filled out our lists of birds we had seen,
and where we saw them. Here's Kendall working on the list
while her shrimp fajitas were getting cold.

The last day of the tour was Woody's birthday.
A piece of cake and a hat helped him celebrate.

Blog post © 2021 mae sander.