It’s been an unusually wet gray week in the desert, and this has brought water to my mind in general, and some of its more colorful properties from wishful thinking.  So, here are some photos of brightly colored waters.  One is tinted by reflections on its surface, another by what’s under its surface, one by its sediment load, two by clarity and chemistry, and all by light.  The colors in the photos are natural.  (all photos A.Shock)

Autumn salt cedar reflected in the Salt River at Coon Bluff

Deep blue winter shadows on the Salt River from this past Sunday's trip up into the Sierra Ancha (see last post)

"Colorado" means colorful, and here is the mixing of the Colorado River (green) with its spring-fed tributary, the Little Colorado (aqua), at a red gravel bar in the Grand Canyon

Hot spring, Upper Geyser basin, Yellowstone National Park

Shallow water marine reefs seen from the air above Ambergris Caye, Belize. I'm pretty sure there are manatees down there, somewhere!

E and I went uphill today, to see what last week’s winter storms had brought to the higher terrain: a proper Sunday Drive.  We drove up into the Sierra Anchas, a rugged wilderness area east of Phoenix, east of Lake Roosevelt, a place we seem never to explore frequently enough.  In a surprisingly short distance, the road passes through a wide range of landscapes, from the deserty upper Salt River canyon, through yucca-studded chaparral, oak-piñon woodland, and up to thick ponderosa pine forest.  The recent storms had brought the snow level down to about 3800 feet, so much of the area above the desert foothills was still blanketed in heavy, deep snow.

Here are some images from our day. (Photos A.Shock, except Phainopepla, E.Shock)

Above: The snowy Sierra Anchas from the Saguaro-rich foothills below

Above: Spent agave blooms and prickly pear in the snow;  right, a male Phainopepla perched by his favorite food, mistletoe berries.

Below: Ponderosa Pines near Sawmill Flat.

It’s frequently said about the desert that there’s two ways to get into trouble in it: not enough water, and too much water.  This train of big winter storms has definitely proved the latter.

Tomorrow I’ll be drying out the studio which, being the informal structure it is, has many leaks and moisture-retaining properties, and has been taking on water steadily for most of the week.

<< Here’s a shot of it tonight: dark, chilly, wet, and dank, with towels and buckets  catching the drips that are still finding a way in.  Some of the buckets have 3 inches of water in them, and the smell of mildew is becoming noticeable, probably from an ancient floor mat that catches clay from my shoes on the way into the house.

Lovely work environment, isn’t it?  Usually it’s sunny, bright, and dry.  So I’m not really complaining, because there was no actual damage, just moisty inconvenience.

An additional entertaining feature is that after years of use as a plant room (by previous owners) with a leaky swamp cooler on the roof, the brick floor is saturated with salt from the concentrated cooler water.  After wet weather, when there’s less foot traffic, feathery white salt crystals grow upwards from the bricks like a miniature coral garden, the hair-like crystals fine as mold hyphae, some of them half and inch or more tall.  I’ll get pictures if I can, but this time they’ll probably all be trampled before they grow: tomorrow, if it’s not raining, the dry-out begins, so I can get back to work.  There’s a new big Rαtdog in the works…with serpents…

…but only one came back.

Thanks to everybody who came by Three Star Owl at Wings Over Willcox — the show was a very good one for “the owl”.  Cranes were seen, friends were met and re-met, many clay pieces found good new homes.  And thanks also to the organizers of the Festival, who have a lot of things on their plate: birders to marshall and haul, tables and chairs to account for, vendors to wrangle, and birds to find, just to mention a few of their duties.

And, thanks to Hoover, the African Collared Dove, who once again saw me off from Scottsdale.

An excellent start to the New Year!

(Above, the tails of smoke-fired coatis rising out of bubblepak in a box in the back of the truck, awaiting transport; below, Hoover in the garage, supervising the loading of the truck.  Photos A.Shock)

Three Star Owl is spending this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Willcox, AZ, for the annual Wings Over Willcox festival.  If you’re in the area, stop by the Willcox Community Center, and see what’s up.

(Detail of an oval vessel with a Sandhill Crane repoussé and carved in low relief, 10.5″, stoneware, A.Shock 2009)