Sedona Sky

Sedona has some of the most amazing skies. At sunrise and sunset, the light plays off the clouds and the rocks and just makes you gasp.

I know there are other places that get amazing skies, but such things don't seem to happen in the city or the suburbs very often. A proper vista seems to be required for the clouds to have that endless quality, the ability to glow.

Of course, it helps that the area is surrounded by national forest, and thus has fewer houses than it might otherwise, and fewer city lights to get in the way. That is certainly true at night, when the sky is as wide as you expect it to be in the desert.

Here, the clouds almost look like mountains, don't they? Off in the distance, far away. But they are just clouds.

The sky can change color too, depending on the angle of light, the type of clouds, the amount of dust or pollen in the air.

(Taken through the windshield - hence the darker portion at the top) It isn't just the early morning and late evening skies that are so amazing though. The day time ones are pretty spectacular themselves.

And they go on forever.

Sedona wildlife (well, a very small portion of it)

I realized last night as I was going to bed that I forgot to give y'all a blog yesterday. Oh well. Means my pictures will last longer! Anyway, back to Sedona for today's shots. All of these were taken in my aunt and uncle's back yard.

Sedona has a rather large population of wild rabbits. I love rabbits. If I didn't have a chinchilla and a dog, I would probably get a rabbit. But I do have a chinchilla and a dog, and three cats, so I will have to content myself with cute pictures of rabbits instead. (Speaking of which, have you seen Disapproving Rabbits yet? It falls into the "cute animal pictures with captions" genre, and is a hoot.)

I, wild rabbit, disapprove of this shot.

Anyway, I saw so many bunnies on my walk around the neighborhood and through the golf course one morning that I lost count, or rather gave up counting. I am a little surprised that so many bunnies survive, because there are a lot of predators in Sedona too - I saw (but didn't get on camera) a bobcat and a very healthy looking coyote while I was there. These come into the town area from the surrounding hills, which are mostly National Forest, and thus undeveloped.

Here the feather looks like a punctuation mark.

There are also a lot of quail in Sedona. I love watching quail - they are so funny. 3 parts stiff English butler, 1 part John Cleese from the Ministry of Silly Walks, 1 part Vegas showgirl (it's that little head feather that does it).

Quail on a mission.

I was using a borrowed telephoto lens and didn't have a tripod, but I am still pleased with the number of good shots I got. Especially since quail don't often sit completely still.

Are you lookin' at me, punk?

Is this a snake? No? Good...

The Sedona area also is home to a wide range of other bird species. I am pretty sure those yellow birds are some sort of finch (no bird book with me at the minute to check). Seen but not caught on camera were hummingbirds, scrub jays, ravens, sparrows...

And this little rock dove. They make the neatest cooing noises early in the morning. No, really - I like hearing birds before the sun is up, makes it less lonely, more alive.

Sedona's red rocks

So, last weekend I flew to Arizona to spend a few days with my mother, grandmother, and aunt and uncle. I have been visiting Sedona for maybe 20 years, but I am still awed by the scenery there. The rocks are so red, and so unlike anything you see anywhere else - even at the Grand Canyon - and the skies are so expansive and variable. Digital cameras make it so easy to get a good shot too - you don't have to worry about wasting film, or wondering if you got what you were hoping for, since you can see it immediately. All of this is a way of leading up to the fact that I have so many photos of scenery from this 4-day trip that you are going to get to see it all week!

When the sun hits the rocks at sunset or sunrise, they glow. Seriously. Glowing.

Even though there is a lot of vegetation, you can see for miles, unlike in most parts of Arkansas or Western Washington. It is like the prairie that way. But there are more large landscape features to see than on the prairie. To me, that makes the skies a little less oppressive.

And they are so blue. A blue that seems different from the blue elsewhere.

You can hike to the tops of most of these mesas. I haven't done that yet, but my grandparents did all of them, when they first retired to Sedona. Just look out for the New Agey types and their Energy Vortex hikes.

It is hard to keep your eyes on the road at times, when the vista constantly holds such wonders. Good thing they improved the main road into town.

If there were more employment opportunities for an over-educated librarian and an ancient philosopher, I might even consider moving there some day. 

For now, I will just have to enjoy these pictures. And remember that Arizona is full of wacko politicians, and hot. Very hot, even in the mountains.

Sunrise in Sedona

I went to visit my grandparents over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. Every time I go to Sedona I think "I would like to live here." The views are just spectacular, with great vistas, sunrises and sunsets, and the air is clean and clear. Even in the summer, when it get up to 100 during the day, I could still stand to live there. Too bad there aren't many jobs for academics up that way - but if something comes open at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, I am sure I will be pushing Benjamin to apply.
This trip Aunt Mary, Uncle Richard and I went on a hike up behind Cathedral and Big Bell Rocks, towards the rock walls. Unfortunately, my camera chose that time to start acting up, so I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked. After 7 years, it is probably about time to get a new digital camera. If I am lucky, I will be getting one for my birthday in a few months. Hopefully it will hold up until then.
Here is the sunrise from the hotel parking lot. When the sun shines on the rocks at that slanted angle, they just glow. Every morning is a new revelation.
My grandparents, who have had dogs in the (distant) past, now have this little girl, Chi Chi. She is their baby, and is heavily doted upon. This is her morning walk sweater - it gets pretty cold in Sedona, up around 4500 feet above sea level, and she is a little dog. As a rule, I don't like little dogs, because they are yappy and tend towards stupid, but Chi Chi was a quiet, well-behaved, intelligent dog, and I will break the rule for her.