Festival Time

It is festival time in Arizona. SWMBO and I traveled in to Prescott today to spend some time at the 29th annual Prescott Bluegrass Festival. Good music.

The festival was held on the courthouse square in the heart of town and a good crowd was on hand.

As is common at such events, there was a plethora of dogs in attendance.

This big fellow was very calm and sat quietly by his master, looking on with interest but barely twitching when other dogs big and small walked by.

Just across the walk, this much smaller fellow couldn't stop his tag from wagging.

There were even a couple of "hot dogs" in attendance. The girl runs a hot dog shop on the square and was trying to drum up some business.

And to top off a juicy hot dog, what is better than some delicious ice cream.

As is common in Prescott some costumed people were in attendance. This pair was selling raffle tickets.

And a couple of young lads had freshly drawn-on eyeglasses from a nearby shop.

At any festival in summertime Arizona, one can see an amazing collection of tee shirts. But this one was my favorite!

I hope you're attending a festival in your neighborhood this summer!

Roses and roses and roses

(Note: the photos are more stunningly beautiful when one clicks on them to expand the view.)

Alas, my camera and I have been neglecting SWMBO's roses this year. I have waited nearly too long to photograph them. But still . . .

The yellow and white ones are suffering in the hot sun without rain.

But, I am told, while they may die out . . they will bloom again, bringing color and joy to our lives.

He's My Man

This is sort of an apology. You see, SWMBO had ordered "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" from Netflix. It came a couple of weeks ago and has been lying around the house ever since. Tonight she finally got around to watching it and then brought it to me and asked if I wanted to see it.

I said rather vehemently "I don't think so. I can't stand Leonard Cohen. He sings atonally and I don't care for his poetry."

SWMBO said "O.K. Do what you want but just don't say anything more to me about it because I loved it."

Well, I said I might take a look.

May some higher power or another strike me dead. I just watched the whole program and I, too, loved it.

It's a tribute to Cohen and his work and features performances by a group of artists performing his work one evening at the Sydney Opera House. I particularly enjoyed Rufus Wainright (who could be played by Johnny Depp), his sister Martha, Nick Cave, Perla Battala and Jarvis Cocker. Mixed throughout are segments from interviews done with Cohen. The documentary ends with Cohen singing (sort of) his "The Tower of Song" backed by the boys from U2.

It's a great "show" and I recommend it highly. Rent it. Watch it. Enjoy it.

And I take back everything snide I ever said about Leonard Cohen.

Just moonin' around

Lovey Dovey

Weird night lights

Wow! Take a look at this!

I was trying to take a picture of the lights over our arbor last night but I couldn't hold the camera still enough, apparently. It made for some interesting photos.

Here's a look at what the lights look more like. I don't know how I got this one.

The light comes from a rope light.

The Riordan Mansion

In 1904 two brothers, who had taken over a lumber mill in Flagstaff, Arizona, had a mansion built for their two families. One family lived in one house, the other in the other. But the homes were joined and very modern for their time. Here are some photos of them from a tour SWMBO and I took recently. The homes are now the center of a state historical park.

For the two young men with a lumber mill, they had an ample supply of wood for building material. But they also used native stone.

Of particular interest were the stained glass sections of various windows.

Photographs are not allowed inside but if you're ever in the area a tour of the mansion is highly recommended.