Terra Incognita

Life is full of subtle signs. Sometimes that song pops on at exactly the right time. There are times when I will hear somebody say a word while I am looking at that word. Or that odd feeling that you have been to a place before that you know you really have never been to. I have yet to figure out how to connect the sign with any meaning, but appreciate it none the less. On this eve, I followed a sign telling me to have my portrait done. I thought… hey, I shoot portraits, maybe this sign is a sign. I slowly pulled this little toyota into a wide dusty driveway and saw a group of people and dogs all hanging by a tractor. Evening conversation relaxation it seemed. I asked ’ how can I get my portrait done?’ The watershed of conversation opened. Another day wandering down a random road leading me to a new and intriguing discovery and new friends. Getting lost is recommended.
A great group of people (and dogs). Steve and his wife Lexie, artist Wayne, and their resident ranch hand Javier.

Steve and Lexie, are in the middle, and are the owners of the ranch. Steve grew up in Colorado on a family cattle ranch. Arizona had became his grown up winter getaway. His pet project. They live in Tucson.
Can you tell who the painter is?

Javier is a ranch hand who lives here on the property with his wife and son. I honestly think I would LOVE to find myself on a ranch for a little while in my life digging holes, bailing hay and dealing with the grunt work day to day of ranch life. I want to live my life like a man from another time and place. The ranch is calling me. So listen, Steve, we talked about it on that beautiful day and I am serious. I want to work on your ranch. Please.

Wayne’s self portrait.

Could i be a cowboy? But seriously.

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> And in the middle of exactly where I wanted to be.
> This trip has me a little cooped up living in a box on wheels with 4 > other people I did not know a month ago. Recipe for a good case of > get me the f out of here. Fortunately there are errands to run that > take me off the schedule. Run to Pepsi distributor and pick up some > free water… run to the people’s house in town who were kind enough > to help us get our laundry done… go search the side of the roads > in the desert for Croix’s lost drivers license… you know, that > kind of stuff.
> This day was one of those. The errands ended up taking me to the far > north side of Tucson, and as I am a fan of diving into the map and > taking alternate routes I noticed a little gray line on my phone’s > map that cut right down through to where we were all to be > rendezvouing later that evening. So why not take the shortcut? The > 60 mile ‘shortcut’. The 60+ mile shortcut that turns into a dirt > road and winds up and down and left and right through an area that I > have never been through before. I saw only 3 trucks on the whole > stretch of road. This is my kind of drive. My kind of road. And they > are all over the place out there. Take the LONG way home, I say.
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> So first stop, water pickup. Since they could not give us the > pallets they were on and they were loose I ended up driving with 92 > bottles of water in the passenger seat well. It literally became a > well full of water. I laughed as I dumped the bottles in there. It’s > a visual metaphor of so much I have experienced on this trip.
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> On a more sobering note, I happened to drive by the Safeway grocery > store where earlier this year a man had opened up in gunfire and > killed 6 innocent people including a 9 year old, a judge, and a > member of the House of Representatives. I parked and as I stepped > from the car and began to approach the building I could feel the > vibe in the air, surely put there by my own thoughts. It was a > heavy feeling. Why do humans do things like this?? Despite my deep > belief in the EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE frame of thinking, > things like this throw me for a loop and I just wonder WHY?.

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> I wandered the aisles of the store for a few moments with my camera > slung around my neck feeling like a bit of a death voyeur. Not my > favorite feeling and quite a distance from the human connection that > I reach for when taking photos. And then I met the store’s head > butcher, Lesli. We talked for a few minutes about what had > happened. She was not there for it. It was, as she mentioned, > fortunately a day off for her. It happened outside in front of the > store. There was something surprising to me about her willingness, > if not eagerness to talk about it. We talked about the human > condition and the pain some of us harbor so quietly. She had > allowed herself to get past it… not being too affected. She > revelled in the way the community came together and the positive > aspects of it, not the dark substance that created the situation. > Not the evening news story… the human story, the heart story. The > resilience of the human spirit showing itself.

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> and yes, she smiled. We all should, no matter what. It is always > available to us despite everything.

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> She told me to be sure to get the photo of the banner in the front > of the store. It was sent by the kids from Columbine HS as a gesture > of solidarity and understanding. Quite a sentiment.

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> When I myself walked out of the store to the parking lot, I was > overcome with a wave of regret and emotion. It lasted a brief > moment. I collected myself, thought a positive thought or three > about everyone and everything really being in the right place, and > hit the road to get the laundry at a house in a neighborhood that > looked like this. Connecticut is awesome, but it might be awesomer > if I had some mountains like this waiting for my eyes when I walked > out my front door.

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> Off I headed to the north into unchartered territory. Stumbled on a > Biosphere. Biosphere 2, actually. Had a chuckle to myself about the > existence of Pauly Shore and that god awful movie Biosphere. If > you’ve ever seen it you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever > seen any Pauly Shore movie, then you know what I’m talking about. > By the way, Biosphere is/was an experiment where they locked a slew > of scientist types in a geodesic dome for a year in early 1990’s to > see what might happen, what they could grow and accomplish in a > sealed environment, and whether or not they would kill one another. > No, no, I am just joking. But I did hear some stories about the > tensions of those that were housed in the sealed up faciltiy. Sort > of like being sealed up in an RV for 3 months with a bunch of non > scientist types - like me!

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> Somewhere near Oracle, Az.

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> What? No pavement?! Awesome. Dusty trails.

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> If I have not mentioned it before… I look for heart rocks. > Sometimes they find me when I am not even looking for them. There’s > an analogy related to life and love in there somewhere I am sure.

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> Look at how I caught that perfect drool of spit?! :)

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> I chose to not take this road. Only some regret. But when you think > about Arizona and private land you think about guns and it becomes > an easy decision.

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I am writing this sitting in the rv next to a Jr high school in Longview, TX, an hour after sundown with the sounds of a high school baseball stadium game playing on the other side of a thick area of trees. We are out of the desert now and though I am missing the openness of the desert there is something very welcoming about the green lushness of early spring in easter Texas. Fir trees, verdant fields, surprise lakes hiding down secret roads within a canyon of green. The beginning of the middle of the southern area of America’s rolling hills. Much lest dust. I have some photos to share of this area. But that is not where this blog is going today. You see, I have been taking too many photos and not writing enough blogs. I am behind. About 700 miles or so to be exact.
No biggie. Lots of my life to scroll through and share with you. I might be able to stretch out the memory sharing til the time comes when I am forced back out into road life. Back to Arizona. Magical dusty Arizona.

Somewhere on the highway between Phoenix and Tucson is a whole lot of nothing. Nothing, maybe, except for a retired commercial plane bone yard, some mountains and a whole lot of desert brush. There is a small place to camp alongside a mountain. A mountain named Picacho Peak. We camped and made a fire, sang songs and unwound while Croix was still out running his miles. The next morning we decided ( all except for Croix ) that we would go on a hike to the top of said mountain. It was a GREAT hike. Top ten of my life for sure.
This hike wrapped around the back of a rock in the desert - having us holding on to wire cables along the way. There were definitely times where I thought, hmm, I could break my face ( back neck leg pick a part any part ) here. Enjoy some pics from the hike up. It was amazing. I shot these with my canon s95 so you may notice a difference. It is a great little camera for me for times like these. Here we are working again.

Looking out over the desert floor on a thin trail amongst Saguaro and Barrel cactus… LIKE.

Right at the tippy top were some great new friends. These Vultures, at first glance didn’t seem like they were the type to be hoping for my demise so they could eat me but looks can be decieving I guess. What kind of bird eats humans anyway?! I joke, we love you Turkey Vultures!

This fly was also suspect in his desire to eat me, but seemed pretty mellow. Probably flew in from California.

What kind of god makes this kind of plant?? Seriously?

Check out how this contrail is casting a shadow on the ground… Definitely suspect for mind control. ( Did you know there are people that believe that airplane contrails are really the government spreading mind control chemicals in the air. Chem-trails. ) Some people think that we never landed on the moon either… Just saying.

I was lucky enough to have made friends with some locals on the top of the other peak. These were more friendly than the vultures, they have been likely living off hikers granola bar leftovers for years. I wish the squirells in my neigborhood were this cool. There were little chimpmunk like ones and this big boned fluffy one showed up to score the granola peace offering.

Later that day after returning from our 3 hour tour we stumbled on a civil war re-enactment right smack in our camping area. Looking forward to sharing those with y’all. Yes, I said Y’ALL. I AM in Texas, and have been for several weeks now, you know…

I have never been to a Civil War reenactment but I always thought it would be cool to go to one. This trip across the country has been so random at times. We just stumble on these great little pockets of Americana.
I had no plan on going to this but the time allotted it and Jared and I wandered over from our campsite to this great little world filled with people who were okay with wearing authentic 1800 era wool getups in 80+ degree heat.
The photos speak for themselves. What a great bunch of subjects. And holy s were those canons loud. I was all set to shoot the first canon being shot and I was NOT prepared for the concussion blast. A good time all around.