Showy Goldeneye?

 

The stream banks in Catalina State Park were lined with mounds of golden flowers this past week. They look like little sunflowers, but as far as I could figure I think they're called Showy Goldeneye. If anyone knows otherwise, let me know!

They're cheerful and really brightened up a cloudy day.

I'm up to Hike 52 now in my plan to reach 70 by Dec. 20. I have to do a little over two a week from here on out because the extra long hot summer put me behind.

I also saw a few patches of Datura, also known as Sacred Datura, jimsonweed, thorn apple or devil's trumpet. It's highly toxic, is used by some indigenous people in ceremonies and Georgia O'Keeffe painted closeups of it.

We've been going back and forth between cloudy stormy days and sunshine, but we escaped the tornadoes and severe flooding that hit some parts of the Southwest this week.

Have a colorful day

A good day for a protest

These two signs at yesterday's No Kings protest in Oro Valley say exactly how I feel, which is why I've been joining the peaceful protests against Trump's assault on our country. Others campaign door to door or donate money to candidates, which is all great, but my niche is adding to the ranks of protesters to create a visual of how overwhelmingly we oppose what's going on. 

I have a friend who says protests don't make a difference, but I believe they do, especially with the huge No Kings turnouts that show how widespread and deep the opposition is. I hope they might give those sitting on the sidelines the push to vote out those who are assaulting our country. In addition, if everyone acts as though what we're going through is normal by not even discussing it, then these abnormal times will become normal and we'll have lost our democracy.

There were multiple large protests in the Tucson area and 3,000 nationwide. The one I attended drew hundreds of mostly middle-age and senior protesters along busy North Oracle Road. Thousands of drivers beeped in support and waved or gave thumbs up nonstop. I only saw three car passengers give us the finger, and one scowling lady stepped on the gas and raced into the turn lane too close to us, but otherwise it was all positive and peaceful.

I'm especially horrified with the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants -- and non-immigrant citizens.

My friend wore her vote t-shirt.

There were too many good signs to show them all, but here are a few that I totally agree with.

(Not all Republicans, but the ones in Congress who are letting the atrocities continue.)

VOTE

The flowering desert

 

My hikes after the summer monsoon have been a delight of colorful wildflowers sprinkled along the desert trails. Purple, orange, blue, yellow, red. These purple ones are morning glories, and they're everywhere. (The tree with the green bark is a palo verde, which means green stick, and it's a desert staple.)

My camera identified this orange wildflower as an Arizona poppy, or Kallstroemia grandiflora, and said it's a desert herb that often appears after the summer monsoon.

The purple aster and red Cardinal Climber added more bright zings of color.

Most of the flowers are small, less than an inch in diameter. I love how they crop up in between rocks to brighten the landscape.

And it's not just wildflowers that are glowing. There are shimmering tree leaves ...

... grasses

... and the magnificent saguaros of the Sonoran Desert that can keep watch for hundreds of years.

Closeup of a saguaro. That's my favorite green!

I do love the little wildflowers, but the majestic views of the Catalina Mountains and big horizons are still my favorite.

And water! Water in the desert! I crossed about four streams yesterday on the Canyon Loop Trail and it was wonderful.

Have a colorful day

Spirit dolls and deep stash dive

I didn't make spirit dolls for the gallery all summer because I was burned out on them and they don't sell well anyway in the summer because it's too hot for tourists. But last week I realized that snow bird season is almost upon us and I needed to get a few more up to Absolutely Art. 

And that's when I started rummaging in my craft stashes and found all sorts of things I had totally forgotten about: deer skin scraps that had been tanned by my ex almost 30 years ago, pheasant feathers given to me way back in college in the '70s for jewelry that I made, wool roving perfect for hair that I bought at the Taos Wool Festival at least 20 years ago, and iron-on metallic cord that had never been opened from the Houston Quilt Festival in the '90s!

I used a scrap of deer skin, a metal charm and turquoise chunks from Albuquerque that I bought many moons ago for the first spirit doll. And I hung some of those pheasant feathers from yarn. I named her "Fortitude" because that's what the charm makes me think of.

I used more pheasant feathers and rediscovered green wool roving (cleaned and carded but unspun wool) for another doll ...

... I'm calling her "Forest."

For the belt, I braided three of the iron-on cords together but they were so old that they no longer ironed on and I had to sew them down.

I painted the dress and sheer shawl fabrics a long time ago.

I made a third one, but she doesn't have anything really old on her. Unless you count the yarn hair that I bought when I still lived in Illinois, sometime before 2008. She's called "Abundance."

She reminds me of Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin with her wild orange hair!

In other news, we're getting in on the edges of Tropical Storm Rachel, with the wind lifting part of my shade sail off its hook and flapping it around.

A little later the sun was out when I made a quick trip to Tohono Chul garden. I went with a friend to buy our first loaves of the award winning Barrio Bread because it had a two-hour pop-up store at Tohono Chul. We got there about an hour after it opened and they were sold out! But we got to talk with the famous owner, Don Guerro, who has achieved national recognition with a James Beard Award for outstanding baker. He's committed to using heritage grains in his artisan bread and I was dying to try some! 

And we saw this beautiful butterfly as we left.

Have a colorful day

Let hiking season begin!

It's finally cool enough for me to hike without getting out at dawn! This morning I hiked at Catalina State Park for the first time since May. It was only in the 70s and the washes were running from the monsoon rain. Monsoon season officially ended Sept. 30, yesterday.

It was Hike #45 out of the 70 I want to do by my 71st birthday on Dec. 20. That means a little over two hikes a week, which is perfectly doable now that it's cooler.

 

I was curious to see how the park had changed over the summer. Besides the streams being full, I found delicate purple and yellow flowers along the trails.

The mountain flanks are also covered in green from our six inches of summer rain.

I'm also continuing to sew for my holiday bazaar. Here are some toiletry/other stuff pouches with matching tissue holders -- travel kits!

Finally, this really speaks to me. Before I got my hearing aids this is how my life was.

Have a colorful day