Soleri

Ages ago, I worked on a really big conference down in Scottsdale. Thousands of people to get in and out of sessions, lots of VIPs, and really no end to the stress and the hours of work that went into it. At the end of the event, I was gifted a small bronze bell by one of the slave drivers who brought me down there to work. The bell was a funky, lumpy affair but I loved the tone of the chime and the patina. I brought it home and hung it on my East Village fire escape, where it was promptly stolen and probably sold as scrap metal.



Lucky for me, I tracked down Paolo Soleri at his workshop Cosanti. He is in his 90's now and a highly respected architectural genius, and he and his elves still hand-make all the bells. It's a lovely place- all the structures on the sprawling property are hand-made, organic designs and blend nicely with the desert surroundings. There are shady paths and gardens to stroll around, and so many bells. So. Many. Bells. Bronze and ceramic and brass. Small bells, enormous bells, clusters of bells. When a nice breeze blows through the compound, the sound is just incredible. It's magic.



The grounds are open to the public. Oddly enough, we encountered no one person locally who knew about this place. Even if you aren't that into bells, it's lovely to meander around and drink in the peace.













This time, I'll be hanging my new bell up with a heavy duty padlock and chain. Just in case.

My Patience Pays Off

Dealing with babies co-workers for a week off-site has it's charms, but it was time for me to rid myself of them. A bit of distance was needed, literally.

So Bry came out and rented a big Goldwing motorcycle and we headed off to Tonto National Forest.



That bike was pretty sweet- I'm super spoiled now that I've had armrest and known the wonders of heated seats. I get it now. It doesn't suck to be comfortable. Also, the thing was super-quiet and I didn't get any of the usual deafness that I usually get after a couple hours of hearing the pipes roaring. Also, I had actual footrest. I think it's time for an upgrade when we get home.



It also meant I was secure enough to get my camera out and shoot the landscape zipping by.

The desert colors were so amazing. It hasn't been so dry that the vegetation had completely up and dried out yet. There were even patches of wildflowers giving little pops of color here and there.



Did I mention that it was about 100 degrees out this entire time? We made our way up to Payson, which is a bit higher up in the mountains and refreshingly cooler.



It has a great biker diner there as well- The Knotty Pine. I asked the waitress if she had any vegetables as a side and she looked and me deadpan and said, "Onion Rings".



We rode up to Roosevelt Lake.





At this point, we could have either backtracked and taken the same road back to Phoenix that we came in on, or we could take an unpaved road 26 miles up into the canyons and wilderness on the Apache trail.

Guess which way we chose.

But shhhhh, don't tell the guy at the bike-rental place.



We ended up taking a refreshing swim in Apache lake. It was gorgeous.










It was quite the vertigo-inspiring situation as we climbed higher into the canyons on a narrow cliff side road with tons of tight switchbacks.









You can see the wee tiny road far below. Scary.





At the end of the dirt trail is Tortilla Flat, a little tourist trap that sells ice cream and old-timey candies. It was completely welcomed.



Lebowski fans, take note.

I did get some Knitting In...

...Just not very much.



Most of it was while I was sneaking out to sit by the pool for a few minutes. I was working, after all. That's the beginnings of a lace linen top. Perfect for summer, or summer-like climates.



After such a long NYC winter and a rather cool spring, I was pretty psyched to be absorbing as much Vitamin D as possible- with as much sun screen as possible. I went through several bottles. Also, several bottles of tequila.



Margaritas are alway a great way to spend a day, especially after hiking around the hills nearby.

Here's some more gratuitous scenery. I have too much real work to catch up on to have a coherency to my thoughts, so all you get is pictures.
















(I thought that was a Wallaby, but later was told it was a jackrabbit. Derp.)

Milking It

A cushy but soulless work environmental means that sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and sometimes you have to milk it for all you can. I have no problem with that.



When the opportunity arises to go someplace interesting or slightly exotic, I usually take a few vacation days to extend the trip if I can. That way, I can at least say that I left the resort. It's a nice way to economize a bit since the flight and hotel is already being paid for, and I like to go off the beaten path a bit while escaping the fun and drunken games the co-workers are playing.

Really now, when the resort has views like this:



and this:



you really start to think twice about going anywhere. Why move from the lounge chairs when you can watch the sun set while a cute cowboy brings you margaritas all afternoon?



Arizona always makes me slightly angry. You have this big state that selfishly took all the amazing scenery for itself. You won't see a more spectacular place on earth.



It's a waking dream.

Scarlet

Springtime is a great time in New York to spy rare, migratory birds....



This Scarlet Tanager was perched up in the tree across the street for an afternoon.



It's hard to miss something that bright orange. He darted about some high branches for a bit before continuing his journey north. It's so thrilling to have such a pretty visitor stop by.

Coney Island, Before Things Heat Up

On a rather chilly but sunshiney day, I took off for Coney Island with my camera in hand for some rather entertaining people-watching. Coney really comes into its own during the summertime, but that's no excuse to stay away. A bit trashy, a bit shady, but always colorful.



Coincidentally, it was the first weekend that the parks were open.













The boardwalk:












Afterwards, it was pizza at Tottono's, which is long considered to have one of the best pies in Brooklyn.



It did not disappoint.