Lens Artists Challenge #236: East Meets West or North Meets South

East Meets West or North Meets South are the two choices Amy offers us this week for the Lens-Artists Challenge. I say “Game on!”

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. In this first set of photos they meet, even though the sunrise is in Arizona, the sunset in France. Sunrise is my time of day, the filling of my heart to meet whatever might come. Sunset allows for thinking back on the day, planning for the next, slowing down for the upcoming night. Sunrise is an inhale; sunset an exhale…sunrise a drawing in; sunset a letting go.

Okonomiyaki is one of the most delicious ways East can meet West, the capital letter East and West! When our younger daughter studied Japanese, we were introduced to this easy to eat but-hard-to-spell-or-pronounce dish which I was thrilled to find in Chicago at Little Goat Diner. I went with a co-worker from the place I was working as well as the owner. We tried each other’s choices and it was 3 of 3 voting for my okonomiyake, which was absolutely fantastic. From the menu:

Okonomiyaki (Pronounced Yum)* Osaka street food with pork belly, scallions, poached egg, kewpie mayo, crunchy tempura & bonito flakes, sweet soy

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “how you like” or “what you like” or “favorite,” and yaki meaning “grill.”  ~ The Spruce Eats

North and south in my life are full of contrasts. My heart’s home lives in the mountains of Wyoming. I’ve described it as if my life were a puzzle missing just one piece. It looks just fine and presents a beautiful picture but when that one little piece is found and popped into place, it’s whole. I can live and live well without going to our Wyoming cabin, but it’s the little missing piece that fulfills me.

“We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.”
― John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra

Yet our Arizona home, so different, is also filled with beauty, ready to embrace us, albeit with rather prickly arms. To feel at home in such opposite places is truly a blessing

“The extreme clarity of the desert light is equaled by the extreme individuation of desert life forms. Love flowers best in openness and freedom.” ~Edward Abbey

And of course there’s the contrast everyone thinks of when thinking of north and south: cold and heat. “Aren’t you glad to be away from winter?” people say to which I reply, “I actually miss winter.” Snowbirds (of the human sort) fly north in the summer to escape the heat, then return to the south when winter arrives. The seasons in each place are opposite: summer in the south is like winter in the north, the season that people try to avoid. Although I can’t say I’m a fan of 115 degree Fahrenheit temperatures and I do miss the winter, the contrast makes me appreciate each more. What’s not to like about that?

Although all sorts of metaphors could be drawn from these meetings and contrasts, the thought I would like you to take away is that differences are often what make life (and people) interesting. Don’t just stay in your same place, your comfort zone. Find beauty and joy in other, contrasting places and your life will be much richer.

Face

One Word Sunday: face

Cellpic Sunday 11.20.22

Autumn color

Unfortunately, you’ve already seen my One Word Sunday post yesterday as I inadvertently scheduled it for Saturday as well as my Saturday post. I do have a probable reason/excuse. My laptop calendar shows Saturday as the last day of the week while the WP calendar puts Sunday at the end so I think I just got confused. Then we were gone all day yesterday on a grand trip that you’ll hear about, so tonight (Saturday) I just can’t get it together to do a big post for Sunday. Therefore…

…I offer you a bit of the type of autumn leaf color most people expect this time of year, some lovely yellow leaves that we noticed once we got into the mountains. Here in the desert part of Arizona where we’ve had lots and lots of rain finally, the prevalent color is green. 🙂

Now I’m off to schedule this post, very carefully, for just after Sunday morning starts, when I hope to be soundly sleeping. Enjoy.

High

One Word Sunday: high

Remembering all those who died on September 11, 2001 and all those who responded so selflessly and bravely.

Day two…all about the mountains

There were mountains as I went over Raton Pass, but as it was completely dark, I didn’t see them. I only know they’re not only there but beautiful from return trips when I get to the pass in the afternoon. 🙂 The first year I drove this way, I had no idea what was out there but my eyes were wide open catching for deer or elk bounding onto the highway and even for the curves of the highway itself in the dark.

But day two was all about the mountains. The Rockies from a moving viewpoint (or van-point) north of Denver,

rain over the mountains near Douglas, Wyoming,

a first glimpse of the Bighorns, and finally

the view from near the cabin. By the time I arrived, I felt I’d earned this view after a day of driving, grocery shopping, et al, and the drive up the mountain on a road that requires first or second gear on a rocky road not always quite wide enough for two vehicles, and a top speed of 10-15 mph if you’re in a van rather than a pickup truck or four-wheel drive vehicle. Arrive, unpack, and get away from the heat! Now we can settle in for the visit itself.

Deep purple

I’ve been looking through old photos courtesy of Google Photos who likes to share photos from 8 years ago (or 7 or 6 or however many years) on this day or this week that many years ago. This one struck me as just right for Tuesday. 🙂 There won’t be many wildflowers when I go to Wyoming later this summer but this view can always make me feel I’m in the mountains in spring. And for you old rock aficionados (Brian, I’m talking to you), there was no smoke on the water or fire in the sky…thankfully. 🙂

For much of this week I’m just sharing photos that I like…no particular theme (except always for Thursday Doors) and I hope you enjoy the random photos. Today I’m on the way to Prescott, Arizona to spend the day and a bit of tomorrow with Marsha of Always Writes. I imagine there will be a photo or two. Just guessing. 🙂 It’s been a long day dealing with financials to do with my parents’ estate. The bank has been particularly annoying despite my parents having a trust, but even with lots of prior planning, the steps you have to go through are long and often tedious. I’m looking forward to the little break.

Monday walk…Mt. Lemmon

Jo’s walking again and so are we after much too long! I posted about Mr. Lemmon before, a mountain near Tucson where you can pass through five or six climate regions, starting with low desert and ending near the top with a ski area and lots of trees. You drive the designated scenic byway up and take it back down and there are plenty of pullouts where you can stop to take in the scenery. The intrepid cycle rather than drive and there are more than you’d think as Mt. Lemmon is the most popular biking climb in the US and one that can be done pretty much year-round.

A mile and a half from the top most people stop to take in the view or eat at the restaurant and this is where you catch the ski lift in winter. But although the road continues to the top, my husband suggested we walk. Now a mile and a half doesn’t sounds like much, but it’s a bit steep and at about 9,000′, provides a lot less oxygen than where we live at 1237’/377m! Fortunately, the walk doesn’t lack views, the perfect excuse to stop for a moment, although they’re worth stopping for whatever the reason.

There were lots of these fuzzy guys still looking nice and green even while catching downed leaves. Up this high there are deciduous trees, including aspen, to give up their leaves so I could feel as though it really was fall. 🙂

It made me happy to find this vintage, beautifully restored 1971 VW Beetle at a pullout as I had a bright yellow ’75 Super Beetle for a number of years. It was a sad when we had to sell it because we couldn’t get a child’s car seat in the back. There are quite a few older Beetles here because there’s no snow or salt to attack them.

The most exciting think for me was finding beautiful frost near the top in areas where the sun didn’t reach. 🙂

The view from the top was rather special. We’d hoped to be able to see the observatory but the road to it was closed and we weren’t sure if we were allowed to hike up. Besides, we still had to go back down and although it does take a lot less time, it works your quads hard, just in different spots than climbing up. We felt rather good about completing the hike, especially since my husband has been working almost non-stop and when he does get a chance to exercise, he cycles, again using leg muscles very differently from walking. It put us in the mood to enjoy our first in-restaurant meal together since moving here in early 2020, at a Greek restaurant that garnered lots and lots of great online reviews.

for Jo’s Monday Walk

Rock

One Word Sunday: rock

PastSquares: Sky, top

Should we have brought rain jackets?

for Six-Word Saturday 9.4.21

View from the porch

In the second week, the smoke cleared, allowing us the usual views with the usual clarity. Although riding is for me one of the main draws, I also love the mountains and time to relax without house chores hanging over my head. Let’s face it. When you’re at home, if you take time off, you almost always could be doing something more “worthwhile.” But when I’m at the cabin, even though there are things to do, there’s still plenty of time to sit on the porch, reading, sipping tea, thinking, a/o just relaxing and looking. “Just looking” is well worth it, as you can see.

My husband had a red metal Coleman cooler before we met that’s still going strong. You’ve heard of some men being called “babe magnets?” That cooler is a hummingbird magnet, also functioning perfectly as the perfect place to set my mug of tea (although it’s impossible to grab a photo when a hummingbird is 8″ from your nose, something that’s happened to me more than once! It’s quite a noisy and cool experience.

Reminder to self: don’t forget to take the Nikon with telephoto outside and set it on the cooler table because you never know what sort of animals or birds might come into view. Out here, these little guys are cute; in my garden, when I had one in the Midwest, they fell into the category of pest! It’s hilarious to see them racing around the front “yard” on these logs that serve as basic fences to keep the horses out or to see several of the small squirrels in this area chasing each other at lightning speed on the same logs while chittering loudly.

Late every afternoon the horses are taken out to pasture to spend the night and if it’s Thursday, their day off, the entire day. But at some point they’re let out in and around the cabins. Eventually they tend to drift toward the area in front of our cabin. It can also be disconcerting during the night to wake to horse noise right on the other side of your cabin wall!