End of a lovely day

The one sculpture Sue hadn’t found on her first visit to the Arboretum was tricky, as it was off the main road. We ran it down, though, and as we were walking toward it, I said it looked like a giant mushroom. I was right on target. 🙂 This is Mycelia.

Named for the filigreed, thread-like fungus, Mycelia extends reflections on the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world.

Mushrooms offer themselves as metaphor and image; the strange blooms of an otherwise invisible organism that runs beneath the forest floor. 

It was the end of a lovely day but we did get a good laugh from this quite suggestive fungus. 🙂

One last look at autumn colors before Sue dropped me off at the parking area, then headed home. I spent a bit of time (and money) in the gift shop before heading back to our friends’ house.

I’m glad you could walk along with me. The next days will be hit or miss as we’re making a flying trip back to Illinois to pick up a Toyota SUV. Why so far? Dealers in our part of Arizona are adding $7,000 on top of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, an attempt I’ve heard at gaining back a portion of the money they’re losing by not having any stock. We went through the Costco program, which was a God-send: less than MSRP, the dealer has to add on a number of items, and Costco

Rebellious leaves and some daffodils

The sun shone brightly, highlighting the gold of the leaves. We had to stop, get out, and just wonder at the quintessential beauty of autumn before moving on to the next sculpture. After several years in Arizona, the sight brought back memories of raking leaves, the girls jumping in piles of leaves, the crisp sound of leaves crunching underfoot.

“Rebellious leaves
going out
in a blaze of glory,
setting trees aflame
in riotous color.
Reluctant surrender
to rumors
of coming winter.”
― John Mark Green, Taste the Wild Wonder: Poems

“The leaves are changing; I feel poetry in the air.”
― Laura Jaworski

I do know the name of this sculpture: Ephemera. Beyond that, you’re on your own once again. 🙂 There are several chairs if you want to sit and contemplate for a bit.

More exploration at the Arboretum

Although we didn’t see flowers, we did spot what my plant app says is some sort of snowberry (or maybe an American beautyberry?) Whatever it is, the pop of color was vibrant.

I missed the best leaf color but trees like this made up for it. I should have saturated this photo to give more of a true sense of the brightness of the yellow.

I’d love to give you the name of this sculpture and I tried to figure it out from the map but to no avail. Just enjoy it for what it is and what you think it represents. I like to think of it as a wood sprite.

To give you a sense of size, here I am.

A bit more autumn color and inviting path waiting to take us farther in our explorations.

Animals of Tohono Chul…slow and steady

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. ~James Bryant Conant

Before we were ready to actually move to Arizona, my brother and I went around with a realtor to see what sort of homes were for rent. At one house I walked into the backyard to find a gigantic tortoise! The realtor was quite surprised. I don’t think the tortoise was included in the rent. Although not a speed demon, it got around quite a lot faster than this one at Tohono Chul who also looks a bit morose. It was however about the same size.

Tortoises can tell you more about the road than hares. ~Khalil Gibran

How you start is important, very important, but in the end it is how you finish that counts. It is easier to be a self-starter than a self-finisher. The victor in the race is not the one who dashes off swiftest but the one who leads at the finish. In the race for success, speed is less important than stamina. The sticker outlasts the sprinter in life’s race. In America we breed many hares but not so many tortoises.

~B. C. Forbes

Animals of Tohono Chul…motorcycle vulture

Have an old motorcyle hanging around? Make some art out of it. 🙂 This reclaimed metal sculpture by Kioko Mwitaki perching in a tree at Tohono Chul made me smile and also muse about the ability to see a vulture from a used motorcycle. To read a bit more about the sculptor and see an awesome lion he created, click here. You might be surprised by his nationality. I know I was.

Animals of Tohono Chul…just being catty

I didn’t take a photo of the information for these sculptures surrounding a lovely little pond, but if you look at those ears, you know it’s not a house cat. 🙂 Mom’s on alert but everyone else looks pretty relaxed.

Animals of Tohono Chul…ants, no uncles

David Stone’s “Regal Horned Lizard” of ferro-cement, steel wire, and mesh at Tohono Chul is so realistic that I almost expected a gigantic tongue to flick out to scoop up a trio of snacks, despite the somewhat pleasant expression on its face. Thank goodness none of them are actually this big!!

If you live anywhere in the Tucson area, you really must visit Tohono Chul. Sometime during your visit, stop at the cafe and have a prickly pear lemonade. The color is beautiful, the taste sublime. If your taste inclines to alcohol, you can get a prickly pear margarita or mimosa instead. We didn’t order food, but everything sounded delicious and if you have a membership at one of a number of gardens, you might be able to get in free.

More Chicago odds

I like sculpture but find this one a bit odd, looking to me as if some sci-fi digging machine dropped a claw into downtown Chi Town. There’s a mini version of this in Naperville where we lived. Hopefully this one didn’t snatch up the man in the photo after I left!

I do love reflections, especially odd ones like this with lovely distortions of the original stately building. Chicago reflections ala Gaudi perhaps?

for Becky’s wonderful Square Challenge which this month is SquareOdds

An odd dog

Tohono Chul doesn’t just have cacti and other plants. There was all sorts of art throughout the park. This guy’s doing double-duty as sculpture and plant holder.

SquareOdds 2.16.22

You thinking of kissing me? Frog-getta-boutit!

for Six Word Saturday