Desert Terrain

~Due to weather-related flight rerouting, I somehow ended up in Los Angeles last week while on my way to New Mexico. On the flight from Los Angeles to Albuquerque, I did fly over the desert of the American southwest, which contains some interesting terrain. Here are some pictures that I took from 30,000 feet:

Making friends with...monkeys!

~Making new friends is not always easy...especially when your new pal is a monkey:

Fall River

~Here are some pictures I took recently in Fall River, Massachusetts:

A large commemorative bell in Kennedy Park.

Cooling towers for Brayton Point Power Station, which supplies electricity to 1.5 million homes in the area. I thought this was part of a nuclear power plant, but Brayton Point is actually fueled by coal, gas, and oil (it goes through over 13,000 tons of coal every day). These cooling towers were built so that hot water from the turbines no longer needs to be released into the nearby bay, which had been killing off the fish. Brayton Point is scheduled to close in 2017.

St. Anne's Church and Parish Complex. This huge church and its connected buildings are across the street from Kennedy Park. It's made of blue marble from Vermont, was completed in 1906, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The front entrance of St. Anne's Church.

An interesting face sculpture in a garden outside St. Anne's Hospital.

Dragonfly

~This little fellow was perched on top of a car radio antenna:

I took a picture of the dragonfly with my phone, and thought that by getting this close I'd startle it, but it seemed unaware of my camera a few inches away from its face. Maybe it had a full stomach from eating lots of mosquitoes (one can hope), and wasn't in the mood to fly anywhere.

Hilarious Japanese Fanta Collection

~Here's a hilarious compilation of Fanta commercials from Japan:

Oh Japan., you crack me up. My favorite part is Shogun-sensei @1:10: INSOLENCE!

Matthaei Botanical Gardens

~While in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I visited the amazing Matthaei Botanical Gardens. The Gardens are affiliated with the University of Michigan and are northeast of downtown Ann Arbor, at 1800 N. Dixboro Road. If you're in the area they are well worth visiting.

Here are some pictures that I took while I was there:

Entrance to the gardens

An herb garden, very fragrant.

An interesting monument.

This insect was very busy going from flower to flower.

Next to the main garden is the Gaffield Children's Garden, with kid-friendly activities, mazes, and so forth. Above is a wooden sculpture just inside the garden.

A little cabin in the Children's Garden.

Delphinium.

There was also an Eastern-themed area with a large collection of bonsai plants.

 

Closeup of the figures at the bottom of the previous picture. Two monks enjoying some tea, perhaps?

Also in the Botanical Gardens is a large greenhouse conservatory filled with warm-climate plants. Here in the back is the cactus collection.

As I went towards the front of the conservatory, the exhibits moved to tropical plants. Here in the center are Mediterranean-climate plants.

In the middle of the conservatory.

An interesting sculpture called 'Kaleidoscope', around a plant.

Banyan tree, native to India.

This bizarre-looking tree from Africa (Kigelia africana) is called a "Sausage Tree" or "Cucumber Tree" because of its large hanging fruit.

"Lobster Claw" flowering plant.

View from the front of the conservatory, showing the tropical exhibits.

Apart from thel gardens and the conservatory, the Matthaei Botanical Gardens also include miles of forest trails. This bridge leads across a stream to one of the trails.

A beautiful metallic bronze-colored damselfly. Getting a good picture of this creature was difficult and I took dozens of bad pictures before I snapped this one, since they will quickly fly away if you get too close. Like their cousins, the dragonflies, damselflies are considered to be highly beneficial insects because they eat mosquitos, mosquito larvae, gnats, and other pest insects.

Another damselfly, this one bright metallic viridian-colored.

Along one of the trails there is a labyrinth. Sadly, it lacked a minotaur. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth (this one modeled after Baltic labyrinths from the Middle Ages) are not made to be 'solved'; there's only one path, and it always leads into and out of the center. The idea is to walk the path as a means of contemplation and relaxation. "You go into a maze to lose yourself, and a labyrinth to find yourself."

Manchester Madness

 ~My many and varied travels have brought me to the city of Manchester, among the rolling hills and forests of New Hampshire. I took advantage of the sunny, windy spring days here to hike a bit, and found some geocaches hidden in local parks.

Dorrs Pond, adjacent to Livingston Park.

A stream leading out of the park.

Mama duck out  for a swim with her four ducklings!

Graffiti(?) on a boulder out in the woods off of the path in Derryfield Park. Three deer heads? Are they liars? Oh deer...

More odd graffiti on the other side of the boulder. An evil popsicle?

A mysterious sign on a telephone pole near the city reservoir. What could it mean?

The Weston Observatory, built in 1896-97 with funds donated by former Manchester mayor (and later New Hampshire governor) James A. Weston, is located on top of a hill near a reservoir adjacent to Derryfield Park. The tower is 66 feet tall and supposedly has a great view of the surrounding area from the top. Sadly, the gate was padlocked and the door was closed when I found it. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.

Outside the tower are two cannons, each weighing over 1400 pounds.