Hey hey USA - 18th October - Alkali Flat landscape

The Alkali Flat area of White Sands is immense but the Dunes Drive only takes you to the edge of it. We walked a small part of the marked trail between the dunes and I took some pictures of the dramatic landscape.





























We saw a bleached earless lizard whose colouring has changed to be lighter than that of those found in the Chihuahuan Desert. The lighter colouring reflects the heat better and helps to disguise the animal.










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Ancient Agora of Athens

Image
  After our trip to the seaside we thought we should examine more of the ancient sites of Athens. So we walked to the district of Monasteriki, the very busy touristic area, where behind iron railings lies the Greek Agora. This occupies a large area and was originally a place where the Athenians senate met, as well as holding the market, places for socialising, temples and craftsmen's workshops. We started by walking up the hill to the Temple of Hephaestus which overlooks the Agora. This temple was completed around 430BC and as Hephaestus was the patron god of metal work and craftsmanship it was built on a very fitting site, although it was used as church from the 7th century AD to 1833. We passed workmen tidying as we walked. From the top we got very good views over Athens. Directly under the temple lies the site of the ancient Bouleuterion which was the senate house where political discussion took place and the Metroon where the state archives were kept. The boule was a sort of pa...
Read more

Encounters with Duchamp's 'Fountain'

Image
On a visit to Tate Modern I thought it might be fun to do a study of Duchamp's 'Fountain', a piece of 'readymade' sculpture which the Tate quotes as topping a poll of 500 art experts in the UK to be the single most influential piece of art created in the 20th century. I was keen to see what the galleristas at the Tate would make of it, so I sat on a convenient bench for about an hour and photographed the passers by. The work itself was submitted by Duchamp, under the guise of R Mutt (Mott was the maker of the sanitary ware), to the inaugural exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists in New York. A group that Duchamp had himself helped to found. The works submitted by members were supposed to be hung without reservation, but the directors of the society present during the hanging decided to exclude the urinal as not fitting to be shown on the grounds of both art and decency. Duchamp resigned from the society and  retrieved the urinal which was photographe...
Read more

Road to the isles, 3rd July, eagles and lochs

Image
Next morning the view from our campsite at Killiechronan was dry but a wreath of cloud lay over the mountains on the other side of the loch. Driving around the coast towards Ulva we passed Kellan wood and saw a lay-by where there were a number of people with binoculars. As we suspected there was a pair white tailed eagles who seemed to be nesting in part of the wood which was a long way away. But they were flying fairly close to us. We must have stopped by the side of the road for at least an hour watching them, until they favoured another area to hunt and got too distant. When the eagles were not visible I amused myself taking pictures over the loch. We moved on to Ulva, a pretty place where a ferry goes across to Ulva island and you can get a boat to Staffa and the Treshnish Islands. This is probably preferable to getting a trip from Fionnphort although quite expensive.There was a small white cottage by the jetty with lobster pots piled up against it. ...
Read more

Chartwell is on the way home, 27th August 2016

Image
The last day of the famous McGilveray garden tour was now upon us. Iain had always wanted to see Chartwell so this was a must on the way home, being convenient for the M25! We spent time looking round the house and garden. There is an excellent Churchill exhibition and Iain was especially fascinated by this. It was yet another warm day. Unfortunately a lot of the house was being renovated and under scaffolding, so it was only possible to get one clear view of it.
Read more