My Scenery

Most people think of southern Arizona as a dry desert with hardly any green at all.  But that’s if you haven’t been here.  There are a lot of things that make it green in places.  Like the monsoon rains that we have in the summer.  They’re now over, but the plants and trees are still loving the effects of our rain, as you can see in the foreground of this image.

I took this shot from the passenger side of the car as hubby was speeding down the interstate.  I like it because it has the Santa Rita mountains in the background, the cloudy sky and the foreground of green.  Added a slight watercolor effect to give it a dreamy look.

No, I can’t just sit idly by in the car, especially when I have my camera, so here’s an image that I took as we came upon this semi-truck hauling coffee to those Pilot travel centers.  I love coffee, so of course I had to share this image with all of you.  But I have to say, this is the first time ever in my life that I’ve seen a coffee truck rolling down the freeway.  Namaste’

So Many Arms!

This is one of those images I’ve been meaning to capture because I drive by this cactus all the time.  It’s just hard to pull over and get out without getting run over 🙂  But the opportunity finally came about today and so here she (or he) is … the crazy cactus whose arms don’t know which way to grow … or go … just a case of semantics I guesss.  Somehow this reminds me of how my hair looks in the morning – LOL!  Namaste’

Hang It Up

I’ve been wanting to get this picture for a long time but it’s on a road with a lot of traffic and you know me … don’t want to get mowed down by an oncoming vehicle.  What fun would that be?  Besides, I wouldn’t be able to complete my 366 project.  So I waited on a side street until there was a very large gap in traffic, then pulled out, stopped long enough to get the photo through the passenger side window and sped off.  I felt like a thief in the night 🙂  Wow!  It was fun!

Whoever hung these bicycle parts on their fence must want the world to know that their bicycling days are over … or they’re paying homage to an old bike … or whatever else made them create this display.  Maybe they just felt like “hanging it up.”  Namaste’

Why Did the Tangerine Cross the Road?

Heck if I know!  I’ve passed this sign so often and thought about stopping to take a picture of it, so today I finally did it.  For some reason it just puts me in mind of that old saying, “why did the chicken cross the road?”  I think this is one of those days when there’s a lot of air between my ears where the brain should be.  Also one of those days with a lot of high clouds so the sky is rather gray. Namaste.

’57 Bird

©imagesbyregina

I got these shots at a classic car show today of a 1957 Thunderbird.  When I was in high school, my best friend’s mother had one of these and we were able to cruise all over the place with it.  We had such a good time in that car.  I don’t think her mother ever knew how fast we drove it out on the highway.  It had a removable hard top that was really, really heavy to take off and put back on for two skinny high school girls.  Ha!  But we managed to do it.  Where there’s a will, there’s a way.  Right, Margo?

©imagesbyregina

Behind the Wheel

Normally I don’t just sit around in my car taking pictures of myself, but today there was something appealing about just being in that moment.  Just being me alone in the car with my camera.  I sat there thinking how good the sun felt coming in through the window, how long I had been driving (40+ years), and just how grateful I am to have good transportation that gets me from Point A to Point B.

I like driving; I always have.  The day I turned 16, my mother took me to get my license and the rest is history.  Back in the day, to pass the driving test, you had to know how to parallel park.  Uh-oh, that was the one thing I wasn’t very good at.  It took me nine (yes, nine) tries and the examiner passed me.  Was he supposed to give me nine tries?  I really doubt it.  I only know that I was one ecstatic 16-year old that day.  Got to drive my Mom back to work and I had the car the rest of the day until I picked her up.  I felt like such a big shot.

As I’ve learned over the years, a vehicle can be such a blessing or it can be a dangerous, deadly weapon.  With people texting and cell-phone chattering from behind the wheel these days, it has become increasingly dangerous to be out on the road.  Please be careful out there.  Don’t text and drive.  Your guardian angels work hard enough! Pay attention to what you’re doing … driving.  And really, really look out for the “other guy.”  It’s more important now than ever. Remember, driving is not a right … it’s a privilege.

Namaste.

Oh, Those Old Ones

Good Old Days of Cars

This is a t-shirt that my husband wore today (he loves t-shirts) and I think it deserves a place in the Regina Chronicles 366 Project.  We’re kind of fascinated with vintage cars, even though we don’t own any.  I imagine these were the muscle cars of days gone by.  Just picture yourself driving one of these down the highway.  Yes!

There’s a car show this weekend so we’ll be there and lots of photos will be taken, so I’ll be posting more next week. Notice the name of the street in the photo below:

'93 Cadillac Coupe deVille, complete with opera lights. She was a dream to drive.

As always, click the images to enlarge. Namaste!

(BTW, he was wearing the shirt when I took the picture).  He’s such a good sport 🙂

American Hero

I find it difficult to see a parade honoring football players for winning the Super Bowl, when there are casualties of war taking place on a daily basis.  Where are the parades for the real heroes?  Something to think about.

Today’s pictures are of a true American hero.  Her name is Sam Williams Huff, killed in action in Iraq in April,2005.  I didn’t know Sam personally but have come to be friends with her father, Bob, who was in the grief support group I attended after losing my brother in 2010.  Bob is a retired (after 25 years) police officer and now devotes his time to composing and playing beautiful music.

This image is a collage I created for him in memory of his beautiful daughter and his wife, Maggie, whom he lost not long after Sam:

Huff Family collage

Today as I was leaving a parking lot, I turned to the right to look for oncoming traffic and saw this sign, which is what  inspired me to share this particular post today.  Sam must be looking down on all of us, sending us love and light.  I believe our loved ones, our angels, do that – all we have to do is think of them and they’re instantly in our hearts.

In Honor of Sam

God bless us all … in this dimension and others. Namaste.

 

Angel of the Highway

Our Highway Angel

I’m going to keep this short and sweet.  I’m extremely grateful for all of my blessings today.  For love, family, good friends, my faithful blog readers, protection, abundance … and the list goes on and on.  I am finding myself particularly grateful today for being protected in traffic.

Southern Arizona in the winter time is one of the U.S. locations that draws a lot of winter visitors.  And I’m going to be gentle here and only say that some of them could use some better road etiquette.  So, thank you, dear Angel of the Highways for your protection today and always.

We’ve had this medallion in our car for a long time and it reminds me that there are angels all around, protecting us not just from crazy drivers, but from a myriad of unforeseen mishaps.

Thanks, angels, for all you do.

As always, click the image to enlarge it.  Namaste.