Clowning...

by Duda

I'm a fan of the carnaval, so well celebrated in Ovar, Portugal. It's in my lineage, celebrated still today by my blood relatives who reside there. I like throwing the seriousness of life offtrack like a clown does when she wears her shoes to a school event.

Tempe Festival of the Arts

pics by Duda

First things first... we found free parking by showing up right before the 10 AM start time. With a map in hand, we placed important spots, i.e. the food court and the way back to the car. The rest of the time was spent admiring the amazing art for sale, products made at home, and then dished out $10 for 2 ices.

No legend

Windows 2

pics by Duda

When you look for uniqueness of local culture, you often find it in windows.

Windows

pics by Duda

Windows fascinate me. They break isolation.

The Desert Botanical Garden

Photos by Duda


It's an amazing place, but best to visit when it's below 80 degrees.

Illusions

Skywalk

National Geographic

Skywalk at Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Indian Reservation

SMILE .... I could just bite you.

Mark Gamba for National Geographic
The creature was actually docile, as described by Mark. It reminds me of those smiles one puts on while thinking "I could just wack you silly right about now."

Up hill, but going somewhere..

It's just up ahead

The Magic Tree House of Jack and Annie

Photos by Duda

Mary Pope Osborn visited the valley recently, on her 2 week book tour. Every elementary school aged kid knows about Jack and Annie and their magic tree house. We, ... well, I, decided we would wait as long as it took to get our books signed. The woman sometimes wears a wrist brace in order to accommodate her fans. Two hours worth of waiting for a 30 second experience. The books are signed and we even got a smile.

Art Masterpiece

Raoul Duffy

Have you seen the Chapels in Portugal? They are everywhere. I always liked the coziness of small dark chapels. So very different from the churches in Africa.

Messages in a bottle

Communicate!

Electronic Swatchbook

Lookie here

Textures and patterns

Terca Feira Gorda

Bless Me

Beira, Mozambique

UCO

by Duda

Exploring Uco.

They come to be touched

by Duda

They repeatedly swam around to the walls that were lined with children and grown ups with outstretched hands ready to touch these creatures. OK, it's one of those "once in a life time", file in your "I've experienced it" memory bank, kind of thing. If you let them, they would suck your fingers too, which were followed by people squealing with fear/amusement.

The hideout

Livio de Morais, artist

To be a drop in the bucket.

What water does

BBC Photos

"For several weeks, waters from neighbouring countries have slowly filled Mozambique's Cahora Bassa Dam, forcing authorities to undertake a controlled release of surplus water, which combined with flood waters from the Zambezi's tributaries, has caused flooding over a huge expanse of land and forced 85,000 people to seek shelter on higher ground." - www.allafrica.com