more from september eleven, tempe lake...

september eleven at tempe lake...

the smallest of all...

birds are the hummingbirds; their tiny bodies and long bills are hard to mistake for any other. this male Anna's hummingbird, crowned in red, sits on a creosote branch...very commonly seen in Tempe.

arizona sea life aquarium

located in the arizona mills mall, near priest and baseline, the arizona sea life aquarium has interactive pools, a 360 degree ocean tunnel, and thousands of sea creatures including rays, sharks, crustaceans, sea horses and jelly fish.

the art of the standpipe...

a few years ago, the residents of the Maple-Ash neighborhood west of ASU commissioned an artist to craft irrigation standpipes into works of art. Here’s a close up of one at 11^th and Farmer to show the eclectic mix of colorful tiles that is common to each standpipe, and also to show something I really love about photography – the opportunity to really look at something and have it open up …the closer I look at this photo, the more objects I see have been incorporated into the design... 

at the corner of wilson and howe...

this metal bicycle sculpture sits atop a mitchell park neighborhood mini round-about. several of these have been placed in the neighborhood in lieu of four way stops. they are just enough of an obstacle to slow drivers down, and more fun to look at, i think, than yet another stop sign...

bridging a gap...

and so, with this shot of tempe's new pedestrian bridge spanning the western end of the lake, my attempt to re-engage the tempe photo blog. i could say i was just released from prison...the reason i haven't posted in a year...the truth is not quite that exciting...

all four sections of the bridge are installed. the sprinkler system is sprinkling cool water onto the bladder dam. the bridge is beautiful, not quite ready for crossing yet, but the scoop is it will be available for short cutting the lake by October.

theme day, public transportation

we love our light rail trains; public transportation rules!

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

going guising

happy halloween!

September 11

tempe dam break

all the boat docks now rest on the lake bottom

partial reflections

The Tempe lake dam broke one week ago. After seeing

full reflections of the bridge in the lake for more than 10 years,

to see an empty riverbed and only a small piece of the bridge

reflecting is an odd sight.

tuesday on a friday

earlier this week, on tuesday night just before 10, one

of the rubber bladders of tempe's town lake dam

broke; as quickly as a billion gallons of water could flow

through the gap - surprising not long at all - the lake

drained leaving a strange sight that tempe-ans have

not seen in the 10 years since the lake was created and filled.

luckily, no one was boating or recreating at that hour and

there were no injuries.

lots of attention is centered on the future at the lake and

the current situation - smell (which I didn't find to be that bad);

the potential for mosquitoes to breed in the abundant

puddles and pools of standing water; and quite a lot

of dead fish; this morning, tuesday the alligator was

a star attraction, having been brought in to eat of few of

the dead fish, and she seemed happy to oblige.

night shots from A mountain this week

to the west across the salt river to downtown phoenix

night shots from A mountain this week

a little later than the shot from yesterday, a few more

city lights and south mountain sunset

night shots from A mountain this week

looking southwest toward south mountain

night shots from A mountain this week

looking west past the Hayden flour mill, to the flowing

salt river, still carrying all that extra winter

precipitation

sail inn bar, grill, and live music

the sail inn is a great place for live music in tempe.

the sugarthieves play blues on wednesdays and

the grateful dead cover, the noodles, play sundays.

there are some good bands lined up to play this

summer. the sail inn has two stages, one inside

and one outside.

dos gringos trailer park restaurant and bar

dos gringos trailer park restaurant at

1001 E. 8th street. when I was a student at ASU,

8th street was my designated parking area, not too

far to walk to campus and best of all - free. that was

before the trailer park bar and numerous condos

sprung up. it's still an option for free parking - but now

students can have a cold one after the walk to the car.

at the 42 yard line

Pat's Run ends with

a run through the tunnel and finish at the 42 yard line

happy earth day!

take nothing but pictures.

leave nothing but footprints.

kill nothing but time.

eyeing the finish

running along rural road across tempe lake, with

ASU sundevil stadium in sight

4.2 miles in memory of #42

it was inspiring to see runners of all ages; this little guy

was keeping pace.

runners get ready...

the 6th annual Pat's Run was held over the weekend;

a record 28,000+ runners showed up

in honor of Pat Tillman.

tempe daily photo turns 2 today. although i have missed

a few days over the past 2 years, my first posting was

Pat's Run 2008.

opuntia pink and daisy yellow

more spring flowers, gotta show 'em off before the

heat knocks 'em out...

not all clowns are scary...

this clown was a big hit at a recent weekend event

boys climb trees...

that just seems to be what they do

springtime color

lovely flowers along the pathway that runs parallel

to tempe lake

practice makes perfect

juggling practice on hayden lawn at ASU

hawk watch

a pair of red-tailed hawks were in flight near "A"

mountain the other day