Mojave Light Musing

City living....downtown New Orleans style at dusk.  I believe this particular area bordered on the Warehouse and French Quarter districts.... 2012 ©Diana Shay Diehl

This is definitely an east coast site that I have missed in my 25+ years now living on the west coast..... I don't know of any places along the California coast, in particular, with fencing like this. We definitely don't have this fine powdered, pure white sand. Did you know that much of the sands of the Florida beaches come from weathering of the quartz in the Appalachian Mountains? They are washed into the rivers that flow into the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Fragments of shells, limestone, coral, and organic matter will give beaches different colors and textures but it's the pure white powdery stuff - like fine sugar - that is nearly pure quartz crystals. I chose to 'antique' this particular shot. The actual version is pure white with a slight blue tinge due to the reflection of sky and turquoise waters.  Either way, this is nostalgia for me... 2012 © Diana Shay Diehl / Naval Air Station Beach, Pensacola, FLA

AWOL. That means, in military speak, absence without leave..... Yes. That has been me from this site of late. So here is one of many photos as to why.  I've had a glorious few weeks - part of which was spent with my daughter in Florida - celebrating yet another milestone towards her Navy career.  I think this particular shot might be from her hand - with my camera (but I can't be sure as both of us were snapping away, sharing one lens....pretty sure this is her...) - as I was meandering down that path towards the Gulf of Mexico on the grounds of the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida...... 2012 ©Diana or Aubrey Shay Diehl / NAS. Pensacola, FLA

Happy Mother's Day. Mine was exceptional. The only thing that would have made it even more so would have been time with all 3 of my kids today. What made this particular Mother's Day a coming of age for me was that I really didn't have to do much of anything - except drive my youngest son and I down to Huntington Beach to meet up with my older son who treated us all to dinner on the pier - followed by carousing beach shops for a bit. My youngest son made me breakfast in bed this morning, traditionally my daughter's thing to do until she joined the Navy and moved to the other side of the US temporarily....  Today, there was no bickering. No complaining that no one wanted to do what I wanted to do. Just simple time spent enjoying each other's company on a beautiful California spring day.... I don't remember too many Mother's Days with my own mother. We were never that close. Ever. Even to her last moments on Earth as I sat by her side with a nursing infant f...

I seem to be in a black and white mood of late. It has always been my favorite style of photography. Timeless. A simple vision to remind us that summer days, meant to meander along a coastal shore, are just around the corner.... ©Diana Shay Diehl

A simple image from my natural world today... Mojave Yucca  2012 ©Diana Shay Diehl

Time flies. I feel like I've been drowning in 'have to-dos' lately.....  The excitement is building though. Several trips on the horizon and I am excited to bring you with me. While I do enjoy, for the most part, where I live, I have a deep seated wander lust. Always have. Which is pretty amazing considering I've lived in the same house since 1985. The first 25 years of my life were pretty nomadic being an "Army brat". It's been an on-going adjustment to have lived not only the past 25 years in the same town, but the same house no less! There is a comfort in stability of that kind. My own children know the life of having been born and raised in the same house, same town with friends they still know from the diaper stages. A rarity in today's America. Still the same, I need frequent changes of scenery and mindsets or I get really, really grumpy. What's on the billet for future travel plans? Here's a very tiny peek....... The Mi...

Sometimes, even one word is too much. Today, breathing space........... iPhone image © Diana Shay Diehl

A simple post today. Several of my viewers requested more photos of the area in which I live. I can imagine how fascinating the desert is to those who have never experienced it personally - yet. It is fascinating to those of us who do - still. These iPhone snapshots are of a 'mutant' joshua tree cluster on the property of a dear friend and fellow artist's home. Supposedly these are a mutant variety, maybe +/- 4% of all joshua trees are like this. There were several of these growing on his property. I found them rather  M. C. Escher-esqe ...... What do you think? This cluster seems happy in this spot. At the base, you can see new 'pups' growing (or maybe those are rhizomes....my joshua tree fact booklet is at school so forgive my temporary inaccuracy. I remember a ranger long ago using both terms for the various stages of growth.) The property owner said these are growing over the leach lines of his septic tank. Hm....perhaps that is why t...

Hello dear viewers... I apologize for my absence of late. There were a lot of events happening and I just couldn't bring myself to post at the end of each busy day. I've also been going through a bowl emptying phase. "What's that?" might you think...  I have this thing about bowls. All kinds of bowls, handmade in particular. Big. Small. Tiny. Cracked. Useful pieces of art. Bowls represent an openness to receive. A certain kind of vulnerability. The Tibetan Monks would go out each day with an empty bowl and just sit. Whatever was placed in their bowl that day should be enough. Sometimes they would get rice to eat. Sometimes money. Occasionally, someone's trash. But whatever ended up in there was what they were intended to have for that day - and they were grateful. Could we westerners be grateful for nothing or someone else's trash? In our western culture, bowls have become catch basins for the 'stuff' in our lives. Keys. Mail. Receipts. Trinkets ...

Today. Just shocks of color on an otherwise dreary spring-that-wants-to-still-be-winter day. Orange nasturtiums on grey.... Weathered shades of blue on wood..... Red? Magenta? Hot pink?  Gazing ball.... 2007 - 2012 © Diana Shay Diehl

This time of year is for dreaming of simpler, lazing summer days.... Must be all the hours we teacher folk are spending (cramming) in preparation for state testing this week and next (Which is nearly a month earlier than usual yet we are held accountable to the same criteria as if we actually had the full school year to teach our students. Yeah. You do the math.) Here are soothing visions from a memorable trip last June with my daughter. I hope they smooth your ruffled feathers, too, testing or not.... ©Diana Shay Diehl / Zion National Park

A gazillion photo ops this past week - especially this past weekend. And do I have my camera(s) with me? Uh, well, yes actually. Three of them. And did I take them out, make them ready to capture the moments, use them? No. Not until my fellow photog and friend, Rachel Rauch Johnson (wedding photographer extraordinaire among other things...check out her link. And if you live in the Seattle, Portland, LA area - think westcoast - and need a fabulous wedding photographer...well, her online portfolio speaks for itself.) told me to just take out my camera - ANY camera and shoot. Don't think about it. Don't fuss over it. Just shoot. And shoot. And shoot. So, I did. 2012 ©Diana Shay Diehl The aftermath of a great dinner. We were the last to leave. Thanks Rachel (and Eric), for your encouragement....... And another one... <-----Easter Sunday brunch with my boys. If you celebrate, I hope yours was filled with hope and surrounded by love as mine was.  I...

At the end of the day.... © Diana Shay Diehl

Oak trees. The Celtic peoples revere oaks to be the most sacred and powerful of all trees. They believe it to hold the true alignment of balance, purpose, and strength. The Celts are my people from long ago, on my father's side. Well, not too long ago. My grandfather came here directly from Ireland as a young lad. I wish he were still alive. I'd know what kinds of questions to ask now... The photo in this post is of the largest oak tree in the national park where I live. It's located at the Live Oak day use area. However, the actual "live oak" is a short scrub oak about 20 or so feet to the right of this giant one.  This tree, according to the ecologist who taught the class that particular weekend, is a bit of a 'mystery tree' as it's not genetically related to the other oaks in the park (if I remember the discussion correctly). Although, I'm inclined to think Live Oak refers to this quiet giant as far as park guides go.  I can't remember how...

Busy, busy, busy......the past two weekends I have had the privilege of following two different experts around in the desert. One, an ecologist. The other, a photographer as well as friend. So many intriguing things to explore. For now, I will just show you mainly in pictures. This past weekend, a group of 'budding' photographers from the Desert Institute wandered about 2 miles up a very wide wash exploding with wildflowers. There aren't many this year, at least not in the higher elevations, yet. We won't have the profusion of flowers we had a few years back but last Saturday was not a disappointment. I am so glad I do not suffer from allergies........ Here are a few highlights of my day this recent weekend. I wish I had bothered to bring my 100mm macro AND a wide angle lens. The wash was vast and complicated with the rocky canyon walls along the wide wash basin strewn with the remains of the huge flood last fall. The breeze made it difficult to get clear shots up c...

Happy Spring Equinox! Desert Canterbury Bells....one of my favorites out here. This wash was FULL of them - great, big tufts of these lovely violet-blue blossoms on tall stalks with thick, stocky leaves at the base. I find it particularly intriguing how they tend to want sandy washes to make their spectacular debut.  Who would guess there is enough nutrients in those porous granules of rock into sand to sustain such vibrant beauty?  It felt good to lie on my belly on a warm patch of sand as I took this photo. Within the hour, the skies turned dark and it began to snow. Hope your first day of spring was warm and promising of new things to come... 2012 © Diana Shay Diehl / JTNP: Cottonwood Springs wash

Here is another shot from this past weekend in my beloved park....more for the benefit of my distant readers (and maybe those of you close by who haven't taken the opportunity to explore this beautiful area...). Considered the cornerstone of Joshua Tree National Park, this particular photo is of the Oasis of Mara which is a short and pleasant nature walk down a paved path from the national park headquarters / visitor center. When my daughter worked as an interpretative ranger there before sailing off into the Navy, she had the most interesting stories of what was witnessed just outside the large picture windows from inside the visitor center. One story that stuck in my mind, both kind of funny and sort of 'gross' if you aren't used to the ways of nature, centered around some European tourists experiencing desert life in all its glory one hot summer day. Both visitors and rangers were watching in awe and amusement the antics of a roadrunner in the garden area just off ...

Goodness, what a wild weekend I had - weather wise, of course (wink, wink).  Storms swirled all around us for two days -  wind gusts, rain, spots of sun, some sleet, then snow! All within the matter of a couple of hours. Many of us are hoping to wake up to frozen roads and snow in the morning. One can hope but I'm not holding my breath. All I can hear now is wind knocking more things around outside. At least the desert got a good drink of water.... I spent both my weekend days out in the park in an ecology class. I've always thought a desert was an amazing habitat. A master at adaptation. Resilient. Frugal. Surprises of vibrant colors and softness amongst the rigid roughness of grand rock formations. And yet, still fragile - especially at the hands of humans. I'm too tired at the moment to expound much more but I will leave you with a few photos of my weekend. I am anxious to share tidbits of what I learned which I will do throughout this week when I have more time. A...

Feeling a little melancholy of late. Maybe I'm just tired - lacking B vitamins. Maybe I'm just missing time with my daughter and middle son. Or, it's not enough time in nature or with people who are kind, genuine, gentle... Too much 'stuff' to do on my plate and not enough of the stuff that makes my soul sing...  I spent all of today, sitting, listening to stuff I heard the last time I sat and listened. I don't sit well. I always feel like I'm on the outside of the fishbowl looking in at the place I spend the majority of my days - particularly when there are staff gatherings. Ah well, such is life. Sometimes we are swimming with the school....sometimes we are flip-flopping helplessly on the shore - hoping to be noticed and rescued.  Today, I think I needed to be rescued. "Mama said there'd be days like this There'd be days like this my mama said......." (First sung by the Shirelles, no? Or was it Sam Cooke?) I'm also kind of missi...