Photographers see things others do not. Because we learn to pay attention to the look of things, we find art everywhere, even at rest-stops next to freeways in the Mojave Desert. Is this art? It may be bad art. My friend Bill named his dog “Art”. When the dog did something wrong, Bill would scold […]

I lived near Joshua Tree National Park for ten years and drove near it for another thirty without ever visiting. I finally did with my wife and her dog on April 11, 2023, on our way from Bullhead City, Arizona to Riverside, California. The park does not offer the grandeur of the Pacific Coast, the […]

Here is a photo of my brother Bill and, to the left, one of his sons, taken on April 12, 2023. No, my brother does not so good. When this photo was taken, his cancer was wide-spread and none of the treatments he had received had done much. William Bennett Schweers died on June 24, […]

When my brother Bill was young, he developed a yearning for chocolate cream pie, so he saved his allowance and bought one. Our sister Delia asked for a slice. He said, “No!” Since then, for another sixty years, Delia would not let him forget it. The story became a running family joke, how stingy he […]

Henderson, a suburb of Las Vegas, is now Nevada’s second-most-populous city, in part because people like my nephew and his family moved away from California and its high real-estate prices and taxes. We met my relatives on April 15 at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. The preserve is an inviting series of nine ponds and […]

I am very fond of the big open skies found in the American West. The expansive vistas open my soul. So when I was recuperating from bronchitis in Las Vegas during our drive around the USA, it was a pleasure to sit in a patio chair and watch clouds move in stately processions towards the […]

Any event becomes exciting if you bet money on it. Where will the wheel stop? What card will turn over next? When will the stars align? I could not spend nine days in Las Vegas without visiting The Strip with camera in hand. Of course I went at night, me and the crowds surrounded by […]

Road builders are single minded — move people in powered vehicles safely and let others beware. Pedestrians and bicyclists live dangerously. And animals? We have a name for them. Roadkill. Pity the poor tortoises of Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive just west of Las Vegas, Nevada. There are lots of signs asking drivers to watch […]

Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada is less than an hour northeast of Las Vegas. The recent heavy winter rains and snow in California had spilled over the Sierra Nevadas and, when we visited the park in April, the desert was in bloom. Click here or the image above to go to NEXT POST. […]

One of these desserts cost $24, one was free. Can you tell which? Our last evening in Las Vegas was a delightful meal at My Mother’s Table. Inside was packed. It was a Saturday, April 22, 2023. We had the outdoor patio to ourselves, away from the live band so we could talk with my […]