8 legs

The creatures of the desert vary from large to small. The small fellow was crawling between some rocks in Berdoo Canyon on the way to Joshua Tree National Park. There really is something magic about the desert.

Desert Dog

Winter is a special place in the desert, especially if you are a desert dog like ours.

Ants

There are a lot of these little fellows out in the desert. Even with so many, it's tough getting a good photo. I'm sure I'll do better than this one but it's a start.

Solitary Tree

There is an amazing subtle beauty to the desert. This lone tree, against the skyline, represents the tenacity and beauty of life in the desert.

Joshua Jeep Trip

One of the great things about being in this area is the number of terrific backcountry jeep roads that are near. This is a photo of our jeep in Joshua Tree National Park after a wild and wooley 4WD trip up Berdoo Canyon. Yikes what a road and what a great trip.

Desert Snow

Winter in the desert is unlike anything you may have seen. We are located at the interface of the Sonoran and the Mojave deserts. Technically we are in the low Mojave desert. The mountain you see in the background is San Jactinto. We are in the desert about 17 miles away. It is warm here and cold there. Quite a contrast. I love it!!!!

Salton Sea

First an apology for waiting so long to update my blog. Trixi and I have been on location near the Salton Sea of Southern California for the last year making an environmental documentary about the plight of the Salton Sea. It is truly an amazing and wonderful place. If you are so inclined you can click HERE to find out more. The Salton Sea is truly a photographer's paradise.

Trixi took this photo from the wind-farm area near San Gorgonio pass last night. It was an amazing rainbow standing out at sunset over the desert. Just Wow.....

Back Home

The trip back home was uneventful but LONG. We flew out of Frankfurt over the top of the planet north or the arctic circle and had a great view of the ice pack of Greenland. The flight took 12 hours (uggg) and then we landed in Las Vegas. It took us over 3 hours to get to our hotel after we landed thanks to the typical traffic from hell in Las Vegas. Good grief. Anyway, we have been adjusting to the time change and here is a photo of one of the pools we have been basking in as we reset our biological clocks back to pacific time. The desert is such a wonderful place to live!

More Colors

A view of a November vineyard from a castle window. Come on now. How can this be real??


This Germany in the fall is just nothing short of stimulus overload.

More Fall Colors In The Woods

I don't think I even need to comment.

Fall In Germany

I went out with Trixi today as she went in search of Fall colors in the German Black Forest. Wouldn't you know it, the magic unfolded before us. Here is just one of her shots..... Click on it for a larger version.

What is this?

The contest is over and our friend Markus Freiwald has won by correctly identifying this critter as a hedge-hog. We found this one in the backyard and I was WAY surprised at how big it was. Pretty cool. Thanks Markus.


{OK. No hints. The first person to identify this "thing" wins.}

More Fall

I just can't resist it. The fall colors in Germany are beyond description so I have to post photos. Even they don't do it justice. This is a photo of some renegade leaves in an old vineyard as sunset nears. Standing there was priceless.

Autumn In Germany

Fall has fallen in Germany and the entire wine-country looks like an accident in a paint factory. Pictured here is a castle atop a hill bathed in Golden October splendor. This particular hill top is the oldest vineyard in Germany. We're talking around 1200 something A.D. Amazingly beautiful place overlooking the Neckar river. Wish you could see it! Also above, some last hold-out grapes that were missed during the harvest..

Crooked House

You know, from time to time as you wander about Germany, you really feel like you are in Disneyland or maybe a fairy tale. This house suddenly appeared nestled in a little alleyway and it must have come about in a POOF of magic. And no, I didn't photoshop this. It is a real house I saw it myself. You've just gotta love Germany.

Happy Birthday

This first photo is one of the feast we had last night at Annette's birthday party. It was a wonderful party and we had a great time. Annette and Trixi have been friends since childhood and it was nice to help her celebrate her birthday.

The other photo is a famous little street in Bad Wimpfen and we managed to catch it with the light just right. Good grief, it looks like it jumped right out of a post card. Sometimes I surprise myself and take a really nice shot...

Pizza, German Style

As I mentioned before, I am a bit behind on the photo blog but catching up. This is a photo from Thursday when we went out for Pizza. Pizza in Germany, it sounds like it could be a book title. The pizza is very different here. The crust is thin and a little tough and the covering is quite greasy. If that doesn't sound appetizing, sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound that way. It was REALLY good. Later on that night my stomach told me not to do it again... I'll probably not listen.

German Restaurant

As I mentioned before, I am hopelessly behind with photos and blogging, but slowly catching up. Pretty much every Thurday evening we go to dinner with friends from Trixi's childhood days. We go new places each time. Last Thursday we went to the place pictured above. I scanned their post-card because my photos turned out so dark.. We were greeted at the door by the owner who regrettably informed us there was no room. Trixi said (in german).. "Oh sure, we came all the way from America and now you don't have room". His smile lit up like a Christmas Tree and he said (in german)..."Come on in, we'll just make room". And so we did. We had a great meal and he had me drink some rare Italian liquor that I can't even remember (that's how good it was). I think I have a picture of the bottle.... I think. It was a great night. Cheers.

Alps

Not a whole lot going on as we recover from our great-grape-picking episode so I picked a photo from our Austrian Alps trip. It was beautiful beyond description. Here's a picture of Trixi hiking in the high-country. What a memory.