A Distraction of Poppies

Lowest Priced Tramadol Online Sherpa and I spent last weekend in Milwaukee. We attended the Wright and Like Tour, a tour of eleven houses in the Milwaukee area, all designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and related architects. The annual tour is sponsored by the The Frank Lloyd Wright® Wisconsin Heritage Tourism Program, Inc., created with the assistance of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the State of Wisconsin Department of Tourism.

https://purestpotential.com/1xujc8xjygg This is the third year we have attended. We attended our first tour in Madison in 2009 and last year toured homes and businesses in the Racine area.

get link The main tour was held on Saturday, and although the weather was overcast with a few sprinkles here and there, it was not unpleasant outside. As an added bonus, I much prefer taking photographs of architecture when it is cloudy. Sunny days, especially during the mid-day, casts harsh shadows and the light is too bright and washes out details.

https://penielenv.com/f1bbtlv I have hundreds of photos to go through, and so I will be posting photographs of the exteriors of the houses we toured, but it will take me a while to organize them.

https://www.mreavoice.org/r11xd0f Since Sherpa and I were celebrating our anniversary, we splurged and added the second day of the tour. It turned out to be an excellent decision. We saw the Lyndon Sculpture Garden in the morning and visited the Greek Annunciation Orthodox Church, one of Wright’s last designs, in the early afternoon before heading home.

Tramadol Ordering Online The weather was sunny and mild, with a few scattered clouds, on Sunday, providing great background for our walk through the 40 acre sculpture garden. The garden was the creation and much loved project of Margaret Blakey Bradley, one of the greatest benefactors of the arts (and other projrects) in Milwaukee.

click Finally, the visit to the church was the highlight of the tour for me. I sat in the church’s interior for well over an hour, just looking in awe of the beauty, the design, the details. Of course, I took lots of photographs in both the garden and of the exterior and interior of Annunciation Church, so I will have plenty of photographs to share with you.

go So…if I took hundreds of photographs of buildings and sculpture, why am I posting yet another photo of this lovely pink poppy? Well, because I absolutely fell in love with one of the tour home’s gardens and I received permission to photograph some of the flowers. There were hundreds to choose from, but I was totally captivated by this particular poppy and spent the majority of my time ooh-ing and aah-ing and admiring three pink poppies.

https://mocicc.org/agricultura/8hn47807 It seems no matter where I look, there is always a wonder or two to photograph.And that truly makes me a happy photographer.

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https://alldayelectrician.com/l1k9bak0pzd Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is catching up on some photo business today before diving into her new stash of photographs.

https://www.mbtn.net/?p=er6sixd2uu4  

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Frank Lloyd Wright’s Gateway to Taliesin

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center in Spring Green Wisconsin

https://getdarker.com/editorial/articles/406tabq Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center © 2010 Bo Mackison

see url Frank Lloyd Wright designed this building, now the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, in 1953. Wright designed the building, located next to Taliesin, Wright’s summer home, to be the “Gateway to Taliesin.” With a restaurant and meeting rooms, Wright planned to use the center when entertaining his potential clients.

source url Wright began construction in late 1953, but the building was not completed before his death in 1959. Eventually a former apprentice finished construction and operated a restaurant, the Spring Green, on the premises for over 25 years.

In Red, Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center Sign in Spring Green Wisconsin

here In Red, the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center Sign © 2011 Bo Mackison

The Wright Foundation purchased the building in 1993 and converted it into a visitor center and bookstore/gift store. A restaurant, the Riverside Terrace Cafe,  also operates in the building.

It is also the hub for the Wright building tours in the Spring Green area. All visits to the Wright buildings — Taliesin, the Hillside School that Wright designed for his aunts, the Unity Chapel used by the maternal side of Wright’s family, the Romeo and Juliet Windmill Tower, and Tan-yi-deri, the home Wright built for his sister — leave on bright red buses from the reception area.

Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center, Wisconsin River View, in Spring Green Wisconsin

Wisconsin River View of Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center © 2011 Bo Mackison

The building commands a lovely view, perched on a bluff overlooking the Wisconsin River. The visitor center is open daily to the public from late April through the end of October, and on weekends in November and April. It is located on Wisconsin County Highway C, only a minute’s drive across the Wisconsin River from Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Taliesin, and Wisconsin, are celebrating the centennial of the Taliesin Estate this year with museum offerings and special tours throughout the state. I plan to take photographs of all the Wright buildings in Wisconsin that are open to the public during 2011 in honor of the Centennial. This is the second building in the Wright Centennial series. The Seth Petersen Cottage was the first in the series.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She will be visiting and taking photographs of all the Wright designed buildings in Wisconsin that are open to the public in 2011.

Exploring Kitt Peak

Kitt Peak

Roadside View of Kitt Peak © 2011 Bo Mackison

My younger daughter flew in for a weekend visit just before it was time for me to leave Tucson. She loves science, any kind of science, and so we drove to Kitt Peak to see the National Observatories.

The white domed observatories on top of the 6,875 foot summit aren’t the only an amazing sight on the 50 mile trip west of Tucson. There is also plenty of breath taking desert and mountain scenery on the drive. We drove the  first 45 miles  on paved roads through the Tohono O’odham Reservation and the Sonoran Desert. The last 12 miles were on a maintained mountain road with patches of snow — from a mid-April storm a few days before we visited — and spectacular views of the desert floor and snow spattered, adjacent mountain ranges. (Next post!)

Kitt Peak Welcome Sign

Kitt Peak Welcome Sign © 2011 Bo Mackison

Kitt Peak National Observatory is operated by an association of universities throughout the country (including the University of Wisconsin at Madison) in cooperation with the National Science Foundation. We even saw a Bucky Badger decal on one of the scientists lab stands. My daughter is an alum of UW, so she was pleased to see the Wisconsin mascot on duty at one of the observatories.

Observatories on Kitt Peak

Observatories on Kitt Peak © 2011 Bo Mackison

This is the largest collection of optical telescopes in the world. It’s a rather amazing display of scientific buildings, all clustered on the very top of a desert mountain.

The tallest telescope in the photo is the Mayall 4 meter (158 inch), one of the world’s largest telescopes. It resides in an 18-story building. There is an elevator that provides access to the 10th-floor observation deck and panoramic views of southern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico, but this particular telescope was closed the day we were there.

Just one more reason for me to return to Kitt Peak at a later date. I’d also love to stay for the night show and see the stars using one of the observatory’s telescopes.

McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope

McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope © 2011 Bo Mackison

This is one of the more unusual buildings on the peak. It is the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope which produces a 30-inch image of the sun by using mirrors in a slanted 500-foot corridor. Only 200 feet of the tunnel are visible, the other 300 feet are below ground level. You can go inside the building and check out the long chamber and view the mirrors. Not only is this telescope a scientific wonder, it is also an architectural wonder. It even won an architectural award in 1962, rather an unusual accomplishment for an observatory.

1.3 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak

1.3 Meter Telescope on Kitt Peak

This is one of the smaller telescopes, and one used by visitors during the nightly viewing tours. The larger telescopes are reserved for professional and student astronomers, though even they have to play a form of astronomy-roulette. They sign up for a viewing time months or years in advance and if their chosen evening’s view is obstructed by clouds, they have to sign up on the list again. Luckily there are only a few cloudy evenings  each year in this part of the Sonoran Desert.

Open 2.1 m Telescope

Open 2.1 m Telescope © 2011 Bo Mackison

The 2.1-meter (84 inch) telescope was the first large instrument on Kitt Peak for night-time observing. We were able to go inside for a close-up view of the inner workings, plus view an educational exhibit on the telescope. Astronomers use this scope to observe distant stars and galaxies in both the visible and infrared spectra.

On the day we were there, we watched as the telescope opened and closed several times.

Observatory Complex, Kitt Peak Arizona

Observatory Complex, Kitt Peak Arizona © 2011 Bo Mackison

One last photograph, proving that, yes, it does snow on the peaks of desert mountains. I thought I had escaped winter’s snow by coming to Tucson, but my daughter was delighted to see the snow, and stomp in it, and make a few snowballs to throw at me.

Seems she thinks the desert is too hot and prefers Wisconsin winters to Tucson winters. Amazing!

Reminder: I am having a drawing for one of my photographs or a set of photo art note cards in appreciation of all the support my blog readers gave me while I was on my Tucson adventure.  To enter the drawing, leave a comment on the April 13 post — check out the drawing information and directions on how to enter.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She has been living in Tucson for the last ten weeks, exploring Arizona and living life “solo.” she is now on her way back to Wisconsin, but will be posting photographs from a few more Arizona destinations.

Last Visit to Tumacacori

Tumacacori Garden

Tumacacori Garden © 2012 Bo Mackison

Can you look past the electric wires, telephone poles,
the matching but separate doors labeled MEN and WOMEN,
the coiled rubber hose, the 19th century stone wall cracked open for a water spigot?

Don’t heed the red stop sign hovering above the mission wall
or listen to the rumbling cars speeding from Nogales to the Border Patrol checkpoint.

Cover your ears with your determination for a sacred silence in this sacred space.
Block the sounds of horns blaring, ignore the heated words of the couple standing near the rose bush.

Shhh.

Can you hear rustling leaves, whistling wind? Can you see the shimmer of the cotttonwoods?

These winds were in this garden. The trees now camouflaging the sparrows’ nests, they were here.
The fountain — the garden’s heart — it was here with its rippling waters.
The dust blowing from the Tumacácori Mountain Range – that dust was here.

Those mountains? They stood in silence and watched.
Arched doorways sheltered the walkway, courtyard sheltered a painted statue of the Virgin with her Babe. They watched.

The yucca were here, the tepary beans trailed along the earth.
The nut tree saplings, freshly planted, they swayed in rhythm with the winds. They witnessed.

The che-che-chee of the sparrows joined the voices raised in song —  of protest and praise, with humiliation and elation, in mourning and in gratitude.

Tumacacori Church Entrance

Tumacacori Church © 2011 Bo Mackison

I hear their voices, I hear the choir lift their voices in song.
Harmonizing
Chanting
The rising alleluias, the longing amens.

Their voices. Do you hear them?
Che-che-cheee-ing alleluias.
Siss-siss-siss, leaves dancing, twirling along the dusty path.

Tumacacori Interior Bricks

Interior © 2011 Bo Mackison

Hearts dancing, hold your gaze on the star hunter, poised, aiming his arrow at the full moon.
Hidden voices in the whistling winds.
Hidden eyes, watching from Tumacacori.

Listen. Watch.

Hush.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She will be returning to Wisconsin later this week after living in Tucson for the last two months. She’s been exploring Arizona and living life “solo.” Occasionally she is moved to write poetry, as happened when she took a last visit to Tumacacori National Historic Site.

Mission San Xavier del Bac

"White Dove of the Desert"

"White Dove of the Desert" © 2011 Bo Mackison

Mission San Xavier del Bac is located only a few minutes south of Tucson, Arizona, on the Tohono O’Odham Indian Reservation. The mission was founded by Father Eusebio Kino, a Franciscan missionary, in 1692. Father Kino also founded the mission at Tumacacori, located 20 miles south of San Xavier, and several other missions in southern Arizona and in Sonora, Mexico.

The church, which is a National Historic Landmark, was built in 1783-1797. It is the oldest European structure in the state of Arizona.

Sacristy,  Mission San Xavier del Bac

Sacristy, Mission San Xavier del Bac © 2011 Bo Mackison

San Xavier’s interior is filled with many pieces of original statues and mural paintings, all dating from the 18th Century. The Baroque architecture has many dramatic features including painted faux doors, wood sculptures painted to resemble marble, and many niches that hold statues in curtained surroundings. It is all quite intricate and full of ingenious detailing.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Interior

Interior, Mission San Xavier del Bac © 2011 Bo Mackison

Once inside the church, one barely knows where to look first. There are more than 300 angels an over one hundred saints represented in paintings, sculptures or bas reliefs. Many of them are highlighted in gold leaf.

It is hard not to look in amazement at the decorative features that cover nearly every inch of this masterpiece. The church has undergone several restoration projects, and some of the nations’ most talented art conservators gave new life to much of the art a decade ago. It’s an amazing collection of church art, considering it was conceived and constructed over 200 years ago.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  There are many gifts to find, here in the desert.