hummingcrow: one squall voice » traffic

Baby Elephant Walk Home from Work

cherylcolan — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:33:55 +0000

My shuffle chose to play a lounge favorite, “Baby Elephant Walk,” just as I got out my camera on the way home from work.

Fog Fantasy in Phoenix

cherylcolan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:58:45 +0000

This absolutely drives me bonkers. In 2002 I bought a New Beetle and thought it was cool but a bit odd that it came with fog lamps. I did use them once, when I got caught in a pretty heavy snow storm after dark with my mom, as we were driving to her home in Clarkdale from the nearby town of Mayer, both located in the mountain country of central Arizona. Then, I was really glad I had them. My fog lamps really improved my ability to see the road with snow obliterating visibility.

Since that time I’ve notice more and more vehicles come with fog lamps. I have to believe the auto dealerships are ordering them that way because the cars are a few hundred dollars more expensive with them installed. I mean, this is Phoenix we’re talking about. I’ve lived here my whole life, nearly forty years, and I can count the number of times I’ve seen fog in Phoenix on one hand. In fact, I can count the number of times I’ve seen fog here on one finger. That’s right. In forty years, there has been fog in Phoenix ONCE. For about two hours.

Yet just about every idiot on the road whose car is equipped with fog lamps turns them on every day. Apparently because they can. Either that or they’re all suffering from some kind of fantasy delusional fog inside their cotton-brained heads. It bothers me on a lot of levels, but mostly because they hurt my eyes. It’s not as bad as having your brights on, but it’s close.

Who’s more mental, them? Or me? Either way, it’s really satisfying to finally get that off my chest.

Coffee at Korrawinga

cherylcolan — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 06:11:41 +0000

Another moment from my past, specifically, a trip to Australia in June 2004 – when it’s winter down under. I was staying with a travel group at the Korrawinga Community Center on Aboriginal lands. We are in the tiny kitchen of a pre-school day care center, and were being allowed to use it for our breakfast, but had to clear out before the kiddies showed up. Our group slept outside in an enormous marquee, and our first couple of nights were bitterly cold.

I tried to record a lot of little moments that recurred daily at Korrawinga. There was a daily ritual the coffee addicts went through involving a personal French press. There was the daily walk down a gravelly, muddy dirt road to use one of the two outdoor showers. We had to watch for poisonous snakes on the way, and kick out the cane toads. There was being awakened at night by the dogs going through the trash, and awakened in the morning by the most beautiful birdsong I could imagine. And, every night, on the way to the toilet, there was the required stop to stand, shivering, staring at the sky, seeking out the new constellations, and searching for the familiar one we had in common, Orion, rising upside-down in the pre-dawn sky.

Good times.

in local news …

cherylcolan — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 18:06:35 +0000

I think the sky was more interesting than the possible terrorist threat of nuclear explosion.

Driving Miss Rosie

cherylcolan — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 18:55:47 +0000

I shot this footage a few weeks ago and am just now making time to edit it, so it looks like my theme for Videoblogging Week 2007 is “getting caught up on editing.”

I don’t have a lot of years left with Rosie, my true companion. It makes me want to document her personality while I still can. In this video we were on our way to the vet’s office for getting stitches removed. If you have cats, turn up your volume. They’ll probably go running around the room looking for my cat.

If you don’t like cats you should probably skip this video.