Toiling under the sun

If you  have ever spent any time in Mexico you have seen hard work going on all around you.  People there work hard just to provide a simple lifestyle.  Our lives are full of abundance when compared to the daily lifestyle of the average person in Mexico.  Here we live thinking about what we can obtain in our future while they ask themselves how can I feed my family today.  One thing I noticed about the Mexican people, is that they work hard six days a week, but they value celebrating life with festivals, food, and surrounding themselves with bright colors just as hard as they work. 

Helping Hand

When we travel in Mexico we always stop in the small towns and walk around and find a little restaurant to have lunch.  It is a good way to sample some of the local fare of the region we were traveling in.  Many of the restaurants have open fronts and the cooking takes place on a grill as you enter.  It is a good way to see what is being cooked and ask a few questions of the types of food offered.   We enjoyed the many meals we had in Mexico except for ones with chicharron.
We noticed that many in the of small towns we would see the owner of the restaurant provide a free meal to an elderly person.  It is common practice in some regions to give a helping hand to the elderly and provide them a good meal each day.  I made a photo of this little lady in a little mountain town while we were having lunch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicharr%C3%B3n

Cross in the Desert

While traveling in southern Arizona I came upon an old cemetery out in the middle of nowhere.  It was strange to me that a cemetery existed where there were no towns around.  I drove up the washed out gravel road to the entrance gate and spent an hour walking around and photographing the location.  It was apparent that these were old and simple grave sites.  Some of the sites had been attended to with faded artificial flowers and a few keepsakes spread around on the headstones.  This is rugged and barren land that is hard to support life.  I wondered what these early pioneers did to survive in such an arid place.  Most likely there were mining operations with a town in the area an one time.  The West is full of old an abandon mining towns, some still standing an other completely gone except for a few rusted out pieces of equipment laying around.  I made this photograph on an extremely hot July day.  There were numerous thunderstorms moving through the area and I could see them coming for miles away.

Tumacacori Grave Site

I have visited the area south of Tucson Az. a number of times to photograph the Tumacacori Mission.  The first mission built on this site was constructed in 1691 by Father Kino, and the current mission was constructed in the mid 18th century.  There are numerous old grave sites in the courtyard from people who worked and lived at the mission.  This mission is now part of the National Parks system and is  wonderful place to spend a day looking at the structures built by an old civilization and learning about their culture.  I made this image around noontime in intense sunlight.  I compressed several different exposures together to render some detail in the harsh shadows.

http://www.nps.gov/tuma/index.htm

Saguaro Cactus

We have travel numerous time in the Sonoran desert in Arizona, and always enjoy camping in the area of the Saguaro cactus.  These majestic cactus take on an almost human form with their arms that extend off the main trunk of the cactus.  I have tried to photograph these cactus many times and feel I have not captured the true character of the subject.  Hopefully we can spend some more time there in the future and I can work with these great giants of the desert once more.

http://www.desertusa.com/cactus/saguaro-cactus.html

Mississippi Crossing

I have crossed the Mississippi River numerous times and always find it an exciting place to stop and spend a few days to photograph.  This bridge is located at the river crossing between the towns of Vidalia, La. and Natchez. Ms., and straddles the state line.  I made this image with a Canon 5D11 at around 9 p.m.  I was on the western side of the river in the town a Vidalia and found a nice public walk way that goes down under the bridge.  On the other side of the river is the old historic beautiful town of Natchez.  It is fill with old civil war era homes and plenty of history to explore.  The Mississippi River is a fascinating place to just sit and watch the barges go up and down the river.


http://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississippi/pages/lmiss10.html
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mississippi-river-bridge-natchez
http://visitnatchez.org/

Monarch Canyon

In the Colorado Plateau area of the American Southwest there are numerous old structures and cliff dwellings from an ancient civilization.  The people that inhabited this area were know as the Anasazi Indians.  Most every canyon in the region hold some form of markings (petroglyph) or structure left behind by these early Indian tribes.  It is a fascinating place to hike and explore the remains of an ancient civilization.  It is important to use extreme caution when hiking into these locations not to disturb or alter any of these old sites.  I have found over the years that most people that have the desire to explore such regions do so with great respect and try to avoid impacting the area as much as possible.

http://cpluhna.nau.edu/Places/places.htm
http://pages.towson.edu/brenda/newmexico/anasazi.htm
http://www.indians.org/articles/anasazi-indians.html