Year: 2022

Green Flash Over Molika’i/Oahu~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, REVERIES, Sunsets, TRAVEL REVIEWS199 Comments

Another day,

draws to a close,

mid,

Pacific.

Drowsy, resting,

roused, there it was! (Tap/click to enlarge).

Cheers to you from the tiny green sun~

A Cardinal Achievement~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life226 Comments

Some of you may remember that I have only seen and photographed cardinals twice in my life, once in Buenos Aires, and recently in The Superstition Mountains in Arizona. (Tap to enlarge).

Meet Hawaiian Red Crested cardinals number 3 & 4 who have now become my very good friends!

Yep, we are in Hawaii and these guys hang out constantly in our backyard.

I am in cardinal heaven!

They are not afraid of us and especially,

enjoy joining us on the patio table for lunch!

After years of searching,

I have finally made some cardinal friends!

I hope word spreads and they bring over their buddies. We are hosting a variety of exotic and beautiful Hawaiian birds.

I will share more with you soon,

Until then, Aloha to you from Maui~

Bird Portraits: Raptors~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Uncategorized, Wild Life185 Comments

“Where the wild things are,” (tap/click to enlarge)

is where I like to be.

Bald Eagles,

imperious stare.

Haughty Harris Hawks,

with laser eyes.

Owls see light,

in the darkest night.

Falcon’s fly faster,

than wind.

Canada’s wild spaces.

Cheers to you from our finely feathered friends~

Portraits: Water Birds~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life202 Comments

Birdies,

are the most photogenic,

models.

They need no makeup for their closeups.

No photo-shop,

nor artifice.

They are natural born beauties.

Cheers to you from the beauteous birdies~

Observers~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life184 Comments

Macaws,

are devoted,

human observers.

They find humans endlessly fascinating,

especially when they want a treat.

But even wild parrots like to people watch!

Cheers to you from the curious Macaws~

Holler Home~

On By cindy knokeIn MY PHOTOGRAPHS, Psychological Self Care, REVERIES, Wild Life157 Comments

It’s good to be home.

Cheers to you from The Holler~

North Rim~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life217 Comments

Aspens with their new summer leaves in the Kaibab Forest.

Sunlit view from the North Rim. (Click to enlarge and see The Colorado River.)

Landscape near Lee’s Ferry.

The Colorado.

Horseshoe Bend.

We entered here for a seven day raft trip when the kids were younger. I will never forget the sound of the rockslides in Marble Canyon at night,

or the lizards doing pushups by my sleeping bag when I woke in the morning.

Cheers to you from the resident chuckwalla~

Rock Talk~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, TRAVEL REVIEWS161 Comments

This is Picture Canyon in Arizona.

The canyon is covered in petroglyphs,

that are 800-1300 years old.

The oldest petroglyphs are geometric in nature.

Later rock art depicts animals, rivers, planets and human figures.

This is The Mojave Desert in the southwestern US,

and it is where Jim and I went hunting for hidden petroglyphs.

There is historical rock art all over the southwestern United States. Most thought to be 800 to 1000 years old. Much of it hidden and unpublicized. I even found some at The Holler.

Here is the blogger that led us here. I have no idea who he is, but, as we all know, bloggers are precious resources:

https://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/petroglyphs-of-kelbaker-road-california.html?m=0

Below are some links to my prior posts about more amazing southwestern pictographs and petroglyphs, much of it quite older:

Those Who Came Before~
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: An Ancient Refuge~

Cheers to you from The Talking Rocks of the Southwest~

Falls Creek Sacred Site~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, TRAVEL REVIEWS151 Comments

Falls Creek, in southwest Colorado, is one of the most important ancient sites in the southwest. It was once a village and had burial sites.

It contained mummified remains of individuals, and has antiquities from the ancestral pueblo basket maker period from 1500-2000 years ago.

Look carefully to the right, below the waterfall and under the overhang (tap to enlarge).

You can see more here.

This sacred site was heavily plundered in the 1930’s and it is now protected, with no public access. It is under the protection of the tribal nations who are descendants of the original occupants.

I am not an archeologist. I am a psychotherapist by training. It is hard to get information on the place and it is difficult to find. Still my husband and I were curious to see what we could, without trespassing or violating the site. This is as close as we could ethically get, and these are full zoom shots. Our interest was piqued by the objects in the lower right quadrant under the overhang (enlarge to see better).

For more on this fascinating place check out the following two links:

In Ruins

https://www.mail-archive.com/nativenews@mlists.net/msg03828.html

If anyone reading this has more knowledge about Falls Creek, and would like to share it, I would be eager to pass on the information.

Cheers to you from the mysterious and sacred Falls Creek~

Walnut Canyon National Monument~

On By cindy knokeIn Conservation, EXTERIOR & INTERIOR DESIGN, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Tech Marvels, TRAVEL REVIEWS174 Comments

Southeast of Flagstaff Arizona (click to enlarge and spot the cliff dwellings hidden in the rock face),

on a plateau,

is a six hundred foot deep canyon,

carved by Walnut Creek, a stream that flows east into The Grand Canyon.

Walnut canyon has been occupied by people for thousands of years.

The first permanent residents,

who occupied the region from CE 600- 1400,

left approximately 800 remaining structures.

We visited here as part of an exploration of lesser visited, and even unpublicized cultural sites in the American Southwest. In the next few posts I will show you some of what we have found. But our explorations are still ongoing. It becomes quite addictive finding sites that aren’t widely known. We even found some at The Holler.

For more about Walnut Canyon see:

https://www.nps.gov/waca/learn/historyculture/people.htm