This past weekend, I worked with the Watershed Management Group on a greywater harvesting project. This project will take washing machine water and redirect it to plants outside the laundry room. These guys are dry-fitting the ABS pipes that are part of the greywater drainage… After they were finished with the pipe-fitting, we filled trenches…
They sure didn’t make playground equipment like this when I was a kid. This thing is a slide in Tucson’s recently dedicated Balboa Park…
This past November, I wrote a post on Tucson’s new ordinance that requires water harvesting for commercial developments. To show how this can be done, the Ward 1 City Council Office is creating a public demonstration site. Work on the Ward 1 site is now being completed. On Saturday, January 24, Watershed Management Group volunteers…
On Monday, January 19, hundreds of Tucsonans commemorated the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. with a march and festival at Reid Park. The festival featured music, mime, poetry, and dancing. Tariq Rasool and the Songhai Drummers got things going… My neighbors, Chuck and Beatrice, enjoying the festivities…
March 2019 update: This website is no longer online. Nutrigenomics draws on research in nutrition, genetics, and several other scientific fields. Although nutrigenomics is fairly new, there is a great demand for collaboration, training and education. I just finished working with Randy Burd, Ph.D., who is on the faculties of the University of Arizona, University…
The people in these photos may look like they are doing a landscaping project, but there is much more to it than that. They are volunteers in a Watershed Management Group project that aims to improve urban water quality… The focus of the project is on reducing non-point source (NPS) pollutants like pet waste, auto…
Care to visit one of Tucson’s hippest streets with hundreds of thousands of your best friends? Well, have I got a street fair for you! The 4th Avenue Street Fair has been going on since the early 1970s, and it features artists and artisans from all over the U.S. In addition to admiring the artwork,…
Every Sunday morning, the St. Philip’s Plaza becomes an open-air market. You name the edible item, you can probably find it here. You can also find what you need to help prepare your food. How about some wooden utensils? Or would your taste run more toward some pie?
This past Saturday, a handful of photographers met outside of the Downtown Main Library. We’re all members of the Tucson Photography Meetup group, and we’re always up for a chance to improve our skills. Our instructor was Roger D., who gave us a series of assignments to tackle. These included three studies in motion: Freezing…
This past Saturday, thousands of bicyclists converged on Fourth Avenue near Downtown Tucson. While many of the two-wheeled legions rode to the semi-annual Bicycle Swap Meet, there was more looking than riding. With so many people gathered in one place, it was hard to get more than a couple of pedal strokes in. Besides, there…
Last month, Tucson became the first American city to require water harvesting for new commercial developments. The new city ordinance requires new developments to meet 50 percent of their landscaping water budget with water that falls on the property. To show how the ordinance will work, the Ward One City Council Office is creating a…
Tucson’s dearly departed got a unique tribute during the 19th Annual All Souls Procession. This one-of-a-kind parade started shortly after sunset this past Sunday. Marchers gathered at 4th Avenue and University Boulevard, then wended their way Downtown for a grand finale at the Franklin Street Docks. I divided my time between being an observer/photographer and…
If you have a mesquite tree in your yard, you know that they’re just full of beans. And, every summer, those beans come a-tumbling down to the ground. You’ve probably wondered if there’s something better to do with them than raking them up and throwing them away. The good news is that there is. You…
Today is Election Day, and today’s bicycle ride took me through much of central Tucson. I took advantage of the opportunity to seek out long lines at polling places. And I couldn’t find any. I was also looking for those clusters of campaign signs that spring up at just about every major intersection. Wouldn’t ya…
This past Saturday, Tucsonans held a huge party for the earth. Thousands came to Downtown to celebrate La Vida Verde. The festivities included tasty solar-cooked meals like this stew… Our furred and feathered friends also got into the act. Meet Hopi, the career-changing Harris Hawk… Hopi is a two-year-old male that came into the Forever…
September 2015 update: The website has been redesigned since this post was published. Incorporated in 1981, the Friends of Western Art is dedicated to supporting awareness of and promoting Western Art in Tucson and Southern Arizona. I have been working with FWA on the redesign of their website. The new site is based on Web…
Tucson is bisected by one of the busiest freight rail corridors in the country. The Union Pacific tracks run just north of Downtown Tucson, which is where I spied two freights heading in opposite directions…
Today is National Park(ing) Day in Tucson and other cities. It’s an an opportunity to celebrate parks in cities and promote the need for more parks by creating temporary public parks in public parking spaces. Tucson’s insta-parks were created by a wide variety of public and private entities. City High School set up an outdoor…
Here in Tucson, we have an ample supply of sunshine. Which means that we can harness that natural energy and put it to good use. I’m part of a small group called The Solar Society. It’s made up of people who want to develop and build devices that use solar power for home use. Examples…
Was on my way to an early morning meeting just north of Tucson’s Rillito Creek. We had yet another rainstorm last night, which meant that the creek was running. But it wasn’t running as briskly as it had been on Labor Day weekend. So, no creek photos. This time, the eye-catcher was a construction site…
Was pedaling around the University of Arizona late yesterday afternoon. Had the camera draped around my neck so I could quickly catch anything interesting. Went by the entrance to the business school, and the late afternoon sun and shadows got my attention…