Ronald McDonald needs to see a dentist!

We recently went downtown (to Chicago) to see "Rent" and had some time between lunch and the matinee to wander around. Outside the Rock 'n Roll McDonalds on Ontario is a bronze statue of, arguably, one of our more famous clowns. He stands under a deeply shaded overhang, and the bright sunshine at his back nearly washed out the background. I chose to replace it with this fun scrap paper from vicki20.blogspot.com.

How about this weather?

As you can see, I took this photo in several days ago, but here in blogland, we were still visiting Arizona, so I'm late in posting this. Our local paper always gives a brief forecast for the current day, and two days out. I was taken by the swing between snowy Tuesday and sunny Friday.

And we close the gate on the trip to Arizona

I'm long back in Illinois after my quick visit, but this virtual photo trip is just now ending. As we left the Botanical Gardens, this interesting gate closed behind us, and cast some wonderful shadows that ushered us back to the car.

See you back in Illinois!

People who are surrounded by glass shouldn't throw stones

When we visited Phoenix at Christmas, we were lucky enough to see the Chihuly Glass Exhibit, installed at the Desert Botanical Gardens, at night. However, none of my many photos were eligible for this blog because they were taken in 2008.

On this quick return trip, I not only got to see these gorgeous works of art in the daylight, I photographed them in 2009, so, here you go! Chihuly Glass! These were specially created for the gardens, and many of the pieces mimic the cacti that serve as a backdrop.

I was loving the tight shot of the red in my small viewfinder. In a larger version, however, I can see they need to be dusted. One of the volunteer security staff told us that an average glass set (and there were at least a dozen different areas throughout the garden) took 2-3 volunteers 2-3 hours DAILY to dust and polish. Wow!

This is quite a house!

We enjoyed the architectural details found in this replica of an Akimel O'odham Roundhouse on the grounds of the Desert Botanical Gardens. The structure itself was typically made from branches of mesquite and cottonwood trees, while the thatched roof and walls were covered with arrow weed or willow saplings. My stepdad volunteered to crawl inside and check out the beams. Glad they held up ok!

If you kiss him, does he turn into a prince?

I sure didn't test the theory!

In a pond on the grounds of the Desert Botanical Gardens, we spied this frog, hanging out and enjoying the day. The entire time we stared, photographed, and chatted about him, he never blinked! His eyes are ribbeting - er - riveting.

Not yellow, and not a bikini, but polka-dotted nonetheless

These pretty butterflies struck a pose and showed off their flashy polka-dotted wings. The Butterfly Pavillion in the Desert Botanical Gardens was alive with all sorts of gorgeous flowers and butterflies. Mary Lou, if you are reading this, I thought of you while visiting here. You would have LOVED all of the butterflies!! I believe the orange butterfly is a Queen, and the black is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (dark).