joangel > Pink door,
Tucson, AZ, 9-13-08
joangel > The Bicycle Shed Man - For six years this man has guarded my bicycle (and many others) in his shed a few meters from my house. He charges me 4 yuan a month (50 cents US). I don't even know his name but we are good friends. Indeed, he only speaks the local dialect so for the first couple years I couldn't even really talk to him. Every time I leave he says "You going out?" and every time I come back he says, "You've returned!" One of my first memories of him was the day I saw him repairing a metal pan - it was literally worn through on the bottom from years of use. He was patching it carefully - this pan was not ready for the dustbin yet. He spends most of his day and evening at the shed, opening the gate about 5:30 am and closing it about 10:30 pm. There is a little room where he has a TV and a bed. His wife is always nearby too - I'm still trying to catch her for a photo. He was delighted when I asked if I could take his picture and thanked me! Later I thanked him for such a beautiful shot. People like this I will miss.
joangel > Gata Gompa Monastery - Western Sichuan province - China
joangel > This is a view of our own little "Shangri-la" where we stayed for 2 days with the Tibetan family living in the home in the middle of the picture.  I walked up the path in the front center to get an overview of the setting - truly magnificent! Behind the glacier and snow in the top center is the elusive peak of "beautiful snow mountain," the highest peak in Yunnan province (6,700 meters). We never really saw it come out of the shroud of clouds but there were a couple of moments I would have sworn that I saw it looming in the background. Maybe just my imagination...in the end,, it didn't really seem to matter if it was real or not - truly a shangri-la-la feeling.
joangel > The Hummingbird pace is picking up here in hot summery Tucson, AZ. I have a Baja Fairy Duster shrub in my backyard that gives me built-in backdrop for photographing these busy little birds.
7-18-09
joangel > Ladder-backed Woodpecker female
1-30-09
Ft Lowell Park
Tucson, AZ
joangel > Hooded Merganser female at rest
12-2-08
Ft Lowell Park, Tucson AZ
joangel > Anna's Hummingbird at feeder
4-5-08 Tucson
joangel > Ready for the worst, I went to the bank in 2006 to try my luck. My school liaison, Chen Ying, accompanied me. We were greeted by a pretty young woman in a casual skirt and blouse. Clutching 5 years of teaching contracts, salary verification, tax receipts and red-stamped letters confirming everything was true, we cautiously explained our mission. She smiled brightly and said "Oh the best thing is to use Chen Ying's identification number - we can convert the money most easily that way and then wire it to your bank in the US."  WOW! She helped us fill out the paperwork and guided us to the appropriate teller to complete the transaction - very kind and helpful. We were out of there in about an hour and the money was in my bank the next morning. This was definitely an example of "civilised traffic."
Pink door,
Tucson, AZ, 9-13-08
joangel > Pink door,
Tucson, AZ, 9-13-08
Pink door,
Tucson, AZ, 9-13-08
See photo in gallery

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