Benicia experienced welcome [so far] rains for several days after Thanksgiving,
while I, thanks to “Libyan Sands”*, made vicarious journeys to a desert of no rain, ever, in the
period between the Wars [back when wars still had “betweens”], as well as thanks to the more
contemporaneous google earth, aerial vicariousness [above, ‘Uweinat], inspiring me to look at
where I’d been a dozen or so days previous [above] and the various curious habitational
patterns of Al Jawf, Libya [above] before, the weather clearing, we could observe those of Benicia, California [below]. All in all things, or at least Dogs, seemed to be looking up
in varying atmospheres,
such as fog, in which, as it burned off, we took
a brief trip to OMCA [and the Roll Up Project, although on Sunday morning it wasn’t Rolled Up].
Then there was Vallejo,
more Benicia
and more Wet on the Way,
or so “they” said.
By 8:15 Wednesday night “‘they” were proven right…
right back to where we started.
* thanks to Bill Fox, always an excellent source, for the recommend;
Thanks for the recommend. Will order! I have a workshop coming up January 18 on African Scripts at sfcb.org.
I also thank you for the recommendation, your seemingly constant search of the visual world around you, and your willingness to present the results without judgement. It makes me search through the whole to find the gems. As has been said about the photographic work of Edward Weston, “Even Edward had his lesser peppers.”
Ah, the “lesser peppers”, yes…sometimes they drive the narrative, sometimes they’re just, um, lesser peppers. I do throw away a lot, too…glad to hear you’re still sifting through them.
I like many of the lesser peppers, and the patterns of Al Jawf, Libya (although I had to go there on G. Earth to figure them out).
Al Jawf isn’t mentioned in any of the early explorations…those habitations must be arrayed around mined water. Crystalline and strange…
Ahhhh the earth from above! I am amazed that window seats in planes aren’t fought over so much do I love looking out of them….even over the ocean! We got lots of weather excitement too with much needed rain. May it continue.
I never feel I’ve gotten my money’s worth unless I get a window; endlessly entertaining, particularly over the western states.
For patterns of habitation on the same continent I suggest Kano, Nigeria:
Kano in 1930:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kano#/media/File:Mittelholzer-kano.jpg
Kano today:
https://www.google.com/maps/@11.9985447,8.5185624,114m/data=!3m1!1e3
https://www.google.com/maps/@11.9981762,8.5129835,457m/data=!3m1!1e3
And how welcome to see blue skies and clear air.
I had left a comment but it included links so I think it did not print.
I’m suggesting a virtual trip to Kano Nigeria for some most interesting patterns of habitation. Also search out the photo of Kano Nigeria in 1930, as shot from a plane by Mittelholzer. I should not be hard to find.
And how nice to see blue skies and clear air again!
Fred
That’s IT should not be hard to find. “I” may be.
I had to “approve” it is all…but will the lynx work?
I had to “approve” it is all…seems to work.
Just did a brief digital tour of the Libyan desert. Was at first puzzled the certain rows of perfect circles in the middle of nothing but sand, eventually realizing that they were huge oil tanks, which led to further rather depressing ruminations: All those enormous tanks full of oil that will sooner or later be burned for heating or transportation in more populated and very green countries as a kind of eventual cosmic revenge.
If you mean the circles around Al Jawf they look to me like water-mined center pivot agriculture, an equally unsustainable strategy…or perhaps you were farther afield in the oil fields. Either way, toast.