We’ve only got a few days left of our stay here in Tucson before we start working our way back to Portland.  I’d about given up on finding anything new for this month’s challenge until stumbling across this chimney in the Barrio Anita on my return, just a few blocks from home.

No?  Oh, Scheisse!  Gneiss then?  Nice! I’ve spent an unproductive few days watching for another interesting chimney here in Tucson without success, so I’ll have to move on to a different subject.  There’s actually not much to satisfy the challenge in this post other than the shadows, shelter, sharp objects and cholla that you see everywhere … Continue reading "Is it schist?"

Who dreamed up this month’s challenge, anyway?  Suddenly I’m seeing risks everywhere that I never gave much thought to before, and starting to feel paranoid.  Our climb up Mount Lemmon yesterday was just one hazard after another: precipitous cliffs, falling rocks, goblins, ice, heart attack?  Terrible.  Awesome descent though. For additional photos of this climb, … Continue reading "A mountain of hazards"

Mine fields, dinosaurs, ice picks and giant scorpions are all terrifying reminders of what a scary world we live in.  This ghost bike on a straight stretch on an open road in Madera Canyon is a sobering reminder though of where the real threats lie.  As if any of us needed reminding.

This is too funny.  It seems like just yesterday (well actually, it was just yesterday) that I was bemoaning the lack of interesting hazards down here and speculated that we might be seeing rattlers or Gila monsters roaming the earth soon.  Be careful what you wish for, as we found on our ride to Colossal … Continue reading "Desert hazards, continued"

I’m feeling guilty about being down here right now.  Not only have we had terrific weather for the last two months, but it feels perfectly safe everywhere I look – as long as we don’t think about the ever present Covid hazard of course.  Nothing like the conditions in the frigid north, for example. Maybe … Continue reading "In not so hazardous Tucson"

So in case you haven’t noticed the pattern here yet, my plan is to post polygons in series, featuring one level at a time until I reach one I can’t find.  Unlikely I’ll be able to make it up to Bob’s magnificent icosohedron, but hopefully I can at least break into double figures. Today, sevens, … Continue reading "Sevens!"

First off, I have to say how disappointed I’m feeling about this Cycle365 group and it’s questionable arithmetic skills.  I was sure that someone would point out that the feature photo of my latest post, A Pair of Pentagons, was actually a trapezoid, a four sided figure.  I knew this of course – five is … Continue reading "Hexagons have six sides"

Leapin’ leparids!  It’s a rabbit in a polygon! Actually, this post is just a bit of a fraud.  The pentagons are real enough, but we’re just patched on to the end of a post about today’s ride to Sweetwater Wetlands.  The pentagons were photographed from a couple of days earlier, but I added them here … Continue reading "A pair of pentagons"

In my first challenge submission of the month, I think I aced the triangle test and am ready to move on.  Our New Year’s Day ride along Julian wash uncovered a pair of classy quads: the poetic trapezoid shown above, and this artsy rectangle on stilts.  That’s enough with fours, for the moment.

The minimal polygon includes three sides and three angles, so I’ll start there.  A single triangle, the least possible entry.  And, for that matter, the associated post of our ride to Oro Valley is pretty minimalist too. And as long as we’re on the subject of smallest allowable whatevers, you may have noticed that the … Continue reading "The eternal triangle"

I thought I was done for this challenge, but this collection of wheelbarrows loaded with firewood for sale was just too good to pass up.  I was sure you’d all want to see it.  And, if you check out the rest of our New Year’s Eve ride, you’ll find a collection of hot redheads too. … Continue reading "One really last collection"

Don’t give up too soon, folks.  There’s still nearly two weeks of this challenge month left, and collections yet unseen to be viewed and boasted about.  Time does drag in the winter, when it’s cold and wet where many of you live, or hot and insufferable for others; and where you can’t entertain yourselves by … Continue reading "Are we tired of collections yet?"

OK, I’ll admit that a gathering of pigeons isn’t the most interesting or unusual collection to flash around.  I imagine some of you may have seen a similar collection in your home town/county/state/territory/province. But it’s the best I’ve got to offer today, unless you consider a pod of masked university students an interesting collection. Also, … Continue reading "A passel of pigeons"