The Arizona Canal 280/365

Today’s post was inspired by a comment left on yesterday’s post by EG WOW who said she didn’t realize there was so much greenery in Phoenix. Here’s how come.


This valley was inhabited by the ancient Hohokam Indians for approximately a thousand years from A.D. 300 to 1450. Peaceful farmers, they are most noted for constructing irrigation ditches with stone hoes. The Hohokam canal system traversed nearly 500 miles and may have served as many as 50,000 people at one time. They left by about 1450 A.D. No one knows why exactly.

In the 1860’s a central Arizona gold rush brought an influx of settlers who took water from the Salt River via a canal to grow crops. In a short while, the whole area went “canal crazy,” and dozens of ditches were constructed.

In 1902 the National Reclamation Act which provided for government loans to “reclaim” the West with irrigation projects went into law. Out of that act came the construction of the Roosevelt Dam and the federal government began buying up private canals which allowed for the efficiency of unifying the canal system. In 1917 operation of the canal system was turned over to the Salt River Valley Water Users Association which still operates the canals for the federal government.

So where does the water come from? From Lake Roosevelt about 40 miles northeast of Phoenix, from the melting mountain snows of Northern Arizona, and from the Colorado River, the river which carved the Grand Canyon.

Pictured here is the Arizona Canal, which was built in 1883. It runs 38 miles from Glendale on the west to Scottsdale on the east. It is either paved or has a smooth dirt path its entire length, making it an excellent bike trail.

So EG WOW, this is why Phoenix is so green. (Please visit her beautiful blog found HERE.)

For a picture of the Valley’s oldest existing canal, CLICK HERE to go to my extra photos blog.

Lewis Douglas (aka Bishop Harte) House 279/365

The Lewis Douglas House is on the National Registry of Historic Places and the City of Phoenix Historic Property Register. It is also known as the Bishop Harte House. Built in 1923, this beautiful home sits on approximately 1.66 acres of land in the heart of what is now known as the Central Corridor and has approximately 4,000 square feet of living space.


Lewis Douglas (1894 – 1974) was born into a wealthy Arizona mining family. After receiving an education at Amherst and MIT and serving in World War I, he settled in the mining town of Jerome (named for Leonard Jerome, a wealthy New York financier who was Winston Churchill’s grandfather), and at the age of 29 began a long political career. He was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives, a U.S. Congressman, appointed by FDR as Director of the Bureau of the Budget, and in 1947 was named US ambassador to Great Britain. He died in Tucson in 1974 from complications of surgery and his ashes were spread over Jerome.

In 1976 the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona deeded the house to Bishop Joseph Meaken Harte, the second bishop of the diocese. Born in 1914, Bishop Harte was elected bishop of the diocese in 1962. He and his wife Alice lived in the home until their deaths in 1999 (just ten days apart) and his estate deeded the house to a private individual. In 2008 the home sold to a prominent neurosurgeon for just under $2 million.

Cosmos 279/365

Today, at least on my computer, Blogger has returned to the familiar "browse" bar to upload.  Now you all know what a complete computer moron I am.  Thank you, Tracy, for steering me outside of my "goggles" vision to notice the "upload" button, so if I get that screen again I'll know how to upload my pictures.  I did get one other comment from someone indicating they were having problems getting photos uploaded and were having to go through Picasa.

My Favorite Billboard 278/365

Did anyone else experience this Blogger phenomenon today - you can only add images to your blog from a Picasa web album, something that already exists in this blog, or a URL?  No way to add images from your computer!  I have no idea how I managed after umteen tries to get this picture here but I did.  Now, tomorrow, I have no clue what I wil do!  The older I get, the more I hate change - especially change that no one bothers to notify me about!

277/365

SOOC - no cropping, no nothing.

Questions and Comments:  Yes, Magpie, the first picture on FKH Photo Journal was the house with the small koi pond.

(Why won't Blogger let me get the text off of center?)

A Walk Through Roosevelt 276/365

I had the pleasure today of getting together with Nancy (aka Magpie) and Tracy of the West Valley Daily Photo - Phoenix blog for a walk through the historic Roosevelt Neighborhood here in Phoenix.  We've become bloggie friends over the past few months so it was fun to finally put faces and voices to each other.  We walked around this wonderful neighborhood for two hours until the heat started taking its toll, and, as they say, a good time was had by all.

The Roosevelt area is where all the movers and shakers of early-day Phoenix lived.  Most of the buildings were built between 1897 and 1938.  During that 42-year period, numerous political figures, entrepreneurs, capitalists, and community leaders chose this neighborhood for their homes.  You will see every style of architecture popular in that era, and many of the homes have been restored to their original grandeur.

For two more examples of Roosevelt buildings, go to my extra photos blog HERE.

To check out Nancy and Tracy's West Valley Daily Photo - they have great photography examples of many different subjects and a fun down-to-earth appreciation of what life's all about - CLICK HERE.

Pioneer & Military Memorial Park 275/365

Many of the city's founding fathers are buried in this memorial park near the Arizona State Capitol.  Although it is called the Pioneer & Military Memorial Park, it is actually seven separate cemeteries on an 11-acre parcel of land.    After Phoenix was incorporated as a city in 1881, the populace became ashamed of the old cemetery right in the downtown area of a new growing city, and various fraternal groups bought a plot of land somewhat west of downtown to establish their cemeteries and then sold half of it to others for use as the City (aka Loosely) Cemetery.  Families moved their dead from the old cemetery, most of them to these cemeteries.  Burials continued in the "new" cemeteries until 1914 but after the opening of a beautiful new Greenwood Cemetery even further west, the city declared the cemeteries abandoned and closed them.

In the center of the photograph you can see, looking west,  the copper dome and the Winged Victory of the Arizona State Capitol Building.  The truck with the red material is probably working on construction (which typically happens on weekends) for Arizona's Centennial which will take place February 14, 1912.

For other photos of this historic cemetery, CLICK HERE.

Papa Ed's Ice Cream 274/365

This is a fun place in Historic Downtown Glendale, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix).  For a look at Papa Ed's mailbox, please go to my extra photos blog at FKH Photo Journal.

For more colorful photos click on COLOR CARNIVAL!

Roses at Sunset 273/365

Charles Pugh House 272/365

The Charles Pugh house is one of the few surviving Queen Anne houses in Phoenix and one of the last 19th century buildings still standing in its original location. Pugh was editor/publisher of the Southwestern Stockman, a newspaper established in Phoenix in 1884. His house was built in what is now Central Phoenix in 1897 and was in use for most of the 20th century, often as a hotel or boarding house. From 1937 to 1975 it was known as the Lewis Hotel. In the 1990s it housed a small restaurant called the 1897 House Restaurant. Since that time it has been boarded up and abandoned. It is owned by a private citizen and there seems to be some effort to garner interest in preservation as I found a Facebook page and a Twitter account concerning the property. It is one of the most endangered sites in the city. Note the beautiful leaded glass window at the top which seems to be hanging by a thread.

If you want to see Bucky's brother, here is a link to my daughter's blog where he was featured.  I had forgotten that Brother Bear had already made his blog debut before Bucky did!  CLICK HERE

Bucky Bear 271/365

You are all just way too sharp for me! Silly of me to think that I might fool someone with a macro of one of Bucky’s feet.


Yes, Bucky Bear is a stuffed animal, but he is a special one. Back in the days when it was not frowned upon when women wore fur coats (it’s sort of like those days when it was okay to smoke cigarettes – we just didn’t know then what we know now), I had a beautiful Chinese fox fur jacket. It was not an endangered species. I recall only wearing it a few times (once on a business trip to Chicago in late November where it kept me amazingly warm), and many years later it hung in a protected cedar closet. I didn’t want to throw it away. Why degrade those beautiful animals from whence it came to put it in a garbage can. What was done was done and could not be undone. So as time went on, I heard of a woman in California who took furs and recycled them into animals, and after speaking with her at a Teddy Bear Show (yes, those things do exist) in Phoenix, I shipped off my fur jacket to be made into a bear. Imagine my surprise when the return package came and it contained TWO bears. Most of her work, she said, had been done with mink because in the 1930s through the 1980s almost every well-heeled woman in America had a mink stole, a mink jacket, or a mink coat. She had never worked with long-haired fur before. I gave the two bears to my daughter the next Christmas but she returned one to me. His bow tie was made from the lining of the jacket which contained my monogrammed initials, KH. Maybe someday Bucky and his brother will have a play date and get their photo taken together, but in the meantime, please forgive me for indulging in a practice that is now considered inhumane. I didn’t know at the time because I was ignorant. Education brings enlightenment.

What Am I? 270/365

What am I?  Take a guess and find out if you're right when Tuesday's post goes on line tomorrow evening!
There are no prizes for being right - just self-satisfaction.

Another question for today (which I will answer now):  Where does the term eagle eye or hawkeye come from?

Answer:  Because eagles, hawks and other raptors can spot a rabbit in grass from as far as two miles away!  Pretty amazing, eh?

No. 1 Boy 269/365

Kenilworth School/Kenilworth Historic District 268/365

Kenilworth School is the longest operating school in Maricopa County, having been built in 1920.  The school is an imposing neoclassical building and is located in the Kenilworth Addition, one of the subdistricts of the Roosevelt Historic District where the majority of Phoenix’s movers and shakers lived at the turn of the century and for three decades beyond. Originally slated to be demolished for freeway expansion, transportation planners changed the I-10 freeway alignment slightly in the 1980s to save this historic structure. When the school celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2000, one of the classrooms was restored to its 1920 condition. Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona was a graduate of Kenilworth School.


For some close-up shots of Kenilworth’s architecture and a representation of the district's present-day homes, please CLICK HERE to navigate to my extra photos blog.

Library Card 267/365

I got a new library card this week and I think it's the most beautiful library card I've ever seen.  What a great piece of graphic art of a phoenix made especially for Phoenix!  Does your city have a neat library card?

Martha, this is especially for you!

This photograph has been included in THE COLOR CARNIVAL meme.  For other snazzy colorful photos, visit them HERE.

I'll try to remember to answer questions as they come up.

Yes, Maia, gerbera daisies grow in the dirt here.  Those were from my neighbor's front yard.  I grow very few flowers but I photograph many!

Gerbera Daisies 266/365

Phoenix City Hall 265-365

Just so you don't think all the buildings in Phoenix are old, this is our city's 20-story municipal building.  It was a two-year construction project with construction completed and building opening in 1994.  This is SOOC (straight out of the camera for my friends who aren't bloggies) with not even any cropping.  Since I practically had to lay on the sidewalk to get this shot, the angle precludes a view of the ultramodern abstract sculpture representing the phoenix rising from the ashes on the top of the building.  I'll do that one another day.

One hundred days to go!

Icelandic Poppies 264/365

Today's Funny:  Definition of lymph - When you walk with a lisp.

Valley of the Sun 263/365

Phoenix calls itself the Valley of the Sun.  I love this sun art

found on the walls of a popular Mexican food restaurant that a friend and I visited today for lunch.

St. Mary's Basilica 261/365

Saint Mary's Basilica, officially named The Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix was founded in 1881 and has been staffed by the Franciscan Friars since 1895. Church construction began in 1903 and was completed in 1913. It is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in the greater Phoenix area and is home to Arizona's largest stained glass windows collection. The church's Spanish Mission structure supports four domes spanning the length of the Basilica. Pope John Paul II designated St. Mary’s a minor basilica in 1984. It thereby became the 32nd basilica in the US and remains the only basilica in Arizona. John Paul visited the church three years later in 1987. The church bells, after 20 years of silence, were reactivated in 2008. I was fortunate enough to hear the bells twice today while visiting downtown Phoenix. The basilica is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the Phoenix Historic Property Register.


To see photos of St. Mary’s gardens, please visit FKH Photo Journal HERE.

Knights of Pythias Building 261/365

The Knights of Pythias building in Phoenix was constructed in 1928 and still stands today on 1st Avenue north of Roosvelt in the Roosevelt Neighborhood Multiple Resource Area. In the early days of Arizona history, the K of P claimed the movers and shakers of early Phoenix amongst its members. Not only did Pythians meet in this hall, but other fraternal and sororital organizations which played an important social role in Phoenix as well as other Western settlements used the building as their meeting place. Various lodge meetings were important settings for business and political transactions and they provided a desired link with Eastern mores. In addition to K of P, fraternal organizations utilizing the building included the Pythian Sisters, the Brotherhood of American Yeomen, the Loyal Order of Moose, the Nomads of Avrudka, and the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots. Later the Knights of Columbus and the Masons met in the building.

Early members of the K of P included Carl Hayden, who served a record 56 consecutive years in Congress as both a US Representative and a US Senator from Arizona, and Ernest McFarland, who served as Arizona’s governor in the 1950s after having had terms as a Superior Court judge in Arizona and as an Arizona US Senator.

The Pioneer & Military Memorial Park located near the Arizona State Capitol comprised of seven historic cemeteries which were in use between 1884 and 1914 includes a Knights of Pythias plot.

The two-story red brick building with carved stone façade sits a mere 20 feet away from the Metro Light Rail.  It is on the National Register of Historic Places and the City of Phoenix Historic Property Register and is currently occupied by two architectural firms.

Randy Rooster 260/365

It's always interesting to see the yard art that people choose.

Easy Pasta Dinner 259/365

Except for baking my recipes rarely have ingredients with precise measurements.  Since I cook for one and occasionally two and a half, I just judge everything on how many plates it needs to make.  This is a quick supper that most people seem to like and is pretty simple.

Fry a few slices of bacon in a large skillet.  Reserve 2 Tbs. of the bacon grease. Saute fresh spinach or arugula leaves in  1 Tbs. bacon drippings (my Southern influence comes through) until greens are wilted.  Add a little salt and pepper unless you're already on a low-salt diet and some red pepper flakes if you want.  Remove and set aside.  Add drained chopped tomatoes to another tablespoon of the bacon grease in the skillet and heat thoroughly.  Return the spinach to the skillet and add cooked penne or rigatoni pasta and combine all ingredients.  If it seems dry toss with a little extra olive oil.  Serve up in pasta bowls and garnish with crumbled bacon pieces and parmesan.  A nice salad and garlic bread and you're done!

Corpstein Duplex 258/365

The Corpstein Duplex was constructed in approximately 1920 for Avery A. Corpstein (1892 – 1961), a prominent Phoenix businessman. It is architecturally significant as one of four outstanding examples of Prairie School bungalows in Central Phoenix. Each unit of the building has a rectangular boxlike mass at the ground floor bounded on two adjacent sides of colonnaded porches crowned by a sleeping room. One must remember that during this period air conditioning did not exist and most residences in Phoenix had sleeping areas with exposure to the outdoors. Even the elegant Wrigley Mansion today still seats Sunday brunch guests in its original sleeping porch area (I know: I got to sit there one June for my birthday and it still is not air conditioned!).  I cannot find any reference as to the initial use of the duplex although I must surmise that it was constructed as a residence for Mr. Corpstein and perhaps the other unit was a rental. 

In approximately 2000 former mayor of Phoenix Phil Gordon purchased the duplex and describes it as follows: The day I first looked at the building, the roof and walls were crumbling and it was completely full of debris and filth. Everyone I talked to said the building simply could not be restored.

Today the duplex is the home of the Arizona Commission on the Arts and at least two references on the Internet refer to it as being listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, although I do not find that to be the case when visiting the website of the National Registry. However, it is definitely listed as an historic place by the City of Phoenix Historic Preservation Office and is included in the Roosevelt Historic District. The building is currently owned by the Arizona State Department of Administration.

The metal structure seen behind the left portion of the duplex in the image is the radio tower of the Westward Ho Hotel featured in this blog on February 7, 2010.

The Kitchen Junk Drawer 257/365

I think everyone has one - a drawer that you just dig through to find that one

unmistakable item that you need once in a blue moon!

Thanks to all those who answered my plea for help in yesterday's post. 

As of now there are no two answers which are the same!

Perhaps some more suggestions will come in in days to come.

I Need Some Advice (Subtitled Poopy Kitty) 256/365

I've been complaining lately that my pictures just seem a little dull, lacking sharpness and good color clarity.  I've been blaming my camera, a little Cannon point-and-shoot, and my goal is within the next six to eight months invest in an SLR since I'm kind of making this photography stuff a real hobby.  On Easter Sunday my daughter and grandson were over and I took a few pictures with her camera.  This one of the cat was okay but then she took it home and did some enhancement just with her Mac, which is great for photographs and graphics.  She also has a Photoshop program but it is one of the more expensive ones  normally used by graphic artists.  So the information and advice I need from all my bloggie friends is 1) do you use photo software; 2) if so, which one and which version; 3) what do you like best and least about it?  I would appreciate hearing from any who happen to read this post.  You know more about photography than anyone else I know and I would love to get some feedback from my favorite photographers.  The things I think I'd most like to have in a program is some type of color enhancement, being able to level my pictures (I am always surprised when I take a picture of a building it so frequently isn't straight on the horizontal), removing unwanted objects.  Feel free to leave a comment or if you would like to leave a more private suggestion, my email is listed in my profile.

Oh, by the way, this little kitty hangs out in the neighborhood.  I think I know where it belongs.  Its owners allow it to freely roam.  It almost acts like a feral cat because if you try to approach it, it zips away at the speed of lightning.  While I was using daughter's camera I was also practicing with her zoom lens so I was able to get this pic of kitty lounging underneath my oleander bushes without getting so close as to scare it away.  Please don't think I like this cat.  I think it's the one that uses my side yard as a litter box!

Easter 255/365

Em checking out some "Cars" stickers he found in one of his Easter baskets.

Eggsacution 254/365

Oh, No!

Bobby Blue Worth 253/365

Today I stopped by St. Francis Cemetery hoping to find some interesting gravestones.  After being somewhat disappointed in that there were no spectaular gravestones, especially given that it is a Catholic cemetery, I reminded myself that Phoenix is just a kid compared to many parts of our country.  Arizona was not admitted as a state until 1914, and although we have a history rich with Spanish conquistadors and Jesuit priests founding missions and doing explorations (Escalante and Dominguez, the first white men to see the Grand Canyon, began their trip through the Southwest in 1776, very much unaware of what was happening on the East Coast at the same time), and this area had been inhabited by the ancient Anasazi many centuries before, civilization didn't really come to this part of the world until during the time of the Civil War.  President Grant issued the patent for the present site of Phoenix in 1874.  So no spectacular gravestones as one might see in the deep South or New England.  One of the mausoleums at the cemetery is faced with beautiful bright blue mosaic tiles and as I was walking by looking at some tile inserts and not really paying attention to any of the names, my eyes landed on Bobby Blue Worth.  Bobby Blue lies for all eternity interred behind these beautiful blue tiles.  I don't know who Bobby Blue Worth was.  I only know he lived 69 years.  If you Google his name you get no hits, but he found someone today, in me, who acknowledged that he existed and somebody placed him here in such a fitting place for his namesake.

For two of the beautiful mosaic inserts found on the mausoleum wall, check out the extra photos blog HERE.

Willo Historic District 252/365

The Willo Historic District takes its name from the two voting precincts (Wilshire and Los Olivos) that it encompasses. It was once a suburban community located on the outskirts of the city but today it resides in the shadow of the high-rise buildings of midtown Phoenix.

During the 1930s the Period Revival movement created tremendous variety in architectural styles. Tudor, Spanish, Mission, and Pueblo Revival styles can be found throughout the older sections of Willo. After the Great Depression, French Provincial, Monterey, and Ranch styles were constructed in the newer sections in the northern part of the district. Willo is one of the largest historic districts in the City of Phoenix and it is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Many of the homes have been meticulously refurbished and it is a popular choice of residence for young professionals. A search of the district’s for sale properties show a price range of $165,000 to $670,000, which in today’s real estate valuation means that a scant three years ago, many of these properties would have sold for in excess of $1 million.

It was impossible to find one highly representational property, so I decided to concentrate on those where the bougainvillea were particularly prominent as a theme. Our midwinter rains have produced absolutely stunning floral vegetation in our valley. So scoot on over to FKH Photo Journal for three more examples of homes in this beautiful area which just also happen to have a great bougainvillea display. CLICK HERE.

Thank you to Self Sagacity for the Beautiful Blogger Award.  What a nice surprise.  I am truly honored. 

Be sure to visit her website HERE!