Visiting Ben-Boy in Illinois

Benjamin will soon be 18 months old. We had not seen him since March, so we went to Illinois last week for a visit. He had changed so much in just two months. He is no longer a baby. He is growing tall. His face has lost its chubbiness.


He's full of energy and curiosity. There is nothing he loves more than being outside.


You can almost hear him saying, "Hey, Mr. Wilson!"


From 18 months to 16 in 5.9 seconds!


He likes to "color." Sometimes he does it on paper.



He's getting into sports. His dad is working with him on his basketball form. See, he's got the fingers spread and elbows up.


Huckleberry and Grandpa ...



had fun working on summersaults.


Grandma prefered walks in the morning with Ben



to get a newspaper.


Here's Ben hanging out with Mom and Dad.



At the end of a hard day, he looks forward to his bed and lullabies.

Arizona Skies

Capturing the light of the skies is a challenge here in Arizona where nearly every day and evening brings another opportunity.

Many times I have tried to record a beautiful cloud pattern or a sunset with my camera. The result never lives up to the real thing. Here are a few attempts I have made in recent months.


When I saw the early stages of this sunset, I grabbed my camera knowing it was a special evening.



Changes in colors occurred so rapidly. In seconds the colors changed from azure to apricot.



Then, in an instant, the flames ignited.


They lasted only for a moment, then ...



... they burned down to ...



... embers and flickered out.




One evening while returning home from Scottsdale, Carolyn and I saw this moonrise coming over the hills near Mayer, AZ.

Prescott's Mt. Vernon Street

We are enjoying our first spring in Prescott. We've been exploring parts of town we haven't before. East of downtown is a tree lined historic district on Mt. Vernon St.



A first glance of its steep-roofed frame houses might make you think you were in a Midwestern town of the 1920's.


Or with the turreted Victorians, maybe New England.


There are homes with white picket fences



and ginger bread siding.


There are houses with wide front and side porches for engaging neighbors on Sunday afternoon.


Green lawns create an oasis in the desert for the eye and spirit.


Flags fly.


Flowers abound.










What is this neighborhood doing in Arizona? Where is the adobe? The cacti?

The Prescott area has always drawn people. Over 9,000 years ago, a up to 100,000 people inhabited the area. (Possibly ancestors of the Yavapai whose reservation now borders the city.)

The discovery of gold in 1838 brought national attention to Prescott. Further discoveries in 1861 drew the attention of Abraham Lincoln. The President, looking for sources of funding for the North during the Civil War, created the Arizona Territory in 1864. Prescott was established as the first territorial capital. (Not Tucson whose population was more supportive of the Confederacy.)

Prescott developed rapidly as northerners were encouraged to settle here. In 1865 it was described as being built exclusively of wood and inhabited almost entirely by Americans. Both made it unique among early communities in Arizona.

Prescott eventually lost its title as the Capital of Arizona to Tucson and finally Phoenix in 1889. In 1900, a devastating fire burned Prescott to the ground; but it was rebuilt, and many of the buildings today are reminders of its past. Prescott has many homes and businesses on the National Register of Historic Places and its white granite courthouse, set among green lawns and spreading trees, reflects the Midwestern and New England background of Prescott’s pioneers.



Prescott today (Thumb Butte in the background).