Sonoita and the Windmills

No this wasn't shot in El Paso but along highway 83 in Arizona just a bit north and west of Sierra Vista. Sharyn, Isaac and I decided on a drive to find some pictures and especially windmills. Early in the drive we stopped for this picture.

* Note ~

These pictures are in chronological order and yet some early pictures may be darker due to the blockage of sunlight by mountains and hills along the drive.

Here is a perfect example of the sun being blocked coupled with exposures with both bright light and dimmer shadows giving the illusion of darkness.


This is the same mountain from the sun side.


Our second windmill was in a field some distance away...


Isaac and I both grabbed our cameras for a picture...


...and this is another windmill even further away.


This windmill was taken from the car at 55 mph with Sharyn driving ...


... as was this shot of the same windmill.


Topping a hill into the sun it was hard to get this picture and even harder for Sharyn to drive with the sun in her eyes.


We stopped at a rest area next to what seemed to be the storage facility for the Border Patrol motor pool. Yes! we do have a sizable force on the border with Mexico.


Sunset in Sonoita, Arizona - simply beautiful.


A picture of some of the rural community of Sonoita. Three miles west was Fort Buchanan in what is now called Hog Canyon.

"The fort was located on the east slope of the canyon and under constant attack by native Americans. It was officially abandoned in 1861 but during the American Civil War troops of the California Column occasionally manned the post."

According to another web site "It was then decided to give up the fort July 21, 1861 leaving the local settlers alone to deal with newly hostile Apaches. This is one of the reasons that Arizona suceded [seceded] from the Union later that year. "

We drove by another windmill before starting home...

... and the views were wonderful...


... as the sun sunk into the landscape behind us.

No Scrabble (getting rusty)

Quote of the Day ~

"Take care, sir," cried Sancho. "Those over there are not giants but windmills. Those things that seem to be their arms are sails which, when they are whirled around by the wind, turn the millstone." ~ Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in the novel Don Quixote - first published in 1604, under the title The Ingenious Knight of La Mancha. The novel recounts the exploits of would-be knight 'Don Quixote' and his loyal servant Sancho Panza who propose to fight injustice through chivalry.