North Las Vegas

North Las Vegas - Idiosyncrasy And Distinctiveness

North Town (North Las Vegas) is a really crummy city. Fringes of Las Vegas. Low-income housing and poor folks. Was doing my laundry the other day and was pondering my town. And then, noticed this guy helping a woman. Jorge at the laundry mat.

The Homeless Guy

This guy laying here this morning woke me up to somethings that I have forgotten. I have been homeless, and had a rough go of it. This guy is a nieghborhood fixture. Our neighborhood is rough, crime ridden, and very poor. Mostly illegal immigrants. Yet, this guy is safe, so he has chosen to frequent the area. Am sure it is mainly a safety concern. He has lost one of his arms, probably caused by congenital amputation. For him I think it was the drug Thalidomide. Because his legs are really messed up too. A complete and total physical wreck.

I recognize the blankets. Wanted to slip him a ten dollar bill, but just plain didn't have the hard cash. He is sleeping behind a walk being used as a wind-break right in the middle of a small complex of shops. There are tons of outreach organizations in Las Vegas. He probably drinks more than they will permit. There are rules to receive housing. This first image is up close. The second gives a bit of perspective on where the man is actually sleeping. No one is bothering him and most people don't even know he is there.

The moment I captured the above image, a lady was walking by the homeless guy with her dog. Was standing out front having a smoke and the pup even let me scratch its head. Apologize for the quality of the images. Was using my cell and rushing.

At least the dog had a nice personality.

Urban Blight

When I speak of my neighborhood, the image below describes my neighborhood, although, there are good things.

The guy at the laundrymat has been working there for ages. Always greets me with a, "Hello, Sir." His name is Jorge, and I had permission to take his photo.

Idiosyncrasy And Distinctive Character

The reason I am writing this blog is about the duality of my neighborhood. The homeless guy and the view (above) of the harshness of my neighborhood is contrasted with the good things. Was just standing there and Jorge starts helping this lady. The weather was crummy and he was busy.

A Helping Hand

New Year's Eve - Vegas 2017

Exactly 2400 Hours

No one was synced to computer time!! Heard the sirens and bells go off for about five-ten minutes marking the New Year. Was up by Inspire, and the folks on the roof were the first. At about 11:55 P.M. Up top on the party floor, it was standing room only and the young folks were very excited, so who can blame them!! The image below was captured when the siren went off at Inspire and is fuzzy because I was caught up in the moment.

Precisely 2400 hours.

The last second of 2016 leading into the first second of 2017. This image is a lot clearer and shows what people were feeling just outside the Fremont Street Experience. These are the working people that were wise enough to stay outside of the standing room only Experience... yet as you can see the people did not miss "The Experience."

Up over my left shoulder is the roof of the Inspire. The noise was so loud Downtown that when I reached the other side of LVBS, onto the actual Fremont Street Experience, I heard other bells sounding the New Year. I captured a nice image of the Hacienda Horse and Rider (part of the Neon Museum).

The image below was captured seconds after 2400 hours and shows just how crowded the celebration was outside of Viva Vision.

The organizers have seen fit to charge an entry fee to the FSE over the past few years, so I took my $20.00 down to the El Cortez and gambled. No big wins for me but lots of excitement just the same. Would have paid the money to be inside that cherry picker basket, and am guessing that money means different things to different people.

Cherry Picker

Contented myself with the tens of thousands of people and activity inside the Downtown Las Vegas area. Captured some mighty fine images here, also. Jackie Gaughan lived on the top floor of his El Cortez Hotel tower, and he was one of the original businessmen here. Today, the El Cortez anchors the FEED area of Downtown Las Vegas.

El Cortez

Jackie Gaughn even has his own street. The Ogden Tower had to arrange for this because of its location relative to the El Cortez. Guess it worked out well for both parties involved. As the Fremont East Entertainment District gains importance, the El Cortez having the private pedestrian walkway/entrance/entertainment area will be significant.

The Ogden

The image below illustrates "why" the trade was made between the Ogden and the El Cortez. The other side of the Ogden Tower shades Jackie Gaughan Pkwy during the summer sun.

The Ogden and El Cortez

The image below illustrates the importance of Jackie Gaughan Parkway. There is room for some of the most beautiful roses on display in Las Vegas rivaling The Venetian Roses as well as the World Market Center roses.

El Cortez Parkway Entrance

Photowalk: 31 October 2016

To open my blog post is a great image of red yucca.

Red Yucca

Was standing around for my meeting and noticed this empty lot. Yet is full. These images are not much yet I think the subjects captured are quite beautiful. Just little things I see when having the blessing of getting out of the house. The world around me.

Urban Architecture

Had a meeting the morning of the 31st. It offered me the opportunity to grab some images while in a strange neighborhood. Thought I would share some of the best. For the first set, some landscaping stones that I thought were very beautiful. I love the textures.

Cracked Stone

Cracked Stone with Copper Ore?

Would have been nice if I had used my water misting bottle to enhance the color of these stones. Maybe bring out the golden color of the iron pyrite crystal facets?

Iron Pyrite In Stone

Just so you can see, I imaged many beautiful plants as well. Captured images of some magnificent plants on this walk, too. Must have caught the landscaping right before it was to be pruned. The gardens were lush, well-kept, and at peak beauty. Below is a red yucca stalk of inflorescence. Absolutely magnificent.

More Red Yucca

No photowalk is complete without an image or two of the oleander. Deadly poison this is... "Dog's Bane."

Dog's Bane and Ant

Going through these many images, I realized how many images were captured. Have more oleander to share. As well as others.The oleander shrubs had seed pods because the Landscaping crews had not been butchering the gardens to ease the workload.

Am working on these photos... have discovered DUST. Found a nice flare in this Ponderosa Pine image. Western Yellow Pine. Is a six-sided hex... a true flare.

Lots of these pine trees lined Flamingo on my walk. They are thirsting, yet we are self-compliant in most cases with water restrictions. The foliage could be much thicker on these trees. The Ponderosa Pines at the park directly across from my apartment are thick because plenty of water is used to water the lawn for the kids to run and play. Do kid's stuff and exercise... and this benefits the trees.

But I got up close and found an insect that is known to be hard on trees. Halyomorpha halys. This is obviously a contributor to the sparseness of the tree's foliage. The pine "cone" is actually quite edible.

Alongside the lush landscapes accompanying this photowalk were the un-butchered Chinese Fan Palm Trees. One on our many indoor gun ranges has been moved to a more profitable location, and the business front has not been maintained for lack of a new proprietor. I was astonished to see how the seed branches actually "are" if allowed to mature... (and on a side note) I honestly believe landscape companies butcher their locations to make professional upkeep more of a mass production assembly line process. Less work and care for the same basic rate. This is understandable. Making a profit at the expense of actually utilizing a skill at a master's level is the way Americans have been doing things quite a number of years. Doing things the way it is done inside other countries at the loss of our craftsmanship. Enough of that! The images of these palm trees that have had zero maintenance speak for themselves.

Beautiful Fan Palm Trees

It would be nice if there were enough time in each day for me to be able to harvest these edible fruits. Yummo!

Examples Of Palm Fruit

Time is becoming a factor because of positive choices. Am committed to constructing this blog today, and I have plants to take pictures of tomorrow and gardening tomorrow that will use that day, and so on. Great!! Am starting to wonder if palm fruit pie would taste good, yet there are more important tasks at hand. Yikes. Responsibility.

It seems to me that there is quite a bit of ripe fruit. There were two trees. Here are some Mexican Bird Of Paradise. They are shrubs with unique and beautiful flowers which are often included in Vegas landscapes.

There were quite a few different shrubs that were allowed to grow to monumental proportions. These Barbados Fence Plants/Bird of Paradise were one of them. The image below, my perspective is straight up. This shrub must have been twenty feet high.

Grabbed some of those seed pods while I was at it. There is a big area along the side yard fence that needs thorny shrubs to keep out kids. This area will be my project this spring and summer. Will plant some of the seeds I gathered while out on this photo walk. Have some seed from this type of plant also.

"Yellow" Mexican Bird Of Paradise

And a nice detail of the above image.

My Ant Colony

Have been interested in this ant colony for a while. Had quite a few images that I have sorted and I looked up red ants.

The image of the lady up above is the best image of a "single" worker that I could find. When researching, discovered a lot about the red "fire" ants plaguing farmers and avid ant hunters (kids). Looked deeper and discovered Red Harvester Ants at Wikipedia. This information defined my colony with a bit more accuracy. The "binomial name" or scientific name of these ants is Pogonomyrmex barbatus.

Ant Colony: May 2016

Ant Colony: October 2016

The above images show how the colony has grown over the 5-6 months I have been watching and investigating it.As of October the colony is about 3.5 feet wide and 4 feet elongated. The length follows the obvious trail over to my garden area in back. Below is a detail of the entrance at the hub of the colony mound during May 2016.

A trail that has cut a groove into the mound is clearly visible inside the October 2016 image. This is one of the traits harvester ants exhibit. Two to three trails or spoke leading from the central entrance hub. The October 2016 image also displays this hub and spoke type design by the ants.

Also, noted inside the Wikipedia article was that seed husks and debris was "scattered" around the ant nest. I submit that even the litter is organised and purposely sorted as shown in the following imnages. The first below shows the seed husks in the upper/middle left of the colony

The image below is my best detail shot capturing the seed husks.

Below, the first in a series of photos. This image was captured around 3:09 P.M. in the afternoon.

Before Mouse

I found this rodent over in my side yard already a piece of fresh meat. It was still warm, I think. Did not touch it with unprotected skin and washed my hands and tools with disinfectant after moving this disease ridden rodent to the ant colony.

After Mouse: 4:43 P.M.

I took photos while it was daylight. The Wikipedia article did not mention harvester ants eating meat. Am assuming that they were just going to move this mouse.

When I checked in the morning the mouse was no where to be found. Spent about half-an-hour searching around the nest and it wasn't there. Am still assuming the ants moved the mouse, one of my neighbors cats may have decided to play with it, or the ants dismembered the mouse and moved it.Even followed the trail (below) to see if it was along its route. When the grasses are not trampled down by my exploring the trail goes about 15 feet from the nest and splits into a 'Y' to the left and right. This is quite obvious yet difficult to capture inside an image.

Neither was the mouse over where they are storing their seed husks. UPDATE 4nov16: Was outside showing my neighbor the ant colony along with showing him this blog post. Someone has stepped onto the mound. The kids are always climbing my wall. Anyway the ants are quite stirred up with activity tonight and I captured some quick images I will post tomorrow. I am interested in finding out if the ants repair the symmetry of the slopes. There must be a good 250 - 300 ants on top of the mound. Am not sure if there is nocturnal activity at night. Guess I will find out because it is past evening twilight as this is texted.

Had planned on posting some images of the repairs involved with a single footprint into the nest mound. But, apparently there was a grass fire on my side yard while I was gone. Below is the damage, both caused by the fire and the efforts to extinguish the fire.

Am going to watch the reconstruction to maybe learn something.