“Where have all the flowers gone? Long time passing Where have all the flowers gone? Long time ago Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls have picked them, every one Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn?”
Time for another cleansing of my iPhone’s photographic memory banks.
Timely, as spring has now sprung sprightly, and quite warmly, into summer.
Flowers and Gardens
A hint: If your mobile home has a “Portrait” mode, give that a try with flowers. It sometimes works to narrow the depth of field and blur the background so that your main subject stands out a bit more. I don’t always do this, but I do play with the effect quite frequently.
Most of these images came from a secret, tranquil, and beautiful garden tucked in a corner next to the Olympic Stadium on the slopes of Montjuic: Jardines de Ramon Margalef López.
Late Afternoon Light, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
The Pond, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
Two Solitary Benches, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
Beauty and Tranquility, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
Cherry Red, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
Sharp and Pointy, near Plaça de l’Armada, Barcelona, 2026
A Pretty Pollinator, near Plaça de l’Armada, Barcelona, 2026
Florería Close-Up, La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample, Barcelona, 2026
A Golden Tree, Jardins de Ramon Margalef i López, Barcelona, 2026
The U.S. – Mexico Border Wall – April, 2026
And now for something completely different. Let’s hop across the pond and make our way to the sunny Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona for a look at the infamous border wall between Mexico and the US of A.
I am certainly a great fan of immigration reform (as are most), but, holy moly…
For the specific purpose of stopping those legendary hordes and caravans (we saw none on this day), I suspect electronic measures would be at least as effective, much cheaper, not nearly as environmentally disruptive (or ugly!), and allow for healthy wildlife migrations. But, gotta have some red meat to throw to the base, no matter the cost to taxpayers, dontcha know.
Border Wall I Apr 20 2026 (Trucking in the fence panels.)
Border Wall II Apr 20 2026 (More fence panels.)
Border Wall III Apr 20 2026 (And even more fence panels.)
Border Wall IV Apr 20 2026 (Looking over The Wall into Old Mexico.)
Border Wall V Apr 20 2026 (Electronic surveillance tower–one of many spaced along the border. Note remnants of a recent brush fire.)
Border Wall VI Apr 20 2026 (Old Mexico on the left, ‘Merica on the right.)
Border Wall VII Apr 20 2026 (As close as we could get to the operation.)
Lest you think the wall will actually stop a determined individual, think again and take a gander at this very short video:
City and Street
OK, let’s complete this great curious circle (and our iPhone cleanout) back in balmy Barcelona with some more urban-ish (urbane?) images. Yes, a shocking contrast–from the gloriously open desert of the Americas to a teeming antpile on the Mediterranean coast. Such is life on Planet Earth.
Olympic Diving Venue 34 Years Later, Montjuic, Barcelona, 2026 (1992 Olympic diving platforms are just out of sight to the left. Sagrada Familia, finally with its main cross, is in the distance.)
Memories of ’92, Montjuic, Barcelona, 2026 (The big tower was for Olympic communications and is not where the Olympic flame was lit–contrary to some fairly common and erroneous tourist gossip.)
Street Scene, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Barcelona, 2026 (I loved the contrasting worlds here–the man alone on the left and the young intimate couple on the right.)
Hospital Clinic at Night, Barcelona, 2026 (Is it haunted?)
Antarctica, Arenas Building, Barcelona, 2026 (Antarctica in Barcelona?)
Aloha Bar, Carrer Provença, Barcelona, 2026 (This place reeks of the 1970s and aging divorcees. Oops, am I one?)
Doctora Pascual to the Rescue–Maybe?, Barcelona, 2026 (A local dentist.)
Antonio at the Cafè, El Bruc, Catalunya, 2026 (A Reflection on Reflections.)
Stand Up to War and Fascism, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, 2026 (But there is no one in this scene paying attention to the exhortation in red–except maybe the guy in sunglasses WAY in the back.)
The Eyes Are Everywhere, Carrer Mallorca, Barcelona, 2026 (Very spooky reflection on a movie poster for Spielberg’s latest.)
Hotel Hesperia Presidente, Avinguda Diagonal, Barcelona, 2026
Nurse on a Solitary Third Story Smoke Break, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, 2026
