Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
There are Instagram accounts where every photo looks a bit like a fairy tale.
I typically don’t follow them. It’s like they’re trying to create this illusion of perfection.
Instead, I want to see the real-world magic – the rain on the window, the dried vine that looks almost lacy, the pattern of the light through the blinds, the flowers my nephews picked for me. The beauty that’s all around us.
That’s what I want to share with you.
In the middle of Balboa Park in San Diego is an outdoor concert pavilion and the structure that houses the pipes of the Spreckels Organ.
It was built in 1914 and hasn’t changed much since then. I posted a photo I took 15 years ago of some of the detail wok on the outside before our recent trip to San Diego. It didn’t look different.
One of its claims to fame is that it’s the world’s largest outdoor organ. Which makes me wonder how many there are in the world.
Have you ever seen an outdoor pipe organ?
A 5.5-hour drive will take you from the blistering Phoenix summer to a beautiful day in San Diego.
When we made the trip the first week of July, I recorded parts of it (like I did en route to Pasadena a couple years ago).
This time, I used Instagram Stories to shoot video – capturing location and temperature info at the same time.
It was 104F (40C) when we left Phoenix and 73F (22 C), when we arrived in San Diego. Big difference!
You can watch a 1-minute version our journey from the desert to the ocean either below or on Travelcraft Journal’s YouTube.
Do you ever feel like escaping the summer heat?
When it comes to the summertime blues, the best kind are the rich shades of sea and sky and distant mountains.
Here’s a collection of those blues, in art, craft, and beautiful places.
1. Big Sur, California. 2. Cyanotype workshop, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 3. Owl art print by Elizabeth Graeber. 4. Plate collection, Ibiza, Spain.
5. Mount Rainier, Seattle from the air. 6. Bird mosaic by Smashing China Mosaics. 7. Not a Dozen Even cyanotype print by Tom Loeser.
8. Pebble ring by KT New. 9. Denver Botanic Gardens, Monet Pool. 10. Plant vase by Andrew Ludic. 11. Mural by Isaac Caruso.
12. Cloud earrings by Wolf + Moon. 13. Schloss Hollenegg castle near Schwanberg, Austria. 14. Fringe garland DIY by Oh Joy! 15. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee via National Park Service.
16. San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm by Angela Oliver. 17. Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Consuelo in Altea, Spain. 18. Desert container garden via Agave Heritage Festival. 19. Indigo Dye Kit by Anna Joyce.
What blues make you happy?
Jacome Plaza is a park in Downtown Tucson with lots of tables, free wifi, and lawn games like giant Connect Four and human-sized chess.
You’ll find it at Pennington and Stone Avenue next to the Joel D. Valdez Main Library plaza and the red Sonora sculpture by David Black.
It’s designed both as a place to relax and a place for people to work outside, taking advantage of Tucson’s beautiful-most-of-the-year weather.
I stumbled on it during a break in Arizona International Film Festival. By the time I happened upon it, however, it was almost time for me to leave. But I’ll definitely keep the park in mind next time I’m in town.