March remains the unpredictable weather month, although lately every month is different from its past trends. A week ago a series of storms with heavy snow and sometimes hurricane level winds swept through the U.S from west to east. The big one started in Southern California three days ago, passed through Arizona and went east through the Midwestern states. Both California and Arizona saw record snow falls, sometimes surpassing a foot in elevations less than 4000 feet altitude.
Prescott, the cowboy town I have “written” about through my photography, had a foot and a half of heavy, wet snow shifting around by 40 MPH winds. Overnight all was B&W!
So, this morning my dog, an Akita who loves the cold and the snow, woke me up an hour before sunrise ready to go downtown and play. I took my 1970’s OM-1 camera and hoped to capture the snowy downtown before the snow plows clean the streets. But the city had started the cleanup already and most of the streets were already passable.
Here is a view about 30 minutes before sunrise
There are a number of statues around the Court House, all celebrating people or activities this historic frontier city is proud to cherish. One statue is of William Owen “Buckey” O’Neill and his horse (February 2, 1860-July 1, 1898). As many of Prescott’s historic figure, O’Neill was a colourful character. According to Wikipedia, he was “a sheriff, newspaper editor , miner, politician, gambler and lawyer. He later became a captain in Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders, and died in battle.”
Here is Buckey’s statue
For some reason, my dog likes to stop by this statue every morning on his first long walk. Today, Bucky’s face was unusual, as half of it was perfectly covered with snow, as if he was wearing the mask of the Phantom of the Opera! I mean perfectly – the snow lines were precise as if drawn by a pencil, and enhanced its profile in a way that the statue, on a snow-free day depicts. In fact, the snow has created a new profile that did not resemble the actual statue's face! Here is a cropped section to show the unusual, albeit amazingly clean-lined, snow profile:
At this moment, it was sunrise although the sky was cloudy and everything still looked B&W. But with increased brightness Buckey’s face, from a portrait angle, had more to offer about the snow covering. The photo at the outset of this page captures those lines naturally framed by his now augmented and white cowboy hat and the frosted tree branches as depth of field.
By now, my dog had gotten impatient to continue his walk instead of looking at me play with the knobs and dials of the OM-1. So, we went for our daily one hour walk, this time letting him play to his heart delight in the snow and chase the raven looking for food in the public trash bins.
In a side street few blocks away from Square where the Court house and Buckey's statue are, the snow has enhanced a "car collection" display. The vintage Jeep had now even more character as an all-weather, all-terrain vehicle!
When we returned an hour later, I had a tired but happy 110 pounds Akita who decided to cool down his belly on the snow under the statue. The Snow had melted and the lines were not as precise and clear on Buckey’s face, but now my dog was happy that I was willing to take a photo of him!
March 2, 2023
© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2023
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