Wupatki National Monument + the usual nonsense

While the rest of the US is going to the beach and planning picnics and lounging outside in hammocks, I am cowering in my house, afraid to open the front door. Why? Because this is what awaits me outside:

And if I go out there, this will happen:

So I don’t have any current pictures of, well, anything (can’t risk the camera melting along with my face), but I do have a collection of pictures from summers past that I can trot out, so we’ll do that today.

But first: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Pull up a seat, grab a treat (I recommend popsicles or ice cream), and let’s get to it.

First up:

Writing

I whined last week about how I procrastinated on writing pieces for a couple of contests with deadlines at the end of the month. I’m still whining, but I’ve also made some progress. Here’s the latest:

• Short story to submit for the Left Coast Crime Trouble in Tucson anthology: The good news: I just finished outlining the story this morning. The bad news: It’s going to be way over the 5000-word limit. I’m going to go ahead and write it as concisely as I can, see what the word count is, and decide from there how to cut it down. Why oh why do my short stories always want to transform themselves into novels?
• Submission for the Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest: I’ve decided to submit a poem I drafted back in January. I spent a couple of hours tinkering with it last weekend, and it’s almost done. I haven’t written much poetry, and I’ve never, ever submitted any for publication, so this project is a little scary. But, hey, no risk, no reward, right?

And the bad news:

• Daphne du Maurier contest: Turns out finalists were announced on their Facebook page, not their website, so I’ve been looking in the wrong place. I could have learned last month that I didn’t make the cut. Ah, well. On to the next thing.

Garden

No garden pics this time, but I do have garden news: The family of Gambel’s quail I mentioned last week seem to be sticking around! We’ve seen them almost every day this week, and Long-Suffering Husband is now feeding them cracked corn. Next time I see them, I’ll trot out the big zoom lens and, if neither it nor I melt from the heat, I’ll try to get a picture (they won’t let me get close). They’re so freakin’ cute!

Wupatki National Monument

Since I’m not going outside much now (see: face melting), I dug through my photo archives for photos of travels past. I have quite a stash, because we used to live in Flagstaff, where the elevation is 7000 feet, and the summers are glorious. We roamed all over northern Arizona when we lived up there.

This week, let’s visit Wupatki National Monument, which preserves the remains of several 900-year-old pueblos built by the ancestors of the Hopi people. Wupatki is located north of Flagstaff in an area of rolling hills and grassland and is a fascinating place to spend some time. We took several day trips there when we lived in Flag; these pictures are from 2 of those trips. (See last year’s post about Wupatki for a little more information about this amazing place)

Wupatki Pueblo

Wupatki Pueblo is the largest freestanding pueblo in northern Arizona.

This next one shows a wider angle and includes the ball court in the foreground.

According to the National Park Service,

Until its abandonment in 1250, Wupatki was a meeting place where different cultures exchanged ideas in the ceremonial ball court and traded goods to meet their needs. Tribes from the Hohokam tradition who were living in the southern region brought shells, salt, and cotton, and the communities of the Ancestral Puebloan tradition traded copper and turquoise.

Arizona: Wupatki National Monument

I think these pictures are also of Wupatki Pueblo, but I didn’t label them, so I’m not absolutely certain.

Wukoki Pueblo

Wukoki Pueblo has a 3-story tower:

And here are a couple of pictures with a summer thunderstorm brewing:

Nalakihu Pueblo

I’m almost positive this is Nalakihu Pueblo, viewed from Citadel Pueblo on a hill above it:

And finally….

The Weekly Meme-fest

We’re going to stick with the same theme we’ve had for the last few weeks: random nonsense that appears on my screen when I should be writing. Here we go:

On the home front

My kid is almost 24, and I still do this.

This drama plays out in our house at least a couple of times a week:

I don’t have pets anymore, but I can remember and relate:

And while we’re being all historical:

Now we have silly little pets instead. Or in my case, a husband.

Let’s go to the movies

I’d watch the hell out of that movie.

I’d watch the hell out of that movie too.

If we’re going to do 1986 again, I want my 1986 body back. Otherwise I’m taking my toys and going home.

And he has some serious balls… er, ball.

I’d watch the hell out of that fight.

Miscellaneous miscellany

The best Pride Month meme I’ve seen:

Truly a magic mushroom.

Looks like someone ate the mushroom from the previous meme. Or the dude on the bottom chopped up his buddy and is hauling the remains home in a hefty bag.

Why yes, I do read too much crime fiction. Why do you ask?

Here’s a palate-cleanser:

TRUTH!

Here’s some more truth:

If they’re smart, they do. Earth is the Stockton of the universe.

And finally:

And… that’s it for this week. Fly your Pride flags proudly, stay away from the magic mushrooms, and forward this blog post to 10 people. See ya next time!