-
Velvet-pod Mimosa (Mimosa dysocarpa)
I saw these gorgeous wildflowers for the first time Saturday on our way to Madera Canyon (more pix from that trip here). Learn more about them from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. See other posts for Cee’s Flower of the Day photo challenge here.
-
Photos from Sabino Canyon Recreation Area (#FOTD)
Hubs and I visited Sabino Canyon for the first time yesterday. We only made it about a half mile on the trail before the heat sent us scurrying (OK, plodding) back to our air-conditioned car. I hear tell there’s a lake and running water further up the trail, but we’ll see that another time, when it isn’t in the 90s and monsoon-humid. Hot or not, it was lovely out in the desert. We’ve had tons of rain–the wettest July on record–so the desert is lush and green and smells of fresh rain and creosote. The cacti are plumped up, and we even saw tadpoles in a puddle along the trail.…
-
The Ancient Pueblo Ruins of Wupatki National Monument
When I lived in Flagstaff, I was about half an hour from the pueblo ruins of Wupatki National Monument. In this post, I’ll share some photos as well as some links in case you’d like to learn more about this wonderful place. This post is part of Anita’s Amazing Stonework photo challenge. Please click on each image to see the entire picture. For some reason, my WordPress theme cuts off parts of some pictures. Wupatki preserves several pueblos built by the Ancient Pueblo People sometime between 500 and about 1000 AD. The structures are built from the local red sandstone and mortared in place. The fact that these structures are…
-
Desert View Watchtower, Grand Canyon National Park
If you’ve hung around on this blog for very long, you’ve probably figured out that I love photo challenges (see just about any of my photo posts for evidence). Well, I just found a new one, the Amazing Stonework challenge over on the For the Love of blog. Anita’s goal is, “to highlight the artwork created by builders of long ago.” I’m fascinated by old stone buildings, from millennium-old pueblos and cliff dwellings to the midcentury brick homes in my Tucson neighborhood, so I’m excited to participate in this challenge. I’m also excited to use this challenge as an opportunity to share photos from places that relate in some way…
-
#CWBC: Pair of barrel cacti
This week’s theme for Cee’s Black and White Photo Challenge (CWBC) is Pairs. We found this pair of barrel cacti in the East unit of Saguaro National Park, about a half hour from where I live. Since moving to Tucson last October, I’ve found myself falling in love with cacti. They are fascinating, and I’m in awe of their ability to survive in such unforgiving conditions.
-
Better Babies Contests: Eugenics at the State Fair
I’ve written before about what we writers call research, and everyone else calls farting around on the internet. Today I’ll share an example from earlier this week of where farting around on the internet research led me. Warning: disturbing content ahead. I’m polishing up my time travel romance, Vanishing, Inc., to get ready to query agents, and I wanted to add a funny date scene set in a traveling carnival. A little Googling, a few clicks, and I found myself browsing through an Arizona State Fair program from 1916. Pictures of the fair commissioners, rules for livestock judging, who was in charge of harness racing that year… and then I…
-
#CMMC: New Year’s Eve at the Grand Canyon
Cee has created a new photo challenge! Can you tell I love photo challenges? This one is Cee’s Midweek Madness Challenge (CMMC), and this week’s theme is, words ending in W. I went for the obvious winter choice, SNOW. I’ve told the story of my first trip to the Grand Canyon on this blog before–recently, in fact, in my New Years Time Travel post late last month, so I won’t repeat it so soon. I will say that winter is a wonderful time to visit the Canyon. The North Rim is closed in the winter, but the more popular South Rim is open year-round (assuming the roads are passable, and…
-
#SoCS: Our choices make our lives (with bonus pics from Saguaro National Park)
This post is part of the Stream of Consciousness Saturday blog hop. Linda Hill posts a prompt every Friday; this week’s prompt is: “opt.” Use it as a word or find a word with “opt” in it and base your post on that. Yesterday my husband and I opted out of unpacking, organizing, and cleaning. Instead of doing those responsible adult things, we opted to explore the western unit of Saguaro National Park, about a half-hour’s drive from our new home in Tucson. I read a lot of self-help books, because I want to be the best version of me than I can, and I have a lot of dreams I want…
-
Photo safari through a historic Flagstaff neighborhood
My first novel, Vanishing, Inc., is set in a fictional mountain town in Arizona called Ponderosa. I live in Flagstaff, a not-so-fictional mountain town in Arizona that makes an appearance in my story, but since I’m writing a paranormal romance (a time travel romance, to be specific), I wanted the freedom of a fictional setting. I don’t want some overly-literal reader leaving me a one-star review because there are, in fact, no time portals in Flagstaff. Hey, you know it could happen. I’m sure plenty of tourists have walked through standing stones in Scotland and become very grumpy because they did not immediately find themselves in the arms of a lusty…
-
Noticing
As it has for many of us, my world has grown smaller in the last few weeks. We aren’t under a shelter in place order here in Arizona (yet), but the number of coronavirus cases is rising rapidly, and most public facilities are either closed or restricted. Like most Gen-Xers, I’m good at entertaining myself. I also know how to cook, and I enjoy time at home, away from people. But still, having to be home for an extended period of time can get monotonous, even for an introverted librarian/writer like me. And so I’m consciously looking for ways to improve the experience. Sunday afternoon, my husband and I took…
Suspense | Horror | Romance
