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A post-Thanksgiving hike in Sabino Canyon
Instead of participating in the Hunger Games Black Friday shopping, Long-Suffering Husband and I hiked in Sabino Canyon, a gorgeous natural area at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. And you know what happens whenever I hike in the desert: Cactus pics! Also trail pics and rock pics and blue Arizona sky and… But before we get to all the Sonoran Desert wonderfulness: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. A fall hike in Sabino Canyon We’d planned to take the tram into Sabino Canyon, but apparently the rest of Tucson…
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Sunset on the Santa Catalinas
A short post this week, just a few pretty pictures of the Santa Catalina Mountains at sunset, a bit of personal and writing news, and (of course) a fresh batch of meme-y silliness. But before we get to all that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get to it. Personal and Writing News The big excitement here at Camp WTF is this: Thursday was Long-Suffering Husband’s and my 32nd anniversary! Yeah, he’s been putting up with me for 32 years (actually 37 years, because we had a long engagement). If you’d like to send him a sympathy…
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Flowers and birds and whining about the heat
Last week I finished sharing the Michigan pics, just in time to start my annual whining about the heat. We’ve had a much cooler than normal spring, so the abomination you’re about to behold is several weeks late in coming. I’d rather it didn’t show up at all. To avoid spontaneous combustion, I plan to spend the weekend sitting under an AC vent with a book. Does anyone in a cooler climate need a house sitter? Please???? Don’t worry–I won’t spend the entire post whining about the heat (just most of it). But before I resume whining: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a…
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Busy April: Last in Line Concert and Tucson Travel
I’m still trying to figure out where March went, and now April is almost gone. I think the months pass so quickly for me because I’m a) old and b) busy. This post will be a quick slice-of-life view of the past month here at Camp WTF. It’s also part of the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and What’s Been on Your Calendar, hosted by Sue, Debbie, Donna, and Jo. The Day Job I don’t talk a lot about my day job on here, because I’m trying to keep my writing life separate from my professional life (hence the pseudonym). But it’s been a big month for me on…
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Desert flowers and the monthly book roundup
I’ve been neglecting my blogging lately. I’ve now missed two weekly posts in the last month, though I have an excuse other than working: I’ve been having fun! My friend Laurel visited last week, and we hiked and explored and went to a concert, and now I’m collapsed in an exhausted heap, struggling to make my hands move enough to type. Well, OK, I’m not quite that tired. And I have enough pictures for at least a month of posts. I still need to sort through them all, so this week I’ll just share a few featuring one of my favorite photographic subjects: desert flowers. But before I get to…
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Plants in space! (and plants in my yard)
Plants in space! I’ve been waiting all week to write that headline. In case you’re new here, I work for the University of Arizona. Last week we had our annual faculty cookout (my first one, since I started my job during pandemic, and it’s hard to have a cookout over Zoom) at one of the university research facilities here in town. When we weren’t stuffing our overeducated faces with amazing Mexican food, we were offered tours of some of the research facilities. Long-Suffering Husband and I took a tour of a laboratory where scientists are studying how to grow plants to support a human mission to Mars or the moon.…
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More Snow in Tucson!
It snowed in Tucson! Again! That’s twice now this winter, in case you’re keeping track. We didn’t get much here in Midtown, but my colleagues who live a little higher up had several inches on the ground. We had to be content with this: If it hadn’t been a snow day, I’m sure my neighbors would have wondered about t he ctaking pictures of their yards. I wish I’d been off work yesterday so I could drive out to Saguaro National Park. They got several inches. Article of the week Sometimes I share interesting articles or videos I run across in the course of farting around on the internet doing…
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Snow in Tucson and the monthly book round-up
The big news this week: it snowed in Tucson! A whole half an inch! Yeah, I know, all you East Coasters and Midwesterners and Canadians are rolling your eyes like Linda Blair rolling her head, but we don’t get much cold white stuff down here in Satan’s Anus. Let me have my moment, will ya? But before we get to my moment: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer, and the What’s On Your Bookshelf Challenge, hosted by Sue, Donna, Jo and Deb. Grab a mug of cocoa, curl up under a cozy blanket, and let’s enjoy winter in Tucson! OK, back to the snow. By the time I got…
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Saguaro National Park East
This week we’ll revisit the east unit of Saguaro National Park (see here and here for previous posts with pictures of this lovely place). I have friends in town and joined them for a leisurely hike in the park last weekend. We’ll also have the usual meme-y silliness. But first: Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! This week’s post will be short, because a) I’ve spent most of the week working, and you probably don’t want to hear about all the exciting meetings I’ve attended, and b) I have to leave for another exciting meeting shortly. Mica View picnic area…
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Hosting a write-in and trying to finish a book
I’m going to open this week’s post with the same lament I’ve been lamenting for the last several weeks: work is crazy busy, which is cutting into my blogging time. Specifically, a colleague and I are editing a book, and the manuscript is due on October 31, which therefore will be the most terrifying Halloween of my life. I’m at the wake-up-at-4-AM stage of book deadline panic, so this post will be short. I do have some news to share, though, besides the aforementioned book. Before I get to that: Welcome to the Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer! Grab a treat, have a seat, and let’s get…