Penny and Mark Hike

The goal was to hike to the top of a mountain. Mark had scouted out the possibilities in hiking guides and on line. He chose a nearby trail which was rated a medium to medium difficult challenge. It’s in the Saguaro National Park so one could expect the trail to be well maintained. Unlike the [...]

Hiking

Desert Dogs and Tropical Butterflies

What do hot dogs and butterflies have in common? Well, both fill the places we often visit in Tucson. Especially the hot dogs several times a week. I spend one morning each week at the Tucson Botanical Garden in the Butterfly Magic Exhibit, billed as an indoor exhibit of live tropical butterflies. Yea, I know, [...]

Desert Hot Dogs and Tropical Butterflies

Last night’s Sonoran Hot Dog from BK.  The grilled white chile comes with each dog.

Stella

The first friendly face we encountered at our latest apartment…remarkably named The Legends at La Paloma….was Stella. Not one person passes Stella without a smile blooming on his or her face. Her sprightly color and jazzy striped appearance delights one and all. She is often right outside our door and is the first to greet [...]

Reunion in the Desert

Last week the chicks flew back to the home nest from Missoula, Montana and Palm Beach, Florida for a bit. After checking them over for ticks and missing digits Mom and Dad took them out for sightseeing and desert hiking here in Tucson, Arizona, where we are perched for the next few months. The chicks [...]

Getting to Know the Desert

Now for something new. M and I are living in the foothills of the Catalina Mountains north of Tucson in a very deluxe apartment complex known as The Legends at La Paloma. I am not making that up. We know it’s special when we return after sunset and the white lights are on outlining the [...]

Getting lost in the spaces

The last three weeks have truly been roaming around in the vast emptiness as much as possible. From Big Bend along the Rio Grande to high mountain ghost towns in Montana and now along the edge of the Grand Canyon in Arizona down to Tucson, our route took us through some of the most spectacular [...]

Finding the empty places