Fire in the Pinals

Mike & I went for a little drive today to see the area that the fire is burning. It was a really fun afternoon......evening. The fire started (I think) a couple weeks ago, but seems to be staying pretty much under control. Understand it was started by lightening and there was an engine up there tonight back-burning to keep the fire from spreading. A communication tower is located at the top of Madera Peak that could be endangered, so they are keeping a close eye. Here are a few of our photos from the trip.

The sun was starting to set and it was just amazing to see the smoke & light on the mountains. Overwhelming. Makes you stop & realize that life is short and we need to appreciate each moment while we have it.We saw this beautiful windmill...These FULL prickly pear fruits (the wasps were swarming everywhere)...And this rattlesnake!

Indian Ruins near Richmond Basin

Just an amazing day with Mike! We hiked to these ancient Indian Ruins near Globe. Big shade trees at the bottom of the hike, but we had to trek through cactus & rocks to get to the amazing glory at the top of this mountain...at one point, when I say rocks, I mean ROCKS too! We hiked around the back side of this and scaled a rock face to access the back door of an ancient village...I nearly gave up a few times, but Mike's encouraging words (and supportive strength) made sure we got to the top safely. Coming down was much easier. We hiked down the sandy front of the mountain. Here are some of the amazing things we saw:

saw this birds nest on our way upOnce we got near the top, you can see rooms built into the side of the mountain. Some of the plaster remains that held these rocks together.And something still lives here...we found a safe nesting place for a little animal.Our first sight as we came up to the top... Wow! What a view.There are many rooms.There were several places throughout the ruins where water basins (or maybe grinding matates) were carved into the rock.We found several pieces of pottery, put them together and took a photo - and then left them there. It makes you wonder how much of the original treasure remains and how much has been disturbed with time, errosion, and curious-sticky-fingers?I just had to get a photo of this. You can see that there is still a thick layer of plaster holding rocks together in some places. I can just imagine how grand it must have been - I am sure the rocks we see stacked today were hidden by thick insulated plaster. There are even areas that still have the burn-marks from ancient fire pits. So amazing!This is a photo of the outer wall of the village. It looks like it surrounded the entire top of this hill at one point. Imagine carrying all those rocks!And this is the view looking back on the ruins as we headed down (the safe side) of the mountian.So happy we got to go explore this place. We stayed at the top for over an hour just enjoying the handiwork and the amazing views. I can only imagine how serene this must have been on a night with a full moon and a coyote howling in the distance.

It's getting 'springy' out there...

Mike & I went for a drive last weekend and saw some of the great sights within a few miles of our house. Here is a little of what we saw:

This little horney toad ran across the ground and I nearly stepped on him. I stopped and took about 30 gajillion pictures of him. Isn't he CUTE?Here he is next to Mike's finger...so you can see the actual size of this dinosaur :)The plants are getting leaves & flowers...Just had to share this picture...this is the landscape between Globe & Dripping Springs. You can tell there was a massive earth movement to shove the ground up into mountains long ago. I need to get more (better) pictures of this to show you...it is SO AMAZING.

This weekend we plan to get out more and hopefully I can show you all these amazing wild-flowers that are popping up everywhere!!!

And remember, if you are headed to Globe... BEWARE of those traffic cameras. Word is that they are looking for everything from red-light-runners, tail-gaters, speeders, etc...

(Still having difficulty getting used to how BRIGHT everything is. I think I may be buying a new pair of sunglasses this weekend...and maybe a different filter for the camera too)

Historic Globe Arizona

Last weekend was the historic home tour in Globe.

It was a fun day - learned lots of new things - saw interesting people and then collapsed at the end of the day from exhaustion!

Here are some of the highlights from our adventure:We ended the day with the Bawdy Broadstreet Tour.

Chris was such a good sport. I just love this photo!

I heard they are going to have another Bawdy tour in the next month or two after another down-town event. So cool.

Two weeks have passed...

Today we visited Tucson.

Just steps away from the Safeway on the corner of Ina & Oracle is one of the tributes to the victims of the tragedy that happened two weeks ago.

On the ground is an assortment of items.

They are getting dusty, candles are melting, flowers are wilting, but the tribute is beautiful.

absolutely.beautiful

You can tell by looking at this display that every item here was sat down by a person with a very heavy heart and you can really feel the love of the community and the nation.

A little girl from Christina-Taylor Green's class was there with her Daddy looking at the notes, candles, flowers and gifts that have been left as rememberances. She had so many questions and her Daddy was so calm and answered every one (as best as he could) and let her take as much time as she needed to take it all in. It was very sweet to see them as they walked away, he picked her up and put her on his shoulders and walked back to their car parked at the Safeway. Seeing the little girl and how small she is, makes it REAL just how fragile life is.

Looking around Tucson we got to see the hope of a community as it heals. The people were so kind (everyone we spoke to today was kind) and beauty abounds here.

We have a new pet?

Well, we have been noticing that when we take Zeke outside in the mornings after being inside all night, his food has been partially or totally eaten. Finally decided to set up a motion camera to catch the culprit. Here is what we found when we took the memory card out of the camera this morning....There were lots and lots of photos, some of the little guy exploring the yard, some of him walking around on the patio. I guess he just makes himself at home when we are sleeping. The time-stamp on the camera was set wrong, so I think it should really read 1/14/10 at around 3am. We re-set it and will try to get more pictures.

We have spotted a fox in the neighborhood, and several neighbors have told us they have seen him in our yard, so we hope to get some fox pictures soon. That would be AWESOME! I saw him the other day, but by the time I got the camera, he had taken off. He looks really pretty with his winter-coat and he wasn't too timid, but I don't think he felt like waiting for me to take his picture.

Richmond Basin

Mike & I took a drive up to Richmond Basin about two weeks ago. It was so beautiful. Lovely warm weather and still lots of green.This hawk was HUGE...he posed for me on a branch, but by the time I got my camera all ready to click a pic, he started flying off. ugh - I need to get faster!This mountain has a Native American Dwelling Ruins on top of it. Mike & I are talking about doing a hike so we can get an up-close experience with it. (Pictures will follow if we go!) Don't you just love the way that something so ordinary like a desert plant is so elegant in its own way? I think I want to blow this pic up and put it on the wall in my livingroom. And here is the Blue Agave plant... (Yep, it is the key ingredient in tequila...well, welcome to the southwest, right? Stuff like this grows here.) More views of our hills in Globe. I love this stuff...an old dead cactus makes a really pretty stick (did I just say that?) This is a picture of a mine-shaft. Well there WAS some barracade around it (if that is what you want to call it...there are some wires and boards laying on the ground near it.) Of course, I had to get a 'barbed wire' picture. And these are the PINES...well, they aren't too much taller than our truck, but we do have trees...so YAY! And just to make us feel like it is Christmas time...some Holly is growing and getting bright red berries. Not much in the way of wildlife, so I took a picture of a boring old cow. ha ha ha No idea what this tree is, I never saw one before (never noticed one before) now I am seeing them EVERYWHERE. Very waxy leaves and the thing that looks like a flower, sort-of feels like a cone. It is tough like a tree branch. Pretty though. And that is pretty much how it looks in Richmond Basin. I recommend it to EVERYONE!