2011 is gonna ROCK 2010...

I just know it!

Reunion Hike: 5 Years Later

Cloudy-day reunion hike in the Catalina Mountains with dearest friends, toting baked goods, and an enthusiastic pup, who ate pepperoni bites.

three garden textures

first winter harvest!

remembering good days

If I could relive just a few moments of history, right now, I'd really like to set back the clocks six or eight years to my grandparent's dinner table, after supper, when only stray knives and glasses half-filled with punch or melting ice cubes decorate the table. Annoying all my cousins and parents, per usual, I'd clank and tinker off-key tunes on the cups, with the knives, with Joe.

tucson definitely missed the winter memo

80°F | °C Current: Sunny Wind: SE at 5 mph Humidity: 11% Mon 82°F | 46°F Tue 79°F | 49°F Wed 72°F | 49°F

"growing gangbusters!"

WOULD YOU GET A LOOK AT THIS!?
Holy mackerel!

P.S. Our only sign of fall: yellow leaves beneath the pomegranate tree.

with all the windows open

I'm spending the afternoon in the kitchen: tidying, scrubbing & perfuming the place with good smells. Baking off leftover buttermilk-bran muffin dough, whisking spices in a slurry of maple syrup (Rosemary Spiced Nuts & Pretzel Bites, batch two) and breaking sheets of peppermint bark for my mom, dad and Lisa to end the evening with something sweet.

canyon fall, with mom

latkes night!

This year I did a riff on our usual latkes recipe; instead of shredding a our traditional trio (potato, carrot and onion) I made it a quartet and threw a couple sweet potatoes into the mix!

Happy Hanukkah!

poking out, headed toward sunshine

Rainbow chard & arugula sprouts! (To the right!)

Floppy brassicas; looking great!

home

I sometimes forget that with distance, a little reflection, getting on with my own trajectory and distracting myself with life-things in the day-to-day, I am able to so appreciate things that at one time, I took little or less notice of.

I feel this way about lots of stuff -- both serious and dopey. But lately, most acutely when I come home. Since living solo these last few months, I've started creating my own routines, deciding what I like and what I don't. I think I'm growing; plus, it feels good to be near the University hubbub and friends. But while I've always loved my southwest home (very, very much) I've found that I long for it and appreciate it in ways that I didn't think about when I was around everyday. I didn't think about the Ollie the owl, the never-ending stack of wool blankets, the compost bucket, my folks type-typing down the hall - always ready for political updates or out-of-the-oven snacks, the quiet heaven of neighborhood jogs.

I thought I'd show a picture of an afternoon last week -- a case in point -- when I couldn't stop smelling the lemon leaves beyond my childhood window, and watching the sunlight cast shadows on the drying clothes, the brick wall, my mom's shoes.

grape growin' in arizona

Spent the afternoon wandering in and out of Sonoita and Elgin vineyards with a motley crew of land lovers. Felt a bit sad, driving back. Never feel satiated leaving my Arizona grasslands. Not quite enough time -- like having to leave a really good dinner party during dessert.

save a turkey, stuff a pumpkin!

pancake breakfast

a.m. meditation

Morning jump-started with a brisk, chilly, hand-numbing drive to my old stompin' ground in the Tucson Mountain range.

Where I walked just-behind or just-ahead of many early risers.

And photographed the sunrise, solo.

Fingers crossed for boatloads of future mornings that begin as peaceful as this one did.

bookending the best 3 days this fall:

A long drive, lacking zig-zags, up I-10 and I-25 through Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. A "farewell New Mexico" final pit stop at the market in Santa Fe -- Deborah's stompin' ground!

P.S. Of note: Rest stops in New Mexico = way classier than their next door, Arizonan counterparts!


P.P.S. Peeked in the garden this afternoon: My arugula's sprouted! :-D

...after waiting for eons....

I hit the road tomorrow morning! Ayayay!

"changing the channel"

taking a cue from my tortoises ...
my afternoon: unplugged, dusty and with good company

tonight, in the garden:

afternoon light on jasmine vines

pots and whiskey barrels, pre-garlic-sprouts

baby heirloom lettuces and bunch onions on horizon

herb bonanza!

tortoise favorite