Sonoran "Winter"

I had another lovely dog walk yesterday, just Patton and me. It wasn't super chilly or too cold for her by any means, but Alexandra had no desire to come along. And look, between you and me, sometimes I'm okay with that. She's a tough cookie and does the mile long walk no problem and has for over a year, but it takes almost 40 minutes. I can do it in 20 or less and when I have her dinner to get on the table, our dinner to prep, baths to draw and showers to take, all before her bedtime, that extra 20 minutes comes in handy.

ANYWAYS. When I don't have a sweaty little hand in my sweaty little hand, I have a bit of brain power to focus on some pretty things I see.

I love how the blinding sun, momentarily tucked behind a tree, can transform this little street. Like, where am I right now?

I love daffodils, they're pretty much my favorite flower ever. We had slews of them growing in our yard back in Nashville. I also love than they're alternatively known as jonquils. What a fun word! Who came up with that anyway?

jonquil (n.)

1660s, species of narcissus, from French jonquille (17c.), from Spanish junquillo, diminutive of junco "rush, reed," from Latin iuncus "rush;" so called in reference to its leaves. The type of canary bird (1865) is so called for its pale yellow color, which is like that of the flower.

Oh, okay.

I love that this is still technically winter. This is the time to visit the Sonoran desert, let me tell you. It's like visiting Chicago in the early summer, you're all "OH MY GOD these people are so LUCKY to live here, why don't I move here?!" and then you come here in the summer, or go to Chicago in the winter, and you're convinced the locals must be out of their goddamn minds. Oh yeah, Lent is over for me. I gave up. Hey! I gave up Lent for Lent! I'm on the right track.

It's the desert! There is grass and greenery everywhere! Someone call the paramedics! I love how unique each photo is. The first one makes you think I'm like ten minutes away from twilight, but these were taken in order. But we have a wide, wide sky out here in Tucson, it's breathtaking really, and it provides a lot of room for creativity when it comes to sunlight.

I think this last one is sort of my favorite and I'm not sure why. It's not even really in focus. But the sun, still tame and nowhere near the menacing force it will be in two months, is a tangible presence. There in the upper lefthand corner, you can see the rays almost lending an autumnal array of color to the trees. Where am I? What season is this? How did I get out of the house?