metal

kitty on train in playground in Phoenix, Arizona 

part of the playground 

coming home to snowy Cincinnati after a December trip to (only a little bit warmer) Arizona

aaahhhh....nothing like a warm toasty fire on a cold Winter day!

all except #2 are iPhone photos. 

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "M."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun! 



photos by me  © 2013     all rights reserved

under

Today was uncharacteristically warm--in the low 80s.  The bees were ravishing the cherry blossoms!

I am under Oliver snapping his portrait!  (He found a cozy spot on top of a pillow.)

I'm under this airplane taking a photo.  See me reflected? (Although for vanity's sake, I must say the reflection does make me look a little wider and rather square.)
(Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force Aviation Museum in Phoenix, Arizona)

a city under the cliffs!  Mesa Verde was home to the ancestral Pueblo people from about AD 600-1300.

Chihuly glass is so beautiful!  I was privileged to see a major installation at the Desert Botanical Garden Museum in Phoenix Arizona in April 2009  

Carolina wrens made an igloo-like nest in a pot of parsley on my deck last May.

LINKS:
Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force 
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA (means green table)
Dale Chihuly website
a new upcoming Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Museum in Phoenix November 9, 2013 - May 11, 2014!!
Desert Botanical Garden 
ZOOM! my blog post on the Carolina wrens with photos and information
My past blog posts with Chihuly glass:
G is for....
Lakes 
Violets
purple 

Alphabe-Thursday, hosted by Ms Jenny, is so much fun!  This week our letter is "U."  Come visit others' submissions HERE and join in the fun!
 


 


photos by me © 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2013  all rights reserved

xeric

dry or desert like conditions, having very little moisture with average annual rainfall of less than 10 inches.

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Nevada's oldest state park, located in the Mojave Desert and dedicated in 1935, covers almost 35,000 acres.  Its name is derived from the red sandstone formations created by ancient shifting sand dunes.  Average annual rainfall is about 4 inches.

Grand Canyon, Arizona (taken from the North Rim)

This National Park, covering over 1.2 million acres on the Colorado Plateau, is also a World Heritage Site.  Consisting of several major ecosystems, great biodiversity exists here.The inner canyon is xeric, receiving only about 9 inches of rain a year.

 

Sonoran Desert (Phoenix area) 

One of the largest and hottest deserts in North America, covering 120,000 square miles just south of the Mojave Desert, the Sonoran Desert can be found in the US states of Arizona and California and the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Sonora.  A unique variety of flora and fauna exist here such as the saguaro cacti seen in the above photo.  Average annual rainfall varies from 3 inches to 16 inches.  Many areas are xeric such as  Phoenix with just over 8 inches of rainfall per year.  (Arizona is the only state that has all four North American deserts--Sonoran, Mojave, Chihuahuan, and Great Basin.)

Come join in the fun at Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday.  You will be enlightened, charmed, and have some plain ole fun!  See more entries HERE.  This week our letter is "X."   
   


LINKS:

Valley of Fire:

official website
my post "Still Exploring"

Grand Canyon:

official website
Sonoran Desert:  
Desert USA 
biomes of the Sonoran Desert

photos by me © 2009 and 2010