What a trip!

 While flying above the clouds toward AZ,  my new camera, a tiny Nikon Coolpix, had to come out to practice.  I was looking forward to warmth and seeing family.  I didn't consider I would be overcome by my sister's cold, which has been such a horrendous situation.  I finally have the conjunctivitis under control enough that I can actually spend time looking at a screen.  Ah, presents from the sister.

And here she is lounging on the back deck.  Don't take a photo of me she warned, but I said it was of the swimming pool and because she shuns the internet, I don't imagine she will be checking in here.  How I missed the connection as I know I have mentioned before.

After a visit to Mama, we headed for the hills, just east of town is the Sonoran Desert and the Rincon Mountains, straight out Speedway.

 We marveled at the cactus and growth in this parched land, silent and undisturbed for miles.  This is looking north at the Catalinas.

We even found berries to munch on.  Here is son Ezra, who flew in from CA, and friend Lisa who used to live near by in Vermont but now proudly calls Tucson her home and she knew these berries by name.

Yep, here I am with Martha and Ezra...all of us with big family smiles.

For a treat after the desert, Martha took us to Agua Caliente, an oasis made into a park.  What a treasure this is!  Big date palms lining a lovely duck pond which could reflect the incredible blue sky.  If my computer was loading in images faster I might be inclined to offer more images from this location, but time is running out....maybe later on facebook.

When we got back from our adventures, I unpacked this painting I had brought my sister.  I call it "Singled Out" and it was indeed singled out to come west with me.  Only 12x12, it could pack in my suitcase, a carryon, and looked just perfect in her living room, colors matching.  You know how important that is.  What I can't show is how we ended up hanging it on the diagonal with left upper corner being almost the top, as the diagonal was not exact.  It was masterful and we did it together amidst laughter and story telling...Yes, I do remember there were days of laughter before the cold set in to disturb my better energies.  Must get on now to other things....be well all of you "out there".