Sunday, December 8, 2013

Turkey Day 2013




This post is a little backwards, but life can be that way sometimes. The above scrapbook page is a composite of pictures taken when my friends were kind enough to join me for dinner. At the top left is Deb Peters and Ginny Nyland's son Rayn. Directly below in Ginny. She's my guardian angel directly responsible for me living at Mission View. She and her sister Linda and brother-in-law Colin helped me move from New Mexico. Great friends! Below that is my neighbor John who I couldn't do without. John can fix or do anything. At the top right is a lunching companion and fellow Pole, another John. Below that is Deb Peters and her mom Betty who came over from New Mexico on Tuesday glad to leave some snow and cold behind. The last picture is of the beautiful centerpiece that  my lunching John gifted me with: perfect for our table. We were so thankful to eat outside in 70 degree weather.

Our weather wasn't all that wonderful, referring back to the arrival of Deb and Betty. I had big plans to show them around Tucson in sunshine and blue skies. Not gonna happen. We settled for a tour of Xavier del Bac Mission. That was really great and the docent couldn't have been better. Then we joined my photographer friend Karen Keating for lunch at Olive Garden. Deb and Karen are my look alike friends. It's scary how closely they resemble one another. Oh, and did I mention: they are both from Connecticut. We had a wonderful lunch, and no one would have guessed that Deb and Karen had just met one another. They chatted like long lost friends.


The weather was sort of iffy, but I wanted Betty to experience the mountains and the saguaros, so I took them over Gates Pass. We actually stopped at at the information area and Deb hiked up the hill a ways. Then I took them to one of my favorite campgrounds: Ironwood. It's name comes from a huge Ironwood tree at the end of the campground. Can you believe it? I didn't have a camera except my iPhone. These are pictures of Deb being her fun self.




So after watching the Steelers lose Thanksgiving evening, Deb and Betty packed up and headed back to New Mexico on Friday. What a fun visit!






So Sunday December 1, the three photographers, and two birders (can you guess which one is not really a birder?) headed for Madera Canyon. Not exactly a primo day for what I take pictures of: landscapes and a bird if he flies right in front of me. Karen and Ellayne got pictures of Mexican jays, white-breasted Nuthatch, gray-headed dark-eyed Juncos, and a Bridled Titmouse.









Below is a picture I took as we were coming up the creek with no water obviously and poor lighting, so I photo-shopped it. Bad girl!




But I'll be back this week with another birding friend: Brock. He'll do birds; I'll fumble my way through the picture-taking.