CLS Retreat

This weekend the Christian Legal Society had our retreat - camping at Rose Canyon Lake on Mount Lemmon.
Here are some of the pix:

The Ball Tree

A lot of you have been asking me how the puppies are adjusting to life in Arizona.

Well, while they quickly seemed to grasp that this was their new home, they did not embrace the backyard quite as easily. Both seemed rather weary of this new place where it is blistering hot, oddly dry, where in place of grass there are sticky weeds, in place of red mud there is white dust, and where the critters for them to chase were not quite as cute (chipmunks = cute; bugs = not cute). For a while, when we put them outside, they didn't run around and play (even in the evening when the temperature drops down). They just stood at the back door, motionless, and waited for us to let them in. Even when Patrick or I went outside, they would just stand in the doorway observing us, instead of venturing all the way outside (just in case we were trying to trick 'em). Dagny even refused to drink water for a few days - I think out of protest - turning her nose up at the bowl every time I sat it in front of her (thanks, mom - for teaching her that being hand fed ice cubes is an acceptable way to remain hydrated ).

And, while they still do some of these things from time to time, life did get a little better on the day that Dagny and Hank discovered the BALL TREE!

And don't tell me that balls do not grow on trees . . .

Grapefruits, balls, same difference.
Until he saw it for himself, Patrick even thought I was kidding when I came in one day and told him that Dagny and Hank thought that the grapefruit tree was a ball tree. I am truly not exaggerating in the slightest. They are not ripe and certainly not falling off on their own, yet, there are now grapefruits ALL OVER the yard. At last count, they had pulled off 12, but that was about two weeks ago.

Posing with their tree
"I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine."

Hopefully waiting on the patio: If you still don't believe me . . .

Oh, and for those of you thinking, "well, y'all just shouldn't have thrown them in the place" . . .We didn't! They pulled them off, and they thought this all up on their own! You just can't make this stuff up.

P.S. We actually think Dagny got so sick because she ate part of a grapefruit, but they have not stopped bringing them to us . . . darn.

Some Observations of Arizona People

Arizona People . . .
4. Think that pedestrians have the right-of-way . . . silly Arizonians
5. Are kinda like Environmental Nazis
6. Are the ones wearing the heavy wool and fleece coats in class this week

Monday

High: 72
Low: 39
Precip. Chance: 0%

Tuesday
High: 74
Low: 51
Precip. Chance: 0%

Wednesday
High: 87
Low: 58
Precip. Chance: 0%

Thursday
High: 90
Low: 63
Precip. Chance: 0%

Friday
High: 93
Low: 65
Precip. Chance: 0%

Sick Puppy

Dagny is feeling kinda pukey today. Patrick got her a purple elephant to make her feel better.

Sick Bay

Just so you know . . .

Foods that can be toxic to dogs:

- Alcoholic beverages
- Baby food
- Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources
- Cat food
- Chocolate, coffee, tea, and other caffeine
- Citrus oil extracts
- Fat trimmings
- Grapes and raisins
- Hops
- Human vitamin supplements containing iron
- Large amounts of liver
- Macadamia nuts
- Marijuana
- Milk and other dairy products
- Moldy or spoiled food, garbage
- Mushrooms
- Onions and garlic (raw, cooked, or powder)
- Persimmons
- Pits from peaches and plums
- Potato, rhubarb, and tomato leaves; potato and tomato stems
- Raw eggs
- Raw fish
- Salt
- String
- Sugary foods
- Table scraps (in large amounts)
- Tobacco
- Yeast dough

Georgia v. Arizona State Game

Here are some pictures from two weeks ago when Mom and Dad came in town to go to the Georgia v. Arizona State game for my birthday:

Bulldogs 27, Sun Devils 10

Happy Birthday, Bubba!

A kinda fun link . . .

The Atlas of the Real World "uses software to depict the nations of the world, not by their physical size, but by their demographic importance on a range of subjects" - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/3109042/The-Atlas-of-the-Real-World.html

(HIV prevalence)

Some Observations of Arizona People

Arizona People . . .
1. Love Tattoos
2. Think their state is soooo humid
3. Think that it is necessary to stay indoors, not drive, and keep away from windows and doors when it rains

La Bougainvillea

It's a . . . Berry?

Does anyone know what kind of berry this is?
Blackberry, Mulberry, Boysenberry?



















Obviously they aren't really really ripe yet, but this is the shape:














The plant is in a shady part of our yard, and I hadn't really noticed it because (as you can see), it doesn't really look like anything special.



















This is what the flowers look like:

Lounging Around

Picture Time!

Taking a break for pictures during our hike
(the post inserted itself below on 09/19/08 - the date I started the post)



















"That's enough" - Dagny and Hank
(do they coordinate these things?)

Awkward Puppy

Hoover v. Puppy

Flowers

Aspen Loop from Marshall Gulch

Tucson Dog Friendly Hikes - http://www.arizona.sierraclub.org/trail_guide/DOGSNDX.HTM

Sweet Puppies














(Hank carried the camera)

Driving up Mount Lemmon
First the cactus














Then the scrubby brush














And then the trees














Coronado National Forest

Cooling down in the water

Sometimes I wonder about her . . .

"Don't worry guys, they have sticks here." - Hank