Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
To prepare for my trip to Arizona, I started laying out on the guest bed everything I wanted to take with me and stepped away for a moment. I came back to find an extra item that I couldn’t bring with me, much as I would have loved to, but which will come along to wherever we end up.
We normally let our dog Ellie out through the back door but when she was having trouble with the stairs we started letting her out the front, as the broad stairs were easier for her to navigate. I keep this old winter coat hanging by the back door for walking her in the colder weather, but when I came back in via the front I realized there was no room on that coat rack and set the coat on the floor while I got Ellie settled. I came back to find a small creature had climbed aboard and settled in for a nap.
The city inspector arrives to inspect one of the Boo Boxes. I don’t think he’s convinced of the structural integrity of the roof.
Resident architect Boo continues to tweak his design for the Boo Box Condo, literally turning it onto its side and opening up a whole new world of possibilities. Designed with an open front for easy access, its innovative shapes link the inside and outside worlds while providing the necessary privacy when others approach and impinge on your personal freedoms.
Trixie may not love to squeeze into impossibly tight spaces like the Incredible Bendable Boo, but she is a tiny little cat and thus can curl up even in some of Boo’s smaller boxes with relative ease.
They say it’s hot in Arizona, but it’s a dry heat. It wasn’t hot on my trip since it was the winter but it was dry. How dry? This is what my skin looked like after two full days in the desert.
Because I was in Scottsdale for an interview, I didn’t bring along my camera as I knew I wouldn’t have much time for hiking. I did venture up to Pinnacle Peak Park for a brief hike, a short way in before turning around, just to make sure I’d enjoy hiking in the desert. The saguaros are as amazing as I expected, as well as the variety of cacti near the trail, plus I saw a lizard! I toyed with the idea of getting up for sunrise, but I was worn out and decided to sleep in. If we move there, given the constant sun, there will be plenty of opportunities for photographing in that lovely early light when I have my camera with me and not just my phone. But it is remarkable what you can do with an iPhone these days, it’s the reason I decided to leave the bigger camera at home in the first place.
And for the record, since this kind of thing seems unimportant at the time but is the sort of thing I’d like to know years from now, Pinnacle Peak Park is the first park I visited in Arizona.
A quick shot of my travel bags after I got back from my trip to Arizona. I meant to photograph them together while on either my trip to California or Arizona but I kept forgetting, they were stressful trips as both travels were for job interviews. The bags worked a charm, as they always have, and were both easy to carry around the airport and easy to live out of during my stay. For the photo I didn’t take out all of the little accessory bags that kept me organized. On the left is the Tom Bihn ID laptop bag that I used as my personal item, carrying my MacBook Pro and iPad, and on the right is the Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 which I used as my carry-on. I love not only that it has backpack straps that can pull out to make carrying the bag easy, and be put away when you don’t need them, but that the whole process can be done so quickly and easily. Both of these bags were clearly designed and manufactured with a lot of care, which is why I love my Tom Bihn bags.
Also, love that aubergine!
We got a few inches of snow in Portland on Tuesday, but with Ellie’s recent injury or illness she didn’t want to go for a long walk in it so I was surprised when she flopped down in the backyard and rolled around in the snow. I’m glad she got to enjoy it a little bit as I suspect this snow will be her last, not because she is in any imminent danger but because I have to choose now between two job offers, one in California and one in Arizona, and neither place gets snow unless you drive a ways to the mountains to look for it.
Boolie 