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500

Our dog Bear sits on a large boulder on the Balanced Rock Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on November 26, 2025. Original: _Z727068.NEF

If my notes are correct I recently made my 500th visit to our local preserve. To celebrate I took Bear up to the spot that became so meaningful during my leave of absence a couple of years ago. Almost all the visits the past few years have been with Bear, I love his enthusiasm for our hikes and let him set a fast pace, even though I prefer to go slowly and revel in the details. Sometime next year I’ll have time to both take him and go out on my own, but for now my priority is enjoying our time together.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
🗓️: November 26, 2025

Life & Death, Intertwined

A snake (possibly a western patch-nosed snake) is wrapped around a common side-blotched lizard on the Balanced Rock Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on November 9, 2025. Original: _A670891.ARW

Bear and I came across this snake wrapped around a lizard, one life ending so another can continue. The lizard is a common side-blotched lizard, one of many we saw that day and one of my favorite desert residents. We didn’t have a good vantage point to identify the snake but my best guess is a western patch-nosed snake, though a young one as it was much smaller than the others I’ve seen.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm+1.4X
🗓️: November 9, 2025

A Bear & A Frog

An overhead view of our dog Bear and his frog toy. Taken on November 24, 2025. Original: _Z726946.NEF

I’m pretty sure this is how one of Aesop’s fables starts. So far the frog has tolerated Bear’s prodigious love and still has all of its limbs and no head wounds, a rare sight in this house.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-70 f/4
🗓️: November 24, 2025

So Many Questions

An adult Harris’ hawk perches on a boulder on the Bootlegger Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona

As Bear and I approached the end of our hike, perched high on boulders beside the trail were several volunteers greeting visitors to the park. They patiently answered questions they must get asked over and over and over, like “What trails are good for beginners?”, “Are there really rattlesnakes here?”, and “Why didn’t the eagles fly Sam & Frodo to Mordor?”

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm+1.4X
🗓️: November 9, 2025

It’s Time to Leave the Capsule If You Dare

A young tarantula starts to climb out of her burrow in our backyard in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 5, 2025. Original: _Z726641.NEF

The adult tarantula that was living in our backyard hasn’t been seen since the spring so I was delighted when a tiny one dug an equally tiny burrow beside our patio. I thought she wasn’t staying long as the hole was covered after a few days but she may have been molting as within a week or so she came back out and was a regular fixture each night. With the cooler weather the burrow is covered again, hope to see her in the spring.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: October 5, 2025

Empty Conduit

Shadows of our dog Bear and I fall past words spray-painted in the street that say Empty Conduit. Taken on September 7, 2025. Original: _ZFC1862.NEF

There’s a street nearby known as The Oracle of Scottsdale because of the insightful if cryptic messages it offers to pilgrims who brave the journey. I’ve not been able to work out what it was trying to tell me, perhaps it was a message for Bear.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50mm DX
🗓️: September 7, 2025

War Ravaged

Our dog Ellie in the dog park at Irving Park as the trees bloom in the background in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon on March 11, 2018. Original: _DSC3847.ARW

One of the last pictures I took of Ellie in the dog park at Irving Park before we had to leave my beloved if war-ravaged Portland. So thankful for our many years in that wonderful city and the Irvington neighborhood we called home.

📷: Sony A6500 | Sony-Zeiss 24mm f/1.8
🗓️: March 11, 2018

Singing in the Rain

Singing in the Rain.

Friday thunderstorms moved through and we got drenched, with more steady rains on Saturday, and even a short shower this morning. You can hear the desert singing in the rain as the cacti soak up and store what they can, the washes fill and flow, and harbor seals come out to play.

📷: Canon 7D II | Canon 500 f/4 + 1.4X
🗓️: October 7, 2017