desert bird

this little verdin was busy picking at something

on a palo verde branch. verdins are bigger than

hummingbirds, but not much.

lone saguaro, south mountain

one of my favorite places to hike and birdwatch,

south mountain is one mile from tempe.

2.4/112/26.2

at the ironman race yesterday. participants swam

2.4 miles across tempe lake, biked 112 miles and

topped it off with a marathon. what an

accomplishment!

irrigation standpipe art

several of these standpipes have been decorated in

ASU neighborhoods; here a road bicycle has been

incorporated - one of my favorites

doorways

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

cranium fun

a rousing game of cranium was enjoyed in tempe

by these fine characters just the other night.

under construction

another section along the western canal, near ken

mcdonald golf course; when finished, this cage will

provide protection to joggers, cyclists, horses, etc. from

errant golf balls

western canal

the western canal path is shaping up nicely. construction crews

have been pouring concrete, adding light fixtures, plants, and

art to connect Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert.

go fish!

tempe lake offers year-round fishing opportunities.

expect to catch channel catfish, sunfish, largemouth bass,

Israeli carp, threadfin shad, yellow bass, common carp,

inland silverside minnow; rainbow trout are cool water

fish stocked from November through April.

great white beach cruiser

tempe color

dancing weather

the weather's been perfect for dancing lately

more tour de fat fun

skeleton felon on a bike

tour de fun

the fun tour de fat event was in full force at tempe lake

this morning. thousands showed up on bikes with

crazy costumes. what a blast and a photographer's

paradise! plus great beer drinking before noon!

fall harvest

this mural inside Wildflower Bread Company cafe at

McClintock and Guadalupe makes me think of fall harvest

the yellow couch

college life, near ASU campus

fall colors

monarchs at desert botanical garden

fabulous fall

fall has arrived in tempe, what a relief.

for the next 7 months tempeans and phoenicians alike will

be outside attending festivals and other outdoor events

enjoying the great weather. last friday we were

treated to an outdoor ballet on the south shore of

tempe lake. this weekend oktoberfest is in full force.

and me, I'm outside with my camera once more.

the smell of rain in the morning

a very nice downpour yesterday morning left the 

desert smelling like fresh creosote, so wonderful. 

delicious dish

Oysters Rockefeller at Casey Moore's Oyster House

located in the Maple-Ash Neighborhood

monsoon action

a bit of monsoon action, foreshadowed by this

cloud/sunset combo last night. lots of rain fell while we had 

dinner at Casey Moore's Oyster bar. 

arizona reminders

at ocean beach, san diego.

the arizona cafe. the surf board out 

front shows the specials of the day -

a couple teriyaki bowls and mac and 

cheese...not sure what those dishes

have to do with arizona, but I'm 

thankful to get a photo in san 

diego that is remotely qualifying 

for the tempe daily....

regular posts are coming soon, temps 

are coming down in az and things are 

starting to happen out of doors again!

another white church against a blue sky

a favorite shot taken in phoenix earlier this year.

running behind, oh my

i've been in indiana and the high heat in phoenix has 

kept me indoors...but I promise to have regular 

tempe postings very soon!

the company we keep

advertisement for the Tour de Fat 

bike ride on the back cover of the latest 

Rolling Stone. 

What's the TdF got to do with Tempe?

Tempe hosts the ride on October 10. 

Even cooler, I think, is the list of cities

hosting the ride...Minneapolis,

Chicago, Seattle, Portland, Boise, Fort

Collins, Denver, San Francisco, San 

Diego, Austin and Tempe. That's a 

group with some pizazz!

geometry

line segments and squares

downtown phoenix

Disappearialis quickius

it made my day when this roadrunner jumped up

 on the ledge of my office window and looked in 

before *beep, beep* jetting off in roadrunner 

fashion. 

Arizona Game and Fish Department headquarters, 

Carefree Highway, north Phoenix.

by the way, the post title is a reference to the pseudo latin name given 

to the roadrunner cartoon character in a june 1962 episode 

titled, "zoom at the top"

just look for the big red gorilla

I guess this makes it easy to describe 

where your dealership is located

the monsoon clouds keep rolling in....

but so far, no rain. it is a nice change from our 

usual cloudless skies, but a little moisture would

make it perfect. 

Tempe Fire Station No. 1

the city of tempe encompasses an area just under 40

square miles. we have 6 fire stations. emergency units are

dispatched using GPS to ensure the trucks closest to an 

incident are the ones dispatched. also, all lighted 

intersections have traffic signal preemption, allowing 

emergency personnel to control traffic signals as they 

approach. in 2008, the tempe fire department 

responded to 18,873 calls including 2,414 fires and 15,191 

emergency medical calls.