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. 

flies and more

Arizona FlyFishing has all the gear for pros and 

novices alike. the store is tucked 

back in the corner of a strip mall at Mill and Baseline. 

inside, the walls are covered with tying materials, fly lines, 

leaders, tippets, rods, reels, clothing, and bins full of flies.

fly tying classes and fishing trips are offered. 

shop keepers tie flies and tell fish tales, what a way to 

pass the days. 

contemporary urban tempe

the vale condominiums, designed by architect will 

bruder (whose work includes many library and contemporary 

art projects) and completed in 2005. a modern

industrial looking residential building with lime green  

flair. located at university and

beck avenue, 46 units as well as office space.

world exploration in your own backyard...

for wanderlust shoppers looking for a bit of culinary

adventure, trader joe's is the place. the selection is 

unconventional, no keebler, kelloggs or del monte here. 

the food selection and prices are fantastic.

 tempe's trader joe's is located at 

mcclintock and guadalupe roads and I must say, 

shopping here makes me happy. 

 I love getting tj's fearless flyer newsletter too. 

sunday games

the soccer field at kiwanis park (all american way & 

guadalupe roads) was alive with soccer/futbol 

action this morning. 

fireworks on the fourth of July

Peace, love, and...

fresh mex food...I hear the fish tacos and margaritas 

are good. Mill Avenue

not ripe yet

but these prickly pear flowers have closed

and are well on their way to becoming

plump and juicy fruits. 

under the spell of fun

Flip Orley, known as a "comic hypnotist"

was recently at the Tempe Improv

(Rural and University Road)

Flip first became interested in 

hypnotism when he came across the 

book "how to pick up girls through

hypnotism" in the 6th grade. Seems 

like most things of importance can 

be traced back to getting a date. 

more light rail bridge colors

feed your creative energy here

utrecht art supply store, located at rural and 

university drive, is one of my favorite places for 

paints, pens, pencils, paper and the like.

purple lake

the light rail bridge is beautiful at night. in fact, roads and 

bridges magazine named the tempe lake light rail bridge 

the 10th best bridge built in 2008. LED lights

illuminate the sides of the bridge and the water below;

 lighting up as the train passes over every 10 minutes or so.

Hidden Treasures

I love that Arizona is a place where desert tortoises

thrive. Rarely seen, I chose my own backyard tortoise 

for this month's theme, hidden treasures. check out

a sampling of AZ's treasures by visiting the other 

Arizona blogs:

Phoenix Daily Photo

Chandler Daily Photo

Flagstaff Daily Photo

Prescott Daily Photo

Scottsdale Daily Photo

Scottsdale Daily Photo

Chandler Daily Photo

big breakfast

I recently ate at Matt's Big Breakfast in Phoenix. 

Matt's BB is a tiny retro-style restaurant with 

 a big reputation. there's always a wait - mine was about 

an hour, but it was worth it - the food was delicious.

something borrowed

from phoenix. I liked the repeating pattern of 

the windows of this hotel.

street artist

her media is spray paint

color and order

prayer flags waving in the breeze. 

there are traditionally five flags in a set, one in each 

of five colors representing elements,

 in order from left to right: blue (sky), white (air/wind),

red (fire), green (water), yellow (earth)

cat on the roof

walking along mill avenue, I looked up and saw this 

cat that I'd never noticed before.

mmmm, yogurt

I tried Mojo yogurt for the first time yesterday. The 

interior of the shop is bright red and modern looking, the 

yogurt is yummy. 

in the valley of the sun

the phoenix metro area has more than 300 sunny days

each year. it's no wonder solar panels are becoming 

so common. arizona state university has installed

solar panels on top of its parking garages, like this one

near the north end of college avenue and stadium drive.

colors of summer

red, white and blue reflection