Warning... camera malfunction

I regret to announce that my not-so-trusty camera, the un-named wonder, has gone kaput! The unfortunate day was Sunday ,May 14, yesterday. It was Mother's Day, the first without mom. It was sad, and a bit difficult, but many thanks to Anishka and her Mama Melinda for letting me come with them to Mt. Lemmon for a mother's day drive and sunset hike. It was a beautiful day in Tucson, 102 degrees, but by the time we reached the summit of Mt. Lemmon, it was 70 degrees. Wonderful!



The drive from Tucson to Summerhaven, the tiny resort/ski area/town/national forest area is only about 25 miles, and 5000 ft. The drive took us about an hour, but we stopped about 4 times to take in 'scenic vistas' and the visitor center along the Catalina Highway The drive can be done in about 45 minutes. 40 miles total from downtown Tucson.



When we reached the top, the parked at the ski area, and Anishka and I explored. We decided not to ride the ski lift, not only because it was nine dollars a person, but because it was a 45 round trip, and the lift was only running for another hour. That didn't';t allow for much exploration at the ski park summit, so we decided to sample Orange Cream fudge instead. Mmmmmmmm.



Next, we went into Summerhaven to sample the world famous pies... (actual photo of the pie, courtesy of ten safe frogs' photostream on flickr.) There we ran into one of Anishka's former students, Andrew (I won't say anything else about him... ) and we invited him to sit with us. We arrived at the restaurant around 4:00, and it closes at 5:00, so our choices were limited. We all had to settle for our second choice. I ordered Blueberry instead of Peach, Anishka had Sour Cherry in stead of Boysenberry, and Melinda had raspberry. I guess that was her first choice. Andrew had Chili and cornbread, and coffee. I guess he was eating dinner.

Anyway, the pie was amazing. Eat it, no ifs ands or buts, just do it.




After devouring the pie, and chatting for an hour about politics, California, the Midwest, music and what we were all doing this summer, we parted ways. Anishka, Melinda and I head out of town and down a dirtroad to a trailhead. We were about to embark on our sunset hike, through the fire charred forest on a ridge in the Catalina Mountains. The trail was fairly easy, except for the blackened trees that had fallen over the trail. The tress were destroyed in the 2004 fire.

The light was magnificent, truly amazing. We were fortunate to have some clouds, so the diffused light was intensified. It was enthralling, the bright green clumps of grass, the blackened tress, the purple wildflowers, the brown and dead grass from last season. I have never seen anything like it. All at 8,000 ft, an hour from my house.



We returned that evening, and I immediately went to bed. I started my three week pre-session today, Music 672, class four days a week, four hours a day. It should be a great class. I don't care to give the details, and you are probably not so interested to know them.

Well, I'm sorry for the random pictures. To make a long story short, my camera stopped working, so I hope that my writing was sufficient. The pics posted have no relation to the recollection of the Sunday's activities.

I hope to retrieve whatever photos from my camera, and post them at a later date.

Byt he way, sammie came along to, you can see photos of her here, and here and here.

have a great day, night, or ... time.