The Sensible Horror Film-- works for politics too

Got this one from my son and it seemed apropos for Halloween and also our culture-- Logic anyone?

hunting or not at Summer Lake

One of our delightful surprises on this trip came early and involved Summer Lake. We had always liked the area but had spent no time there. I had read that Summer Lake had a nice camping area that was BLM, free camping, no real sites, basically dry land camping but in a beautiful setting. We really had no idea where it was but after driving way too far and turning around, we found it. What we hadn't expected was it was the opening day of duck hunting season.

You might think that was a drawback-- all those hunters. Instead it was delightful to see families, whole generations, friends and they were all out there to get their ducks. One of the people at the campsite said there were 30,000 ducks out on the lake. Now that seems sad but only if you aren't someone who raises grassfed beef and lamb for consumers. Frankly if someone likes to eat wild duck, I am all fine with it. Even more after seeing the families at this campground which probably encompassed over 100 rigs which were mostly motorcoaches and trailers with tents interspersed.

I know. I know. You are a leftie and hate the idea of hunting, but face it-- predators eat prey. When humans kill off predators, the prey end up starving. Hunting can be a good thing IF the people who kill the beautiful, delightful ducks, actually eat them. It's part of the biology of life and to be there, see all these groups and how polite and nice they were, hey it was a good feeling. A very good feeling. 

 When Farm Boss was out talking to campers (he's the extrovert in this team), one said-- so you're here without a gun! He said-- I didn't say that. The guy laughed. Yes, we had a gun.. .two of them but not to hunt ducks.

As for Summer Lake, I want to go back sometime but maybe not when I am wakened to the pop pop of hunting ducks :), Photos below:

They didn't get them all...

trailering on a vacation

Traveling with a vacation trailer is not for everyone. It had been over a year since we bought our 26 footer, and we'd put off taking it out even though we knew a lot about trailering as we bought our first 15' one when our kids were tiny as a way to camp most week-ends without dragging along all that baby gear. We had pulled that one a lot of places during their growing up years, taking it to Arizona more than once usually in May with no air conditioning. It enabled secure camping but had no real luxuries including no bathroom.

This trailer has the luxuries with a nice sized bathroom, shower with tiny tub you could sit in with knees up anyway, queen sized bed, nice refrigerator with a freezer that can run off propane or electric, gas stove and oven, table and chairs and a sofa-- the latter in a  pop-out that makes the trailer more spacious than it would otherwise appear. It came with a radio, DVD and CD player. We bought it a small flat-screen TV.

At 26', it's larger than we originally wanted but it would let us live comfortably for a month. It's like pulling your vacation cabin with you... and that is one of its drawbacks as it does require a big truck to take it anywhere. But then hauling in a year's supply of hay or taking steers to market requires that also.

Pulling such a trailer requires a good hitch, making sure electric is properly working, brakes with a box by the driver to adjust as needed when going down steep hills, and Eastern Oregon is full of steep hills. The older models used to have jacks that you stored and brought out but today's have a jack that you crank down but need to bring extra blocks to level the trailer if you don't plan to stay in fancy RV parks. Pulling such a rig does require some expertise and willingness to learn but for the passenger, you rarely even know it's back there-- exceptions being really rough roads.

hooking up and ready to leave Steens. This is the pop-out side with it in

One thing that makes trailering perfect for me is I like to go on trips where nothing has been planned. I want to vagabond it, stopping wherever it seems good, open to anything that comes along and especially open to surprises along the route. We took four cameras and kept three at the ready almost everywhere we were whether in the truck or walking to something we wanted to see.

We started out this trip intending to go to Pendleton first, changed our minds and delivered boxes of beef and lamb to our daughter in Medford, headed over the Cascades and spent the first night at a KOA in Klamath Falls. We didn't consider that the beginning of our trip, that came the next day and from that time on we winged it, deciding where to go sometimes that morning, deciding how long to stay somewhere only once we were there. We both dry camped (which means no hook-ups and stayed in state parks and city parks (they are in many small towns east of the Cascades and provide full hook-ups minus the internet or cable, of course-- although one small town where we didn't stay had a city park that offered wireless internet.

After we'd been out a few days, we got to thinking about turning Farm Boss's Droid phone into a hot spot. We knew it could be done if you can get cell phone coverage ( some places we could not), but we didn't know how much it would cost. It turned out to be reasonable and whenever cell phone coverage was fast, our internet was also.

The hotspot had one drawback as no way to watch videos without eating up the GBs. We bought 4, upped it to 10 after we watched Bill Maher and saw our time disappearing. We were more careful after that and 4 a month would be enough-- if we resisted our addiction to Maher once a week. We have HBO at home and it would have let us watch movies from them also-- except we'd have needed a lot more than 10 GB if we wanted to do that. In the future we would just have to save watching anything live for when at home or in a place that provides wireless-- and some of the professional parks do but then they run $40 or more a night for the full deal. Those small city and beautiful state parks usually were under $30.

We learned a few things that will make the next trip better with the trailer. One is to consider carefully how to use the available storage cupboards. Thinking that through ahead of time would have been better. Also we are buying it a new mattress before we go out again as this one was okay but not what we are used to at home-- that and higher quality sheets as I had brought the kind we used to use thinking I'd get value from them. Not worth it as sleeping well is a big deal.

So it was a fantastic trip and I will have at least four blogs here about some aspects of Oregon's back country that many people may not know. We couldn't get into the fossil beds, of course, due to the government shut down and likewise national forest campgrounds were generally closed (many would be soon anyway as winter sets in) but BLM generally was open and of course anything run by the state of Oregon or Washington.

We saw museums and so many wonderful things that it'll take awhile to find the right words to describe it all. Some I'd seen before and some not. Everywhere I got new insights that will help with the fourth Oregon historical book. I think a trip to the Oregon Historical Society in Portland might be helpful also as some of my kind of questions docents don't generally have to know.

When stopped for the night, on my Kindle, I read George Custer's, My Life on the Plains. Although I was traveling different country, it was useful for my future book for the mindset of a cavalry officer of that time period. Custer has been a hero and a villain depending on who you read. I enjoyed having his own words regarding the winter 1868 campaign as he described his motivations and experiences.

I am giving the trip a little time to sink in before I begin writing again on that book; and while I do that, I'll try to write some future blogs about Oregon's high desert and ranching country, some of its little known history and a few of the places we visited in the Gorge. I have so many photos that it overloaded one folder. Eventually I'll try to put a selection together into a slideshow.

some changes

This blog has been going different directions for awhile as I have tried to find balance with my writing blog and the other blogs I've begun that are aimed more at my books. Then along came the nuttiness from the right and I couldn't stand it and had to have a place to write about it (used to be called Rainy Day Things) now resurrected as-- 

 Rainy Day Rants 

With my digging into the fourth Oregon historical, that pretty much means no more Wednesday posts here. I will though be writing one for Saturdays-- for awhile that will be about our recent trip to Eastern Oregon which had a lot of very interesting (to me at least) cultural elements. If you are interested in politics, want to comment yourself, why come on over to Rants. I don't plan to have a regular schedule there but will write when something comes along that I just have to speak about.

If your interest is in writing, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, visit--

Rain Trueax 

There will be not only my own ideas about writing but also some guest bloggers who write and want to tell others about their process and books.

I am still writing as much as ever for blogs but just dividing it more into subject matter for those who find one thing of interest but not another.

Ana River from our recent vacation through Oregon's backcountry

Western Montana

I have these totally favorite places and to some of them I can return regularly. Others it's only once in awhile but always in my memory and with photos like these of an autumn in Western Montana.

Until the government decided to shut down, Yellowstone National Park was where I was to be in early October and that meant also Montana. Not gonna happen; so for now Montana is only in my memory. Disappointing but would be less so if I thought anything the far right was doing made sense. Since it doesn't to me (and the more I listen to them, the less sense it makes), it's been frustrating. I will return to it someday though and until then memories are what I have.

Rumi

Fall

Coming is the hard season with the nights growing longer and longer, the leaves falling and turning to mush as cold and rain describe too many days. Mud requires boots and some places in the barnyard, only a four legged animal will be able to walk without getting stuck.

It doesn't last though and during those times when it seems to drag on forever, I just have to draw back the memories of the summer of 2013 in my part of the Oregon Coast Range.

Making a change

When fall comes around, don't ask me why but I want to cut my hair. Is there a logic to this? I am not sure; but heading toward summer I tend to let it grow. Come the fall and it begins to frustrate me. Now if I was a city woman, the urge for a haircut would lead to spending some money and maybe I'd add a permanent to it. I've been wanting a perm for well over a year but it's never been the right time.

Sunday was the day I wanted it shorter and Sunday, where it was storming heavily, was no day I wanted to drive into town even if I currently had a favorite salon up here which I don't. (I do have one in Tucson but it'd be even farther to drive.)

So I got out my comb, scissors and pulled Farm Boss into making sure the longest lengths were even as I did the shaping. I am not sure if it's yet short enough. That's how I do it-- taking off a few inches at a time until I finally feel-- that's it.
 

Sometimes I just want a change and I guess with the frustration over what's going on in our country, this is one thing I can change-- fast.

political thinking-- end of September

Because it seemed easier to make a video than write out my angst regarding the political situation right now in the US, here it is for those who care

Political thinking the end of September 2013 from Rain Trueax on Vimeo.

Update: Now that the closure has happened, it's obvious that a certain segment wanted it. They have insurance. They have money and they resent programs for anybody who needs help and that has always included SS. They just don't dare admit it. I heard a clip from a speech by someone running on doing exactly this and knew it'd be unpopular with the majority of Americans but  they only answer to the vocal minority and the real money behind this movement. We know the name of the Koch brothers who started the Cato Institute and Freedom Works, who make sure Limbaugh doesn't have to worry about sponsors, but it's not really just them. There are other names and maybe even a Machiavellian mind behind what is happening.

Boehner has no choice but to do what he did. He will lose anyway because cowards always do; but he couldn't let there be an up and down vote in the House as they would have passed a clean budget. He'd have lost the Speakership that he's literally done nothing to deserve as he's done nothing the whole time he's had it. They don't have an agenda other than destruction.

So the right wing got what I heard that leader say they wanted-- shut down government. They are giddy over it. I've seen the left giddy too-- when they got health care insurance for all Americans. They were giddy over doing something for the people. All the right is giddy about is power. Power has a way though of backfiring.

My hope is Americans are paying attention. That they don't let the talking point people convince them that this was brought on by Obama and Dems. It wasn't. It was brought on by those who wanted to destroy programs and that's what they have convinced a lot of their people will make their own lives better. Who cares about the poor, disabled, old? That's their problem.

If Americans pay attention, the next federal election in 2014 can turn the House back to the Democrats and give us a chance for something to happen that helps people. You can bet the righties will be out in force and they have already set in place everything they can to block Democratic voters from getting to the polls. It doesn't have to work if we get together on this.

For those who don't like SS, Medicare and programs for the poor, as you are convinced it's all about communism, I think the day will come when you'll figure it out. I just hope it's not too late as Ted Cruz is no leader of the sort we've had before. He's a demagogue and everything he says the other side wants to do-- that's what those behind him want. Good luck if that happens as piece by piece they are dismantling our individual power by things like letting a corporation be considered a person and by undoing Civil Rights laws which certain people in some states are quickly taking advantage of to block minority voters.

This situation isn't hopeless for progressives, liberals and moderates like myself. It's just a time to buckle down, get our act together with helping those around us who might need help and then working to get out the vote in 2014. There is a lot more here at stake than a Yellowstone vacation-- which just went bust ;).

Life blood

Finally I've begun writing my fourth Oregon historical although there will be more research to enrich the details. Every time I start a new book I feel the excitement of a new adventure about to begin-- vicariously, of course. For me, writing is fun-- marketing,  not so much. One gives life blood. The other sucks it out. They both are part of the process.

What I plan regarding indie publishing those four historicals, which encompass the years 1852 to 1867 or '68 (depending on how the fourth goes) will depend a lot on how the two Arizona historical books do-- because if my books are going to disappear into Amazon's black hole, why bother putting them out that way? I don't want to submit them to a publishing house. I like the control of indie publishing, lower prices for readers, but maybe I'll have to rethink that. I'll know better by January.

Marketing is really a lot of this game and marketing is where most writers are weakest-- not to mention where they don't have gifts. What they need is someone with marketing skills to promote their work-- unfortunately that costs a lot of money or requires going through a corporation; so indie writers, like myself, are learning as we go with things like Twitter (which I am still not sure of its value but I am growing it too).

So despite my really wanting to only think about the new book, the new characters, the new events, I just have to give Arizona Sunset another push to be sure that any possible reader has had a chance to see this book while it's still $3.99. October 1st or as close to that as Amazon can do it, it'll be $4.99. Always when buying a book at Amazon be sure the price you see is the price you want.

Arizona Sunset has gotten some nice reviews which if you are a writer or creative person, you know that means a lot. One that I especially liked didn't get onto Amazon but was on my Facebook Rain Trueax page and from a man.

"Just finished this book last evening. Enjoyed from cover to cover."

I've gotten a few of those reviews on other books from men, and I always smile when I see one. Why would I like a review from a man so much? Well because it's always assumed that men won't read romances. Since I consider my books hybrids, I see them as appealing to people who like good stories, with some action, and in the case of the historicals, a piece of what life was like in the past. I write about strong, powerful male characters so why wouldn't men like that. I don't use those catch phrases that have gotten so much humor for romance books. I won't mention the words here but you've probably heard the jokes and know them. Yes, I use emotional words when needed. So men don't feel emotions? You know they do; so long as the words aren't silly, I think men should like my adventure romances as much as any woman.

That said, this book got two other reviews that meant a lot to me.

 "I love a love story like Trueax's about finding freedom to engage in healthy pleasures. Pleasures forbidden were many for a stifled proper lady, Abigail, in Arizona territory 1883. Even more stifled, Sam, believed he was shackled for life as an outlaw gun man not worthy of a lady. I took pleasure to see the changes in these two. During my first reading, I skipped the sexual parts but by the second time around I could enjoy them because of how healthy sex was in gluing their unlikely relationship which allowed them to live to their fullest."

"I loved the interaction between Sam and Abigail. Sam felt he was nowhere near the type of man she deserved but Abigail saw past his faults and knew he was the one she wanted for life. This is a story of redemption, second chances, belief and true love.A beautiful story that will capture you from the beginning and not let go until the end"

To me, Arizona Sunset is the story of a woman who is trapped by her life, who meets a man traveling a road of destruction. Together they might create something new, but the road ahead is rocky as they must fight for the life they want across the dangerous and beautiful terrain of Southern Arizona. Often what we think we want has some catches attached, and it's what this hero and heroine come up against. Expectations lead to both having to do some rethinking on what they want. A snippet:

      Then she heard the loud voices from around the shed. "Boss, there's dust in the air. Buck says a bunch of riders coming this way."

     He cursed. "How far off?"

     "Maybe seven miles northwest. Buck saw 'em looking for sign, but it won't take them long to find ours if we’re what they’re looking for."

     "All right." He looked down at her with regret in his eyes.  “Well, lady, looks like this is it.”

     “Leave us here. We can ask those men to help us get to Tucson.”

     His smile was cynical. “You think you’d be safer with them?”

     “I don’t know who they are. Do you?”

     “There is no posse coming after you, is there?”

     She shook her head. “No.” Her father wouldn’t miss her until the morning, if then depending on what Priscilla told him.

     “Then out here no big bunch of riders is safe for us or you.”

     “What are you going to do with us?”

     A heavy-set man came around the cabin; he looked at Abigail then the man he called boss. "Shall I kill these two?" he asked. “They seen us here-- too near that dead man.”

     The tall man looked down at her, and Abigail realized how easy it would be for him to order their deaths. No one would know.

     Without looking at the big man who'd just offered to commit murder, the man she now knew was Sam said, "Get ready to ride. I'll meet you out front."

     "What about the mail bags?" she asked, hoping she could deflect his plans away from murder.

     "That what your friend had buried there?" he asked.

     She nodded. "We offered a reward for them. I know you didn't steal them." She knew no such thing, but she decided she had to play a game here, a game for hers and Martin's lives. "You could have the reward if you restore them... To this point, you've done nothing wrong."

     "You are green to the way of things."

     She tried again. "We won’t say anything about having seen you." He appeared undecided. She sucked in a breath. “Take us with you then.”

     "Oh that’d be smart.” He chuckled.

Arizona Sunset available for eBook or paperback

So onward and upward as I begin to flesh out the Oregon story with a new hero and heroine who are interesting me a lot. I began putting together some images today from scenery and characters. The story is set in John Day country where I hope to spend some time again soon.

the inspiration

When someone asks me-- why do you write romances? why don't you write something that goes deeper into the problems of life (hey a few of mine do also deal with problems) -- this video says a lot of what I feel is the joy of writing books about romance.

So, give it a try. It's a beautiful video, a pretty song, and if you look closely, says a lot about the long term where it comes to love. A romance is the beginning but the long term is what it is building. Even better this is a real life couple-- Jason Derulo and Jordan Sparks. Can I have an Amen!

being heliotropic

no matter what situation we find ourselves in,

we can always set our compass to our highest intentions

in the present moment.

Jack Kornfield

Yes, I love sunflowers! There can never be too many sunflowers with their heliotropic qualities. And this year I have a veritable feast of them, some over ten feet tall. Me, the birds, and insects are happy.

Let them eat cake!

If you are an American and somehow think it's okay to gut food stamps as the majority of the Republican House just voted to do, you really ought to get more informed on who receives such aid and why they need it. 

 Food stamps avoided by millions.

The argument the House rightie leaders had was most Americans want to work not accept help. Wow, what geniuses. Seriously they said that. So what are their programs to get more jobs? Nada. Absolutely no programs. The only thing I hear from them is something geared to give more profit and less taxes for the richest Americans.If anybody ever thought that would help, the years since Reagan have proven the lie of it.

Let them eat cake

It's hard to comprehend their rhetoric or to understand how people like this keep getting elected by Americans in any state. Yes, there has been fraud in food stamps but it's not by the poorest. It's by the richer element who have found a way to bilk the system like the grocery store owner recently charged. This is the kind of person who doesn't mind stealing from the poor to enrich their own coffers-- which is what they are doing by such cheating. It's not the norm and besides if it was, fix that, don't punish the children in poor families, who get most of the aid.

The truth of low incomes and why people end up needing something like food stamps is hardly anything a rightie cares about. The fact that the wealthiest Americans keep getting richer while the middle stays where it was and the poor get poorer, none of that matters to the kind of people who pay no attention to facts but want to justify their own greed. Those House Representatives know which side their bread (of which they have plenty) is buttered on. The irony is many who vote for this kind of leader are often poor themselves but they have been duped into voting against their own best interests by clever ads and people like the Koch brothers for whom there will never be enough money.

The solution by the right to inequality? They just voted on it-- take away more from the poor. It is enough to make any caring person cry.

Frankly, I don't know who Americans are; but if 2014 doesn't see the type of elected officials who did this get thrown out of office, if they continue to vote for leaders who are only there to help the rich, I can tell you one thing they are not-- Christians in words or action.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me..."  Matthew 25:35

what does the fox say?

After a summer of the foxes, I came across this on Facebook and loved it. Come on, we all need something to make us feel good. Check it out.

Actually we do know what the fox says:

Creativity

It's funny how one generation thinks the ones coming up are so terrible-- but their own generation, now that was totally cool. So when I came across this link, it brought forth all kinds of thoughts. Yes, I am paying attention to what the current generation is hearing and who they admire. Hey, I got grandkids!

Doo-wop 'We can't stop': behind the ridiculously good Miley Cyrus cover

Listen to that first song if nothing else as you read the article because it's about innovation. It's about taking something and putting something new with it to make it your own.

My mom was a musician in the 30s. She traveled a lot with all girl bands where Mama played bass (sang it too in the trio) was a fact. She learned a lot in the world of musicians that she passed onto me. Many things, like gays, discrimination, abortion, I heard about in my own home in the years when that was not exactly the norm. Mom also used to talk about the silly songs of her day; so it's not like silly songs are unique to today. I have a blog coming up with the foxes song which I love. Silly though? You bet! Who cares?

The problem with being different, creative or first to do something is it becomes horrid to the ones who came before and went through a different kind of different.  Now I have to admit that when I see Miley Cyrus doing her act, I also am a little-- oh my gawd (actually I don't say that but it's what I am feeling). I am asking is this girl in control of herself? Is she being exploited? Will she make it through these years better than many who have publicly gone before her? And role model for younger girls? Nope.

Why does Miley Cyrus matter? Well it would to you if you had a 15 year old granddaughter (who used to admire Cyrus when she was Hannah Montana), a girl dear to my heart, part of my heart, who is about to navigate the same waters. Yep, you'd be caring then.

So I saw the latest Cyrus video which has been so sensationalized by the media with single shots of her nude body. I heard the song before I saw the video and frankly as with We can't stop, it's a good song-- Wrecking Ball. She didn't write it but she sure put her stamp on it.

I won't put a link to the video here because some would find what I see as artistic as instead horrifying. We live in a culture where any nudity is regarded as porn. If you want to see it and haven't, skip the single images and do a Google search and choose the link on Vevo. Personally I think it's a pretty good account of how we can go wrong in a relationship-- not to mention catchy melody. I know. I know. I'm supposed to be horrified. The polls are full of how Americans view her now and it's not flattering! Do I see it differently because I am a creative person? Maybe.

The thing is when kids grow up, they will try to find a new way. That's the way it's always been. If you raised your kids and they never rebelled, they either haven't done it yet (and are saving it up for a mid-life crises) or you never knew when they did it. My daughter has said the goal is to find a way to let them rebel that doesn't hurt them badly. So you have to leave some room for that to happen-- which means parents have to disapprove and wag their fingers at something or how the heck does a kid rebel?

Where it comes to creativity the rebellion can come through music or doing something like no punctuation in writing. To me that was not good in the books that did it, but it's one way. It can come through rejecting all the values of those who came before or finding instead what you like and putting your own twist to it. You could say 1984 is a book about rebellion by illustrating what the author thought about his culture and what was coming.

At any age, we are going to be rebelling if we are creating-- even if it's only against what we did last time. Gotta find new ways. That's the nature of creativity-- otherwise, it's craft. Creativity is, like discovery, a kind of violent process.

I feel for these kids who grew up as Cyrus did in the eye of the public, stars before they know what that means. It takes a lot for them to navigate that. A few do it well but they usually weren't huge phenomena before they understood what that really meant-- as in flavor of the month.

If they make it past it, it's because they found some core values within themselves-- values they can live with and that protect them. It's what my granddaughter has to do. What I had to do. What we all have to do. Hopefully we find values that are real to us, not just taken from someone else. I think this is true in creative rebellion. It has to have some core values or it's gibberish. The songs Cyrus has chosen to put on her album (so far) are not gibberish. They are speaking to what's going on. Her method of selling them seems sad and more a statement on our culture than of a girl trying to find her way through it.

And some of her music like We Can't Stop is informative if nothing else. I didn't even know what molly was until I heard it discussed in connection to that song. Chuck Barry though sang similarly back in my youth and many of us had no idea what he was singing about-- well some knew.

Where it comes to the drug ecstasy, because of the song I not only know what it is, had a discussion with my son about what it was to his generation (he's in his 40s), but also know the warnings regarding its safer use-- which adults around teens better make sure they are telling them because if you can stop their drug use, great, good for you. I am no fan of using hallucinogenics to create-- but like with sex, if you can't, then teach them to be responsible!

It's funny as each young generation thinks the older ones don't understand. Don't get it. I've been told Cyrus' music is not meant for someone in any older generation to get. Well if we already went through those years, we might 'get' it more than they think! And as for Wrecking Ball-- if we have ever loved that way, we will still 'get it' and can relate to both the frustration and those tears.

I don't know how creative Miley Cyrus really is. How much of what she does is being directed by someone else? Does she write any of her music although it takes a level of creativity to interpret music even by someone else (unless that is also being done for her). If she was writing her own music, I think it would help her future. But the bigger question is what is she creating with her life right now-- that is so critical to a young person as they become their own person-- or not.

Of all the things we will create-- for any of us artist or not-- the most important is our own life. We should be the ultimate creators of it-- the question is what are we making of it. Rebelling for the sake of rebelling gets us nowhere. Building that life is the most important thing we will teach to the generations coming after us, and that we are creating our own lives is still true at 70-- if ya didn't know it!

love of a land

There are writers who set their books in imaginary settings or places they've never been. But I like to write about those places I've spent considerable time.

Ironically I've only actually written three books set in Arizona despite my many weeks and months spent there since 1965 when I first lived in Tucson. It has an interesting history, and its beauty is throughout the state which explains the many movies filmed there.

Rather than try to explain what seems beyond explaining to me, I thought I'd share a few of the photos that illustrate a bit of why I love that beautiful, sometimes mystical land so much. These are all from southern Arizona which is where my books are set. I won't be there at all this year-- except in my memories and through my books.

If I haven't already convinced you of the wonders of Southern Arizona, take a peek at the video I created last year. I am feeling a real yen to be there at least in spirit...