Winter solstice. Day-hike. Romero Canyon.

I hope this entry will not come across as obnoxious. What I mean is, I hope no one in more northerly climes will read this and think, "oh here we go--another one of those people in Tucson who just loves to remind the rest of us how wonderful their 'winter' is, all sun and golf, while the rest of us are shoveling snow..."

First of all, I don't golf. And while it is true that some here engage in mean-spirited winter-weather-schadenfreude, I am not one of them. My wife and I have been hearing from friends and family up in Washington state, for instance, in the last few days--all the snow! How fun it would be to be holed up in a cozy house with friends and family, drinking hot chocolate, and then going sledding or even doing some urban-snow-shoeing down to the corner coffee-shop...

Instead, on this first day of winter, the shortest day of the year, I went on a 12-mile-hike with a friend. No, it was not 'warm.' In fact, when I went to pick up my friend, his backyard thermometer read 29 degrees. And when we started on the trail, there was frost...But, yes, there was sun. (And, okay, yes, by the afternoon, it was in the 60's...)

So, tonight's entry then--some photos from Romero Canyon, just north of Tucson in the heart of the Santa Catalina mountains. This is in in the spirit of 'sending a postcard,' wanting to share the scenery...
...a bit of 'Arizona dreaming on a winter day'...

The cottonwoods in southern Arizona are hitting their peak autumn colors--on this, the first official day of winter...In the desert, cottonwoods only occur along ceekbeds or riverbanks.

This trail in particular has lots of hiker-built cairns to guide the way...

...crossing Romero creek, which runs almost year-round, except during drought-years...

The 'Romero pools' are a popular hiking spot in the summer--one of the few natural swimming areas in Tucson...

The trail continues switchbacking across the creek for 7 miles into the heart of the mountains, leading up to a 6000-ft. pass. With the early sunset on this, the shortest day of the year, however, just one mile away, we had to turn back; we wanted to avoid scrambling down steep cactus-studded slopes in the dark...so we'll have to go back when the days get longer...

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And tonight's flora-minutiae.

The nights haven't been cold enough yet to wither the bougainvillea, so when my mother comes to visit us in a couple of days, she'll be able to enjoy the blooms. The neighborhood grapefruit trees are heavy with ruby-reds; So this was yesterday morning's front-patio breakfast:

Okay, so maybe I am 'bragging' just a little bit about winter in Tucson. No--not 'bragging,' but just 'appreciating!'

It's still a novelty for us, to be citrus locavores sitting on a sunny patio in late December!

Encouragement. We're encouraging our friends and family to come visit. Come and pick your own oranges, lemons, or grapefruits. Come, go for a hike and get a winter-tan.

A hiatus from the snow. Tucson dreaming...

(And it's supposed to be cold and rainy on Tuesday, by the way.

Be thinking of us, then...)