June and July in Arizona, summer 2022

After returning from Spain, I spent time helping Megan with Piper.  On one of my walks with Piper I took these photos of some of the local artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Walking home from a medical appointment, I found this operation behind the local Whole Foods store.

I had many walks with Piper, this one at Steele Indian Park.

One of my walks in Flagstaff involved going south on Lone Tree, then east on JW Powell Boulevard.  That took me through the new construction, then through the woods to the Duck Pond where I saw many red wing blackbirds, ducks and even a blue heron on top of a tree watching over it all (for some unknown technical reason, the next six photos posted in reverse chronological order).

We celebrated Megan's birthday.

 

 

 

Piper loves being in Flagstaff, not only because of the cooler temps, but also because of the variety of animal life not seen in Phoenix.  Here she is trying to dig up a squirrel.

 

And here she is enjoying her time in the mountains of Flagstaff.

The weekend of July 4th, Flagstaff holds Art in the Park, so after visiting the Farmers Market, I checked out the many artists and artisans, and their wares.

Piper gets worn out on her many walks with me.  We got a second bed for her so there is a bed downstairs in the living room and another upstairs in the bedroom.  And she just loves going up and down the carpeted stairs.

We have to cover the bottom third of the door as when Piper can see out and see what/who is on the street, she can get overly excited.

But just sitting and relaxing with family is best.

One Thursday, Richard and I explored the Citizens Cemetery on the east side of the NAU campus.  Among other things, there is a memorial to the people who died on June 30, 1956, when a United Airlines and a TWA plane collided over the Grand Canyon, killing all 128 people on both planes.

There is also a nice memorial to veterans.

On another walk through the new construction, the newly paved streets were torn up before the development got started.

I celebrated another birthday with a new cup from my sister: I smile because you my brother, I laugh because there is nothing you can do about it.

While out hiking, Richard and I came across these signs that were worth a photo.

While walking on JW Powell Boulevard, we discovered the monument plant, a monocarpic plant that like agave (or century plants) grows for several years, then blooms once and dies.

On another walk, some colorful flowers - I believe they are called Mexican hat flowers

One day, Patty, Piper and I hiked out to where the Flagstaff airport VOR is - you can barely see it but it is on the horizon in the distance.

Here it is expanded from the photo above - a bit blurry but a better idea of the facility built to provide navigational information to planes near the airport.  In radio navigation, a VOR/DME is a radio beacon that combines a VHF omnidirectional range with a distance-measuring equipment. The VOR allows the receiver to measure its bearing to or from the beacon, while the DME provides the slant distance between the receiver and the station.

 On an early morning walk, Piper and I encountered a deer at a nearby construction site.

Needless to say, Piper got very excited - I believe this is the first time she saw a deer.  While she gets excited about squirrels, she gets very excited about deer.

 

Piper wants to be with her people.  One day when Patty was cleaning the car, Piper thought we were going to leave her - so she made sure she would go with us - even if it is not in the back seat where she normally rides.

As July ends, we are enjoying having Piper in Flagstaff, and she enjoys being here with us.  She misses seeing Megan every day, but all three of us enjoy when Megan joins in Flagstaff.