A ride through town

In the late afternoon today I rode down to epic café to be around people and have some tea. I'd gotten a letter in the mail from a friend and brought that with me to read over tea. I snapped some photos as I made my way to epic. After hanging out a while and reading and chatting with a couple of café friends, I rode over to Chi & Rodd's place to see if Chi was home. It was now about 6:30. Chi was just heading out to epic on her bicycle, so back I went. We talked for about three hours, then I rode home in the cool dark Tucson night (my temperature widget says it is 88ºF/31.1ºC).

There is a stretch of road somewhere between the Campbell & Prince intersection and the Prince/Tucson Blvd intersection, that always smells sweetly of hay and horse manure on my ride home. It's quiet in the rillito area at night, and dark. When the sky is clear, I cannot help but look up at the zillions of stars--even while riding my bike. Tonight there were long stretchy clouds and the faintest sliver of a waxing crescent moon in the west.

Here are some photos from my journey today.








These cacti are growing along the bike path. Prickly pear, cholla, a baby saguaro, and a mesquite tree.



























The lizard and prickly pear decorate an adobe wall surrounding a house.





































I took this while riding. The camera was in my right hand.















There are still many fruit on these prickly pear that grow beside the bike path.












This entry way is in front of a house in the Sam Hughes neighborhood.


















It's a rare pleasure to read a paper letter these days. That's my table at epic with the hibiscus tea I drank, the seed cookie I ate, and the handwritten letter I read.












The scene tonight at epic café -- around 6pm.







On my way to Chi's, I asked this man if I could take his picture. He is from the art gallery/tatoo shop down the street from epic on 4th Av.
















Heading west now, the sky looked like this for a moment. Then it changed.










This is a top corner of the ramada which protect the many bicycles at the Lancaster household.





















The rooster in the Lancaster yard with the tiny crescent moon above it.