"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 28~ Red Sky At Night,

Sailor's Delight.  Red Sky at Morning; Sailors, Take Warning.   My "whole life" (i.e. before age 22 when I moved to Tucson, AZ)  I actually thought that was real advice having to do with sailing. (P.S. Sailing also feels real when you live other places than Tucson, AZ :) )   Turns out, this expression has to do with weather.

Red sky at night in Arizona means nothing but HOT and (hot) clear days ahead.  In any event, I felt SO lucky to be in Vail, AZ doing a senior shoot when this sunset occurred.

28th day of over 100 temps in Tucson.  Tomorrow's predicted high?  114 degrees.  Last time we hit 100 degrees this many days in a row in June?  Never.  Record. Breaking.  Just ask my favorite weatherman @jeffbeamish and I am sure my photo project is not to blame.  Really.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 27 ~ Desert Death

It's so hot here these days, I am unsure how anything is living (especially without air conditioning).  Guess this guy didn't make it.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 26 ~ Puppy Lick = Puppy Love

Straight off pinterest.  Freeze dog treats (and, for bigger dogs, toys, etc..) in a tupperware container and, voila, summer fun! (BTW, they each had one, but I am not sure they realize they are two different dogs so they constantly share).

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" was tweeted! Tweet!

Jeff Beamish is a local weatherman (weatherperson?)  (meteorologist?)  (There is so much in life I have left to learn...)  Thanks Jeff!!!

This is awesome! A local photographer is doing a photoblog for each day we hit 100° in #Tucson. Check it out: http://t.co/15YJgMIQbj #KVOAwx
— Jeff Beamish (@jeffbeamish) June 26, 2013

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 25~ Hula Hoop

A shaded backyard???  Yes, please...

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 24~ Dust Devils

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 23~ Decreasing Elevation=Increasing Temperature

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 22 ~ Webb's Peak

Me and mine got the frick out of Dodge this weekend searching for cooler weather at higher altitudes. 4 hours and a windy mountain road (the last 15 miles of it dirt) later, we found both.  Camping on Mt Graham is divine (and cold 42 degrees at night!).  I cold barely force myself to pack socks but I was really glad I did... This was the result of an early evening hike to Webb's Peak at 10,029 feet.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 21 ~ Happy "first" day of summer!

Baby Guiliana sneak peek...no words needed.  <3

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 20~ Palm Tree?

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 19~ Too hot for horses

Yes, I am 40 and yes, I get an annual mammo which happens to be right by the Rillito Downs.  Damn, it's depressing this time of year (not that I've been there any other time of year).  The desolation.  The desert.  The heat.  It just screamed "take my picture"  Thank goodness there were no poor, hot horses in sight.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 18~At the...

Can you guess?  Is it rain?  Is it the fallout from a waterballoon fight?  Or am I just getting my car washed at the best local car wash in Tucson-- owned by Mike Monroe-- I refuse to get my car washed anywhere else (and as a result it often gets quite dirty b/c of my lazy self).  Part of the carwash proceeds are donated to the Community Food Bank and he has a running total of how many meals the car wash has donated.

In this heat, I like to get out of my air conditioned bubble as little as possible (Sorry all conservationists, I will waste gas to get to a drive-thru Starbucks June-Oct only).  Mike's carwash has an automatic that you drive into, wait a few minutes while it does its stuff, and then drive out.  Perfect!   I stopped there today and got the $7 Deluxe Wash.  Here's the view from inside the car during the wash.  (I didn't take a picture of the 4 kids in the back seat, you're welcome).  It's worth every penny and takes minutes.

Disclaimer:  This post is totally biased as Mike is my kids' dad and an all around great person!!!

"100 Degrees until Halloween" Day 17~ Skeleton Tomato

This is one of the poor tomatoes from our desert garden.  It's the first time Lonnie or I have attempted vegetable gardening and even though this looks ugly, it tastes delicious.  My friend Becca read, just this weekend, that cracks in tomatoes indicate wet soil followed by dry soil...no big surprise that THAT would happen.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 16 ~ Someone Got a T-Rex for Father's Day!!!

Everyone needs a metal T-Rex for their yard.  When it's 104 degrees out.  This will be filed under "As Seen in Tucson"

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 15 ~ Aspens

Every Tucsonan knows an easy way to escape the heat.  Drive the 45 minutes up to Mt. Lemon.  We did that yesterday.  The temps drop 20 degrees, shade is plentiful, and we even got a rain storm!  It was a lovely pre-Father's Day activity.  The best part on the hike we did was listening to the aspen leaves rustle.  Nathan's friend, Ben, said it sounded like a river (wishful thinking)...but he was right, it did.   The hardest part about Mt. Lemon?  Driving back down into the heat....

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 14~ Sun Tea

My post was going to be all about sun tea (and how I can make it in 10 minutes at 4:00 in the afternoon).  Instead, I could not resist Ivy, basking in the 104 degree heat (and she stayed there longer than it took to make the sun tea).  Luckily, she's cute, so she has THAT going for her...

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 13~ Baby Owl

Wow.  Our friends have baby owls hanging out in their backyard.  I was inching my way towards this "little" owl and it was just blinking its HUGE eyes at me.  No photoshopping was done to this picture....honest.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 12 ~ Dog with Ice Cube

Unless you know our dumb little black dogs, you might not get this picture.  An ice cube inadvertently dropped to the floor and Buttons (the less dumb of the two dumb dogs) picked it up and brought it to a "safe" spot and proceeded to try to rub his back on the ice cube.  A sure sign of the heat.  A sure sign of their less than stellar brain ability?  They lay in the bright sun.  And they have black fur.  And it's 107 degrees out.  Photo to come sometime before Halloween.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 11~ Not a Cloud in the Sky. Not until July.

That is all I have to say, on Day 11 of over 100 degrees heat and nothing else in sight....

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 10~ Covered Parking

Never, never, never.... underestimate the value of covered parking.  It reduces the heat inside the car by like...5 degrees?  (This photo project is making me realize how un-scientific I am).  No surprise to my A.P. Physics teacher, Mr. Christianson. (I scored the lowest score on the A.P. test of any of his students...ever)

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 9~ Saviour Gnome.

I guess the lesson here is, whilst amidst this summer photography project, don't invite me over unless you are willing to have a picture taken...today's pic comes courtesy of my friend Sarah.  It was her turn to host book club (in case you are wondering we "read" The Wind-Up Girl, our theme this year is "dystopia") and this is her sits-out-in-the-hot-sun-all-year-round gnome.  I can only assume it was his idea to add the "safety ladders" (as seen in the background) that saves both birds and lizards from drowning in their pool.  Ingenious!  (Really, it is Sarah and her husband, Nathan that are the smart ones...the gnome should get no credit).  But I am a bit gnome fascinated lately...Happy Sunday!  It's fricking hot and getting hotter (108 predicted for this week).  And, oh, it's only Day NINE!!!!!!!!!!

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 8~ Dogpile

Last baseball picture of the summer...really.  My son's team (wisely he is on the TOP of the dogpile) won their Little League championships last night.  It's been a fun (and nerve wracking season).  Think we are all glad it's over!  Luckily, it was another 7 pm game so no misting bottles or rotating seats as the sun moved to stay out of its glare required.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 7 ~Hot Pond

A pond! In Tucson!  When it's 106 degrees.

It looks unhappy.

Vineyard Love~ March 2013

In March of this year I was invited on what I considered a photojournalistic opportunity of a lifetime.  I flew from Tucson to Santiago, Chile and was driven to the Casablanca Valley.  Included on this Chilean land is a working dairy farm and a family run vineyard.  My mission was to embed myself in the vineyard and winery and take pictures (Mission Accepted, thank you!!!)

I think back on that week I spent in Chile with such a warm blessed feeling in my heart, such a sense of all was right with my world.  A week where my only job was to take pictures and capture the sense of a place...it was glorious. I haven't shared many of those pictures....not sure why...but today I received word that one of them is being used in Wine Spectator!

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/48527#.UbDY5KaWvJo.twitter

Thank you so much, Kingston family for this experience.  I LOVED IT!

(Oh, and by the way, their wine is delicious, lots of experts agree...my favorite is the Bayo Oscuro Syrah)

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 6~ Sign Spinner

 At noon?  On Grant Road?  In LONG sleeves?

Oh no, that is someone's nifty creation.  A pretend sign spinner!  It's too hot for a real person to have that job...

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 5~ Baseball Playoffs

I know, I know, summer means baseball....but here, baseball is serious cruelty for these poor hot little leaguers (and parents) UNLESS the game is at 7pm and then it's just plain gorgeous....

This is my son sliding home and, as a totally unbiased person, he looks awesome.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 4~ A Tall Glass of Water

Maybe I am reaching here, but yesterday I thought "my picture today will be my sweaty cosmopolitan glass as I sit on the back porch enjoying a cocktail."  So, I shake one up and sit outside listening to the radio and waiting for the condensation to occur.  Nothing.  Nada.  Nichevo.  So, I do an experiment-- take a picture of an ice-filled glass of water every 5 minutes and see what occurs.  No condensation!  It is too stinkin' dry and hot here for condensation to occur (or it evaporates that quickly?).  I don't actually know the answer, I just know, it's hot.

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 3~ Lavender Shadow

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" The idea

Starting a new project to get me through this summer entitled "100 degrees until Halloween"

I plan on photographing the desert summer and all that entails-- from "icebreak" (when it hits 100 degrees for the first time in Tucson) through Halloween (when I think it finally STOPS being 100 degrees every day). 

A picture a day. 

I posted the above on Facebook May 31st and thought I should catch my blog up.  It's been two days so far and I hope the images will, as a collective, tell more of a story than each individual picture.  I think a lot about what image I can take today that will show how freaking hot it is here...stinkin' "dry heat"  

"100 Degrees to Halloween" Day 2~Mist...

"100 Degrees Until Halloween" Day 1~fan