From Lelly - "our routines can seem out-of-whack in the summer and it's more important than ever that we funnel our energy into the hearts of our families. not so easy to do when there are more snacks to prepare, more laundry to do, more trips to the store/movies/museums/gas station... we must strike a balance between pool time, library time, travel time and quiet time!! to help channel our personal chi, let's take time this month to focus on the 5 elements of summer: sun, water, shade, grass and ice cream!!
these can be as easy or as challenging as you want them to be...just get out there and take some pictures!!"
- july 1 - sun
- july 8 - water
- july 15 - shade
- july 22 - grass
- july 29 - ice cream
I am always amazed by the amount of water around us considering we live in the middle of the desert.
Every other backyard has a swimming pool. (ok - most are bigger than this!)
New neighborhoods being built with big water features at the entrances.
Grass being watered and not used for anything.
The usually dry Salt River has been turned into Tempe Town Lake with a marina.
I wonder how long a desert can sustain such an unnatural lifestyle.
This weekend we were up in the mountains and we were able to enjoy water a different way - where it is suppose to be naturally.
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i love your spt this week!
ReplyDeletei often wonder about the irresponsible use of water in community planning. okay, the water features look nice, but... for instance, we have neighborhood nearby which hasn't been able to run their waterfalls in over a year. and i'll tell ya, the entrance is kind of an eyesore without the water.
Beautiful mountain scenery! And Tempe has a marina...who knew?!
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of water for the desert. We have big water restrictions around here. New houses can't even have grass in the front yards.
ReplyDeleteThat is a lot of water. This year we have had a lot of rain, so the water features are running and we can water grass. But for the year before, we were not allowd to water the grass and no water in those beautiful waterfalls outside of big subdivisions. Very interesting. Love the mountains!
ReplyDeleteWow what gorgeous pictures of the mountains! makes me want to go.
ReplyDeleteWhat beautiful pics from the high country! I love all your kiddos squished into that tiny pool...too funny!
ReplyDeleteI curse under my breath everytime I drive over Tempe Town Lake...it is pretty...but really?
When we lived in Tempe it was still a dry bed. It is much prettier now though!
ReplyDeleteWe had a pool like that too. It cracked me up seeing a+ll 4 kids trying- to get in it. I want a pool so bad. But it would have to be a spool & that is just no fun...Need a bigger backyard!
ReplyDeleteI grew up with your Aunt... That is so funny. My maiden name is Brenda Gibson. I saw her at the temple last year sometime? Her daughter is about 3 yrs older then me, I think?
ReplyDeleteMy sunburn is SOOOO much worse, I can't even tell you how bad it hurts.
I am amazed the valley is still practicing such water abuse. we have sooo many water restrictions here in vegas. if you have the money tho, your um.... overlooked.. i.e. bellagio fountains
ReplyDeleteaz is sooo beautiful!!
I am so grateful everytime I look in my back yard to see the amazing Snake River, and green grass. The River is our little valley's life blood. So many farmers use it to grow the crops that we need to survive. I watch as more and more farmers stop planting because of other cost ...and I worry...With the river in our back yard our well is just a surface well (city dewellers may not know what that is...we have our own water source no "city" water lines) We grow a large garden (living in a farming community were you see more and more farmers not planting you realise the importance of having a food supply, we water our lawn and our home water all comes from that little well. I always hope that we are using our water responsibly so that we are not ever in the situation of having water restrictions.
ReplyDeleteWHEW...guess I need to have a water hugging moment...
Niece
Ok- Wait a minute. Do you know the Crabb family too? I know Mike from teenage years. He worked for my brother forever at my brothers video store. It's funny the people you know connect us..
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a yard with a great water feature incorporated in it. We're lucky here to be able to have grass because that wasn't the case when we lived in New Mexico!
ReplyDeleteYour Arizona perspective on this is interesting. I'm kind of surprised by the green, green grass not being used for anything. I would think the city would choose landscaping that didn't need water. Hmmm?
ReplyDeleteI often wonder the same thing too. We lived in the desert for years and it was so difficult in the summers to ration your water use and then see it being used rather irresponsibly. By the city.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter goes to ASU...I always smile when I see Tempe Town Lake!
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