Still more from Sunday’s saguaro sunset, Mica View / Cactus Forest Trail loop.

More from Sunday’s sunset walk on the Mica View / Cactus Forest Trail loop. #TucsonSunsets #Saguaros

One more visit to Mica View Trail before it closes for repairs, except I didn’t see the notice today. Was I unobservant or is the closure postponed? I followed the trail to Cactus Forest Trail, which I took back to Broadway Trailhead. Which gives us a different set of saguaros to photograph!

Saturday sunset on Mica View Trail. One more day before it closes for repairs/renovations. #saguaros #TucsonSunsets

Mica View Trail, the most accessible, dog-friendly trail in Saguaro National Park East, closes January 5th - March 7th “for repairs.” Broadway Trailhead remains open for using Cactus Forest Trail & Shantz Trail. What repairs are planned is unclear, but benches along the trail have been disassembled.

Apple Butt has had a rough couple of days. She is lethargic, gassy, yelping or whining intermittently, often refusing food or treats, and clearly in pain in a way that’s hard to pin down. The vet says she’s stiff and her back is hurting but we don’t know exactly where or why. 1/2

Following a rainbow 🌈 on New Year’s Day. #TucsonWeather

Year-end scorecard, 4/10/25 to 12/31/25: 86 pounds lost. Mobility & stamina much improved. I hope to be 100 pounds down by February, and 125 pounds down by late April, so I can get knee replacement surgery. Getting 120+ minutes of exercise most days, and logging food. So far so good. Keep going!

I’m not a big fireworks fan, especially not tonight after comforting Apple Butt through hours of amateur fireworks. I did want to see fireworks on my recent trip to Disneyland, but my knee hurt too much to stand around any longer. So I went to catch a shuttle - and saw the fireworks from there.

Monday afternoon clouds over Park Place Mall.

More saguaros on Sunday on Shantz Trail.

Sunday on Shantz Trail, #saguaronationalpark.

Saturday sunset at Mica View Trail. #saguaro #tucsonsunsets

Santa and the dogs. Santa spoke not a word, and may have been a woman. Apple Butt wouldn’t stand still until the photographer (using my phone) got the dogs’ attention with a squeaky toy.

More neighborhood Christmas lights 2025.

The gym is closed on Christmas, and I didn’t get enough exercise to make up for the 1 piece of chocolate and ham I had today. But I did get out to Pantano River Park for a 1.5 mile walk. Better than nothing! And why did someone give me fudge for Christmas?

Christmas Eve at Casa Blocher. I initially set up the tree (which we bought last year), but could not figure out the preinstalled lights. John fixed it while I was at mass. John expected a disastrous Christmas but felt better once the tree was up and his main gift for me was finally delivered.

Disneyland, 12/11. My knees were giving out and my watch battery died. Around 9:30 I went to wait for the shuttle that would take me near my hotel, and got a partly blocked view of the fireworks. When the bus arrived, the driver tried to seat children first. Then she looked at me and said, “Get on.”

Scenes from the Tapestry of Happiness projection show on the front of It’s a Small World. I love watching for the Sherman Brothers, the “Remember Me” sequence of defunct rides, and legendary artist Mary Blair.

I hadn’t been on Peter Pan’s Flight in years but I waited out the 40 minutes to get on it during my recent trip. What’s great about this attraction? The mini pirate ship vehicles hang from the ceiling, providing a unique point of view, and the flight over London and on to Never Land just so pretty!

I have some work to do! I only give presents to a handful of people and two dogs, and some of the gifts are flat plastic rectangles. Yet somehow, including rerun gift wrap, I’ve got all this! I’ve just hauled it all to my office at church to organize it and start the wrapping process.

I hoped to catch the tail end of the Disneyland Christmas parade upon exiting Small World, but crowds were everywhere and traffic was directed away from it. I managed to see one float for about a second. Worth it.

Inside It’s a Small World Holiday.

In line for It’s a Small World Holiday, 12/11/2025.

One of the Christmas shows I saw on my one-day Disneyland/DCA visit was “Mirabel’s Gifts of the Season” at Disney’s California Adventure. It was a lot of fun, with well-cast performers and most of the songs from Encanto. I’m a little overwhelmed right now so I haven’t done any photo editing here.

Toy soldier drummers at Disney’s California Adventure Park. Still photos can’t convey how great they were.

Have you experienced “snoap?” The fake snow that falls on Disneyland’s Main Street USA this time of year seems kind of magical, falling on warm California evenings and leaving behind no slushy puddles. It’s accompanied by projections on the castle and storefronts and an audio vignette.

The Jungle Cruise, Part One. Years ago, I went on a Christmas version, the Jingle Cruise, but my photos were terrible. I kind of like the fact that in this week’s shots, my fellow passengers were frequently looking the other way when animatronic animals turned up behind them.

This evening I imported over 900 photos into one of my photo editors, all taken Wednesday through Saturday this week. Obviously that’s way too many to process and curate for posting in a day or two. Here’s just a small selection from just Thursday morning at Disneyland.

Sunset at Alpine Vista Point off I-8, between Alpine and the Buckman Springs Rest Area. No edits.

A smattering of Disneyland by day, 12/11/2025. No edits yet. Great day. Tell you about it later.

I’ve made it to my Anaheim hotel. For the price I paid, I didn’t expect luxury, and I’m not disappointed. The room is clean & pleasant, with fridge, microwave, free WiFi, and an impressive walk-in shower. The place even has a colorful mid-mod vibe - & I heard music by Sinatra & Prima poolside.

Flashback to a few gloriously extreme Tucson Christmas displays, December 2021.

More neighborhood Christmas lights.

Christmas lights this evening on Calle Mumble. I love the display of mythical beasts at Christmas (or whenever!).

"Santo Pollero", a new screenprint from Carlos Barberena is in the shop today! justseeds.org/product/sant...

My only photos today are of our new microwave oven. The old one rudely died a week before Thanksgiving.

Four years ago today, we were driving to California, specifically Disneyland. Okay, technically, John was driving. I was taking pictures. These are from I-10 between Quartzsite and Cabezon.

Dusk at Fifth and Wilmot, Tucson.

My last Christmas season visit to Disneyland was in early December 2021. We were just starting to emerge from COVID, still wearing masks. My pictures from that time show a relatively subdued holiday vibe. I expect to see something very different next week!

More saguaro 🌵 photos from my Thanksgiving Day hike.

I’m going to Disneyland! I’ve been watching Disneyland videos and wishing I could get there this Christmas season. Finally I mentioned it to John. He’s not pleased, but he’s not trying to stop me. 1/2

Saturday dusk.

Not remembering the real distances from 2020-21 when I was hiking nearly every day, I estimated my planned Thanksgiving afternoon hike (Mica View to Cactus Forest Drive and back via Shantz Trail) at about 2 miles. It was 2.76 miles. No regrets! I could not have walked this far 6 months ago.

On Thanksgiving I didn’t get to the gym for the first time in months, because their shorten hours conflicted with the church service & potluck. I did my best to make up for it with a hike at Saguaro National park: 2.76 miles from Broadway Trailhead to Cactus Forest Drive, and back via Shantz Trail.

John and I have a holiday compact: I cook Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner, not both. The other holiday we eat out, or buy take out, or maybe get a heat and serve deal. But last year we got a Beef Wellington meal from Whole Foods and I ruined our oven spilling creamed spinach. So… 1/3 🧵

More from Sunday on Mica View Trail. #saguaros #TucsonSunsets

Another Target sunset.

Sunday sunset on Mica View Trail. #TucsonSunsets #saguaros

It rained pretty much all day here in Tucson on Saturday. Is that why my knees hurt so much, or is it the result of all my exercise, as careful as I am? John teased me about my “rumatiz.” The solid overcast onditions weren’t good for photos but I tried to capture the rain splashing in the birdbath.