crazy weather!

Doesn´t it seem strange - you can even drown in the desert! And the next day it seems like a weird dream - it´s hot, dry and sunny again!

unstoppable monsoon

Originally, we planned to visit the Botanical Gardens, but the streets were so flooded, that we couldn´t get through for two hours. But we had a lot of fun experiencing this extreme desert weather.

Farmer´s market

On Saturday morning Hilary, my mother and me went on a bike ride to Palomino Plaza´s farmer´s market.

grrrrrmpf!

Har har! Milli, hier siehst Du exklusiv und unverbind-lich Deine neue Wrestling-barbie - äh, Ken, mein´ ich natürlich. Ist er nicht herzaller-liebst, der Plaste-tarzan? Nele und Nina: nur nicht traurig sein, ich finde bestimmt auch den passenden Muskelmann fuer Euch!

after the rain

We drove down 4th Avenue when the sky opened suddenly and produced this gorgeous rainbow right above us.

Dead of the week 9 - sparrow

This little sparrow was found by Mike in front of the Microbio- & Vet- Department. It probably flew too fast and couldn't turn in time. Sad.

Little bird
missed the curve
smashed the wall
that is all

Schlammschlacht

Our feet after we managed to cross the flooded street...

monsoon mudbath

On our bikeride on Monday evening we had to cross a street which crossed the (usually dry) Rialto riverbed and has now been flooded by the monsoon rains . These kids thought it was a lot of fun to take baths in the muddy water.

monsoon

Impressive thunderstorms escorted us home to Tucson. You should have seen the gorgeous lightnings!!!

caught a cat

Dieser schnuffige Kater hat uns beim improvisier-ten Abendessen auf nem exklusiven Bergbalkon besucht. Nachdem ich ihm nen Kartoffel-chip gegeben hab, hat er sich anstandslos kraulen lassen. So sinse, die Katers:)

panta rhei

As you can see, time goes slow in Bisbee. We took a little hike, sat down in a nice coffee shop, petted some pugs which wanted to eat up my blue potatoe chips and spent some time recovering from the eventful day.

Bisbee is pretty

After all the fake cowboys and gunfights in Tombstone we really enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere of Bisbee. In addition, it's always a little cooler in Bisbee than in Tombstone or Tucson, because it is built in higher elevation in the mountains.

Wasser!!!

Ich glaube, dass der Hut Mr. Barber pfadfinde-rische Faehigkei-ten verliehen hat. Er hat naemlich nicht nur nen Pfad, sondern auch Wasser gefunden. Vielleicht sollte ich ihn aus Dankbarkeit heute nicht mehr aergern. Sehr edel von mir, finde ich. Nennt man Wasserfinder eigentlich Aquoseismer? Is ja nur sone Frage...

Bisbee

Since Phoenix and Tucson have their "A" mountains, Bisbee has a "B" mountain. Mr. Barber findets maupfe.

two chinese

Shit happens.
Poem by me:

Bye bye
time to die
don't be sad
you are dead.

Leichen ueberall

Ich will's ja gar nicht abstreiten. Ja, ich habe eine gewisse Schwaeche fuer Tote. Muss ich deshalb in Therapie? Nee, lieber auf'n Friedhof! Auf dem Boothill Graveyard gibt's alles, was das makabre Herz erfreut: Wasserleichen, Erschossene, Erstochene, Erhaengte, Moerder und Selbstmoerder. Und nett hergerichtet sind die Graeber auch obendrein. Was will man mehr?

nöö nöö

Also waehrend Mr. Barber gerade hemmungs-los dem Western-rausch verfaellt, beginnt mir langsam zu daemmern, warum der wilde Westen so frauenlos war. All diese dreckigen, o-beinigen, unzivilisierten Lederheinzis, die andauernd unkontrolliert um sich ballern - nee, nee, das ist ja wie Maennerkindergarten. Da kann man ja nur die Flucht ergreifen...

wild wild west

howdy!

how to become a cowboy

Here we can see Mr. Barber right before his wondrous cowboy-metarmorphosis. Strange things are going to happen, so wait and see...

pre-gunfight scene

This is approximately the 5th gunfight we have witnessed since our visit to Trail Dust Town. Now we are cured!

Tombstone live

cool Mr. Barber

Was macht Mr. Barber in Afrika?!
Und wo sind die ganzen Viecher hin? Giraffen-steak? Elefanten-hackbraten? Kudu-leberwuerstchen? Fragen ueber Fragen.

Fig beetle on flower

On our way to Tombstone we were very surprised how green the desert can be - this fig beetle (compare with the dead of the week 7) is obviously happy that it found such a pretty flower for itself.

Arizona black rattlesnake (Crotalus cerberus)

Thirteen different rattlesnake species are indigenous to Arizona. I tried very hard to detect one in the mountains, but unfortunately I didn't find any yet:(

Western Screech Owl

cougar soccer

These two mounain lions found a bag probably filled with catnip or something similar - big deal for big cats!

desert sunset

bobcat

Nach dieser zierlichen Katze sind die Uni-Sportteams benannt: Arizona Wildcats.

so much to see

Ich schwoere es, ich habe die Farben nicht nachtraeg-lich geaendert - der Himmel ist hier ganzganz echt so quietsche-rosa! Erinnert mich irgendwie an gewisse Szenen im Pony aeh Pferdefluesterer, in der der der arme Gaul den eben ganannten P.F. durch die pinke Wallachei transportieren muss. Kitschgruselwunderwerk.

inside out

Dieser Aufdruck auf einem handelsueblichen Erfrischungsgetraenk hat Mr. Barber ins Gruebeln gebracht - wie waere es, wenn die Ploerre aussen natuerlich und innen aus Plastik waere? Muesste man dann den Inhalt auskippen und die Flasche essen?

Northern cardinal

Isn't it pretty? And the best news: you can easily attract this bird if you take some food with you:)

Javelina

The collared peccary is callled "javelina" (Spanish) around here.

? tiny giants !

Maricella and Hilary seem to be very happy...
But what about Mr. Barber?

dust devils

See the two little dustdevils in the background?

Dead of the week 8 - kitten

Dreadful dead on Mountain Avenue. This kitty got killed by some car, I guess. Too bad.

spitting prohibited

Well, even if it's just fake - I liked the posters on this door:)

alles nur Fassade

Bizarre Kulissenlandschaft mitten in der Wueste. Nicht mehr und nicht weniger. Schwitztriefdroeppelpuh!

back in school

mushroom driver

Obviously my favorite bus on 4th Avenue...

salve kleiner Valentin

Also wir haben uns jetzt ueberlegt aus Protest gegen die Berliner Jogger-gemeinde einfach in Amiland zu bleiben und den Winskiez seinem Verfall zu ueberlassen. Wir hoffen, Du bist damit einverstanden. Fuer den Notfall findest Du ein paar antike Pommes im Gefrierfach. In dem Sinne: chakkah!

no parking

Pfffh - I got a ticket for locking my bike to a tree on the U of A campus. Oh, how I love this bureaucracy, grrrmpf!

do you speak German?

Found this on the blackboard at Bookman's...

this frickin' language!

Mr. Barber had a hard time reading the rock&pop-trivial pursuit questions in English. And we didn't make it easier for him:)

Dead of the week 7 - Green Fruit Beetle (Cotinus mutabilis)

Mr. Barber found this gorgeous dead of the week for me. It is a green fruit beetle (also called fig beetle) and it's native to Arizona and New Mexico, but can now be found in California (L.A.) as well. The adults feed on a wide variety of fruits, including cactus fruit (which may be its wild host), peaches, apricots, nectarines, and grapes. On its top it is velvety-olivegreen with contrasting dull brownish-orange marginal bands.
cause of death: heat shock or age

Mediterranean house gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)

Was hat so ein kleines Wuermchen auf dem Maennerklo verloren? Da hat Mister B. den winzigen Gecko naemlich aufgegabelt. Schnuffig, wa?

showtime

Habe Mister Barber endlich mal ein paar echte Westernhelden bieten koennen. Naja. Fast zumindest. So ein paar falsche Cowboys haben sich Schaukaempfe geliefert, sich mit unechten Pistolen beschossen und von Papphausdaechern gestuerzt. Aber das Essen und die Countrymusikk danach waren definitiv echt:)

Berlin meets Tucson

full house? nee, full Dach!

Dead of the week 6 - Gila Monster

There are only two venomous lizards in the world and the Gila monsters (Heloderma suspectum) is one of them. Its saliva contains a neurotoxic venom. Gila monsters ("Gila" is pronounced "Hila") can be up to 60cm long and they inhabit the southwestern parts of the US as well as northern Mexico. Their diet consists of rodents, birds, eggs and reptiles. Erynn, who took this picture, told me that Gila monsters are also known as the "Ghosts of the Desert", because they are mainly nocturnal, and therefore hard to observe. Gila monsters enjoy a mixed reputation with Native Americans. While the Tohono O'Odham and the Pima believed that the lizard possessed a spiritual power capable of causing sickness and the Apache believed that its very breath could bring death, the Seri and Yaquai believed in the healing powers of the lizard's hide.
Gila monsters are listed as threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act and are also found in Appendix II of CITES.

Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii)

These funny creatures live in the desert - and in the Botanical Gardens! With that foolish feather on top of their head and the panic double quick they fall into if they feel disturbed they are the most absurd Arizonian inhabitants. But since everybody likes them, you'll find them as soft toys and as wooden carvings on garden fences, pictured on postcards and all kinds of knick-knacks.