tap, tap, tap... is this thing on?? lol!!

so... life in the AZ desert has been on a bit of a hiatus!  Not really-  life's gone on, I just 'got out of the habit' of posting.  But I hope to change that.  Right now, I'm watching some DVR'ed television, and waiting for a giraffe to have a baby!!  (no, really... there's a giraffe in New York state that's pregnant (her name is April), and they have a live cam in her pen, waiting to stream the birth when it happens.  I've been checking in on her a few times a day for the last few weeks, now, I think??  Apparently giraffes are pregnant for a VERY long time, and I guess they don't know exactly what her due date is.  

but, while I wait for that, here's a few photos from last weekend!!  Tom gave me a trail ride for my birthday last May, and we finally got it scheduled last weekend while the weather is beautiful (and cool!)...  it was at an equestrian center on the Indian Reservation about 20 miles away from where we live.

Tom and me, in front of a herd of wild horses that live on the Reservation...
we actually got to walk right up to, and through, that group of horses.
it was so cool!!  

our guide, BRASS (I had his name wrong).  he was really interesting!  The Indians keep
an eye on the horses, and sometimes do capture some
of them to break for riding.

Tom, posing in front of Pima Overlook... a smallish hill made of lava rock.
(I guess this area was volcanic?  I never knew that!)
It was a bit disconcerting, being over all that way up in the air,
with the horses picking their way through loose rocks.
The view from there- even just partway up- was gorgeous, though! 

Our horses were pretty well-behaved, but that's the first
time I'd been on a horse since high school.  While it
was pretty neat, I'm not sure about horseback riding as a pastime...
it definitely used a lot of muscles I never used before!
(and some of them still hurt!!)