DesertDogDad

gods, I cannot go through another era of military worship and patriotic cultism to promote a criminal, unjust and capitalist war

SNL's Colin Jost on Iran: "This attack might be a bad idea, I don't know. I'm not really an expert on Iran. So let's hear from someone who can explain why we might have done it."

This evening's thought to ponder from Maggies Farm.

This thing crawled out of the timeline, smelled itself, and chose violence. 🐗

Not a pig.
Not a boar.
Eats cactus like it owes it money.
Rolls in a gang.
Has beef with your HOA.

Arizona stays feral. 🌵

What do you think it is? 🤔💭🤨

#DesertChaos #OnlyInArizona #NatureIsOnline

🚨***ATTENTION EVERYONE***🚨

Love the Salt River Horses?

Please email or call Governor Hobbs while there is still time.

🚨NO removals.🚨

Governor Hobbs: Engage@az.gov

Governor Hobbs: 602-542-4331

Also contact AZDA:

PBrierley@AZDA.gov

#savetheherd #mustang #freedom #saltlife #horses

Later never comes.

You realize “someday” is just a story we tell ourselves to feel safe.

People wait for perfect timing —

But decisions don’t happen in perfect conditions.
They happen in windows.

Most regrets aren’t wrong choices.
👉🏻They’re delayed ones.

#life #perspective #time

“The Watchers of Bear Canyon.”

And just when the light breaks…

A young buck.
Spines and blossoms.
Soft eyes in a hard land.

Proof that strength doesn’t shout.
It stands. It adapts. It grows.

🦌🌵🌅

#DesertLife #ArizonaSunrise #WildAndFree #EarnTheView #SonoranDesert

Sunrise doesn’t ask permission.
It just shows up… and reveals what the dark was hiding.

Mountains don’t move.
They wait.
And in the right light, even shadows become part of the story.

Climb anyway. 🌄

#Sunrise #MountainLife #EarnTheView #NewDay #Resilience #IntoTheWild

Not just a dog…a trans-dimensional entity masquerading as a canine 😅

Stares into your soul. Guards the house from threats you can’t see. Teleports when treats appear. Loyal beyond logic

Some of you don’t have pets. You have guardians.

#DogSky #GoodDogEnergy #SoulDog #DogsOfBluesky #GuardianVibes

👉 The desert measures strength differently…by what survives the storm.

🌵🦋💙

The desert calls this survival.
I call it becoming.

140-year-old saguaro in Pinal County, Arizona.

Shot. Used as a fence post. Struck by lightning. Lost its crown. Should be dead.

Yet, it still blooms every summer.

Scars don’t end stories. Sometimes they grow homes.

#StillStanding #ArizonaDesert #Resilience #PinalCounty #NatureWisdom #NeverQuit

Family includes everyone! ❤️

you guys, i think i signed up for the wrong khan academy, please come get me, i'm scared. [pic of Mongolians riding on horses with weaponry and fires behind them]

This Khan Academy feels… aggressive.

A large rock outcrop that resembles a skull. Desert shrub surround the rock.

Skull Rock in Joshua Tree National Park. This thing was sweet!

#RockinTuesday
#JoshuaTree

Cochise Head — “The Watching One”

Apache tradition teaches that mountains shaped like faces are not accidents. They may represent ancestors, leaders, or guardians watching over the land.

Some believe Cochise never left… he became part of it.

#Chiricahua #Arizona #RespectTheLand #IndigenousHistory

The Horseshoe 2 Fire (2011) scorched more than 222,000 acres across SE AZ.

Standing in the ashes can feel like the end.
But recovery usually starts small… quiet… almost invisible.

If you’re in a burned-out season right now, look closer.

You might already be growing again. 🌱

#Arizona #Resilience

THIS is Arizona.

#ArizonaNature
#SouthwestLandscapes
#SkyIsland

Something stayed with me on the way down:

Not every victory is reaching the top.
Sometimes the victory is knowing when to turn around and still walk away stronger.

Post 3/
About a half mile from the summit, the trail disappears behind Cochise Head. That side never sees sunlight. Rocks were coated in ice. Snow packed into loose stone. Every step felt like a negotiation instead of forward progress.

Post 2/
I stopped counting downed trees after about 50. Every shaded stretch of trail still held snow. The higher we climbed, the quieter everything got… until it was just boots, breath, and that feeling the mountain was deciding if we belonged there.

Post 1/
Yesterday Cochise Head humbled me in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve hiked some rough miles before… but this one felt different. Not harder physically — harder mentally and quietly spiritual in a way I’m still unpacking.

Getting out in nature helps too

Weird sh*t from the garden 😂

Oden is overjoyed by his likeness on my sweatpants. A gift from my daughters.😂

A drawing of Alex Pretti carrying an old person wrapped in an American flag. He is saying - ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got you.’

If this doesn’t tug at your heart, make you well up with sadness, you are not human.

Stormy Pinaleño Mountains, Safford, Arizona. 🥰

5.5 hours.
9 miles.
No trail. No map. Just us. 🐾

We pushed through tall grass,
followed unmarked horse trails,
walked the river until our legs burned.

The kind of moment you don’t chase —
you earn.

This is why I keep going when the trail disappears.
Because magic doesn’t live at the trailhead. ✨