My closest friends have two beautiful Golden Retrievers named Jake and Molly. I have the sweet pleasure of Jake and Molly’s company when their owners are out of town. I couldn’t ask for better house guests. They are well behaved and utterly charming.
A year ago today I started the Phoenix Daily Photo blog and here I am 365 photos later still going strong. It has been quite an adventure and I’ve enjoyed all of it. I’ve learned so much about my city and I see my surroundings in a whole new light. 
Here is a view of downtown Phoenix that I snapped from one of the county high-rise buildings.
Today I feature St. Thomas Church on north 24th Street in Phoenix. This church was founded in 1950 as the 12th Catholic parish in Phoenix. It wasn’t until 1960 that this Spanish colonial church was completed. 
This tiny little eating establishment called Two Hippies Beach House has taken off like a rocket! The lines at lunch time have become notorious. They specialize in tacos of all kinds and those tacos are getting rave reviews from happy customers. It’s only draw-back is that it has no indoor eating facilities. Not a problem October through May, but after that you need to be a hearty desert rat to eat on the patio or you need to make it a take-out meal and head back to the office.
Over the past weekend I was sitting at the car wash waiting for my car to be finished when something made me think of that old Jim Croce song “Workin’ At The Car Wash Blues”. The next thing I knew, I was outside snapping a photo for Phoenix Daily Photo. 
I guess it’s not really crystal. Just a decorative ornament that caught my eye.
I spotted this building under construction and thought it had some very unique patterns and ornaments. There was no sign to tell me what it is going to be so I’m at a loss to explain. I just thought this design at the top was quite unusual.
Today is Independence Day in the U.S. There will be picnics, bar-b-qs, parades, and fireworks.
This building is located in an affluent residential neighborhood in Phoenix near 32nd Street and Lincoln Drive. There is a sign in front that identifies it as the Phoenix Monastery, but I can find no record of it anywhere. I’ve searched the web looking for monasteries in Arizona and come up with nothing that matches.
The Miracle Mile Deli has been in business in Arizona since 1949. My very first experience with this deli was when it was located at the Park Central Mall on Central Avenue. That mall has since been converted to a large office complex and the deli has moved a little further east to another mall on Camelback Road.
I have featured the Herberger Theatre in downtown Phoenix in the past. The building has two stages, the main theatre and Stage West, the smaller theatre. This is a view of the inside of Stage West taken from the stage. Obviously, I took this shot when the theatre was empty of patrons. If you happen to be a performer or a theatre company, you will be hoping to see all those seats filled when the curtain rises.
In this extra close picture of tip of a cactus, you can see those famous wicked thorns.
It’s not very often that I get to see an artichoke in full bloom. I spotted this one in a neighbor’s yard and went home to get my camera. 
The City Daily Photo Community has set aside today to show support for the people of Iran and to honor a fellow blogger from Tehran who has been missing for the past week. We are all hoping for his safe return so that he can continue to show us his beautiful city and share his insights.
This might look like graffiti but I’m pretty sure it was commissioned to cover the side of this old house that now is used as a storage and/or a workshop for a business that sells a lot of goth items. 
Shamrock Farms was founded in 1922 and remains to this day a family owned and operated business. In fact, they operate the largest dairy in the southwest of the United States with their very own herd of 10,000 cows. They offer a full line of daily products and have recently added more food items to the product mix.
Cucumberz is one of those places you have to go back to over and over again. They sell used furniture and other items many of which are antiques. However, Cucumberz is not one of those places with neatly displayed glass cases and furniture arranged into pleasant room settings. In fact, the inside of Cucumberz is an explosive riot of floor to ceiling disarrayed treasures. Some might say there is quite a lot of junk disguising the real “finds”. I might answer that what looks like junk to one person might be a cherished memento to another. Isn’t the most fun in shopping derived from uncovering that buried treasure?
Lately I’ve been reviewing all of the photos I took at the Desert Botanical Gardens when the Chihuly exhibit was here. I’ve decided to make my very own “coffee table” book of all of the photos I took on the many trips I made to the garden.
This is one of my favorite little corners at the Desert Botanical Gardens. It’s shaded and quiet and on a path that few people take. That little round irrigation pipe at the end of the bench is always spilling onto the plants below and making a very pleasant babbling sound similar to a mountain stream. 
I recently attended an event at the new Sheraton Hotel in downtown Phoenix and got my first glimpse of this new facility. The hotel is a 31 story high-rise that has recently thrust its way into the downtown Phoenix skyline.
Just an ordinary grackle who really wanted to be featured on Phoenix Daily Photo. So much so that he posed looking straight into the camera.
Corn stalks and palm trees aren’t usually located in close proximity, but here you see a row of corn and a palm tree at the end. I spotted this corn field in south Phoenix and had to stop to take a picture. Corn is not a crop you would expect to see growing in any part of Arizona. The climate is much too hot and dry. In spite of the adverse conditions, these plants look healthy and hearty.
In addition to the reflection I featured yesterday, that same office building was reflecting another building located directly across the street from it.
