Along came Fran.
Fran was next to join the blogging tribe. I still refer to her as Frani although I don't think she likes it. I feel it sounds homey and affectionate.
She is the cousin representing the Southwest. In the 1970's we all started to fan out from Pennsylvania. I ended up in Florida and Frani put her new roots down in Mesa, Arizona. She loves the that section of the country and inticed me to open myself to the beauty of it also. We share many wonderful memories of hiking, photographing and antique-ing out there. Somehow we adjusted to the triple digit temperatures and dug right into the history and the multi-cultural elements of the area.
Frani's blog has a link from my site. Her photos of Arizona are strikingly impressive. You should look.
I think Frani and I grew to be the closest of the cousins since our relationship started in high school. We were fortunate enough to share those wild and rowdy teenage misadventures. Sometime we both are amazed that we are still alive!