Wintertime for most people means hot chocolate, decorations, and Christmas, of course, but for Arizonans, it also means an influx of snowbirds: retirees from cold places who migrate here for the winter to slow up traffic stay warm. Last year, however, we met Kari, from Canada, and she smashed every pre-conceived notion we ever had of snowbirds. She was beautiful, full of life and about sixty years younger than the average snowbird. We became instant friends.
Before we met Kari, we thought there wasn’t much more to Canadians than hockey, maple leafs, and The Mounties, but Kari opened up a whole new world to us, full of Tim Horton’s, poutine, and an endless number of sentences ending with eh? and right? As our friendship grew, so did our love for Canadians, never more than when a little “Kare” package arrived at our doorstep in the middle of summer. We thought we’d gone to Canadian heaven and we couldn’t wait to see Kari again. At first, we were so excited about having foreign friends (it made us feel so cool and cultured) that whenever we’d meet other Canadian snowbirds, we’d ask “Do you know Kari and Scott?” as if everyone should. It can’t be that big of a place, right?
Since Kari is only here a few months out of the year, we’ve developed an online friendship (like Match.com for friends!) for when she is away. Not only is Kari like a soulmate for us when she’s here, she is also the best. online. friend. that. anyone. could. ever. ask. for. She’s a blog-reading, Facebook-liking machine who starts almost every comment or message with her signature Eeeeeeeeeek! to show how excited she is. She makes our heart pitter-patter. So, when she and Scott ventured out to the desert again last winter, we were ecstatic. Nothing is better than having her here, in person.
Since she’s a talented photographer in her own right (you can check out her work here, Canadians!) and produces gorgeous images, we asked her to shoot photos of us for the new website, so we felt honored to return the favor and get her in front of our cameras. Kari and her husband, Scott, wanted some pictures in the heart of the desert, so they could take a little piece of it back with them, and we couldn’t wait to make it happen. Kari, we’re so honored to know you and we’re already counting down the days until you return. Everyone deserves a friend like you.
Main gear used for this shoot: Canon 5D Mark III | Canon 50 1.2 | Canon 70-200 2.8 | Canon 100 2.8
Check out our entire gear list here.
