Adventure 799/Day 22/Tucson/2023

Big day for the Falc's. He got to walk in the desert for the first time. We expected him to last a half mile or so, but he went almost two before he started to tire. Not bad for a three year old. Afterward, we played trucks, "get me", catch the ball, write the names, and color the dinosaur. I went to Tai Chi class in the afternoon, and we enjoyed Hooley bean soup with ham for dinner. By the way, the month ended with me ahead $1.47. Zero-zero tomorrow. On our hike, even though we've been to the Sweetwater Preserve several times, I noticed that the Saguaros have plumped up after the rain. I found out they do that to preserve water for the heat of the summer. It's a good lesson for us humans. Today was the deadline for the seven Southwestern states to come up with a water usage plan. It passed without fanfare or a solution. The main comment seemed to be, "We're already conserving as much as we can, it should be the other states that cut their usage." Stay tuned for what the Federal government decides to do with this conundrum. I hope the government learns from the native plants because they make me appreciate the majesty of creation, and helped me know that life is good, especially today.

Leticia hugging a grandfather saguaro.

Art shot of the day: An air planter I made from heart shaped rocks I found in the desert.

Falcon on the trail.

He ran a little bit until the desert taught him how much falling hurts. An expected lesson learned.

Every saguaro is unique; I wonder if they have family names.

There was a lizard up there scampering around.

"Can you play with me, Pop Pops?"

The cacti have swollen noticeably since we were here last week. Conservation is a wise tactic.
 

Adventure 798: Day 21/Tucson/2023

Excitement abounded today. Leticia and Falcon arrived a little after one this afternoon. It was Falc's first airplane ride. He was a lucky boy who got to go into the cockpit with the pilots. Wow! On the ground he babbled on about wanting to see cactus, and let me tell you, we saw some! Falc and TC were hungry from their early start so we beelined it to the Nene food truck for lunch. Once satisfied, we made it to the house, unpacked, and settled in for a bit. Then we walked over to the Kral's where Ginny had laid out some "kid" stuff: sidewalk chalk, crayons, books, and puzzles. We had saved a truck from Christmas for Falc to play with down here, so he and I played trucks for a while, Then we raced the cars. Then we played smash the cars (Boy behavior). Then we played "get me' until I was dizzy from chasing him around the living room. Then we put most of a puzzle together. Then we put chalk marks on the patio. Then we played with the soccer ball. Then we played with magnets, which means everything I build, Falc squashes immediately. By then Pop Pops had enjoyed about as much playing as he could stand. Meanwhile, Mimi and Leticia chattered like squirrels as they fixed dinner as well as a pot of refried beans for the week.   I'm pretty sure the next few days will bring much the same fun as today. And I'm certain I'll hear: "Pop Pops, will you play with me?" To which I reply, "Sure, what are we going to do?" Frankly, it's pretty hard to get much better company than a love filled three year old. Experiencing this little guy and his mother makes life pretty good, especially today.

Falc all decked out ready for the desert.

Art shot of the day: Part of Ginny's junglelarium.

We pushed the big truck back and forth a little.

Mother/Daughter. I think their names are Alvin and Theodore..

Falc and Mimi on the way to the Kral's.

Pretty cool tow truck and race cars we got from Pete and Carol O'Brien this Christmas. We saved it for the Falc when he came down.

Falc checking out the cactus in the back yard.

A full day for Pop Pops.

Adventure 797: Day 20/Tucson/2023

People say the Lord works in mysterious ways. For proof of that we took the opportunity to meet with friends of Kel Friesen (On his suggestion) at their adopted church this morning. We met Mark and Anita Gingrich outside the sanctuary of Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson. Since we arrived, we've attended Northminster Presbyterian, which we enjoyed. Today was something different. Southside Presbyterian Church has been in service since 1906, originally built to serve the Tohono O'odham Indians. The church''s mission statement says they're a community of faith, hope, love, and witness in the borderlands. The service brought me to tears. Centermost in the experience is inclusivity. The sense of equity was palpable. In the call to faithfulness a prayer was spoken in the language of the Tohono O'odham; another was prayed in  Spanish, and the music had a distinct Gospel flavor. The message centered on an interpretation of the beatitudes. Especially provocative was Pastor Alison Harrington's take that Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount was actually using performative language meaning that in each "Blessed are the....whatever... were already blessed, already accepted, already favored by the Lord. Nothing needed to be earned; each of "these" blessed already belonged in heaven. We sat with Mark and Anita and they made efforts to introduce us around. We'll be attending there from now forward. After church we enjoyed lunch with Mark and Anita, shared the usual background jibber-jabber minus the grandchild photos. They are delightful, and maybe we'll share more time with them as we go. Who knows? In the afternoon, we watched football with our friends the Kral's (David is an avid football fan, especially the Steelers). Ginny made a delicious dinner of pasta with meat sauce. We brought a green salad. In all, another fine day. Oh, and I did manage to skunk the Cager this morning for a lead of $1.53. We'll have to get a new deck of cards because her blubber, blathering misery soaked the cards we've been using. They're really hard to shuffle after they've been used as Kleenex.  I'm exaggerating, but I did hear a couple of moans from her side of the table. Regardless, our lives are good, especially today.

Our new insight to the mysteries of the Lord. the Kiva shaped sanctuary is circular, designed in the way of the Tohono O'odham people.

Our newest acquaintances, the Gingrich's. Good meet.

Speaking of meat. Ginny's pasta was to die for.

The Kral's have this seventy-two inch TV. The players are life size.

Judy and Ginny, two peas in a pod, knitted and cheered. Ginny cheered for the guys in the prettiest uniforms (Chiefs); Judy kept her allegiance to Kansas.

Adventure 796: Day 19/Tucson/2023

Travesty, Oh, travesty...or maybe just another first world problem: the hot tub was cold this morning. Something must be amiss with the heating element. So, Judy and I trudged back to the house whimpering about how usually our bodies are warmed by the water. Boo Hoo. And to add insult to injury, the Wiley Cager has whittled my lead down to $.63 cents with three days to play, which begs the question: Who will pay for the Sonoran Hotdog this month? Time will tell. In other news I spent most of the day at a clinic run my Sifu Jordan Misner on the art of the Tai Chi short staff. My mind is bubbling like mud from a backed up drain. Overwhelmed I might say, but it was fun trying to get my mind and body around a barrage of thrusts, hits, jabs, twists, steps, and whacks. I'm not sure how much I'll pick up wile we're down here this winter, but I'll repeat: "When in Rome...? In the afternoon, David Kral invited me over to watch the Arizona basketball game. He has a seventy-two inch TV, which I must admit enhances the watching experience. Later, Judy and I watched the Zags on her I-pad (Our only device to allow it). They played a hard fought game, but came out victorious largely do to Julian Strawther's career high 40 pts. In all, it was another full day for which we are thankful that life is good.

At class today, Sifu Jordan set up an air mattress so the class could practice "bouncing".

Here Sifu is demonstrating that the power comes without force. He had each of us newbies place our hand between him and the guy to be bounced. He would then bounce the guy backward, without the person feeling anything in his hand. Might not have believed it if I hadn't 'not felt' it myself.

Cactus shot of the day on the Kral's front walk.

The neighborhood.

Me and my Sweetie Pie watching the Zags beside the flicker of the fireplace.

Selfie of the day: Go Zags! We're with you all the way.

Adventure 795: Day 18/Tucson/2023

Those of you old enough to remember the early video games, the ones in the full sized consoles as big as pinball machines, will remember Asteroids. It was spaceship against the universe. A small triangular shaped ship centered in the middle of a dark screen, star like. Then, on the black screen would be white angular shaped asteroids all different sizes coming straight at the ship. The ship could turn three hundred sixty degrees and could shoot a laser stream that would explode the asteroids. The idea was survival. How long could the tiny space ship last against the ravages of the universe. i felt like that space ship today. The Wiley Cager pummeled me with her good fortune. I narrowly escaped two skunks, and finished the day barely solvent with a mere $.80 cents to my name. So it goes. After breakfast, Judy worked out with Rob, I practiced my forms. I do a series of things, but I always do the form my Sifu at home taught me. I'm also learning the form they do down here. Hence, practicing forms: plural. After lunch we drove to the Sweetwater Preserve and hiked for a couple of hours in the desert. It was sublime. The preserve is a haven for venerable Saguaros, some quite elderly and majestic. Frankly, I just can't get enough of walking among the cacti. Around five we picked up our friends, the Kral's, from the airport. They were fresh off a week long cruise to Mexico. I don't think cruising on a large ship with thousands of my newest friends would be for me, but they said they loved it. In fact, they signed up for another in the near future. After we dropped the Kral's at their doorstep, we  had dinner out at Sushi on Oracle, which was quite good. We finished the night (Well, I did. Judy fell asleep). watching a Netflix movie called Sing Street, a very heart warming story about dreams, love, and risk. It's what makes life good, especially today.

This guy looks like some alien: "Take me to your leader."

Judy really likes the "fuzz'.

The Sweetwater Preserve is not only for hiking and biking, it's also part of Tucson's water reclamation project. The city reintroduces treated water back into the aquifer via the preserve. It's just one of the ways Tucson is solving it's water issues.

A little water helps kick start an early bloom.

This little guy is a fish hook barrel cactus: cute, but very clingy.

I can't even imagine what this old fella has seen.

Selfie of the day: Which way do we go?

Udon noodles with chicken and veggies in sweet sauce.

California rainbow roll.

Adventure 794: Day 17/Tucson/2023

In addition to another just brilliant blue sky, the temperature rose by five degrees (68): shirt sleeve weather for us Northern types. The locals are still complaining about how "real" the frigid mornings are, but by the time I met with Sifu Misner for my Tai Chi lesson, I was wearing my normal uniform: shorts and a Gonzaga sweatshirt. On the healing front, Judy's back is a bit better. Her trainer, Rob, put her through a little rehab instead of a workout. That seemed to help. I also managed to extend my cribbage lead to $1.27 despite the fact that the Wiley Cager hand two plus twenty point hands. I just keep plugging away with my consistent eight to ten points with an occasional dozen thrown in. Five days to go until this month's payoff. Still plenty of time for a reversal of fate. It's hard to believe that we've been here seventeen days. We both commented on how comfortable we feel in this home, and I must admit it's even better than Frac. We're looking forward to next week when Leticia and Falcon come down. They'll spend a week with us, which will give Mimi and Pop Pops a nice grandchild fix. In other news, I've lined up a meeting time with Sifu Misner's senior student, Jason. He's a strong man, built exactly like Sifu Stuart, my teacher at home. A mountain of a man, he weighs at least  300 pounds. It will be fun to have another view point as well as a practice partner. Finally, tonight's a late night because I'm staying up to watch Arizona play Washington State. Besides being loyal Zag fans, we've adopted the Arizona Wildcats, too. You know what they say: "When in Rome...." Anyway, it's easy to root for their coach, Tommy Lloyd, a former Zag. Hopefully, they can redeem themselves after their earlier loss to WSU. Either way, it won't really change the fact that life is good, especially today.

Miss Kitty took the day off. I walked today instead.

Art shot of the day: Dream Weaver.

We're hoping to be here long enough to see the desert bloom.

It would be awesome to have blooms bring color to these Saguaros.

Today's sky.

Can't wait to see my little buddy, Falc.
  

Adventure 793: Day16/Tucson/2023

Another pretty good day in the neighborhood. The sky was clear blue, the air a bit crisp, and we started our day as usual with a trip to the hot tub. We bubbled for a bit, and then Judy went to get the newspaper from the Kral's since they are off on their Mexican cruise this week. I stayed behind for some more bubbling and contemplation. I'm going to miss the hot tub when we move into our new digs. Our cribbage challenge has increased to three games per day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I must say it's more fun to win. Currently, the Wiley Cager's fortunes have changed dramatically. At one point this month she was ahead $2.13. As of today I'm ahead by $1.14. That's a $3.27 turn around with six days to play. But whoever gloats will feel the wrath of reversal, so I'm trying to be gracious and humble, which is not so easy when you're perfect in every way. Ha! Judy's back is still a bit stiff, so we didn't go on our planned hike in the Sweetwater Preserve. Instead, I rode the loop. According to my watch, I rode for 4 hours 11 minutes. I figured it to be nearly sixty miles. The Tucson bike loop is mostly spectacular. Most of the path, while not necessarily scenic, is pleasant. It's paved, mostly smooth, and pretty flat. Some parts of the loop require riding on roads, which lessons the fun. There are also some roads to cross. In fact, I came pretty close to getting hit by a lime green KIA SOUL. The trail crossed a road; there was a slight rise and a steel bridge to the left. The bridge had solid sides, which blocked the view. I looked left at the opaque bridge, then right, the left again. By then I was approaching the shoulder of the road. The SOUL was about midway across the bridge, coming fast. I was in a high gear, so restarting from a near stop was slow going, but I pressed on. The SOUL made no effort to slow down. Fortunately, I made.it. The police report flashed before my eyes: Elderly snowbird hit by a KIA SOUL. Dead on arrival. Name withheld until family  notification. And then, in a spiritual vein, I thought: The goodness of afterlife yet to be determined...there is some kerfuffle over classified documents.  After four hours, most riders are suffering a little. They'll do anything to distract themselves. Some times I just day dream. Dreams often make life good, especially today.

Selfie of the day: About halfway around the loop.

There are quite a few very nice art pieces along the loop. I'll chronicle them on future rides.

This piece is quite nice.

As Annie Lennox of the Eurythmics sings: "Sweet dreams are made of this, who am I to disagree...?

Adventure 792: Day 15/Tucson/2023

Pretty good day in the desert, though the locals were whining that the temperature only got up to the mid fifties. Even at that, there wasn't a wisp of a cloud to be seen in the sky, and the evening glow on the Catalina Mountains turned so purple, they were best viewed behind sunglasses. Judy and I managed a good stretch of the legs (five miles), despite a little stiffness in Judy's back. We did a little hot tubbing treatment after the walk. I'm still managing a small lead of $.48 cents in cribbage, so that's good for one of us, and I had an excellent day in my Tai Chi studies. But it's an emotional day because it's my first wife's (Anne) birthday. She would have been seventy-two. Like I told my favorite daughter, her mother would have been stunning. I picked her partly because I thought she would mature well. She had a lithe body, a fetching smile, and a lock of her jet black hair fell partly across her eyes (My favorite; the sight of her always made me tingle). My guess is her hair would be short, just above the neck, and the jet black would be laced with attractive silver streaks. It's a little known fact, but Anne (In fits of anger) could spew curses any pirate would admire. But what I really admired about her was her ability to wake up each day with a smile.  As parents, we hope to raise capable, honest, and loving children. Anne would be proud of hers. I know I am. When I told Judy what I thought Anne would look like now, she quipped, "And the second time around you're stuck with someone whose sagging in all the wrong places." Maybe so, but I'm not complaining. Judy can take real credit for helping our kids become capable adults and she makes life good, especially today.

Sifu Jordan Misner addressing his Tai Chi class.

Art shot of the day: Nature's Splendor.

Post walk hot tub: AHHHHHH!

My Bunny hiking, sore back and all.

You know how the ducks do it: Remain unruffled. Paddle when necessary.

It's been our tradition to visit Anne on her birthday. Most years, we would visit the grave site, scrape off the snow and ice, and then go to lunch. Today, Steve represented us.

This beautiful woman (My favorite daughter) treated herself to a Happy Birthday lunch today.

My view from the back of Tai Chi class. The Catalinas are pretty awesome.