Home for the Winter

We've put some miles on the truck and are settling into our winter home in Gold Canyon, Arizona.  It feels good to be here, our winter home since November 2014.  The winter residents are slowly trickling in.  So far, there are only 4 houses occupied on out street.  By Thanksgiving, most of our neighbors will have arrived. 

We made a two-day trip from our Lone Tree apartment to here.  We stopped in Albuquerque at the Days Inn on the east end of town.  We walked across the street to the Owl Cafe for dinner.  We wondered how many of our children and nieces and nephews, let alone our grandchildren, would even know what this device is.  Remember the juke boxes found in many restaurants during our childhood?  Today, they can only be found in retro diners.  We didn't have the necessary coin to play a song.  

 There was a drug store with a soda fountain on the route I walked to grand school.  They had these on the counter.  I only ate there once and don't know if I payed to listen to a song.  The store was the place we stopped for a coke or ice cream cone after school.

I think this year will be more comfortable--and more normal--than last winter was.  The pandemic is waning.  We, and most of our neighbors, I imagine, have been vaccinated.  Masks are only required in the gym and other indoor areas of our resort for those who have not been vaccinated.  The same is true in the businesses we go into.

Arizona had mass vaccination sites early last spring.  We received our first and second Pfizer shots in February and March.  We got our booster shots shortly before returning here for the winter.  It is refreshing--refreshingly normal--to see people's faces and their smiles!  Three cheers for the scientists who developed these vaccines.

Changing Colors

Friday, we went for a walk along the Platte River Trail.  We were there a couple of weeks ago, but since then the temperatures have cooled and fall colors are showing up, especially in the cottonwood trees near the river.  It was a beautiful walk.

In a few places, we saw some red leaves.  I believe they are sumac.

 Saturday we were able to see a few high mountain peaks covered in snow.  Sorry, no pictures.  But this change means one thing for sure.  Snow birds--count us among them--are headed south for the winter.  We think we will be leaving Tuesday. 

One Pesky Little Fly

 Who knew a fly could cause so much trouble.  We are used to flies.  We have both lived most of our lives in Colorado and flies are just part of the landscape.  We have been spending our winters in Arizona since 2009.  They are not usually much of a problem there.  Just to be safe, we have a fly swatter in our house in Arizona and another in our Airstream Trailer, which is also parked in Arizona.

This year, we have rented an apartment in Lone Tree on the south end of Denver.  And wouldn't you know it, we somehow let a fly into the apartment.  A magazine just doesn't work to swat a fly.  So, we went out to buy a fly swatter.  We didn't find one at Walmart.  King Soopers, same story.  Safeway didn't have one either.  Neither did Harbor Freight.  Finally, we stopped at an Ace Hardware--Big Tool Box on Holly Street.

At last, we were able to buy a fly swatter.  It cost lest than $3.  About the same as I found one on Amazon. But have a $3 item shipped from Amazon seemed a little bit of overkill.

Now, where is that fly?