Coping With Heat and Virus Restrictions

So, what are we doing these days? It is hot, really hot, here in Gold Canyon. Not as hot as it will be mid-summer. But hot. Just look at this temperature!

In addition to the heat, there are the restrictions of Covid 19. Everything in our resort is closed. The swimming pool, the gym, classrooms, tennis courts and pickle ball courts. It is the same all across the country, I know. Some people in our resort are trying to make do. These people put up a rope or something so they could play pickle ball on one of the parking areas.

If nothing else works, how about arranging small rocks in front of your house?

We have been trying to clean up and pare down some of our files. I have used my iPhone to make digital images of thousands of the photographs we have accumulated. Many of the pictures are ones we have taken throughout our married life. We have pictures of our children over the years, pictures of our homes and friends. And many, many photos from our travels. In addition, we have many of the old photos from our parents.

I have finished copying them. Now, I have to put them into digital albums so we can find them if we ever want to.

We also have been trying to clean out old files. Here you can see some of those John has been going through.

I have been working on financial files. I don't have to keep everything, for ever. For legal reasons, 7 years of financial data is all that is required. We also have deeds to property we have bought and sold, as well as to property of our parents. The paper really accumulates.

We also have many genealogy files. I was surprised to find those had already been pared down. I didn't have to do anything there.

We are trying to put this time to good use. And so far, we haven't been bored. And when we die, our children will appreciate what we are doing. Their job will be simplified.

So, What Are We Doing?

We are staying home, of course.  We don't have any choice.  We only leave our resort to go grocery shopping.  Since everything in our resort is closed or cancelled, we only leave our house to walk.  It is the same for everyone here.  Lots of people are walking, some riding their bikes around the resort.  We saw a woman on roller blades yesterday.  And if exercise isn't their interest, people just drive around in their golf carts.  Reminds me of Sunday afternoon drives when I was a child.

I did a lot of house cleaning when the stay at home order first came out; recently we have begun going through our storage compartments.  John found a box of old letters.  In 1973 he spent 13 weeks attending the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The FBI established this academy to provide training to local police department command officers  John was a lieutenant on the Boulder Police Department.  I stayed home in Boulder with our two boys, Doug age 5 and Eric 18 months.  We wrote letters to each other every day.  Since it was before the cell phone era, we only talked once a week.  Long distance calls were expensive.

We have both been reading those letters before destroying them.  We feel like we have stepped back in time 47 years.  Nixon was president, Agnew resigned during that time and the Watergate hearings were underway.  Our parents were all still alive and we almost feel we should give them a call this afternoon, just to see how they are doing.  We are in a real time warp.

We have been a keeper of old family photographs in both our families.  We all know printed photos deteriorate.  I have been making digital copies of these photos periodically over the years.  I decided now was the time to finish the job.  Yesterday I copied 620 photos, mainly from the first 25 or so years of our marriage.  In the past I have copied many of the family photos from before we were born.

I am almost done with the copying.  Now I am trying to move them into albums so I can find something when I want to.  So far, I have only done that with part of the 620 newly copied pictures.  I wonder if I will finish this task before we are free to travel and shop again?

Other folks in our resort have different ways to keep busy. We see notes on the streets, written with colored chalk, hearts cut out and put up in windows, banners of encouragement. Here are two cute signs put up in one yard. We saw the top display today for the first time. The second was from late March.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.

Signs of Our Times

I am sure none of us has ever lived in a time like we are in now.  Social distancing, wash your hands, stay at home, no gatherings, no funerals, limited travel.  I feel like everything I touch might be infected.  Today we went for a walk.  I didn't touch anything.  But as I straightened my glasses, my first thought was--now I have to disinfect my glasses!  Really?  Probably not, but I feel everything is a threat.

These signs around our resort help build this fear.

Even the grill is closed.  No carry-out available here.

We went to the post office the other day.  Look at the plastic hanging from the ceiling to protect the clerks.  And notice the empty mail crates stacked in front of each window to keep is 6 feet away.

This is an encouraging sign we saw yesterday in someone's window here in our resort.  In case you can't read it, it says, "Social Distance Hugs to all!"

There are signs from God throughout the park that brighten our days.  The cactus plants are in full bloom.

Follow the guidelines and stay healthy, everyone.  Hopefully, all this will be over in the not-too-distant future.

Writing, Writing, Writing

I have been writing for years and years and years.  It all began in grade school, writing for a small newsletter.  In junior high, I received my first byline--on a story in the school newspaper.  The love of writing continued in high school, where I was on the staff of the school paper--the South High Confederate.  In college, I majored in journalism and worked on the Colorado Daily.

After graduation, the writing continued. I was an intern for the Longmont Times-Call, I wrote for  church newsletters and edited the Episcopal Church Women's page in the Colorado Episcopalian.  When we began RVing, I decided to blog about our life.  Then I learned I could have the blogs printed in a book.  Just look at the stack!

The blog books are filled with color photos, so they became our scrapbooks.

                                                   

About three years ago, I began working on writing the stories of my life. John had already been attending the life story classes here in our winter resort home. When he published his own life story, he encouraged me to do the same thing.

Here I am, holding the proof copy of that story, Not What I Planned:  Even Better.  I am so excited to get it done!  I can add it to the stack.

When I wrote in my blog about completing the print version, Gumo commented he would read it when it came out in the Kindle version.  Guess what, I did it!  Not without a struggle.  That format requires a different format.  You can see both versions for sale on Amazon in this screen shot.

Bloomin' Beauty

There is beauty everywhere in the Arizona this year.  We have had rain and the cactus is gorgeous!  What a bright spot amidst Covid-19, quarantines and shelter in place orders.

The Argentine giant cactus blooms have started to open.

Prickly pear are loaded with buds and blooms.

I'm not sure of the name of this one but I know there will be either flowers or new growth soon.

Even the non-native plants are loving the warmth and putting on blooms.

These look like very small sunflowers.

The runoff wash near our entrance gate is full of yellow flowers.

There are so many things we can't or shouldn't do right now, but here in Arizona we can go outside and enjoy God's beauty in creation.

What's Going On?

The world has been turned upside down.  We are all practicing social distancing and staying home.  But our personal lives here in Superstition Views really haven't changed much.  When we are here in our home for a long time our focus always changes.  We don't to places because we have already seen most everything in the Phoenix area there is to see.  We don't go out to eat very often.  And we don't take part in the activities here in our resort.  The only thing closed that really affects us is the locked door of the exercise room.

Also, we try to grocery shop less frequently--buying everything we need for a week or so at a time.  We don't want to be around others more often than necessary.

Oh yes, my hands are cleaner than then have been since I had a newborn in the house.  Also, I am using copious amounts of hand lotion to combat the frequent hand washing.

So, what are we doing?  John has been working in our shop.  Right now he is constructing this intarsia picture of a barn and cattle.  The cutting phase is about half-done.

He made these two scroll saw pictures representing the two states we spend time in.  They will be hung in our Airstream trailer.

Before everything in our resort was shut down, I learned how to do lapidary--shaping rocks for jewelry.  After learning how to use the machines, I bought these two slices of rock.

I have made them into three pendants for necklaces.

I have also finished writing the book of the stories of my life.  I have sent it to the publisher(Kindle Direct Printing on Amazon) and am waiting for a proof copy to arrive, hopefully tomorrow.  After I make the necessary changes, it will be ready to publish.  That is exciting.

While I have been busy at the computer, John was busy in the shop--cutting out scroll saw sayings like this--"I can do all things through Christ."

He also make this sign to hang on the front of our trailer when we are staying in RV parks.

Unfortunately, John fell 10 days ago, injuring his elbow and tearing some ligaments nearby.  It doesn't stop his work in the shop, but it does hurt when he tries to bend his elbow or lift something heavy.  It is getting better each day.

Eagles and Family

We spend our winters in Arizona to avoid the snow and cold.  So, why did we get in our truck and drive north in January?  Seems there was something going on that was more important than avoiding winter weather.

A Court of Honor ceremony for our grandson, John Andrews II, was scheduled for that Saturday to formally award his Eagle Scout rank.  These are the ribbon and medal and patch that mark his ascending to the highest rank in the Boy Scouts.  We learned that only 4% of the members of the scouts reach this level.  We are so proud of him!

The prayer at the beginning of the service was offered by Grandpa John Andrews I.

Lori Hardy, a neighbor as John was growing up, was one of the people talking about John's character, hard work and accomplishments in Scouts and his community.

There was a live American Bald Eagle in the ceremony, as well.  It is seen here behind John, his parents Eric and Liz and sister Kylie.

John reflected on his experiences as he worked his way through the Scout ranks.

John and Kylie are shown here talking to their Aunt Ann Portarf.  She was a manager of Father Woody's, the homeless day shelter where John did his Eagle Project.  He supervised the constructions of storage shelves at the shelter, which had been established by his other grandpa, Jay Gould.

John is not the first Eagle Scout in our family.  Two of his cousins on his dad's side also attended--Craig Walker and David Gilbreth.  Craig issued the challenge and charge to the new Eagle Scout John Andrews. 

  

This cake was served with refreshments after the ceremony.

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John's cousin, Mike Andrews, and his son Cody also attended the ceremony.

Family, Animals and Cactus in Tucson

We had a great time Tuesday exploring the Tucson Desert Museum with Tina and Vance, our niece and her husband.  They are spending this month in Arizona in the RV and we decided to meet at the museum.




I saw something new before we even paid our entrance fee.  A cell phone charging station!

Next, we saw these bronze statues of an adult javelina and 2 babies.

The museum has a number of Sonoran Desert native animals.  I sure wouldn't want to encounter this mountain lion on a hike.

This black bear would be equally as frightening.

This is a wolf.

Here is a cold, wet roadrunner.

A bobcat

This mountain sheep ram kept butting this log, then licking it.  We couldn't figure out why.

The Rufus hummingbird was one of several in the aviary.

Of course, a desert museum also includes cactus, lots and lots of cactus plants.

We were most impressed with the cactus gardens in Tucson.  The animals were interesting.  And we had an enjoyable lunch in the on-site grill.