Desert Museum

I still can't get to my pictures, but I can move on to the next day of my trip. Almost every morning Late and I went for a walk for a few miles. I don't use sun block for that walk. We went fairly early every day and were gone usually about an hour. I would get a little brown from it, and I like a little color now and then. Late used a lot of sun block on herself, which always makes me smile. I am a very pale white red head; Late is a woman of color. We walked around the subdivision their house is in. It has great planning, including five miles of walkways through it. There are little play areas for the children. This trip, I hung from the monkey bars every morning I could to stretch and strengthen my shoulders. I worked up to 30 seconds or so - it doesn't seem like much time, until you are depending on two gimpy shoulders to hold all your weight. Try it.

This would be Tuesday's trip - we headed for the Desert Museum after our walk. Late and I have been there before, but her son (DS)  and husband (DH) have not. This is a family that travels often and far. They go every place. They are rarely home. They often are gone 12 hours at a time, I discovered. I went with them.

The Desert Museum is in or near Tucson. It has many plants, animals, insects, birds, and other desert things to see, touch, and marvel about. Last time we thought we had seen most of it, but this time we saw many things we had missed. It was well in the low 100s for the temperature, and there was humidity. We were there all day, on our feet, moving and walking and trying to see it all. DH is an adventurer, and he must see what is behind every rock and down every road.

I figured seeing that rattler slithering across the wash would be unbeatable. However, sitting on a rock inside a bird enclosure was an unexpected and hairy tarantula. We don't have those where I live - I wanted to pet it, but figured that wasn't prudent. I took pictures, instead. Cute little bugger.

Again, we didn't see any coyotes in their part of the desert. The park has a section of the desert discreetly fenced off and there are areas for a few assorted types of wildlife. We weren't at the hottest time of the day when we looked for them, but probably too close to it. I can see coyotes in my own backyard, but I wanted to see them in the desert. We did spot a smelly javalina, snortling along under a little bridge. I have pictures of that, too. Some place.

My friends made me wear a sun hat at the museum. Eventually I put my hair in a ponytail and put the hat over that - it was a little cooler. My hair was soaked with sweat, anyway. Most of the museum is outdoors. I used sun screen that day. The museum thoughtfully has sunscreen dispensers in the bathrooms. I suppose it is less expensive to provide that than to provide medical care to well done tourists, but I used my own. 

Anne asked if I now understand Remo's term of ass gravy. Yes, I can say I do. While a lady might not want to admit such a thing, I was sort of looking forward to returning home eventually and not having to change my drawers 4 times a day in an attempt to be dry. The desert has no water, in my opinion, because everyone drinks it all and then sweats it back out. My hair was not dry the entire trip that I can recall. I don't think I had more than one or two days this trip with the high temp under 100 degrees.

One of my favorite parts at the museum, besides the furry animals such as the wolves, is the hummingbird enclosure. If you sit quietly on a bench, you will see them all over the place. They are so small and move so fast! They were highly active this time - it wasn't even necessary to sit down. They were buzzing faces and scaring the crap out of people by coming up from behind and then buzzing faces. Human hair is a good thing for building nests, plus the rain brings out the little insects we can't see very well, but the hummingbirds can and they snatch them right out of the air.

Eventually we left the museum and headed out for dinner. I had no choice but to keep my hair up in a little pony tail even in the restaurant - it was still wet. 

I wore enclosed shoes for the park, but was very happy to get them off once we got home. Birkenstock sandals are so comfy and have great support - I will have to take my Birk insoles for my tennies next time. Or wear my Birk enclosed shoes.

After the ride in the car back to the house, I was feeling a little stiff and went for a walk with Late and DH.

DS didn't much enjoy being outside in the heat and walking or hiking. He did enjoy it when I cooked breakfast. I still couldn't work up an appetite for eggs and/or meat in the morning, but once or twice I made french toast and ate a piece of that.

The stars were beautiful again. I cannot believe how incredible the sky is there at night. The Tucson area has an observatory up on Kitt Peak, and the area tries to keep down light pollution at night in order to keep the sky beautiful.

That night, I saw a shooting star. Usually, I would stand outside on the driveway in bare feet and stare upward until my neck hurt. Now, I have learned to at least wear sandals when standing outside alone at night, even on the driveway, and I carry my flashlight, too.

Once, I shone it upwards, and saw an incredible amount of little insects and dust. I know I was breathing that combination. Late had caught Valley Fever from that dust earlier this year. I was with her - how did I manage to avoid it? I don't know, but today I finally convinced my doctor to give me a chest X-ray after my bi-annual echocardiogram for my mitral valve prolapse. It's amazing that I didn't "need" an echo every other year for most of my life.

The tech asked me if I have had any episodes of rapid breathing lately. I said yes. She looked up - I have never said that before.

I said, "I assume it was from hiking in the mountains last week." She agreed.

Still, she spent a lot longer on the echo and doppler than anyone else ever did before. WAY longer. She approached my heart from all 4 directions and also did an artery in my throat - whichever one is on the right.

I just realized that some place I have cords for my camera and can probably hook the camera directly to the computer - I will go work on that idea. I think it's hard on the battery, but I can maybe just download the batch and work from there. I hope so - I want to see if I have any good pictures or not.

Wednesday - a busy day 

 

Try to Keep Up

I admit it. I am getting old. I am 57 - don't ask me after next month. I try to stay in shape. Round is a shape, right? Most days I walk several miles with the dogs. Twice a week Late and I get in several miles - usually in addition to my dog walks. I am back at the gym, doing 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and 30 minutes with weight machines. I have shoulder exercises I do at home, some with 5-lb weights. There are some exercises I have been forbidden to ever use more than 5 pounds for, or I will re-damage my shoulder. Since I used to do them with 20 lb weights, that might explain some of my problems.

My walking here is done on pretty level ground. If the earth was reduced to the size a billiard ball, it would actually be smoother than a normal billiard ball. Amazing, isn't it? Hard to believe when confronted with mountain ranges. Astounding, to me. I live at 200 feet above sea level. Where I was staying was a few thousand feet higher than that. When we went into the mountains, we went above 8000 feet. Most days, I was up in a mountain some place or another.

One day I spent at Boyce Thompson Arboretum with Remo and Mombzbe. I don't know what the elevation was there, but I am guessing it wasn't too high. Remo must have been chasing someone to arrest him, because we sure got there very fast. I sat in the back and watched outside from the side windows, when I was able to open my eyes at all. He is a great driver, but like the law or sausage being made, I just didn't want to watch being done.

Remo knows that park. He was a most excellent tour guide, explaining in detail about rocks, rock formations, many plants, trees, insects, etc - he has a lot of desert knowledge. I think he was disappointed that there wasn't an earthquake while we were there. We walked along a nicely-made trail, me in my sandals and them wisely in their tennies. I realized the value of a closed shoe when we stood on a little bridge over a wash and watched a 3-foot rattle snack crossing the wash. They hold their rattles up as they slither, as if they don't want to get them dirty. After that day, I wore closed shoes in parks with abounding nature.

Many people tried to talk me out of going to Arizona in the hot rainy season. I want to experience it all, so I went. I am very happy I did - the desert in bloom is a beautiful thing. The humidity was no big deal to me; I live in a humid climate anyway. Our summers are much like summers in Florida. Hot and wet. Thirty percent humidity might be hard on people who live in the desert, but it's a nice, dry day to us.

It was a real pleasure to see everything so green. I have a definite appreciation now for the desert landscape. Saguaros will never replace shade trees in my mind, but they have their own beauty. I cannot remember the names of most of the trees and cacti that Remo carefully labeled for me, but in time, I might learn one or two.

Remo was very kind to give up a day of sleep to take us. He works nights, so he would have normally been sleeping. We only had to nudge him awake a few times. Mombzbe and I followed him around like puppies, absorbing the lovely overcast, rather cool day and tried to absorb what our personal tour guide was saying. He promised there would not be a test at the end. Whew.

Twice we stopped at drinking fountains. I have to say, I am used to city water and well water tastes nasty to me. The water in the house where I was staying - well, let's just kindly say that I can't even drink it after it has been through a filter. Remo assured me the water would taste good. I am thinking, "And what is he used to drinking?" But, on his assurance, I drank some. Then I drank more. It dripped off my chin, onto my shirt, and I drank more. (My dogs must have taught me that.) It was like drinking bottled spring water. I realize most people seem to think that bottled water is something special, but all it is - is water. There was maybe a slight undertone of clean stone, but somehow it was a good flavor.

Remo pulled a jujube off a tree and gave us pieces to eat. I never even knew there was such a thing - I thought jujubes were candies we used to get in the movies that stuck to our teeth. It tasted like a cross between an apple and jicama, but a tiny drier. It was good! I am not adventurous with things that go into my mouth, but was lucky with both the water and the fruit. It made me brave enough later in the week to try a new candy at See's, and then I had to ask for something else to get that nasty taste out of my mouth. The hazelnut creams at Godiva do not taste like coffee.

I think I kept up ok with the walking. Maybe Remo was going slow for me - if he was, he didn't seem impatient. The park was too beautiful to rush through anyway. It made me wish we had mountains near my home. I think the closest ones are in Kentucky. The border to KY is at least 4 hours by car from here. 

I managed to drive back from where Remo dropped me off at the mall and find my way back to Late's house, about a 90-minute drive. Since about 80 of those minutes were on one freeway, it really wasn't too hard. I thought sure I was driving into a major storm, but it stayed far enough away from me that my car stayed dry. Storms in the distance in the desert are interesting to watch. I had seen one in my rear view mirror half the way up to meet them.

I did not take pictures that day. I got out of my car carrying whatever I was drinking, maybe diet Pepsi? and Remo said I had everything I needed. I reached back for a spare pair of sandals, just in case, and we were off. The camera remained in my car. I did take pictures at other parks, but I have a slight problem.

Camera people, please help me out here. I have a Gateway computer with a helpful little slot for my media card, and it has served me well so far. However, my new media cards are 2.0, and my reader won't read them. It seems my reader cannot handle high capacity hards. I need to update my reader - does anyone know anything about this? I can buy a separate reader, but I already carry enough electronic pieces through the airport that I really would like to just upgrade this one, if I can. So, I have a bunch of pictures and I can't see them yet. Perhaps I should solve the problem by not buying any cards with a capacity higher than 1.0.

When I got home, I found that my two nieces and my daughter ate like little locusts here. I have no food left. No one bothered to run the vacuum, sweep the bathroom floor, or clean up anything. Imagine a bathroom floor with two dogs shedding, 3 females with long hair shedding, and no one sweeping the floor for 10 days. The only things they didn't cook and eat were the raw chicken breast I left in the fridge, along with the pot roast I had cooked before I left. Want to smell my fridge?

I had no idea my carpet and ceramic tiles could look that bad. That left me cleaning all day yesterday, between bouts of having to sit with my feet up because of swelling. That is another story. I had to clean yesterday because I had company early this morning, or I would have just done the minimum.

I don't care what the girls did to my home. My dogs are happy, fatter, and were delighted to see me and sad to see the nieces leave. All good signs. I was worried a little - Molly fought me on her shot this time and I only got probably .7 ml of her .8 ml shot into her. It's a very tiny amount, but it can be a lot to her health. I had to stab the poor girl 4 times as it was, and finally gave up. If she has problems, they will come out after two or three weeks, so I knew I would be home in time.

Meanwhile, my condo is clean, my stuff is unpacked, my laundry is done, and we are all smiling here. I just need some groceries.

 

 

 

Boxing Day

The day finally crept up on me, catching me like a cat cornering a frightened little mouse. Boxing Day. Not the day after Christmas, but our first boxing lesson.

The child picked up the boxing gloves and showed up very impatiently at my dooor just a little late to get us there on time. We piled into my car and hit the road. We made it with all of 5 minutes to spare. She insisted it was my fault because I refuse to drive like a freak, and I had my dogs outside to pee when she showed up. Whatever. She should have shown up 15 minutes earlier, as I had asked.

The place is a regular boxing gym with a ring in it. It's nothing like Kronk, the now defunct, but very well known boxing gym in Detroit. I had been there before -Kronk was impressive. This was in a strip mall.

There is one other female in the class. She tried to hang with us, but most things in martial arts are done in twos, so she had to find another partner. The rest of the class appeared to be young males with a lot of energy, mostly maybe in their 20s.

Boxing is a demanding sport. We had to jump rope (remember how easy that used to be?) do sit ups with punches; lunges, squats, jumping jacks, and a combination of 3 kinds of punches with squats between sets. We did high leg lifts to the sides, and the back - 30 at a time, without setting the foot back on the floor. (That last one was probably the easiest for me.). One exercise reminded me of a frenetic hopscotch.

We also punched, jabbed, hooked, and did upper cuts. Remember I was good with this class because of no sparring? Instead of sparring, you get a partner. One puts on boxing gloves and one puts on paddle-thingies. The one with gloves punches the paddle-thingies that the other one bravely holds up.

Child is a bartender, with resulting stronger arms and shoulders than she has ever had in her life. Her decision to take this class was based on a desire to relieve aggression. I have a bad shoulder and one that was recently operated on. She whacked the paddles I was holding. I gritted my teeth. Once I said, "Don't do that again." She had pushed my left arm back with a solid jab and it hurt. My own fault, really, since I wasn't braced strongly enough. I was getting frustrated - I want to help her develop a good, solid, strong arm, but I want to keep mine from snapping off. Child has a good punch with potential power behind it, but her aim is still a little erratic and her form needs work. She missed my face every time. So far.

I spent many years in martial arts classes before. I even taught judo for a few years. Judo attracts mostly teenage boys, and I had to regularly beat the crap out of them per parental request. I had to pick them up and separate them when they fought amongst themselves. It was fun. I have a semi-decent punch still - I spent time also in several forms of karate and kickboxing. I didn't hold back much on my punches - child was able to absorb them, even though she had never done that before.

It will take time for my right shoulder to really allow me to do what I should be capable of. My left - I don't know. It needs surgery, too. Maybe this class can strengthen it enough so I can avoid surgery.

Our legs were a bit rubbery. Child almost passed out once. We both spent a little time whacking on the heavy bag, and some time just breathing hard and laughing.

Next week I will miss class because I will be in AZ. I am to be allowed to make up a class on a Saturday morning, because that class isn't full yet.

We can't wait to go back. This was one great work out, not boring at all, and a great way to relieve tensions. I even have my own beginning boxing gloves :-)

Did I mention the 30 sit ups with 4 punches into your partners paddles each time we sat up? We did that routine twice. <groan>

Child has real potential as a boxer. One of the guys in charge spent some time with us, helping her with her form. He has a strong Irish accent. We both got a lot of compliments from the instructors. It was good, it was all good.

I have to work on my rope jumping. It's hard to do while keeping my shoulders out of it.

Child was less aggressive as we slowly inched our way back to my car, sweat dripping off our hair, faces red as tomatoes.

Boxing is much more fun that aerobics.How did I miss this sport before?

 

This is six inches

Perception is important. Only a man could create a map where 100 miles equals one inch. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

Some people would say, "It's only a dog." Molly and Baby are my treasures.

For years I wanted to home cook for my dogs, but my vet kept talking me out of it. She never really gave me a good reason other than to let the professionals handle getting the correct nutritional balance.

I love my vet, so I trusted her. Sort of. I still fed my dogs some people food with her blessings. Beagles live for smells - how far behind can taste be?

Then we had the pet food scares. People lost their beloved pets as a conequence of poisoned food. I read  the book, "Food Pets Die For."

That did it for me. I copied some recipes out of that book and told my vet that I was not buying any more commercial food. Period. She said, "OK." <sigh>  I feel so strongly about it now that when I get another puppy or dog some day I would prefer it would not be raised on commercial food before I adopt it.

The downside is the actual cooking. Oh sure, it's fun to watch the beagles dance and prance, hoping this batch of food is going to be theirs. Molly doesn't leave the kitchen for the hours it takes me to be done. She gives me the soulful look, the begging eyes, and I laugh at her. I know she isn't starving.

Today I had to cook for the girls in preparation for my upcoming trip. The young man from the condo people was scheduled this morning to fix some minor issues in my new home. He came in, went to work, and I cooked.

Ingredients: chicken, broccoli, brown rice, water, celery, garlic, green beans, carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash. A whole chicken goes in with everything, then the chicken has to be de-boned. I was in the process of separating the chicken bones from the rest of the food when the young man came into the kitchen to work on one of the windows.

He almost crawled up my back. "What is that? What are you making, soup?" His nose was almost in the huge pot.

"Dog food."

"No way! There is dog food in there?" (good thing he is very attractive to make up for any IQ deficiencies)

"It's all dog food. It's just made with all human food."

"Wow, it looks great! Smells wonderful...."

I smiled, and handed him a fork. He hit some chicken and a few of the veggies.

"Your dogs eat better than I do."

"Don't tell your wife that."

Molly smiled. She didn't mind sharing a few bites with the nice man. She knew she was getting the rest of the pot to share with Baby over the next few weeks.

I proceeded to put the food in freezer containers for the dogs. The young man continued to be impressed with the idea of home cooking for dogs. I got the impression he might start barking soon. He has a new perception of dog food.