A Rootin’ + Tootin’ Good Time

February 25, 2015 kathygetto 8 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Our friends Jan and Wayne hosted a Blazing Saddles dinner party last night.

What fun!

Alas, Rich is still in Boise, so he wasn’t able to join the rest of us as we focused on the feast with the Superstition Mountains in view.

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We’re in the middle of a bit of a chilly spell, so neighbors Rita and Stewart provided the outdoor heater. 0224151809

Much of the menu focused on the famous farting scene from Blazing Saddles.

(Side Note: I met Slim Pickens (the guy who says, “I’d say you’ve had enough!” at the end of the scene) at the Reno Rodeo many years ago. 🙂 )

Two types of ribs smoked to perfection!

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Barbecued chicken legs.

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Rib sticking potatoes.

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Cornbread baked in a cast iron skillet.

And, of course, two types of beans!

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We all dressed the part including Mike in his cowboy hat and Brothel Inspection sheriff’s star.

A rootin’ and tootin’ good time was had by all!

Cerebrations

Roger That

February 24, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Rich flew to Boise yesterday morning to look at some houses and property.

We’re trying to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives…

Anyway, we’re not the best of communicators over the phone because Rich can’t hear and I’m afraid of phones.

For some reason we can’t seem to decipher when the other one is finished speaking so we interrupt each other constantly.

We don’t mean to; it just happens because we’ve never really had to develop phone skills with one another. And it’s even worse now because we’re together virtually ALL of the time.

So, while he’s in Boise for a few days, we’re trying something new to help us communicate better and quit interrupting each other.

We’re using military terms to indicate that we’re done talking.

“Roger That” means “I understand” or “I hear you.”

“Over” means “I’m done talking for a bit.” “Over and Out” means “I’m done talking forever.”

Giggles… We’re actually not using those exact military terms.

But I am saying, “IT’S MY TURN.”

And, “OK, NOW YOU TALK”.

And it’s helping!

We haven’t hung up on each other once. 🙂

Just Stuff

Orange is the New Red

February 23, 2015 kathygetto 6 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Sophie and I went for a long walk the other day, and several unique things happened.

To Rabbit or Not to Rabbit

Sophie lagged behind. Actually that’s not unique. When it’s sunny outside, she’d rather not exercise.

Anyway, she was lagging so far behind that I hid behind a tree to scare her a bit. Once she figures out that I am out of sight, she usually trots along the trail until she finds me.

But on her way to meet me that day, she smelled a bunny rabbit. From my hiding place, I watched her come within four feet of the rabbit. She didn’t realize she was that close…

She was torn between chasing the rabbit and finding me. I watched as she weighed the pros and cons of each side of the equation. I could tell that the rabbit was winning, so I called her and she reluctantly caught up to me.

Too Tired to Walk but Not Too Tired to Jog

If there are people around, I keep better track of Sophie than if we’re virtually alone on the trail. She’ll catch up eventually…

She was, again, lagging behind. We were at a place where there are curves and dips, so we lost track of one another.

All of a sudden I heard two sets of footsteps from behind jogging towards me. Two young women were out for a morning trail run.

And guess who was jogging right along with them?

Yep, Sophie, without a care in the world. Happy as could be. 🙂

Apparently she was too tired to walk with me but not too tired to jog with her new friends.

Cardinals Time Two

There’s a gully that we cross with lots of shrubs and trees that is perfect for bird cover.

I had my first cardinal sighting there, and it was a good one!

I saw a pair of cardinals and they were ORANGE! Even more brilliant than the ones in this picture.

I was hoping to see some cardinals while we were here, but I was expecting them to be cardinal red.

What a pleasant surprise to see two orange Northern Cardinals. From what little bit of research I’ve done on the ‘net, the orange plumage is most likely caused by a diet that’s specific to this area.

Whatever’s causing it, they were simply amazing!

Now that was an American Beauty moment.

Just Stuff

Crime in the Neighborhood!

February 22, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Shocking news from our neighborhood:

There is a criminal in our midst!

The victims felt that this theft was serious enough to warrant a call to the local sheriff’s office who sent a Citizen on Patrol in an official car to take statements.

While you might think that the criminal would be stealing jewelry or other valuables from these wealthy retirees, you’d be wrong.

He (or she) is stealing “do not poop here” signs. At least a half dozen of them.

Within our park, there are definitive pet zones. Pets are allowed in about half the park, and that’s including both cats and dogs.

I’m not sure if parakeets or guppies are allowed in no pet zones. 🙂

There are some residents who live within pet areas that are not happy about Rover or Fluffy (a surprising number of people walk their cats daily) using their lot as a private bathroom.

I get that, but they are renting or leasing the lot. They don’t own it, so I’m not sure if they have the right to ask pet owners to tell Miss Kitty to walk crossed legged on her daily walk past the lot.

PS No word on how the actual criminal hunt is going. I know the first person I would look into is the woodworker who is making the signs and selling them in the resort gift shop. Perhaps they aren’t selling fast enough. 🙂

Cerebrations

Skills and Drills

February 21, 2015 kathygetto 8 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

We are leaving Arizona in a little over a week, and yesterday I played in my last pickleball tournament here in the Valley of the Sun.

While there are pickleball tournaments all across the US and some in foreign countries, the Phoenix area is a mecca for tournament rats with the highest number and arguably highest quality of tournaments.

Yesterday I played with a total stranger. Nancy was a friend of a friend, and I offered to play with her at the tournament even though I would be playing up a level. I’m rated a 3.5 and Nancy’s a 4.0. Players can play up levels but they can’t play down.

I’m very thankful for all the pickleball play and tournament play I’ve had the opportunity to engage in while we’ve been in Phoenix. I used to drive 35 miles to play pickleball in Boise, and it’s been a blast to ride my bike less than five minutes to get to a game. 🙂

I’ve been very surprised at how my love of the game has shifted. I used to want to just hit spectacular shots and was pleasantly surprised on those rare occasions when I did.

Now I want to understand why a shot works and how it works. More importantly, I want to have the knowledge, skill, and consistency to make a particular shot with a 90% accuracy.

That’s going to mean a change to how I approach my pickleball playing time.

I’m going to spend at least a quarter of my time working on skills and drills. I’ll be doing repetitions of particular shots over and over and over again until I feel confident that I can make them work the vast majority of the time.

Fine tuning and perfecting, reducing variables, and going more mental than reactive.

That’s my goal…

Just Stuff

Be the B*tch First

February 20, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

As I’ve said before, Sophie’s not a very nice dog to other dogs.

She’s friendly as can be to people, but she’s a bitch (no pun intended) to other dogs.

Doesn’t matter if they are male or female. She wants to be the boss and play her way which is very aggressively.

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Side story to set the punch line:

I once had a sister-in-law who I had difficulty getting along with until I figured her out. If I approached her nicely at a family gathering, she’d nail me and be a bitch for the rest of the event.

Finally out of desperation I decided to try something else. At the start of the next family gathering, I criticized her for something. Cut her right off at the knees.

Voila! She was ever so pleasant the rest of the gathering that I decided from then on I was always going to …

Be the Bitch First!

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Sophie needs other dogs to treat her exactly that way!

If all other dogs would just prance up to her and knock her right on her butt, she’d be as nice as could be and they’d have all sorts of fun playing.

Alas, very few dogs do that, so Sophie doesn’t get to play with many other dogs because she’s always in this mode:

Food

Potlucks

February 19, 2015 kathygetto 8 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

The Pickleball Club had their monthly potluck event last night.

Wow, was it good.

I ate so much I’m Bluto-ed. That’s what Rich and I call it when we eat way too much.

Sloppy Joes, beef or chicken, were provided for the main course for the price of $2.00 per person. Each person/couple brought one side dish to share with others.

What is it about potlucks that makes them so good?

I think it’s the opportunity to try so many different types of food without having to do all the work.

We all generally fix an item that we are comfortable making, so there’s no stress involved in trying to cook something new.

Where else besides a potluck can a person eat apple pie, chocolate cherry dump cake, Top Ramen cabbage salad, and pasta salad all at once?

Other than eating too much, my only regret is that we won’t be here for next month’s pot luck. 🙂

Places

Peralta Trail

February 18, 2015 kathygetto 2 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

We went for a hike yesterday up the Peralta Trail to Fremont Saddle. It’s a great hike that is a 4.8 mile out and back trail with 1340 feet of elevation gain. The trail is rated as moderate and offers very scenic views.

The rock formations are varied and stunning.

Not sure what this flower is called, but it looks like the perfect fly fishing dry fly.

The top of the trail, at Fremont Saddle, offers a stunning view of Weavers Needle.

From Wikipedia:

Weavers Needle is a 1,000-foot-high column of rock that forms a distinctive peak visible for many miles around. Located in the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix, Arizona, Weavers Needle was created when a thick layer of tuff (fused volcanic ash) was heavily eroded, creating the spire as an erosional remnant with a summit elevation of 4,555 feet. It is set in a desert landscape of cactus and mesquite bush, with large Saguaro cacti particularly prominent. The peak was named after mountain man Pauline Weaver .

Weavers Needle has played a significant role in the stories of the Lost Dutchman’s Gold Mine. The Needle’s shadow reportedly indicates the location of a rich vein of gold, and many treasure hunters have searched for it. The hunt for gold around Weavers Needle has been pursued by hundreds (possibly thousands) of people. Weavers Needle has a large split in the side that makes it look like it has two tops, not one. This can only be viewed from the side.

As I gazed up at the rocks, I was wondering how often there are earthquakes in Arizona…

Here’s a closeup of the seed pod of a dead Century Plant.

Past this balancing rock, you can see mountain range after range after range…

Sophie was getting mighty tired until she found WATER. She was refreshed and energized after a short swim. 🙂

Throughout the trail there are pockets of shade. Ever so lovely to take a break from the bright Arizona sunshine.

Early wildflowers are just starting to bloom.

Parts of the trail are quite rocky and challenging.

I loved the upside down sign on this Jeep: “If you can read this… Roll me over!”

At the end of the trail, something happened that has never happened before. NEVER EVER!

While we stopped to look at the map, Sophie laid down even though there were other people around. She’s never laid down when there are new friends to meet!

She’s one tired puppy…

Here she is back at home sleeping on her pillow on Homer’s dash.

That’s how we know it was a successful outing.

A tired dog is a good dog. 🙂

Places

No Room for A Cups

February 17, 2015 kathygetto 6 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

We went to a Renaissance Festival that’s down the highway a bit.

It has come every year to the Phoenix area for the last 27 years.

It was an amazing spectacle of period costumes, games, food, and more.

We weren’t the only ones who decided to take advantage of today’s two for the price of one special. Felt like bazillions of people…

All of the workers and many of the visitors were in period costume.

This guy on stilts was amazing.

It’s hard to see in this picture, but all of the rides were human powered. There were four guys in the middle of this ride and they pushed the levers to make the ride go round and round.

I’m not sure there were elephants at true Renaissance Fairs, but there were several here.

Who knew? Elephants’ nipples are under their front legs, not the back legs like a beef cow. I sure didn’t know until I got up close and way too personal with “Eliza”…

The belly dancers reminded me of the fire poi dancers at Burning Man. Mesmerizing…

All sorts of food carts, even healthy food, were scattered throughout the fair.

Jugglers performed for crowds.

Artisans produced their wares for sale.

Just for me, Ye Pop Inn so I could buy Diet Pepsi. 🙂

My favorite part of the fair was where artisans demonstrated how things were made and cooked during the time period.

My favorite booth was where a man demonstrated Brass Rubbings.

Brass rubbings are made by attaching special paper to the selected monumental brass, and then rubbing the surface with a colored wax. Where the brass is flat, the color of the wax is picked up and where a line is engraved, the color of the paper remains. The resultant image is a Brass Rubbing of the monumental brass.

These were at least four feet tall.

Simply beautiful.

Look closely at the breasts of the woman selling Henna Tattooing. They are shoved up by a bustier and literally flowing out of her top.

After looking at some impressive cleavages throughout the fair, I realized that there’s no way I would get a job there.

I’m too flat chested, and there’s no room for A cups. 🙂

Cerebrations

Jane Goodall Moments

February 16, 2015 kathygetto 4 Comments

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Rich walks Sophie first thing every morning, and I take her last thing every night.

I think I’ve got the better time slot.

Walking around the park after the sun sets allows me to peek inside RVs and park models to see what people are doing. Most either have doors open and/or windows uncurtained.

So each night I have my own series of Jane Goodall moments.

Here’s what I’ve observed:

Valentine’s Day and Happy Birthday balloons are displayed outside so that everyone knows you got a gift.

Men do more dinner dishes than women.

Women surf the Internet while men change channels continuously on the television.

Women read books more while men take more cat naps on the couch.

Oh, and the smaller the dog, the more it barks. 🙂

Cosmic Kicks

A Rootin’ + Tootin’ Good Time

Roger That

Orange is the New Red

Crime in the Neighborhood!

Skills and Drills

Be the B*tch First

Potlucks

Peralta Trail

No Room for A Cups

Jane Goodall Moments

Cerebrations of Life