Gold Canyon, Arizona

Carol came down yesterday for a visit and some pickleball play. We are signed up for a tournament and will play on Tuesday.

I am also playing with Bill, a man I met at Flathead Lake in Montana. When Bill heard that I would be staying in Phoenix near his winter home, he asked me to play with him at a couple of tourneys.

He came to our resort so we could practice a bit together. I played with Bill, and Carol played with Jimmy–one of the better players here.

We had a blast! So much fun, great competition, and hundreds of calories expended.

Carol said that our cheek muscles got the most sore from all the smiling and laughing we did while playing!

Bill is by far the best player among the four of us, and he gave us all great tips and hints. By the time we were done, I felt like I had had a lesson.

And I can’t wait to practice all the things I learned next time I play!

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Yesterday, during our street’s nightly “let’s watch the sun set on the Superstition Mountains” session, we all got to talking about fabulous places we have been.

Several of us mentioned the beauty, magnitude, and diversity of Yellowstone National Park.

One couple, Jan and Wayne, went just about a year ago. While Wayne had been there multiple times, primarily to fly fish, this was Jan’s first visit. Talking about her visit to the park brought tears to her eyes.

During their visit they stayed a couple of nights at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel.

Jan, who is Italian, talked about La Dolce Far Niente–the sweetness of doing nothing.

She sat in the sun room at the hotel and did exactly that for several hours.

With a beautiful view of Lake Yellowstone and the stunning ambiance of the room, who wouldn’t enjoy just sitting and embracing La Dolce Far Niente?

That got me thinking about how we rush so much that we forget to just enjoy moments.

So . . .

to honor Sunday, I wish you all at least part of the day enjoying . . .

The Sweetness of Doing Nothing!

Gold Canyon, Arizona

Rich and I each had a bit of customized therapy yesterday.

He washed Homer from top to bottom and had washed the Jeep the day before. He loves washing vehicles almost as much as he loves having washed vehicles. 🙂

And Sophie and I went for an extra long walk at the base of the Superstition Mountains.

Here’s a view what the foothills look like. I’m continually surprised at how green the Phoenix area is.

And the diversity of the cacti is mind boggling. As soon as we get Internet at Homer, I’m going to take some pictures around the park and label what each kind is.

There’s a bird that I can’t figure out building a nest in this cactus. Ouch! I’m hoping to see the bird while Carol’s here for a pickleball visit next week so she can tell me what it is. In our RV park, I’ve seen lots of gila woodpeckers and bazillions of broad tailed hummingbirds. The woodpeckers are quite vocal and make amazing sounds.  (Bird photos are not mine.)I love to look at lichen on rocks. This lime green shows up bright here in the desert heat but in the Boise area it needs water to make it ‘bloom’. And once we get Internet and Google, I’m hoping to find some horticultural pages so that I can figure out some of the flora…

This tree has the most amazing green colored bark I’ve ever seen. Stunning!

Gold Canyon, Arizona

First gentle blog reader, I must apologize for yesterday’s rant. I was so cranky that I would have found fault with Mother Theresa…

I woke up to clouds yesterday morning, and thankfully I woke up in a much better mood.

So that got me thinking about why it is that the presence (and absence) of clouds affects my cerebral, emotional, spiritual, and physical state so much.

And here’s what I came up with…

Clouds make me feel sheltered and self-contained and whole. Sunshine makes me feel exposed and bombarded and disjointed.

So I’m thinking that clouds help me achieve a zen-like state.

Here’s part of the definition of zen from urban dictionary:

One way to think of zen is this: a total state of focus that incorporates a total togetherness of body and mind.

When I go for a trail run in full cloud cover, I run faster and father than in full sunshine. My energy level at least doubles and sometimes triples in clouds. And that “total togetherness of body and mind” is achieved. (Well, at least as much of it as can be in a nearly 60 year old woman…)

So given the absence of clouds while we are living in The Valley of the Sun for the next two months, I need to figure out a way to achieve zen other than waiting for clouds to magically appear.

I thought about ways to come closer to zen, and here’s my daily to do list starting tomorrow:

• Listen to music at least 30 minutes a day.
• Meditate at least fifteen minutes per day.

I can combine the meditating and the music sometimes, but I don’t want to do it all the time because each activity will generate unique benefits.

Gold Canyon, Arizonak

Our RV neighbors have decided to make this area their permanent home.

Wayne and Jan have been full timers for three years since moving from their home in Illinois. Wayne has been recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and he feels much better in the dry Arizona heat. So they are selling their rig and looking into park models.

Jan’ s sister Linda and her husband recently decided to make the Phoenix area their only residence, so they have to pare down two residences into one.

Linda’s Michigan residence has all her special and memory filled items, and her Scottsdale residence has all southwestern-themed furniture and decorations.

While Linda likes southwestern decor, it doesn’t feel like HER home. She wants to redo this house with her things from her formerly permanent home to make it HERS.

Jan doesn’t understand Linda’s feelings; she says home is in your heart and it shouldn’t matter what you’re surrounded by.

Who’s right? Jan who lives in her heart and mind? Linda who is affected by her surroundings?

Both. Each is honoring her own wants and needs. (We’re all just different and thank goodness for that! Wouldn’t life be boring if we all wanted the same thing. 🙂 )

I’m similar to,Linda. I’m greatly affected by the colors, textures, and shapes I’m surrounded by.

For example, given a choice between these two colors, I’ll take the sage even if it costs 1000 times more. Mauve makes me physically ill, literally.

Jan’s sentimental about family photos and only packed photos and other keepsakes when they moved out of their house three years ago.

I’m like Jan, too. I packed photos. But once we move back into a house, I’m scanning them into a digital scrapbook before I toss them. I know that neither of my kids want to deal with the actual photos, but if they are available in electronic file they can peruse them when they want from the comfort of their own couches on whatever electronic wizard contraption comes down the technological highway in the next 30 years… The actual photos don’t mean anything to me; it’s more about the feelings and the memories looking at them elicit.

What brings me comfort are the textures and the colors of my surroundings combined with the ambiance of the situation, the people,  and the music that surrounds me…

I’m not overly sentimental about keepsakes, but there are a few I treasure like the Getto brand that belongs to Rich’s dad.

How about you? What brings you comfort?

Gold Canyon, Arizona

While I was in Boise, I went to our storage sheds to look for and hopefully find some things to take back to Phoenix with me.

A few of the items were for Rich, and I’m always amazed at how well be remembers where each thing is. “It’s on the third shelf on the left hand side of .   .  . and the box has green writing.”

So I found all of his items right away.

My items? Not so easy to find. We moved so fast and expected to be unpacking in a new home right away that we didn’t even label most boxes. That still works for Rich, but not so much for me.

Luckily I did eventually find my stuff.

Then it was time to lock up both storage units and drive away.

That might seem like an easy task to most people, but to those of us with OCD and CRS it’s torture.

OCD is obsessive compulsive disorder which for me manifests as checking to make sure I did something like closing and locking a door at least ten times.

Combine that with CRS, can’t remember sh*t, and you have a recipe for disaster!

But I think I found a solution! I took pictures of the closed doors with the locks in place.

Genius! Now I can confirm that all is done by looking at my phone (at least ten times).

Take that OCD and CRS!

Boise, Idaho

So Melissa picks up our mail at least once a week at the post office. Then she calls me and we determine what’s junk and what’s important.

I pay most of our bills online but occasionally there’s a bill (or two) that needs to be paid the old fashioned way–via snail mail.

That was the case last week. So Melissa kindly boxed up a bit of mail and mailed it to us in Phoenix via Priority Mail.

We got it on Wednesday morning. I didn’t get the bills paid right away. Later Wednesday night I was booking my flight to Boise to stay with Melissa after surgery.

I made sure to pack the bills so that I could pay them while I was here in Boise.

Melissa mailed the box to us on Monday. We got it on Wednesday. It flew back with me on Thursday.

So in the course of three days, those bills traveled at least 1500 miles to get paid.

Not the most effective way to pay bills, but they are finally paid…