dancercise on the mountain top

This weekend Jay, Stephanie, David, Lily and I climbed partway up Superstition mountain to explore a small cave. It was a sunny day, about 62 degrees, perfect for climbing.


The majority of the hike was a gradual incline through a forest of Saguaro cactus. The last bit of the hike included a more difficult path. This was evidenced by the fact I put the camera away and focused all four limbs on the task of staying solidly grounded.


Lily proved to be part mountain goat and despite a couple of encounters with cactus needles enjoyed herself immensely.

The climbing crew having reached their goal, the cave.

Our decent proved to be even more challenging that the climb up but all managed to make it to the bottom in one piece.

christmas dance

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

The tenth good thing about my dad #3

Hunting squirrel that were eating food from the bird feeders out the back door.

The third good thing about my dad is that he told wonderful stories. He had when I was a boy in Utah stories and when I was in the army stories and when you were little stories. One of my favorite stories from his childhood was when he would tell about the summer he had a bear cub as a pet.

Journal Entry 12/23/07
Another good day. Feet are looking better. He ate little bites all day. Fourth Sunday I missed church. Finding I miss worship and missing God's presence although I know he lives in me. Miss worship music but I can't play the radio and hear the intercom when dad beeps.

Happy Hanukkah!

Sunday night at sundown, when the first three stars were spotted marked the beginning of Hanukkah. We gathered with friends from several different fellowships to usher in the holiday. Besides wall to wall people there was food, music, dancing, lighing of the menorah, blowing of the shofar, telling of the Hanukkah story from the book of Macabees, and rounds of dreidel for the children, complete with chocolate coins.

the tenth good thing about my dad #2

Christmas morning: Amy tests a cash register Grandpa gave her knowing she always wanted one.

The second good thing about my dad was he loved Christmas. After his retirement my dad's participation in Christmas increased dramatically. He would do Christmas shopping all year long at the actions he attended on Saturdays. He would start wrapping in early November and by Christmas there were presents mounded up and over flowing under the Christmas tree as he anticipated Christmas morning when all his grandchildren would come to unwrap gifts.

Journal entry 12/19/07
Harried day-nurse visited in AM. I made a quick trip to town-home health aide came-family meeting with Pastor Tom to make initial funeral plans-then Wendy came over to talk. All the while trying to keep dad's leaking feet dry and wash towels as they got wet. So glad Tom can do the funeral as we are all comfortable with him. Wayne spent the night-I slept soundly.

the tenth good thing about my dad #1

A tribute to my father
Armond Dale Nelson
12/9/22-1/16/08

Photo of my dad with his son, Keith and two grandsons, Joel and Logan. The five of us met for lunch at a truck stop.

The first good thing about my dad is he would hum or sing when he was feeling especially content. I have always loved hearing him do this. When I was little he used to sing to me but when I grew up he became more self conscious of his singing. Sometimes I would hear him singing in the next room and try to sneak closer so I could enjoy the soothing sound of his voice.

Journal entry Tuesday 12/18/07
We had a family meeting with the social worker-it went well. We will meet with Pastor Tom concerning funeral prep on Wednesday. Will have Christmas on Saturday. When I told Dad he first asked if Wayne was going to be there and when I said Yes he said, "that sounds good." He talked about the button again and said something to Wayne about not wanting to be this way. I was in tears after helping him to the bathroom in PM-can't decide what would hurt more-having him die or continue in this state. When I checked on him at 3:30 AM He said, "I guess we done made it through another night". His feet are leaking.

wolf waltz

Today I visited my friend Renalee and got to see her cute little wolf pups. There are three pups, seal, bear and wally ('cause he looks like a walrus).

Seal is on the left and Wally on the right.


The pups are so fat they can't get their feet under themselves. Seal the female did scoot around a bit on her belly but the boys didn't try to move much.

Bear


Wally playing peek-a-pup.



Bear with nose in the sun.



Wally strikes a pose.

All rolled up and ready to go.

Puppy paws.

slow dance

Lily loves to play and run.

Today we visited a neighbor who has a two year old dog and 2 four month old puppies. They have a wonderful time running, chasing, and tussling with each other. Yesterday we practiced a new exercise with me riding the bike and Lily running beside the bike. Lily is a quick learner and did very well for her first time. Given the chance she will head down in the wash on the back of our property and chase the birds and rabbits that reside there.

With all this exercise by the end of the day she is typically tuckered out and will nap until bedtime. Here are some cute pictures of her various nap positions.


This is a desirable nap technique if you have a cold nose.

Lily loves her toy spider. The spider is a good playmate as well as nap partner.

Tuck and snooze.

Belly up!

sunset ballet

Fixing dinner and sunset often occur at the same time. Because my kitchen window faces west I frequently watch the sky turn colors as I cook. Recently it wasn't the color in the sky but the reflection on the car that initially caught my eye.


After shooting the car I took snapped pictures of the sunset and the colored clouds over the mountains too.

mountain macarena

Today was a fun day. My husband's work van need some work done at the dealer. Instead of only taking an hour or two it ended up taking all day. Without his van he couldn't go to work.

We spent the morning and early afternoon going to garage sales. One of the garage sales we visited was right next to the tail head to the foothills of the mountain near our house. When I mentioned my desire to hike that trail with my husband he suggested we do that later today.

(no, we didn't buy the rocking horse but we did find plenty of other stuff we needed)

Jay is an excellent garage sale shopper and can out shop me. Somewhere between one and two my stomach started complaining. We happened by a restaurant I had been wanting to try.... a place featuring Native American fry bread. After a yummy lunch of fry bread taco we headed home to make a quick transition to hiking mode. In our recently purchased rummage sale hiking packs we put water, camera, comb and pliers (in case of Cholla cactus crisis), and a small shofar. After collecting the dog and her leash we headed to the trail head.

Note the rocky trail....you really need to keep an eye on the path.

We stopped to admire this octi-catci (eight armed cactus-we make that up).

Because we got a late start we only walked about thirty minutes up the trail. As we walked my husband kept commenting on the danger of wild animals....coyote, bobcat, mountain lion....and how we should really have some type of protection when walking in such a place, especially as dusk was quickly approaching. This fact was reinforced by the hiker we passed who had a handgun in his pocket. I did ok with the lions and tigers and bears talk but when he started talking about snakes I was ready to head back to the car.

What a handsome dog...Lily loved the trek despite the abundance of cacti.


As the sun began to set the mountain changes to a golden hue.

A perfect end to a perfect day.

desert hula

There is an Arizona barrel cacti growing near our patio. I believe this cactus also goes by the name of Fish hook cactus.


It has fruit on the top that look like miniature pineapples.

The fruit are eaten by rodents, deer and javelina as well as some silly dogs.

desert stomp

These photos are from a walk I took on the reserve land just down the street from my house. They were taken on an overcast day that allowed better photographic color than a typical sunny day in Arizona.
The reserve is surprisingly full of sounds.... insects buzzing, birds singing, quail flapping their way out of a shady brush, lizards scurrying to hide. There have been times that I've come upon a flock of quail without their detection. They make a funny whistling sound when they are huddled together under brush that reminds me of guinea pigs.

Sometimes I can find flowers in bloom.


Always lots of rocks in every size, shape, and color.

My least favorite cactui... ugly and mean

Interesting trees but many have thorns secretly hidden on their branches.

so many things to discover....treasures in their uniqueness...peaceful in their solitude

date dance

Over the weekend we visited friends on a date farm in the desert. On the way we encountered this interesting tree decorated with cooking pots.

The entrance to the farm was line with date palms.... a welcome sight after miles of desert shrubs.


Another shadow photo for you Amy...


We all had a wonderful time...including Lily...isn't she just as pretty as all the other flowers?

dancing in the clouds

picture this:
Thanksgiving morning... still wearing my pj's, talking on the phone, climbing on the roof in order to shoot the clouds on the mountain that look a lot like an avalanche.

dancing in the rain

I climbed onto the roof for these shots...the first was taken a week or so ago when there were storm clouds on south end of the mountains while the sun was shining on the northern section.


The next two were taken late morning today after the rain stopped but the sun hadn't shown up yet.


l



it was a rainy morning in the desert ....the first rain we have had for a couple of months. The clouds are so thick you couldn't see the mountains in the distance.