you know you are in arizona when...

cleaning contest

We were in the car with our Native American Ministry friends last spring making the long trek across town for Shabbat worship. I sat quietly as Lura talked with a mutual friend on the phone. During their conversation Lura mentioned a new house cleaning job that she just acquired. She asked if Maria's schedule was open to help with the initial cleaning as that is always the hardest. It was apparent from listening to one side of the conversation that Lura was going to have to do the colossal job herself.

"I could help you," I offered after she hung up.

"Really?"

From her surprised reply I deducted I don't look like the house cleaning type.

The house is 5,000 square feet, three and a half baths, five bedrooms, two teens, two elementary age children, two cats, two parents and toys, candy and food regularly strewn from one end to the other. That first day we cleaned both of us could hardly move at the end of the day and we pleaded with our husbands to take us to dinner so we didn't have to stand any longer. It was apparent after our combined 15 hour clean that the job was going to be too big for Lura to do by herself so here we are over six months later I'm still helping clean that house.

Although after three years of not having my own income I have been tickled to hold cash in my hand that I had earned myself, I do not enjoy cleaning other people's houses. I find it a rather gross job and am always sore the next day after all the bending and stooping.

In an effort to bring some interest into our routine I created a cleaning contest. There had been six Easter baskets on Easter morning stuffed with green plastic grass. By the time the "cleaning ladies" had arrived that grass had migrated to every nook and cranny in the house. After the third or fourth week of finding Easter grass tucked away in small places I approached Lura with the contest rules: Whoever found the last piece of grass would be declared the contest winner. A week or two later the prize surfaced when the owner of the house put a beautiful 3D stained glass butterfly in the trash. And the competition became more intense.

Each week we think we have found that last...and each week one or the other and sometimes both of us march in with a strand of grass held high and announce, "Look what I found."

I still dread cleaning day (I've decided Lura was right....I'm not the house cleaning-type) but the cleaning contest has brought a fun dimension to the undesirable task of cleaning someone else's dirt.

5 green days

Foam on the top of my "green" drink

Today was day five of my annual 21 day detox. Day one was miserable as my body reacted to all the toxins breaking loose and being flushed out of my system. Day two was somewhat better. Today I felt good enough to make the trek up Silly Mountain (our first climb since Lily's surgery and triple digit temperatures).

photo shoot

While in New Mexico my friend Beverly told me how her two year old granddaughter would wander over by herself and visit Shiloh, the shyest of their hybrid wolf-dogs. With adults, the Shiloh runs in fear even when the person is familiar and the routine desirable (like going for a walk). But someone his own size, apparently, isn't so scary.

Before we left I wanted to see if i could photograph the two of them together. Small children and animals are typically a challenge to photography but these two added new dimensions to the task. Kira has recently decided she doesn't care to have her picture taken and getting near Shiloh was going to make it necessary that I pick one spot and not move otherwise I would spook him.

Getting Kira to visit Shiloh wasn't hard and she didn't even fuss knowing I was going to take pictures. As she maneuvered around the dog, stroking and eventually hugging him, I clicked off as many frames as possible hoping that some would turn out well.

I was delighted when we got home and found these three shots buried among the less desirables. I was particularly pleased with the expressions on both the child and the dog.

progressive sukkot, new mexico

Our third and final sukkah stop; New Mexico, to visit our friends who recently relocated there.

Their property is very remote, adjacent with Navajo reservation land, has beautiful views from the highpoint and interesting things to discover like this petrified rams horn.



We hiked to the top of the ridge overlooking the homestead and the valley below.

My self portrait

progressive sukkot, payson

Stop number two on our ittinary; a quick overnight layover at our friend's house in Payson, Arizona. We arrived just before the sun set, in time for a walk down the country road with the camera.

After visiting with our friends until midnight, Jay and I braved sleeping outdoors under the sukkah. It was chilly but we stayed warm snuggled in one sleeping bag stuffed inside a second bag.

progressive sukkot, lake pleasant

Abba has blessed us with so many friends. We spent the festival of Sukkot in three different locations in an effort to connect with as many of them as possible during the celebration.


Our first stop was northwest of the city at Lake Pleasant, where we stayed at the marina on my cousin's houseboat...


while the rest of the group tabernacled in the campgrounds.

(I was amused as I watched through the camera lens as the men dragged walls
back and forth
in search of the perfect location for the sukkah.)

After setting up camp and building the sukkah our days were filled with...

hiking in the desert...

water play (thanks to cousin Aldo)...


studying the word, worship, dancing....


chilling out....


and enjoying the Father's amazing creation....

fall

I got a little taste of fall when we traveled north to Prescott and on to New Mexico last week.

orange

the two oranges on my little tree are about the size of a tennis ball

oxymoron

a gift from my dentist