Fun and Games Dept

Tonight was the first night I’ve made supper for the family since we’ve moved to Tucson. Everyone survived the experience and agreed on the enjoyment factor of my effort.

I made Cincinnati Chili. This is a rough representation of the deliciousness I’ve experienced at Skyline Chili in Cincinnati. Granted I didn’t go crazy with the cheese and I didn’t use yellow cheddar cheese, but I had to put my own spin on it. After all, we’re a long way from Cincinnati.

Matt and I went hiking up on Mount Lemmon yesterday. It was our third hike together and I’m happy to have a hiking buddy here in the desert. It’s getting to the time of year where the desert is getting a little too warm for hiking, so we trekked up to Summerhaven near the top of Mount Lemmon and went on a seven mile hike on the Mint Springs Trail.

The fire on Mount Lemmon a few years has left many trees blackened, and there’s been some rearranging of trail markers and such, so we got off the trail for a few moments but found our way back to where we were suppose to be. Other than that it was a beautiful day for a hike and we had a great time. When all was said and done we hiked 7 1/2 miles and climbed about 2000′ across the entire hike.

My legs are holding up well this evening. I’m starting to get used to this. We’re going to give it another whirl in a couple of weeks.

I enjoy driving. I enjoy exploring. Tonight I did some driving and exploring, going through neighborhoods in Tucson I had not been in before. There are many beautiful parts of this city. I like discovering them.

After sitting in traffic around a festival going on downtown, I jumped on I-10 and headed back toward our southeast corner of the city. Traffic is not bad on a Saturday night. And I enjoy that as well.

My husband and I had dinner with Homer and Matt. We went to a local restaurant called “Serial Grillers”. It’s a favorite of ours, and the menu has something for everyone involved with the festivities. I had one beer. It was a citrus wheat beer and very enjoyable on a Thursday night in the desert warmth of April.

We always enjoy getting together with Homer and Matt. I’m happy that our paths have crossed in real life and we’ve become friends.

I snapped a photo while waiting for the rest of the party to arrive. I’m glad I don’t look as sweaty as I thought I did.

With pandemic concerns relaxed a bit, we’re starting to get to know Tucson a little better as we venture out. This weekend was the Tucson Spring Street Fair. It was a beautiful day and as I said to my husband, “it’s like Remsen Barn Fest in the desert and in the spring!”

I love walking in our neighborhood. It’s getting to the time of year where it’s getting a tad to hot to walk in the middle of the afternoon. Temperatures have been a bit above normal so far this spring, but I still managed to go for a two mile walk and I found it incredibly relaxing and enjoyable.

Our spacious development is gated. Walking through the gate to the “outside world” brings us to open desert and a few horse farms. The scenery is beautiful. We have a dirt road that runs the parameter of the development area (actually following the official border of the city of Tucson).

When I was young, my sister and I would occasionally go over to Grandma and Grandpa Country’s house to visit them after dinner. They would occasionally be watching a nature or such show on WCNY-TV 24, the local PBS station. I thought that’s what older people did.

As I get older, my interest in living outside my little slice of the world has grown. There are so many places I want to see and do. My bucket list overflows. In the meanwhile, I watch videos of life elsewhere, much like my grandparents did.

Here’s a video that was suggested by YouTube: One Day in the Coldest Village on Earth. I should probably watch it again in the middle of July when temperatures are getting close to 120 degrees Fahrenheit in these parts.

The Intense Project at work continues at a frenetic pace. I’ve been working the longest hours I’ve ever worked in my career, aside from the craziness of on-call back in the 2000s. The target date for the project launch is the weekend of the 8th, so hopefully things will settle down soon.

I’ve been daydreaming about escaping the world for a week. I don’t know if I want to camp somewhere in the mountains and forests north of here, go for a meandering drive through small towns in a certain radius around Tucson, or just veg out in a dark room, but I’m looking forward to doing something adventurous that doesn’t involve writing code very soon.

When we lived in the mobile home my parents had a pair of late 1960s Westinghouse laundry appliances. They weren’t paired together because the washing machine was in the bathroom and the dryer was in a small laundry alcove in the addition my father built. The alcove was wedged between the master bedroom which had a gun rack and could accommodate a double-bed, and the living room which could accommodate a black and white TV, a fold out couch, and Dad’s chair.

The washing machine was fascinating to me until it flooded over one day and then it made me nervous because the washing machine was no longer reliably doing what it was suppose to do. It was a basic model from Westinghouse, the cycle on the left side of the dial was for warm or cold wash with cold rinse and the right side of the dial was for hot wash with warm rinse. Unlike the photo of the similarly aged washing machine above, the “Cool Down Rinses” imprint was on the left side of the dial, just below “Lock ‘n Spin”. If you tried to lift the lid when the washer was spinning, it would buzz. The washer and dryer made their way to the house across the street until it flooded again; the dryer lived several years longer until it squealed so loud we could hear it down by the road at the other end of the 200’ driveway. Perhaps Dad was cheap.

Living in the desert has not been kind to my skin. My skin dries out quickly and I’m thinking taking a hot shower, which I absolutely adore, accelerates the activity. So I’ve been ending my morning shower by moving the handle from “9 o’clock” to “3 o’clock”, with 6 o’clock being off. The rush of fairly cold water is exhilarating and I thoroughly enjoy the experience.

As part of my typical brain thought processes, I can’t help but think of the late 1960s Westinghouse Washer every morning during my “Cool Down Rinses”.

My husband appreciates it if I don’t flood the bathroom by letting water out of the shower while I’m doing my business. I continue to do what I’m suppose to do./

I installed the metal art sculpture we purchased in Tubac yesterday. It matches the gazebo doors nicely and is a nice touch for the kitchen. I like the little touches like this.