Fun and Games Dept

My husband and I went for a ride and then met the rest of the family at a local restaurant called Serial Grillers. We don’t get out very much, what with pandemics and the like, but it was nice to be able to sit at a bar, have a drink, and just chat with others out in public for a few moments. We miss doing this, but we’re balancing a responsible approach to our health and the health of others with the need for some social interaction.

I have a feeling there may be some attempted lockdowns later this year. COVID infections are starting to spike amongst the unvaccinated population and this is concern for everyone, not just those that are not vaccinated for whatever reason.

Thank god polio didn’t come around in the 21st century.

So the other night at dinner I told the family that I rode bus 53 from 4th grade until the beginning of my senior year in high school. It was the first bus (of two purchased that year) in the district to have the higher backed seats, emergency escape hatches in the ceiling, and an extra escape door in the back (for a total of two). Unlike the buses purchased by the district the previous decade, it did not have a Ford engine and it did not have a Blue Bird body, instead, it was the first diesel bus in the district, made by International with a Carpenter body. There was a “half” seat on one side in the back row. Bus 54 was its twin; 53 replaced 43 and 54 replaced 42. The buses purchased the next year were still International but with bodies by Blue Bird. The bus driver’s name was Bernie and had taken a liking to my sister. In kindergarten she could ride up front with him by sitting on the heater. It was the 1970s. Seat belts were just a suggestion. He’d turn left on the Springbrook Road and to tame the unruly students in the back, he’d pull over and scream “sit down and shut up!”. We’d sit there on the Springbrook Road until we were calm and then off we’d go for the rest of the route. My sister were second to last on the route home. Bernie was always pleasant and I believe he sold cars when he wasn’t driving bus. His brother Ed was a barber in town. His sister in law drove bus 54.

Chris mentioned he doesn’t even know the numbers of the buses he rode in school. I think Jamie and Mike stared at me in disbelief and Earl just shook his head up and down because he’s heard all these stories before.

I shared this for two reason: 1. It’s something I remember and I never have a shortage of stories to share and 2. 53 was at the forefront of my mind.

I turned 53 today. It’s hard to believe I started this blog at age 34. I’ve probably talked about bus 53 before.

We need more moments like these.

This day off from work doesn’t really make sense to me, this day after Independence Day. It’s a work holiday and I suppose I should be relaxing and enjoying the time off but in actuality I’m just kind of sitting around waiting for the work week to start tomorrow.

Perhaps I need to learn how to relax.

The fireworks were yesterday. The parades were yesterday. The barbecues and the adult beverages and the little worry of getting enough sleep because it’s all holiday: all yesterday.

I’m a little surprised folks didn’t want to have the long weekend Friday to Sunday instead of Saturday to Monday. I mentioned this to my husband; he indicated having Monday off gave us a day to recover in preparation for the work week. I suppose. He doesn’t need to worry about recovering, he’s retired.

I guess it’s nice to have the time off today. Perhaps I should just focus on the here and now and not concern myself with the upcoming work week.

So we went on a long road trip. When all was said and done we drove about 410 miles. The farthest south was the Mexican border at Douglas, Arizona. The farthest east was Lordsburg, New Mexico, and the farthest north was Safford, Arizona.

We covered a lot of roadway that went through a lot of rural desert. It was a hoot and a half.

We started out by following Historic US Route 80, which is Arizona State Route 80. US 80 was replaced by Interstate 10 west of mid-Texas, but there’s still plenty of ways to drive the old roadway. ADOT is kind enough to post the route with Historic US Route signs.

I’ve started a small collection of service station uniform shirts. I occasionally wear them when we are on road trips.

Our travels brought us to the former mining town of Bisbee. The area has been rejuvenated as an “arts town”. We stopped for lunch and walked around the quaint downtown. It was a very pleasant experience.

The restaurant was part of a collection of shops in a multi-purpose Art Deco style building. There were knick knacks and doodads from the era.

Overall we had a lovely time. We are really enjoying exploring the desert.

I ushered in the weekend with a few rounds of popcorn for the family. My mother would be proud, though I didn’t serve it as a side dish with prime rib or anything.

Popcorn is my favorite food. I try to wrap my head around making healthy choices with an air popper and the like but then I end up melting a stick of butter and dumping that on the dry popcorn, so I just stick with a bit of oil and corn popped in a standard popcorn popper.

I am working on keeping added salt to a minimum. Watching foods that can lead to hypertension is a must at my age. Even with the lower salt content popcorn is still my favorite food.

I’m sitting in the gazebo watching an impressive rainstorm make its way toward us from the Northeast. You can’t see it in the photo above, but off to my right it’s a solid wall of rain. The desert smells amazing right now and it’s good to see some rain move in. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stay here on the gazebo, this wall of rain moving our way looks quite impressive, but I must say, no matter where we live in the country, Mother Nature is quite amazing.

I’m still getting used to the fact that we live relatively close to cities that used to be very far away. The drive from our home to San Diego is reasonable. I see us making that trek, perhaps in the fairly near future.