I was sitting on the couch minding my own business when Truman indicated he wanted to jump up next to me. This is not unusual as he usually settles within arm’s reach. It’s his way to tell me he loves me.
However, today was different.
He immediately stretched himself up to my shoulders and decided that he needed to cuddle up with me right on my chest. He has lived with us since January 2019 and this is the first time he’s wanted to cuddle. He settled in, purring up a storm, as I gave him plenty of scritches behind his ears and on the back of his neck. His pleasantness was a bit of a surprise and, more importantly, it was a delight.
Perhaps after four and a half years we have passed some sort of test and this is a new trend.
Yesterday we went for a drive, aiming for a part of the state we hadn’t explored yet. We decided to head up toward Show Low, a bit of a drive to the high country, but I figured we’d see some scenic views and have a delightful time in our Jeep Cherokee.
Scenic views was an understatement.
Our ride took us up SR 77 to the northeast, and took us through Salt River Canyon.
The curvy, fairly steep route kept me on my toes as we made our way down to the bottom of the canyon and back up the other side. We also agreed we might have to have the brakes looked as there was a bit of a shake toward the end of their use, but once they cooled down everything was back to normal.
Show Low and nearby Pinetop-Lakeside are quaint recreational type towns. We stopped at the local casino but didn’t stay very long, as it seemed a little tired in decor and offerings. We then made our way across US 60 and the Mogollon Rim to Payson, where we stopped at their casino and spent a bit more time there. Country star Josh Turner was performing in a nearby court yard, so we enjoyed their concert special of a BBQ buffet inside and played casino games for a little bit.
After Payson we made a Beeline toward home on the appropriately named “Beeline Highway”, which is a curvy, twisty, hilly adventure, especially when driving at night with 55 year old eyes, but everything was fine. After around 450 miles round trip we were back home before midnight.
It’s been a long while since we did a long road trip together like this and we had a good time. I don’t think my husband is ready to drive all over the Great Plains with me chasing storms next spring but if I can deliver some scenery and some things to do instead of just driving, it’s all about the contentment.
I asked Truman to pose for me and he did this like he knows the word “pose”. I enjoy his gaze off into the distance. There’s nothing up there that I would think would interest him, but he struck this pose for this week’s photo.
He’s been purring and sitting near me more often this week and I have found the practice enjoyable. I’m happy he’s happy.
So I’m typing this blog entry on my iPad Pro, but I’m using the case designed for my old 2018 iPad Pro. The camera hole doesn’t fit right, but that doesn’t prevent the keyboard from working as intended, I just can’t use this old keyboard setup as a carrying case.
I’m good with that.
I’m strongly considering asking Chris and Mike to use the laser cutter to make the camera hole bigger in as clean a fashion as possible. That would make things fit like it’s suppose to and would revive this case that’s been gathering dust in the back of my “tech drawer”.
So it’s the last day of August and honestly I don’t know where the “summer” has gone. If we still lived up north we’d be looking forward to the cooler days of Autumn, and while it looks like Monsoon Season is winding down right on schedule next week, we’ll still have plenty of warm weather. It’s the reason we moved here.
I feel like the Summer of 2023 really never kicked into high gear for us. While we endured record heat in July and August, it’s been a relatively low-key summer for us. But then again, when you’re in the middle of the desert in the middle of summer you don’t really do as much outdoors like in other parts of the country.
I am looking forward to the heat retreating a bit so I can get back to hiking in the local National Parks and doing more outdoor activity. Up until last week I was relying on Beat Saber for my cardio exercise, but over the past week I’ve been able to go for walks at sundown, which is nice.
This weekend looks to be cooling off quite a bit as the monsoon winds down. I’m hoping for a spectacular lightning show at least one or two more times before Mother Nature settles down.
Let’s see. When I woke up this morning my husband said, “Don’t freak out but something is wrong with the car. The Check Engine light is flashing and it’s lurching and losing power”.
Ah, another ignition coil bit the dust. Earl took the car in, they initially told him it’d be a week to even look at the car because “no one wants to work”. Let’s face it, “no one wants to work for your low pay”. But after calling in again indicating this was an issue a year ago with one ignition coil and asking why they just didn’t replace all the coils at once, a cancellation suddenly appeared, we asked them to change out all the coils since they had to take the engine apart to do it (love modern designs) and $1.5K later we have a well running car again.
In the midst of all this our main air conditioning unit died on a record heat day here in Arizona. Another technician for another problem and our unit has bit the dust. Because the unit is over 20 years old and the refrigerant used in it isn’t allowed anymore, we need to get a new unit but don’t worry, tax breaks and TEP (Tucson Electric Power) credits will make it bearable.
$16K later we will have air conditioning in the main part of the house by the end of next week, with a new furnace to boot. But don’t worry, there’s tax credits.
Meanwhile, I’m attending Zoom calls at work with fans pointed at me and a t-shirt in place of my usual polo shirt.
My husband and I went flying on Saturday. It was a great day for a flight, actually, I should clarify, it was a great morning for a flight. We are still experiencing record heat here in the desert and after 10:00 a.m. or so it gets a bit too warm for the kind of performance I’m looking for in a Cessna Skyhawk. So, we were up at 5:15 and at the airport by 6:30.
We did a round trip flight to KIWA Mesa-Gateway Airport, just outside of Phoenix. Total flight time was two hours on the nose, clocking in around 166 miles, including run-up, taxiing, and the touch ‘n go at KIWA.
KIWA has three parallel runways that are fairly close together; a new experience for me. I had flown there once before early last year when I was working on my instrument training. It was nice to see the landscape to and ‘fro and to see where I was landing instead of doing a practiced missed approach, which is common when you’re doing your instrument training.
Earl took the photos while I flew the airplane. I forget there’s an autopilot in this C172, I have too much fun actually flying the airplane.
I am very lucky to have a husband that enjoys being my number one passenger in the airplane. After every flight I ask him if I scared him or anything that might have made him nervous. His response is always the same.
One of the things I enjoy about my annual storm chasing trips is experiencing other areas of the country, solo, without a safety net. I try really hard not to play it safe; one of my fondest memories from my trips is sitting with a bunch of strangers at a bar, eating supper and having a beer or two, in Liberal, Kansas. I chatted with the bartender, a couple of guys next to me struck up a conversation, and while they clearly thought about the country from a different point of view than the way I see the world, it was still a good conversation. They were cordial. They quickly figured out I was from out of town and when I told them I was from the Lake Ontario Snow Belt they were curious about that part of New York State. I was curious about their corner of Kansas.
It’s good to get outside our bubbles. It’s good to hear the viewpoints of others. It’s OK to have conversation.
Since my husband is retired and I am not, he has a little more time during the week to explore our fine city. The other day he mentioned a small park near our house that features a small lake and I was skeptical. I know there’s a small lake in a gated community just north of us, but that was the only year-round water feature I knew about. After all, we live in the Sonoran Desert.
We made our way to Lakeside Lake Park, where we enjoyed a nice afternoon stroll under the desert sun. It was well over 100ºF, so we actually made our way from shady spot to shady spot, but we did well, as neither of us showed any sign of sunburn by the end of the day.
It was quite lovely. I look forward to going back in cooler temperatures.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
