Sunset Over Drying Pond

Sunset over the front pond

I just wanted to show a pretty sunset. The pond is drying out after the hot summer, but the place is still beautiful.

 

It’s Still Raining at the Ranch

Jaime is very creative. He wants to build a mantle out of a mesquite log he brought. I think it will be awesome.

All the rains make for some stupendous sunsets. Here’s another one. Our creek paddock is now a creek.

We’ve had almost six inches of rain since the first of the month. To put that into perspective, we got just over eight inches in 2012, but that was at the height of the drought.

Since I’ve been keeping records here, we’ve averaged around four inches in May, including this year. But the rains do make for some spectacular sunsets.

Construction Update

We got another inch of rain last night, which made getting workers and materials into the house…interesting. The ground is soft and slick, all the tanks are completely full, and the arroyo is flowing briskly again. But we got done what we needed to.

With the tile all up on the fireplace wall, Jaime started working on the mantle. He has a mesquite log he wants to sand down. I said we should leave the exposed edge tree-shaped, even if we do have to flatten the other three sides.

Ruben also got the washer and dryer installed temporarily. We’ll have to uninstall and reinstall them once the cabinets are done. It turned out cheaper, more useful, and better looking to have custom cabinets made to stand them on rather than buying the prefab drawers that match the appliances.

 

No Camera When I Need It

I was feeling a might poorly today, so I only ventured forth from the hotel for one round of groceries that had to tide me for the whole day. One of the highlights was a Greek restaurant called Zorba’s — aren’t they all? I ordered a lamb shank that was so delicious and tender I have no words for it.

The other highlight was the sunset on the way back to the hotel. I was driving West into the sunset on AZ202. The sky was a little hazy at the level of the mountain tops. The sun peeking between two peaks lit up the haze in a way that made the mountain tops look translucent. I seemed to be seeing the sun through the peaks, not between them.

Simply breathtaking.

Montezuma and Sedona

This contraption outside Ye Olde UFO Shoppe was so campy we all had to have our picture taken by it. Photo by: Abel L.

Just after I woke up this morning, I got a really nice phone call. Some of the folks I work with wanted to run up to Sedona for the afternoon. That’s just under a hundred miles from where we are. I volunteered to drive.

We grabbed a quick lunch/breakfast at a KFC/A&W combo and headed north.

One of the trainers brought a Garmin GPS system with her. It directed us smoothly through Phoenix and on up to Sedona.

On the way we stopped at Montezuma Castle National Monument – a thousand-plus-year-old settlement that once supported more than 85 people – where I bought a really nice walking stick that I now have to figure out how to get home. It was inhabited for more than 300 years and then mysteriously abandoned. Was it the result of war, drought, or a chupacabra?

After wandering around the settlement, we drove on to Sedona, home of several mystic vortices. We drove to the downtown area, but there were too many tourists to find a parking space. So we drove through town and turned around and headed back.

Then we stopped at a cheesy little group of tourist-trap stores that offered an alien-themed shop and another New Agey one with Kirlian photography to show your aura at $35 a pop. Even my teammate who had been so excited to get her aura photographed balked at the price and the time required. I, however, bought some nice gifts for my loving family. I might not even make them wait until Yule.

The scenery around Sedona is spectacular, and we saw a sunset that was worth the trip. I posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook, and Abel posted some on his MobileMe gallery.

On the trip home, the GPS routed us through the countryside to avoid a 15-mile long construction backup on I-17. I have just been sold on these things.

Sunset and Concert

Beccano enjoys an awesome sunset.

Tonight, Beccano pointed out the most awesome sunset, but I didn’t get the camera out in time to get the best pictures. The three of us walked around outside appreciating nature at her prettiest. Beccano danced in the street—literally.

Then we went to Junior’s in downtown Round Rock to hear a band that features Parker’s dad’s guitar teacher. They did a short set outdoors in the cold. I wish I had found out their name. Sigh.

I really enjoyed the R&B stuff they did, once they turned down the vocalist’s mic enough that he hardly clipped at all. He had a good voice when the PA wasn’t cutting out.

The guitar player was very good at his style, but the cold interfered with his playing a bit. He was really good at making his mistakes look and sound intentional.

The bass player was rock solid and had a good sound. He played a Schecter 5-string that played really nice. The neck was not humongous as the Fender’s I’ve played. And the body was very light.

But my favorite was the keyboard player. She was awesome—clean, fast, and funky. I wish I knew enough about playing keys to describe it better.

Evening: The Sunset

This isn’t the sunset we saw today. This one happened in Panamá in 2003.

Evening has come to pass

The time of day doesn't last

Evening has earned its place today

I'm tired of working away

—Mike Pinder

Grateful Monday

So what I am thankful for today is TubaBoy. He helped me move some things (the last trip to the Granger house) and remember what it’s like to be young. He broke some glass shelves that I will have to replace, but he did it through inexperience. It reminded me so much of the way I was at his age that I couldn’t help but get angry. And I couldn’t stay that way long, not more than a minute or so.

Payback is hell. Yup. Sorry, Dad, for all the things of yours I broke.

But most of all, after a band practice during which some very stressful things happened. The boys asked if we could go to the Sonic to eat. Granted I have a job, but I have not started working (or getting paid) yet. So I was stand-offish, still stressed from earlier events. I eventually realized that taking them would be good for me as well as good for them. On the way, I was still grumbling to myself. TubaBoy looked up and said, “What a pretty sunset.”

It was. That’s all it took. Thank you, TubaBoy.