Arizona Christmas

There isn't any chance at all of a white Christmas. Trust me on this. Even though our night time temperatures are in the low thirties. And there are no evergreens here in the Sonoran Desert. So. we had to find a tree to decorate. And here it is. Herb may look as if he's smiling. Actually, it's a grimace. He's humoring the little woman. But he had to admit it looked very nice that night. Of course, he wasn't excited about changing the lights so they'd blink. He was right about that. Have you ever tried to take a digital photo of Christmas lights that are flashing? I persisted. We wish you a joyful, blessed Christmas from Brenda, Arizona.

November at Black Rock

No words are necessary.

The Bird and I

I first saw a roadrunner in 2005 in El Paso, Texas. There he was, and then he was gone. Since that time I've been trying to photograph one. Herb says I'm not fast enough. No kidding--I'm not even half fast!

A couple of days ago Herb spotted one. I carefully eased out of the coach and approached slowly. He simply stood there, looking suspiciously in my direction.

I was coming closer and closer. He seemed to be trying to make up his mind about me and my intentions. I spoke a few words, but that didn't impress him at all. I began to wonder if he was injured.

I kept on coming and eventually he fluffed himself up andtrotted off a few steps.

He didn't look like the same bird. No longer tan and brown and flat, he now showed a cute topknot. I tried to keep him in focus. He'd trot a few steps, look back, and trot a few more. Eventually he turned his back.

He was getting nervous now. I tried to be as non-threatening as possible. But to say my reflexes are slow is to say bears really do that in the woods.

Anyway, by the time I could really get a good picture, he was ducking behind a bush. Oh, well.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

It was a great relief to know the slideout motor on the coach had been repaired. The great feeling lasted until this morning. You'll notice in the picture there's a bar sticking straight up supporting the slide topper awning. Well, it's not supposed to stick up; it's supposed to hold the roller on the side of the slideout, not the top. So when Herb tried to close the slide this morning, the awning just gathered itself up in a bunch. A couple of men at Charger Enterprises came out and helped roll the awning up and secure it. They told Herb there are some broken springs and bent stuff involved and it will be a booger to fix. Oh, well, as Gilda Radner said, "It's always something." Motorhome ownership is interesting. I'm reminded of a little plaque on a friend's boat: "A boat is a hole in the water into which one pours money." Motorhomes seem to have similar characteristics, except they don't float. You'll know that if you've seen Robin Williams' movie "RV."

The true treasure found in this Elkhart odyssey is the service center. Charger Enterprises along with Holmes on Wheels are outstanding for RV repair.

It's the Little Things

Can you see the butterfly on the berries? I didn't until Herb pointed it out. He's much more observant than I. We were walking through the woods here at White Oaks on the Lake in Monticello, Indiana when he observed this dark flyer flitting from berry to berry.

Back in Time

We were in Shipshewana, Indiana recently. This form of transportation was everywhere. Some of the carriages had three rows of seats.

Large farms along the road had clothes drying on the lines and bicycles, horses and carts in evidence; no cars or pickups in sight. Signs advertised handmade quilts, woodworking products and furniture, and fresh produce.

The Amish women in this area dress traditionally but in pale gray for the most part, with white bonnets. A number were working at booths in the huge flea market. Their words were gentle and pleasant. The prices were more than reasonable.

And on the road traffic made way for carriages and buggies of every description with handsome, high-spirited horses trotting along oblivious of the cars and trucks. Despite the crowds of tourists, their lives go on in a peaceful way as they have for many years.

Communication Challenged

I suppose you wonder where we've been. We were in White Cloud in western Michigan. And the reason why you've not heard from us is no internet access. Our phones were on roam as well.

Because of the trees, Herb couldn't aim the satellite dish. So there we were. After glaring at each other for a time, we went on with things.

We went canoeing and hiking. Herb grilled over an open fire. We had a look at Lake Michigan, nearby. We visited some yard sales and fresh produce stands. Cherries and sweet corn are grown in the area--we feasted!

We'd like to return to the area next year, perhaps to work in the campground where we stayed. There's a lot to see, including woodlands, small lakes and farms of all sizes. Nice people, too. Now I have to lose this Michigan accent before I get back to the southwest!

Wow!

We had an exciting afternoon. As we were setting up camp at the Wayne County Fairgrounds in Belleville, Michigan, a loud roar alerted us to the Blue Angels! The aerial acrobatics were amazing and performed at blinding speed. We watched, open-mouthed, for a long time, trying to catch some pictures. Herb was better at catching them at the right moment. Most of the other campers watched as well. It was really hot outside, but no one seemed to notice.

The experience was unforgettable. Such precision! I think we'll both probably have stiff necks in the morning.

This is the second time we've stayed at this fairgrounds. Last time, we just needed a place for the night and happened to be in the area. We were delighted to find the county fair in session. We explored the exhibits and Herb ate some disgusting hot dog conglomeration which included sauerkraut and, I think, chili! Truly an ecumenical meal.

This time, we chose to stay here because we're having repairs done to our coach just down the road, and it was convenient. I think we may come back again, just to find out what's going on!

Little Bit

Don's cat used to hunt birds--now she waits for them to show up. She spends a lot of time curled up on top of one of the stereo speakers on the side porch, waiting for someone to open the treat container. Not sure how old she is--she's pretty, except for her ears which look knawed upon.

This was our first visit back to the farm since Odie died. We missed her, but know that Don took good care of her. The farm really belonged to Odie--she just let us stay there. Now it seems to be Little Bit's place. And the birds aren't particularly afraid of anyone or anything at Don and Linda's--all those full feeders make sure they're welcome.

IMPORTANT--PLEASE READ

I once had a boss (and some of you know who it was) who never read more than the first sentence of an e-mail. In order to get his attention, I would begin an e-mail with something like, "The world will end tomorrow at 2 p.m. unless you read this entire e-mail." Notice I was specific. I've tried it with Herb--"You must listen to what I'm telling you or extra-terrestrials will arrive at 11 tonight"--no luck, however. But I'd appreciate your reading this entire post for some good information.

First of all, if blogging looks like something you'd like to try, I recommend Blogger. It's so easy even I can do it. You can use templates to set it up any way you like. I use a different template for Healthwords. You can see that blog at http://healthwords.blogspot.com/. The website for starting your own free blog is https://www.blogger.com/start. It's a step-by-step process.

The other issue is I'll be adding links to amazon.com to my blog. I may talk about a book I've read or recommend some travel book. There will be a link for you to go to amazon.com and buy it if you wish. For example, at the lower left, you'll see a link for a book titled, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. It's the Luke 10 story about two sisters. One sat at Jesus' feet while the other was in the kitchen rattling pots and pans. I'm afraid I'm a rattler. If you link to amazon.com from my blog and buy something, I will receive a small commission, up to 4%. Just wanted to be up front about the whole business.

Thank you for your kind attention. No extra-terrestrials at 11!

Unexpected Animal

There were many surprises attached to our church mission trip to West Virginia. Some involved the campground we'd chosen--Paradise Island of Christian. Not only was it located at the wide space in the road called Christian, WV, it was a Christian campground. Whatever we expected to see in West Virginia, it didn't include a llama!

We certainly wondered what we were in for on arrival. Priscella, one-half of the couple who owns it, introduced herself and gave us the lowdown. Some aging RVs are rented to homeless folk in exchange for working in the campground. Abused animals are taken in and cared for. The animals, treated very well, include several horses, a pony, a couple of frisky goats, and a llama, the biggest I've ever seen! Our 37-foot class A diesel motorhome, a bit battered though it may be, was the best looking RV in the place.

We arrived on Sunday and were told to pay for our stay on Monday--"We don't do business on Sunday." Priscella is a lady of faith but not to be messed with. Folks are not permitted to take advantage of her kindness. She expects them to do what they've agreed to do--if they don't, they're out. As Billy Sunday once said, "A sinner can repent but stupid is forever."

On Monday we came back late and went over to pay the bill. Priscella was playing the keyboard and singing, accompanied by a fellow with a guitar. She has a deep, beautiful voice.

If you'd like to have a look, here's a link: http://www.paradiseislandwv.homestead.com. We started out skeptical, but had a great experience after all.

There's No Place Like...

So here we are on the little farm in Kentucky where we spent twenty years, raising chickens, fighting weeds, patching the roof, growing veggies--all while driving nearly 40 miles one way to work, usually on different shifts! But we were younger then, and coming home from work was entering another world--one with clean air, peaceful sounds (except for the trains!) and a place of our own.

Now we are enjoying the huge trees, birds of every description, and the company of our great friends who now own the property. Donnie and Linda are family to us. And at last we can truly appreciate this beautiful place.

If This is Tuesday, This Must Be...

If we were drawing a diagram of our current travels, it would be most confusing.

We left Texas, traveled across Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The plan was to drive across the Florida panhandle as far as St. Augustine. We tried to have some repairs done in Gulf Breeze. When that didn't work out, we thought we'd continue on; but there was smoke in the air. If you look at a map of northern Florida, you'll see that Gulf Breeze is a considerable distance from Lake City, where wildfires are still burning. I checked the Internet--parts of I-75 and I-10 were closed for low visibility. Southeastern Georgia is afire as well. It seems a fire started in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, spread across the state line to Florida, and has now crossed back into Georgia--payback!

So we checked the map and all of our discounted camping plans. It was back to Alabama for the night, then into Georgia from the west this morning. The air was still smoky but has since cleared.

Tomorrow we'll head through the northeastern part of South Carolina and into North Carolina, where we'll stay in Salisbury. That is, if the plans don't change again.

By the way, we're staying on Lake Oconee tonight, full hookups, 50 amp service, for two bucks. All those discount books come in handy. We have neighbors from Canada and Australia. We can see the lake through the trees. After all, home is where we park it.

Bad Coach! Bad!

Yesterday we stopped in Livingston, Texas to have the coach inspected. Coming out of the lot, paved with potholes, the back of the coach bottomed out. As we were driving through Louisiana, a kind semi driver with an air horn let us know something was wrong. Herb discovered the mud flap had come loose and taken some fiberglass with it. He creatively tied it up with all sorts of cables and cords. This morning we removed the mud flap.

In preparation to leave Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, we discovered the big slide on the driver's side would not close. Instead, it made a sound I believe I heard in the movie "Alien." Of course, the cell phone only worked outside in full sunlight. Coachnet called a road service company from Lafayette--they showed up two hours later and used the wrecker to push the slide in, accompanied by a most unpleasant grinding sound. The mechanic was of the opinion that the gears were stripped and two motors, at $700 each, would need replacing.

On the road again, I called several RV service centers along our route. The best we could do was in Gulf Breeze, Florida in five days.

We ended the day in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi in a miniscule campground. We parked in a site, put down levelers, extended the slide that still works, connected to water and 50 amp electric, and then discovered the 50 amp electric wasn't working. So we undid everything and moved to another site where we couldn't level the coach unless one wheel was off the ground and there's a long step down from the door. Oh, well.

He's Riding!

This Gambrel's Quail, perched on the back of Herb's ATV, probably felt like he was going somewhere! That little topknot thing usually dangles down in the front. High winds were causing it to stand straight up! He was supervising two other quail that were scratching in the gravel under the bird feeder just like chickens. A Gila Woodpecker was dangling upside down from the suet feeder, taking a bite here and there, while the feeder swung in great arcs in the wind gusts.

Spring Blooms

The desert is blooming. Not hyacinths, iris or lilies for Easter, but exotic cactus flowers looking out-of-place amid snarly-looking spines. The pink flowers give grace to a beavertail cactus while the green are attached to an untidy spreading heap of (I assume) some variety of cholla--the kind with barbs that like to reach out and touch someone. This mess, in a circle of stones, was planted in one of the campsites by someone who has since regretted it, I'm sure. But even in such a patch, God shows us beauty. The tall stalks, appearing dead, are part of an ocotillo. But there are lipstick red flowers at the end of each. In the desert we are ready for the Easter celebration of Christ's resurrection.

Desert Beauty

For those who might think that the two words in the title are an oxymoron, here's a photo Herb took yesterday while exploring by ATV. We continue to see that God's creation is superior to anything that man has devised.

Desert Bird

I spied this dude (or dudette) hanging upside down from our feeder yesterday to grab a choice morsel. According to our bird books, it's a red-shafted flicker of the woodpecker family. It's a large bird and apparently likes peanut butter suet blocks. Well, who wouldn't. The birds seem dusty (and thirsty fershure!) so a birdbath is planned for the Benjey campsite.

What's Next

It's another blog coming to you from Jane Benjey, Freelance Writer. For my friends at New Bethel, it's an expansion of information you find in the Wellness Corner of the monthly newsletter. For all others, it's health and prevention information, generally on a specific subject each month.

I believe health education is essential for all of us. Often our physician is too busy to address some of the things we need to know. I am using well-accepted information from reliable sources for my new blog. No advice on your personal health problems--your doctor knows you best and is the source for that.

The blog is to be found at http://healthwords.blogspot.com

If your organization needs a health newsletter or health-related articles for a newsletter, contact me for suggestions and prices.

Rain!

It's not April, but this is western Arizona. Monday's skies were the color of pewter. The palm tree on our site rattled with wind. And the rains came down. Not just a light pencil-tapping on the roof but a machine-gun hammering.

And then it stopped. Irregularly shaped patches of blue emerged. The sun bobbed out from behind clouds.

The widest rainbow arc I'd ever seen stretched over Black Rock. The ground was soon dry.

Carolyn showed me photographs taken some years ago of immense patches of flowers across the desert. I've seen flowers on cacti but nothing like that. If we have to have rain at all, I hope we'll see a transformed desert as a consolation prize.

Work!

Whenever work was mentioned on the old Dobie Gillis sitcom, a character named Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver) let out a yelping "work!" I believe Herb and I echoed that sentiment as we retired.

But yesterday we both took jobs at our current campground, Black Rock RV Village in Brenda, Arizona. I work in the office of this 420+ campsite park, taking reservations, checking people in, charging items and taking payment, etc. I love it so far. I think I needed something to do! Today my cash drawer balanced--I felt I'd truly accomplished something. My work pays for our campsite, electricity and propane.

Herb is working on the maintenance crew, pumping propane, repairing cable TV outages, checking electrical problems and whatever the manager finds for him to do. He gets a paycheck.

It's part time work--truly makes a difference. We've plenty of time to enjoy the view. This was how it looked last evening.

Holy Smokes, Boss, It's the Green Hornet!

For younger readers, the Green Hornet was a masked crime fighter of radio, and later TV fame. As Herb rode off on his green quad, complete with wraparound sunglasses, the comparison came to mind. I'm not certain what sorts of crime he might be fighting out there on the Arizona desert, but I know he's having a great time.

We rode together yesterday, out the back gate of the campground and into desert land. After a time the only sign of civilization was the ATV trail. The only sound was the wind. Tall saguaro on the mountainside stood guard under fast-moving clouds. What peace!

Little Things

For those of you who think we might be motoring through life without a care, a few words--not complaints, really, just realities.

A prescription went astray in the mail (imagine that) necessitating a call to the doctor's office. He wasn't in, they'd give him a message. The prescription was called in to the closest Wal-Mart, 40 miles up the road. Two days later, on arriving at said Wal-Mart, we learned they were out of that particular nostrum, "come back Monday." On Monday, another 40 miles up the road, the line at the pharmacy was out the door and around the corner. The person at the counter, obviously frustrated with a flock of elderly and not-so-elderly snow birds, was brusque at best. I've heard of a sign once posted in Quartzsite--"We love snowbirds--they taste like chicken!"

In the ice and snow of Albuquerque, a sharp chunk fell from the roof and neatly sliced in half the hose that drains unmentionable fluids from the coach. Try mending one of those at twenty degrees!

In a campground in California we were given a space rated for a 40-foot rig. Backing in, we hit a tree at the rear--most of the coach was still in the roadway.

Since we still have issues with the title to the Jeep (thank you, Ohio), it's necessary to order temporary tags monthly from Texas at 25 bucks each. The Attorney General's office responds that the investigation is not going as fast as they'd like. That's interesting--the Newtown Police had theirs concluded in less than a week.

So are we ready to hang up our Family Motor Coach membership and call it a day? No way. Right now we're cruising along through the Arizona desert toward a favorite destination, looking forward to new adventures. Herb has an Aussie-type desert hat on and is planning to throw me on the back of the ATV and head for the hills. Bring it on!

Wherever We Are, We're Home

We were sitting at a picnic table eating lunch in Quartzsite, having plunked ourselves down with another couple. We exchanged basic information (who we are, where we're from). When they learned we live full time in our motorhome, the woman said, jerking her head toward her husband, "He could do that in a minute, but I couldn't. I need a home."

Now there's a cliche amoung full-timers that goes, "Home is where you park it." And like many cliches, it's true. Because wherever we are, we're home. From Oceanside, California to Portland, Maine, when our day is over and we've finished exploring/shopping/whatever, we say "Let's go home" and we do.

If the scenery is lovely and the neighbors are pleasant and their dogs don't bark a lot, we're comfortable with the blinds and drapes open. When it's dreary outside, we can close out the weather. When the karaoke gets too loud at the clubhouse, we can close the windows and turn on the air.

There were the usual questions about mail, banking, keeping in touch, paying bills, all easily answered now that we've been "homeless" for a year and a half.

Basically, though, home is what you make it, wherever it is, and wherever you park it!

Aha!

I can now officially call myself a freelance writer! I've been paid for writing. Not much, mind you, but there it is. Keep watching for more news on this front.

Be All That You Can Be

I borrowed that from the Army. No kidding, you're saying. The sermon this morning involved being the persons God created us to be. One of the ways that's accomplished is to share the gift of self.

When I retired, I thought I'd have this endless supply of time. I've allowed busyness to take over. I have great thoughts and ideas of how I will minister to others. Time to put them into action. After all, our actions reflect what we truly believe. If I want to check my focus, I have a look at my calendar and my checkbook!

High Anxiety

I put together three articles for web publication, attached them to an e-mail and hit "send." It was my first assignment for someone called "The Article Dude."

Ever since I sent them off, I've been checking my e-mail every three minutes or so. The poor dude probably hasn't had time to read them yet! Ah, the suspense. Watch this spot for updates!