Lay of the Land

I just returned from the annual August Diva retreat. After the dust storm settled, this was the mountain view.

A few of the Divas were asking questions about the neighborhood we live in so I thought I'd try to give some context.

Our house is the odd-sized larger lot on the corner by the arrow.  As you can see, we are one street away from the western and southern edges of the development.  Today, I took a walk to the gray path that runs from east to west along the bottom of this map.  The map shows a cut through from Hazeltine to a dirt path behind the last row of houses.  If you look to the west, there is a fence between the neighborhood and the cattle ranch.

I don't know how many animals they have at the ranch.  I've only ever seen about 6-8 steer at any given time.

The reservation lies to the south and, along the pathway, you can see the signs that this area floods pretty intensely when we get a heavy rain.  Neighbors in this stretch have posted dramatic videos of temporary, fast-moving rivers in this area.

If you walk towards the east, you get a view of the San Tan Mountains.  These pictures were taken in the cooler morning hours but the mountains look most dramatic in the late afternoon when the shadows show their character.

The map also shows the neighborhood school where Brady catches the bus in the morning.  He and Mike ride their bikes along the western perimeter path (gray line) in the mornings and afternoons.  Across the street from the school is the community pool, park, and gym.  All of the areas not colored in yet are either open dirt lots or under construction.  The empty areas have some entertaining animal watching with little herds of quail and their youngsters or desert hares chasing each other while kicking up clouds of dust.  The blog banner photo was taken at the school, facing west.  There's a canal and more cattle roaming area in that section so the sunset photo opps are usually the best from that spot.








Sherman is happy that I'm home and that he can continue to stare at me all day in hopes that I'll play with him or take him for a walk.

More of the mundane

Last week was a week of joining and following. I am still getting used to being a follower at work after relinquishing my leadership role to work from home.  There are always pros and cons so I’m keeping an open mind.

I decided to join in on a fitness challenge in our neighborhood so that I could (1) meet a few neighbors and (2) kickstart figuring out how to be active in the desert heat.  The challenge is mainly based on nutrition and macronutrients so we are using MyFitnessPal.  I have not yet made friends with this app so it continues to be a pain in the neck to track my food and macros throughout the day.  Wish me luck!  This meme sums up how it’s going so far.

I ventured out in the storms and floods on Tuesday to attend another quilt guild meeting.  I reconsidered my choice at one point when a giant tumbleweed came straight at my windshield.  Must not overcorrect.  No one at the guild meeting seemed phased by all of the emergency alerts going off but it was pretty crazy on the way home, especially in the common areas of our subdivision.  We are still adjusting to the new normal.  The meeting was good, though, so it was worth it.  I joined the group so I’ve already started getting little assignments for group projects.  They do an annual small quilt auction in November for their fundraiser (uh oh).  I helped one woman figure out how to fix the bleeding on her amazing applique quilt so I have a forever friend in her.  The Divas all know about my extensive experience with boiling water and Synthrapol.  It is good to meet new people but it is still pretty hollow.  I’m just laying the foundation at this point.

Wednesday, I tried a new salon.  Why can’t I ever find a place that is close to home?  It was interesting but my hair is definitely darker than expected (since I did provide the recipe).  I have a month to decide if I’ll go back.

This weekend, we went to a casino buffet that everyone raves about.  I thought Brady would be more interested in the lights and action in the casino but all of our preaching about the claw game seems to have paid off.  He was lecturing us that the odds are against you.  Whew!  He would have been happy to win this car, though.

Since they were predicting another round of storms for today and tomorrow, we stocked up yesterday and planned to stay closer to home … unlike last week.  While I was working, I was listening to the wind howl and debris hitting the windows.  It really is just like hunkering down inside when it is sleeting and snowing.  This was the view from my office window.  No blue skies today!

One week from tomorrow, I will be on my way to Amishland!  I am really looking forward to it, everything about it!  I’ve been on hiatus with unpacking my room since we have had a lot of competing activities now that school started.  I am trying to finish that project so I can decide/find what to pack.