I’m Not Pushing Up Daisies

In case you thought I ran off and died, or something, I didn’t.  I’m not dead.  It is simply NEVER a dull moment around here… not that it needs to be dull to blog… but seriously, I blinked and eight days flew by. 

Nothing out of the ordinary, other than my brave, strong and sore husband hiked the Grand Canyon last weekend…. in rain and sleet and even snow.  C-R-A-Z-Y… totally.  A clue to the weather conditions may have been the closed highway leading to the canyon… but NOOOOOOOOOO!  The 17 C-R-A-Z-Y men found an alternative route and kept right on going.  Instead of a leisurely three and a half hour drive it was EIGHT hours. Yes, the following photos were all taken in Arizona. 

(photo courtesy of Barnabas Moses… who also didn’t put in his deposit for next year.)

After the delayed drive, the need arose to take the FAST five mile trail to the bottom, to beat sundown.  As if hiking the Grand Canyon in rain and sleet and even snow wasn’t bad enough….. imagine it in the dark!  It continued to snow the entire next day while the men rested at Phantom Ranch… and the next day as well…. providing fun five foot tall snowdrifts across the trail on the way out… that could only be passed on their hands and knees.  But I digress.

(photo courtesy of Andy Leebrick… not sure if he put in his deposit.)  Notice the bottom left corner for more hikers on the switchback trail.  I think Rick is the mostly blue person in the number four spot… but I’m not sure.

Rick is back home.  He’s mostly fine, but he did walk funny for a few painfully slow days.  He did not put his deposit in to hold his spot next year.  Hmmmmmmmmmm.  He said it was the hardest thing he’s ever done in his life.  Hence, the tight-fisted deposit money still in his tightfist.

Cactus in snow is just wrong.  Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

P.S.  I’ll have pictures SOON of Zaza’s tea table and chairs!!!!  I’ve been a busy bee painting them!

There’s Snow in them thar Hills

A rare sight for sure from our Phoenix, Arizona backyard.  We’ve had a cold snap of late, it was 38F yesterday morning when I awoke.  Freezing for here!  These were the temperatures we moved AWAY from.  I’m not trying to illicit sympathy from those in frigid winter conditions.  I’ve heard our cousins in Winnipeg haven’t had school this week, as the city is covered in ice. 

I remember those days in northern Alberta when I would scrape the ice off the kitchen window in the morning in order to view the thermometer on the porch…. hoping for -37C… and no school!  I always hated -35C and -36C… it just wasn’t fair.

One cold school day when I was teaching kindergarten in LaCrete, Alberta, I left for school in freezing weather.  During the day, the sun came out, warmed things up and the meltdown started.  By the time I came home, however, it had dropped below freezing again.  I arrived home to find our screen door covered in ice.  Using the snow shovel, I pounded on the ice until I broke through and could open the door.

I told that little story to say that I DON”T MISS IT AT ALL.  :o  I’m sorry if you live under a sheet of ice at the moment.  Know that you are welcome in sunny Arizona!