Fun Sign

We went to a little diner in Nogales and this wonderful sign was on the wall. 

On a more positive note...

I like this message better!

Dinosaurs in the Desert

Strange things happen in the desert...and here's one of them. These metal beasts were at a gas station in Gila Bend. 

Two Trees of the Desert

The Sonora/Mojave Desert in California and Arizona have two very distinctive trees: the Joshua and the Saguaro. 

The Joshua Tree seems to grow on the California side of the desert but can also be found in Arizona and Utah.

While the Saguaro seems to grow on the Arizona side. Rarely do you see the two trees in the same area but there are a few "strays" in California.

It's as if the Colorado River has drawn a demarcation line "saying" it's impossible to cross over to the other side.

Both have National parks in their honor. We did not visit either of those parks this time, but we have in the past. 

As you drive along the road, you see some Joshuas propped up with wooden braces. It's nice to have friends! The Joshua is top heavy, even though it has a deep root structure. It's hard to tell the age of a Joshua as it's a type of yucca and as such, does not have "tree rings" to count. They can live for hundred of years, making them desert survivors.

The Saguaro is probably the best know of the two trees. I'm guessing if you say the word "cactus" to most folks, they will picture a Saguaro. The Saguaro can live 150-200 years and get to be 30 feet tall. Most Saguaro develop the distinctive arms and can grow as many as 25 of them...but strangely, some saguaros never develop arms and no one knows why.

Whenever we are in the southwest desert, I like looking at the distinctive shapes of these two trees and marvel how they can survive in such a harsh environment.

Fun fact: The scientific name for the Saguaro is Carnegia Gigantica in honor of Andrew Carnegie.

Fun Fact: The Mormons named the Joshua tree after the biblical figure. They saw the limbs stretched on high leading them westward just like Joshua led folks to Canaan.

Christmas Lights

One of the joys of Christmas is looking at the decorated houses. As a youngster I remember whole neighborhoods would get bedecked with lights and displays and cars would queue up for blocks and blocks just to see the show. That's rare nowadays. The cost of power prohibits it I guess. Given that, a few houses are decorated and they are delightful to behold. 

Here's a glimpse of a one such house. Thank you for making our Christmas a little brighter (no pun intended).

The Fence between US/Mexico

You have all heard about the fence that divides the US/Mexico border. Have you seen that fence?

At the Nogales, AZ international crossing, the fence is about 15 feet high. It consists of vertical steel "planks" set a few inches from each other. From some angles you can see thru the fence, from other angles it looks solid. Every so often there are posts where guards can watch the happenings on both sides. There are also cameras...lots of cameras...watching, watching watching. 

We were here 8 years ago and we remembered a chain link fence with razor wire on top. We did not see that fence today. 

The fence snakes up and down mountains and valleys and straight ahead. In that aspect, it looks like the Great Wall of China, but it is not nearly as permanent, as long, or as wide. 

What we are not seeing are the tunnels that go under the border. New tunnels are found all the time.

It's Only a Paper Moon

Moonrise on Christmas Eve was spectacular!

And a few seconds later...

Then, the moon was launched into space...

Merry Christmas 

Quarter of a Century

I finished my 25th blanket for 2015. I might have time to make one more. 

The blanket is a huge "Granny Square” one of the first patterns people learn when they start making afghans. The typical Granny Square is 3" by 3", this one is 45" on a side. I think it turned out quite well. 

Back to the Future

In 1985, the movie "Back to the Future" was released. One of the stars of that movie was a Delorean automobile. Today we saw a replica of that car at a rest stop in central California.

It had been shown at Comi-Con. We talked to the owners about the car who said it was modeled after the first car in the movie. 

It looked pretty authentic to me. 

The basic Delorean still looked good too. A stainless steel car...what a concept! 

You never know what you will see when you're on the road.

The Bridge on the Other Side of the Bay

A new Bay Bridge was built a few years ago, replacing a structure that partially collapsed (then was repaired) from the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989. The old bridge on the Oakland side of the Bay is slowly being dismantled and sent to China. Here's what it looks like today. 

As the infrastructure is being broken up into smaller pieces, its memories are slipping away. 

I wonder why we, meaning the US, could not recycle the steel? But I also wonder why we had to rebuild the bridge. 

It's sad to see the old bridge go as it had so much more character than the modern one. I guess this is progress. (But that reminds me of an old play on words....if pro means for and con means against.... we all know what progress means....therefore what does congress mean? But I digress!)

Sunrise

Oh what a beautiful morning!

Two Dozen and counting

That's blanket number 24 for 2015. I averaged 2 blankets a month...but that's not truly accurate as I did not make any when we were in the Caribbean or Norway or Switzerland or when I had pneumonia. I'm working on the pink/yellow/orange pallet right now as Project Linus gave me a huge bag of those colors. I think there is enough for one more blanket, which I started tonight. I just might have time to make 25 blankets this year! 

Given that, the Project Linus chapter to which I belong, donated almost 11,000 blankets to kids in the greater Sacramento area. My contribution was a mere .002, but every stitch counts. If you would like to contribute to this fine group, go to ProjectLinus.com to find a local chapter. They are always looking for knitters, crocheters and quilters as well as yarn and fleece or monetary gifts. Needless to say, I find "working" for Project Linus very rewarding. 

Pearl Harbor

A day that will live in infamy, according to Prisident Roosevelt. The day that started the US entry into World  War II. December 7,1941, 74 years ago! Hats off to the veterans who fought in that war hoping to end all war. Somehow not everyone received the message. 

Sleeping Beauty

Yesterday we saw a local production of Sleeping Beauty. The ballet was wonderful. The story was conveyed quite easily thru mime, and a few captions before each act. The costumes were grand. The principal dancer, the daughter of a friend, was an excellent Princess Aurora. 

There were a few professional ballerinas in the performance as well as some little girls from a local ballet academy. The little ones were the most fun to watch. They were fulfilling their dream of being ballerinas all dressed up in pretty fairy costumes with their pink ballet slippers trying to plié and not fall. In the audience there were little girls wanting to be on stage with the real ballerinas. It was absolutely delightful to watch. 

Autumn Leaves

The wind is blowing

The leaves are falling 

Winter is on the way

Anyone Can Drive?

No, the dog was not driving, but it sure looked like it! In reality, the car was parked, the windows were open, and no one was coming near that car. Big dog as guard is all that is needed. 

Words with Friends

I'm an avid player of Words with Friends. I usually have several games in play with people all over the US. The other day I made "brawnier," a 173 point word. This is not the most points that can be made, but it's pretty good. The game keeps track of statistics, such as number of 7 letter words played in the last month, or average score or (my favorite) the distance of tiles played (in feet). I still need to figure out what that means as it is an online game and there are no physical tiles. BTW, I've played 180,000 feet of tiles since joining the game in 2012. 

My all time best word is "quivered" played in exactly the same spot. It was worth 239 points (see my blog entry for January 21, 2014 for a picture of that stellar word). If you'd like to join my game, I'm Cruztalker. I'm always ready for a new game.