2/20/18 Sabino Canyon

We had bit of rain last night and woke up to gray skies with a bit of sun poking through every now and then.  We checked the temperature this morning and at that time it was cooler here than at home! It has been windy most of the day, but the temperature did get up to 56.  We drove about a half hour south and visited Sabino Canyon located in the Coronado National Forest. Here they pronounce it Sa-bean-o rather than the way we pronounce the ship at the seaport.  We bought a ticket to the shuttle and had a lovely 4 mile ride up the canyon.  There are nine stops and you can hop-on/hop-off at any stop.  It runs every 30 minutes.  We elected to go to the last stop and then did a bit of walking here and there.  We didn't walk the whole way down as in some places water was running over the bridges.  Yes, I said water!  Since we have had rain, the creeks and brooks have filled and there is actually water running.  We chatted with a few people on our way down, but the most memorable was an 85 year old man who was walking up the canyon.  He was from Indiana, but lived in Tucson for 10 years and was associated with the U of A softball team.  He was very bright and spry for his age and said he comes back every year for a few weeks to get warm, visit old friends, and hike.  The sides of the canyon were quite steep in places - about the height of a 40-story building.  We saw plenty of cacti - some even on the steep hillsides, holding on precariously, but also enjoyed the geology.  The gray and white rock visible in at least one of the photos is Catalina Gneiss, a metamorphic rock.  There were several caves up on the rocky sides - makes you wonder if the Native Americans used them for shelter.  I don't know if it will show up, but the rocks at the top of the canyon at one point look like Snoopy lying on his back.  We saw several sycamore trees and some of plants and cacti were even showing some new green growth due to the recent rain.  We had another wonderful day here in Tucson.

2/19/18 Desert Park

So we had an easy day today.  We did some laundry and some cleaning up around the house.  The day was partly sunny and partly cloudy, but cool and very windy.  At one point we went out on the patio so Dave could work on a spoon he is carving for Charity and I took some sand paper to the horseshoe we bough yesterday to clean it up a bit.  When the laundry was done, we went for a lovely walk at the nearby park.  Dave was able to sand the handle of the spoon while we walked and I took a few pics of cacti and the mountains.  The park has three mountain ranges in sight.  We saw no birds or animals today, but the walk was grand.  We came home and had a late lunch and then just relaxed for a bit.  Not too much excitement today, but a thoroughly nice one none the less.

2/18/18 Dan and Carla

Today we drove 40 miles south to Green Valley to visit some friends we met in Africa last year.  Dan and Carla live most of the time in Madison, Wisconsin, but come to Arizona January through April to get out of the cold.  There house here is lovely - 2 bedrooms, 2 baths with a gorgeous view of the Santa Rita mountains.  Green Valley consists of many little developments with 8 community centers and 6 golf courses within 5 miles.  They stay busy while here with dancing lessons, swimming, yoga, hiking, and golf.  We sat and chatted for a bit and then went for a drive around the neighborhood before driving out to Madera Canyon.  We stopped at a birding place and watched the birds for awhile.  I caught a pic of a nuthatch and a Mexican blue jay, but couldn't quite get a good photo of the hummingbird.  Someone said that a coati mundi has been coming by lately to the area, but he did not show up while we were there.  We then drove to the top of the canyon and I took a pic of the great view back toward Green Valley.  The light hill in the background is made up of tailings from the huge  copper mine nearby.  On our way out we passed an enormous pecan grove.  One would think that would not be a good tree to grow there as it uses so much water, but apparently they flood the rows every once in a while and they seem to be thriving.  We then went to visit Tumacacori Mission.  It was started by the same Father Kino who started the San Xavier Mission.  The mission was started in 1691, but moved to its present site in 1751.  The mission that we visited was rebuilt in 1820 and abandoned in 1848.  This was a totally different mission than that of San Xavier as this one was in ruins and has not been restored.  There was a local woodcarver showing off his wares in the church portico.  He uses a machete and a utility knife to carve both the wood and the root of the cottonwood tree.  There was a wonderful herb/flower garden beside the church and I took a picture of the lovely purple flowers there.  They also had plum, persimmon, and quince trees in the garden.  I must be a wonderful place when everything is in flower.  We then drove into Tubac for lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant and then went into the downtown area to visit a kitchen store named Tumacookery.  They had every kitchen gadget known to man.  It was great to just wander around!  We stopped at a bar, Dos, to have soda and beer because they had a live singer on the patio.  She was very good and we enjoyed listening to her original songs as well as some oldies.  On our way back to the car we saw a couple with their bulldog.  I had to take its picture - bulldogs are so ugly, they're cute.  We stopped at a giant permanent yard sale to poke around.  The fellow who owns the place goes to storage units and bids on abandoned ones.  He has been on the show "Pawn Stars" and was interesting to talk to.  We wanted to buy a horseshoe as the young man who does janitorial work at the Habi-Store loves horses and is having his birthday this week.  When I told the owner what we wanted and why, he gave the horseshoe to us for free - quite unexpected, but very nice.  Carla bought a beautiful Chinese-style robe that she is going to use as a Halloween costume.  We went back to their house, but didn't stay too much longer as Dan looked like he was tiring.  He had hernia surgery last Monday, but looked amazingly well, if a bit tired.  We had a wonderful day and hope that they will come to visit us in Connecticut.  The last picture is of Dan and Carla on their patio.

2/17/18 Anniversary Sale

Wow!  What an incredibly busy day!  We took a group photo just before opening the doors at 9 AM.  It is a good thing we did it then because there wasn't a minute to catch our breaths before our shift was over at 1 PM.  We had tons of help on the floor and in the warehouse where people were picking up furniture at a constant rate.  As soon as something left the floor, someone filled the space with another item from the back.  It was crazy!  I took a pic of the crowd waiting for the doors to open - there were at least 75 people in line.  We had two cashiers open all day and the line ran down the aisle and wrapped around several times.  Someone said they had to wait almost 2 hours to pay, but the savings were worth it.  Everything was 37% off - even the sale items.  I sold an office chair to a man - he paid less than $3 - at that price he couldn't refuse.  The staff was great - they treated everyone to coffee and 10 dozen donuts this morning (neither is my favorite and we had just eaten breakfast) and then at noon they had pizza, wings, a veggie platter and a fruit platter.  The afternoon shift came on at 12:30 and it included a group of sorority girls from U of A.  The line to pay was still about an hour's wait when we left.  I won't find out how much we made today until we go in on Thursday, but most of the items on the floor had sold tags on them.  The only unknown is what else they had in the warehouse to bring out.  As we were driving away, I saw a Habitat truck coming in with a load that they had picked up.  I assume they had enough people to price the items and get them on the floor for the afternoon crowd.  We were both exhausted when we got back so we put our feet up for a couple of hours.  My piggies were smoking!

The four pics today are of the group shot, the free popcorn table, the line out the door before we opened, and the line at the registers as we were leaving.

2/16/18 Habi-Store

We woke up to a cloudy day which turned into a rainy afternoon.  It is still raining and it is about 5:30.  The "natives" are enjoying the rain.  One man at the store today said that this was the first rain they had had in 186 days!  Apparently, they get a monsoon season in August and it is unusual to have rain this time of year.  They are also happier with the cooler weather (about 57 now).  It was surprisingly busy this morning at the store.  I thought we wouldn't have many purchases today as tomorrow is the big sale - 37% off everything, celebrating the 37th anniversary of the store, but I was proved wrong.  We had plenty of purchases plus Dave was busy in the back unloading 2 of the 3 trucks that came in today and emptying the 2 sea-land containers where the guys have been storing special items for the sale.  I don't know how they are going to fit anything else on the floor, but I guess they will bring things out as other items are sold.  I am including some pix of items that are recent to the floor as well as a picture of Joe, the disabled vet I talked about last week.  There is also a pic of the monthly sales chart and one of the Valentine's aisle at the local grocery store - they must really celebrate big here.  The other picture is of the happy flowering plant in the front of the house - I can practically hear it sucking up the rain!  We switched our times tomorrow so that we can be of most help for the sale - apparently last year they sold $18000 worth of goods!  I expect it will be a mob scene as many people were in today scoping out items.  There should be a crush at 9 AM when we open.

2/15/18 Rainy Day and Habi-store

What a difference a day makes!  Even though we had rain for part of yesterday, it was still fairly warm.  It rained all night and during most of the day today, but the temperature has dropped.  The high was only 57 (I know, I know - most of you would love to see 57, but when it has been in the high 70's and low 80's, that is quite a drop).  I looked online before we went to work at noon and we had gotten 3-4 inches of rain.  The drive in was interesting as there was a lot of standing water on the roads.  It was busier than I would have thought today given the rain and that the big anniversary sale is coming up, but it died off at the end of the day, which makes the time go so slowly.  Tomorrow we will be busy putting out some items that they have been saving for the big sale.  I don't know where they are going to put the big items though as the floor is pretty crowded already.  No pics today - I will try to take a few in the store tomorrow.

2/14/18 Biosphere 2

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  We woke up to clouds this morning with a threat of rain so instead of walking outside, we opted to visit Biosphere 2.  The property was developed from 1984-86 as a research facility to study and develop self-sustaining space-colonization technology.  Human missions took place from 1991-94 with teams of eight plus a medical doctor.  The people were sealed in for two years and were able to be self sufficient - growing their own food, etc.  After the second team went through, Columbia University took over and now it is run by the University of Arizona.  It is no longer a sealed facility, but is used as a research laboratory for environmental studies.  We went on a guided tour and walked through a rainforest containing over 90 different plant species some more than 60 feet tall, a small ocean area with man-made wave action, a mangrove area, a hydroponic area where fish are in the upper tank and their waste (nitrogen) filters though the plant areas where the micro-organisms in the soil change the waste to fertilizer.  As you can see the lemon is quite large for the small size of the tree.  The last area is a fog desert - more in tune with the deserts near the Pacific Ocean because of the high humidity in the air.  We then walked into the basement to see the myriad of water pipes, air controls and a room called the lung with changes the air pressure and volume.  The glass enclosed area is a bit over 3 acres and there are 6500 windows.  It is 91 feet tall at its highest point.  Many scientists work here to see what effect different factors have on the environment.  For example, the average carbon dioxide level on Earth is 400 parts/million.  When the level was raised to between 600-700 parts, the rain forest began to emit carbon dioxide instead of oxygen - quite a scary thought.  Our last stop was to visit a lunar greenhouse.  It contained strawberries, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, peppers, and tomatoes - it looked very healthy.  It was raining quite hard when we finished exploring.  I'm sure the plants and cacti were VERY happy!  Apparently, it is supposed to rain all night and into tomorrow.  It is a big change from our 2 1/2 weeks of sunshine.