I have just received a less than subtle hint, and I'm interpreting here, an urgent request to post on our blog. It seems that I have not posted since January 23rd. My oh my, where do the days go? Had I known that some of our friends and fans are relying on our blog, for what periodically passes as entertainment, and thereby bringing a little sunshine into there clearly dark, cold days, well I would have posted sooner. To our friends and fans, and you know who you are (hint, hint...in the Yukon....) I offer you a thousand apologies and commit, once again, to be a bit more reliable in posting details of our adventures here in the Valley of the Sun. Let me see if I can recall our adventures of the past seven days.....
TIME OUT!!!! I wish to take this opportunity to wish brother-in-law Carl a very Happy Birthday.
............and many more!
I'm going to write a lot about the weather but before I get to it I want to tell you that one of the highlights of the week was a hike that Dana and I did this past Sunday. We finally were able to get out in the desert after 2 days of intense weather. We hiked one of our favorite trails in Usery Park following the near record rainfall here in the Valley of the Sun. The desert was amazing. Hard to describe but it was literally washed clean. The colours were vivid. The smell wasn't exactly what you would sense in a rain forest but it was very different than normal. The air was also washed clean and enabled me to take this great photo of Dana with the Superstitions mountains as a backdrop. Here is the photo:
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| Dana in the desert. (shirt by REI, Eyeglasses by Transition Lenses, Visor by Nike, necklace by Michael R McKee) |
Yet another weather event! When we were here last year we had 2 days of rain from Jan 1 to March 21. This year we have had rain on probably 6 days so far. Rather than complain about the rain we are rejoicing! This part of the American west has been under drought conditions for most of the past decade. Rain here is rarer than goals from the Sedin twins at playoff time. This past week found us more inside than out. We did get in a couple 8k runs, 2 bike rides, a short birding trip to the Gilbert Water Ranch and I played tennis once, and coached tennis once and we did the hike in Usery Park on Sunday. Okay, okay, we have not exactly been hibernating but with all the rain we have had to cut back on our riding and hiking as with the intense rain storms it can be dangerous to get caught out in the desert.
Weather fact: This past Saturday we received 1.21 inches of rain. The biggest single day total since a big storm in August, 2010. This is a big deal in the desert although not so much in Vancouver or Seattle where 1" of rain is a morning shower.
I can't think of anything else to write about. I sometimes have a writers block and I turn to writing about something familiar - Me. Cheap self promotion you might ask? Madelyn would certainly agree. Never the less, I want to tell you about my recent tennis exploits. As you know from my previous posts my tennis playing is down to a bare minimum. Sometimes once, or twice a week, and no league matches. Thus far my knees are thanking me and I am able to enjoy cycling, hiking, dancing, running and other fun stuff with Dana. So I guess Dana is thanking me too. What I am doing to get my tennis fix is that I have volunteered to be an assistant coach with the 1.5 (beginner) tennis team. While I have only turned out twice, it is turning out to be a lot of fun. The head coach is having me instruct on serving, something that I actually seem to do quite well. I work with the class on Wednesday afternoons for about 3 hours. Not all the time is spent on serving drills and I get to help where I can with other aspects of doubles play (court position, strategy, etc.) I am mindful that I far from an expert and am careful not to give instruction on aspects of the game where I struggle myself. Like I say, lots of fun so far and it give me a chance to meet new players and give a bit back to the tennis club and help my old coaches.
That's about all for now. Hope you enjoyed the post as much as I enjoyed writing it. Keep safe out there. We'll do the same. Ciao!
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