YESTERDAY WAS DAY 1 -

TODAY IS DAY 1/2 ... APRIL 22 2014

That is because day 1/2 came before day 1.  In the evening.

I arrived late Friday evening.  Saturday we had multiple birthday parties at the house, then in the evening we went to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens.   They had a new display of Chihuly glass, lit, Dave, Linda Rachel and I all went.  First time I had ever gotten to a display at night.  A whole different perspective.

It was not until Sunday that I became  a Hippie.

This will be a short blog.  Sometime after the middle of May I will be covering the various days of my Phoenix adventure. 

There was Rock City and Pie.

There was the Organ Stop Pizza and the world famous Wurlitzer.

There was the Pima Air and Space Museum.

There was a performance of Mongolian Throat Singers.

There was the Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum.

There was the 2 day trip to Springerville and friends living in that area.

There was the Arizona Opry at Apache Junction.

We did all this in a week.  One thing about it - son-in-law Dave and Step-daughter Linda really know how to plan a vacation.  I think they were glad when I left so they could crash.  I flew back home Saturday, the day before Easter, and had Easter Dinner here for 19 family and friends.  Yesterday I basically crashed and burned.  Up and running today. 

Have a few weeks of busy business, then will pick up the blogging.  Have a great day and God Bless.

DID YOU EVER CONSIDER BEOMING A HIPPIE

DID YOU EVER CONSIDER

BECOMING A HIPPIE?! ... APRIL 21 2014 ...


Well, that's what we did on Day 1 of my Phoenix week with the Arizona bunch.  They had discovered a place called Solari - in the desert sort-of.  Admission was free.  In the 1970's this had been a hippie community there, concrete buildings, open areas with tarps, all the good modern stuff.

It is referred to as the Place of the Bells - what we would call wind chimes - made from copper, pottery and ceramic.  They did this and sold them to the public.  The Hippies are long gone, but this particular commune is maintained, they still make the bells during the week and they are for sale. 

Cheapest one we saw was $125.00 for a very small chime.  The priciest was $23,000.00 ( that's right - twenty three thousand) 

It was big.  It was beautiful.  It was something that I could hang outside, maybe it would not blow away.  Of course I don't have that kind of money, but I started thinking about it.  Which is a mistake.

I could visualize it hanging on my deck, outside the computer room window where I could see - and hear - it.  The wind would blow, I would hear this beautiful (and they did make beautiful) music.   The wind would blow.  The chimes would chime.

And then I saw it in my mind.  We had one of our gales, wind really blowing.  I could plainly see this wind chime breaking free, crashing through the window, smashing everything in its path creating havoc throughout.  I could hear - and see - Bossman's reaction. 

First of all he had a reaction last year when I got my Rhythmn Clock in Palm Springs.  It was mild.  I don't think this reaction would be mild.  First he would turn red in the face, hair starting to stand straight up.  Suddenly he would say - not shout, just say in his   I don't believe you did this voice, what have you done this time.

Like it was all my fault.  First of all this bell was heavy.  Lots of Copper for the price.  It had been shipped because I didn't think I could get it home as a carry-on on the plane.  Then he would have had to lug it inside from where it was dropped off outside.  Unpack.  Unwrap.  All the time grumbling that I didn't have a lick of sense. 

Then he would ask just what I thought "I" was supposed to do with it.  Would tell him that was his department.  Which would not go over at all well.  Finally the only place that would support it was hanging from the deck roof.

I could imagine all this clearly, almost as if a movie were playing in my head.  All was good until the gale winds came through, which  was every few days.

The chimes are in the house.  The window destroyed.  It would miss the computer as it was off to the side, but would land on top of the indoor dog kennels, flattening them like pancake then would probably end up in the kitchen breaking tile floor as it went.  Hopefully the dogs would not be in their kennels.

For some strange reason I decided I really did not need this particular wind chime. And this was just part one of day one.  More to follow, but it will probably be a while as I am so far behind on my yard work and other stuff, that I will be pretty well tied up for a bit. 

Hope you had a great Easter, don't buy any umpteen dollar bells to hang up to destroy your house, and God Bless

WHAT IS THERE

TO SAY?   APRIL 01 2014

Guess I could say APRIL FOOL!  But if I say that then I will have nothing to say.  This is probably a first. 

This is the season of BETWEEN.  Between winter and summer.  Between the Holidays and Spring break.  Between cold and hot. 

I did have a great day last week.  Left in the morning for Hartville Ohio to meet friends - who live there - for lunch at the Amish Kitchen.  Gave myself plenty of time to take pictures of Mail Pouch Barns.  I found all but 1 on my list and using two different sets of coordinates and two somewhat different street address, ended up at  the approx. same spot, so came to the conclusion that  -- the barn was either gone or -- the coordinates and street didn't know didly. 

Got to the Kitchen right on time, and wasn't there 2 minutes when Carol and Jim arrived.  It had been a year and a half since we had seen each other, but we keep in touch thru facebook.

The kitchen was really busy - guess it was spring break as there were lots of families there with school-age kids.  The line was long but moved rapidly and we got seated.  Had a great meal.  Also had a 3 plus hour meal.  I was afraid we would be asked to leave, but as time went along traffic died down.  After all by that time it was almost 4 p.m. - and we were seated about 1 p.m.

Had lots of catching up to do, and decided we would have to do this again.  I even made it home before dark.

A very bright spot in a gloomy day.  The rain held off until I was on my way home.

It is bright spots like this, or getting an unexpected one-liner from a friend on facebook that makes you smile.  I guess I smile a lot.

The odd thing is - that 35 plus years I started my business, thinking I would make a little bit of extra money.  That part has proven true.  But the best part - and I DO mean the best part - has been the friends I have made, both other vendors and customers, folks I would never have know otherwise, and my life has been so much fuller with them a part.

Little did I know all those many years ago that the friendships would be  worth more than all the extra money.

Again, this just proves that you think you know it all, have everything mapped out, but somewhere down the road you look back and  realize that you didn't know anything.  What your road map said and what the actual road was were two entirely different things.  The actual road has always proven to be the best.   

Even saying all this - I am still making plans, road-maps to follow, places to go and things to see.  You should never stop looking ahead, planning, making road-maps.  Just don't be surprised when your plans go a-rye, not what you expected, but when what is means so much more than what was planned - WOW.

My next big adventure, planned weeks in advance, is my trip to Phoenix to visit all the kids.  Will be interesting to see what goes on.  Am looking forward to it.  Got a new great-granddaughter to meet, and renew acquaintance with the other 3 great granddaughters.  I am sure there will be something to talk about, and pictures to share when I return.  Until then don't forget to dream and God Bless.