Solo Run to the Summit

Went up alone this morning. Made it to the summit. Still dark. Sweaty. Glad to be alive. Missed my girls.

Camelback Hike 5

The picture above shows the path of the Echo Canyon Trail. Thats the trail which normally lifts us to the top of our friend. This morning we went up and back on the Cholla Trail. No easier. No way. A bit. And more scenic.

Bobby and I started out right at 5. Catherine surprised us and met us at the top! Bonnie is returning from San Diego today, I expect to see her at O-Dark-Thirty Friday Morning.

I missed Monday. While waiting for Bobby at the hook-up-place I locked my keys and everything else I had (except my phone) in the truck. It's a sickening feeling when you gently push the door closed just enough to latch it, lock it, not close it, and see your stuff in there, remembering that you just put your keys in the pack that is sitting on your car seat! Yank, yank. Swear swear. Bobby is sleeping in, both cell and land-line turned off. I called Cathy at 5:15 and asked her to come save me. An adventure. I bet Bobby don't sleep in no-more!

This was the most beautiful morning for me at the top. Cloudy and cooler. August muggy. We were on the top for a bit longer than usual, cutting up and feelin good!

Animal Dreams - A Book Review

I finished my second fiction book; away from the genre of Buddhism, Jesus, New Age and the happiness-seeking merry-go-round. Cathy put this book in front of me a week ago. It looked Carlos Castenada-ish, so I took the bait. Hell, maybe I'll even try chocolate ice cream next time we're out, just change up everything! Been that kind of year.

Colina's redemption finds her in this story. She was hell-bent on denying the beauty of her own life, staying just on the edges of it, always ready to escape the scene if things got too juicy, hard or intimate. It happened at home, the usual place I suppose. She's still there I bet, done running, settled in. Home is where it happens to me too, right here, every single time.

There's a sister I would love to meet. There's places in Arizona I would love to go. There's a town (Grace, Arizona) I would like to live in maybe, if they'd have me. The town doesn't exist fortunately, otherwise I'd be over there this weekend, looking for God knows what.

The author, Barbara Kingsolver, has some great lines. One of my favorite was something about she was so tired, wanted to lay down and sleep, like a boa-constrictor who had just eaten a goat. Another was wanting to lay down with someone (a man) who loved every square inch of her body. Yup, that's pretty close to what she wrote. I clearly like lines about laying down. I mentioned her in my Creative Writing class on Monday Nite. There's a following. I know, I need to tell you about school this Fall.

If you get a chance you probably would enjoy the diversion, I sure did.

Camelback Hike 4

It's Friday AM, and we're doin it again. Slipping out in the dark. Waiting for enough lite to start the ascent through pain into gain. Today, got up in time to catch the Sun, bringing the love to Phoenix!

Camelback Day 3

We're here again on Wednesday. It's addicting. The best part of my day is hiking with my girl Bobby. It don't get any better at all. For me, the majority of the rest of my day will be working Property Taxes for Maricopa County. Thankfully tonite, there's Singleton Moms' Meal Prep!

Squirrels Just Wanna Have Fun

A good enough reason

to be born. Earth Wind and Fire.

Camelback Take 2

We did it again this morning. Faster. Better. What a burn that mountain is.

Camelback Mountain

This morning, my daughter Bobby, some friends of hers (and now of mine!) and I made it up this mountain. Bobby's the mountain climber these days. The mountain worked me over way more than I thought it would. Gotta do it some more. Here's some from today:

And from times gone by:

Sorry Eli, no scans of you on Camelback.

Help

This is the kind of stuff you can find on the internet while you're looking for something else. The geek in me couldn't resist.

Public Thanks

I wanted to publicly thank whoever privately had the latest Victoria Secret catalog sent to my house.

Man, can this guy just give it a rest?

Bush could weaken Endangered Species Act

We're Outta Here!

In 1978, Joanne, the kids and I packed up and left Phoenix for a life in Colorado. Not long after we got there we rented a 100 year old cabin in the mountains outside of Canon City, up on Oak Creek Grade. Before we left Arizona, I quit my job, submitted my resignation letter to Johnnie Greene, my manager at Honeywell. I liked Johnnie, and I think when he left Honeywell years later he went and became a farmer somewhere in the south. A lot of people actually save and plan for what they want to do. Hmmmm. We did not farm in Colorado.

Anyway, Joanne celebrated her 50th birthday party a couple of weeks ago and this picture was part of the celebration.

Now, this is the kind of picture that gets me thinking it's high time to post another entry in the blog. This cabin had no running water. I was in the outhouse, doing some business, #2 to be exact (real men don't do #1 in an outhouse). Just across from this outhouse was an out-building. Under that building was a nest of rattle snakes. We found that out the day this picture was taken. One of them had moved such that it was between me and getting out of that outhouse, leaving me stuck in the outhouse. I yelled in to Joanne. Told her to get the gun. She did. She then shot that snake. From about 30 feet or so I bet, one shot. We were both happily proud of that one shot. Anyway, not every family has a snake-shooting-shot. It's what got this whole blog going tonite.

There came a time came when some friends of mine from the Air Force days came through. Mark and Craig. Here we go with that. There are more stories I should tell about Craig Nylander. I bet you could guess that when you see the business end of a kitty hanging from his mouth.

Then, some shots of the kids, in and around the cabin. This first one of Elias is one of my all time favorites. I still feel this way about Corn On The Cob. Dale Roberts Corn on the Cob. Now the twinsesses. I put another shot up a few weeks ago of these two. You know what innocence and beauty is when you look at these girls. You didn't quite get that feeling from Eli's pics did you? We were young. We were lucky. We still are.

PicsaWeb

It's all right here, every picture from my blog. google, can't get mad at it! Everybody's doin it! http://picasaweb.google.com/elbobjuan

Hair

I was doing an eMail exchange with my friend Susan about hair this morning. I said "i'm thinkin a man oughtta take his age and wear it long and bushy". We were talking about hair. I was born to a Baptist Preacher, and was too young to do the 60s. I'm stuck! Here's some shots I have of my bushy from over the years.