Hair Cutting Day

I had let my hair grow for the past 4 weeks. (I normally have a shaved head.) It was time to cut it off. Carlos and Karl decided to cut their hair today, too, after we visited the zoo. Carlos insisted on doing both his own and his dad's.

 

 

 

Memorial Day at Reid Park Zoo

I went with my brother, Karl, and two of his kids, Carlos and Vickie, to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson today. Jenni, Karl's wife, Deborah, and his other son, Kervens, hiked to the top of Mt. Wrightson today. Reid Park Zoo is small, but nicely done.

 

 

 

 

Tucson Pops Orchestra Memorial Day Concert

On Sunday night we went to a lawn concert in Reid Park in Tucson for a concert by the Tucson Pops Orchestra. We went with friends from our church, Risen Savior Lutheran. We arrived about 1.5 hours before the concert and had a wonderful picnic supper.

 

Chicken Wing Picnic

We had a picnic today at our community pool and clubhouse with my brother Karl and his family. Karl is an expert at grilling chicken wings. We all enjoyed them, as you can see.

 

 

 

 

Cactus Flowers

One of the little joys of living in the desert is cactus flowers. I woke up this morning to find these flowers blooming in our back yard. This cactus blooms from mid-May through mid-June. Usually it only has one blossom at a time. Each blossom opens before dawn and is finished by afternoon.

Mica, our dog, enjoys laying in the sunshine whenever she can. Here it is late afternoon and the sun is coming in the front door. She has a thick double coat and you wouldn't think she would make a good Arizona dog, but she does. We got her at the Animal League two years ago. We think she is now close to 5 years old.

 

Giving Blood

 

I gave blood this morning at Friends In Deed, a charity in Green Valley. The blood drive was staffed by the American Red Cross. I used to give blood regularly, but had to quit when we lived in Haiti. They had a restriction for the first three years we were back in the States--but now I'm elegible again.

New Hat for Sleeping

All winter I'm cold at night, even with an electric blanket. You wouldn't think that this would be a problem in Arizona, but it just goes to show how much I like hot weather!

So earlier this year it suddenly dawned on me: Get a night cap. I happened to mention my brilliant idea to a couple of friends in the church office, right while a member of the church was passing by. His son works for a company called SmartWool. He said he thought he could find just the right thing for me. I promptly forgot about it. Well, today he shows up at church with the hat pictured below. It really will be just the ticket for me next fall and winter to keep my head warm at night. I wore it all day at work (it was 95 degrees outside today, but only 72 inside, just right for wearing hats!).

Baby Owls

At Valley Presbyterian Church, where I work, we have a pair of great horned owls that have nested every year since 1984. This year there were four owlets. Two have left the nest, but these two are hanging around for a few more days.

 

Landscaping

Tuesday, May 15
Today we had landscapers come and remove the ground cover in front of the house, plant this pindo palm, and spread crushed rocks.

 

Good Friends and Food

Sue and Jack McKelvy, good friends from Buffalo Creek, Colorado, came for dinner tonight with Norman Moore, Sue's father. Norman lives in Green Valley during the winter months and with the McKelvys in Colorado during the summer.

I made a great recipe of shrimp and scallops in a Caribbean jerk marinade, along with Cuban rice and beans.