A NOSTALGIC LOOK BACK

 IT LOOKS LIKE THE LOCAL TUESDAY MORNING BOVINE BRUNCH GROUP IS ENJOYING THEMSELVES AGAIN

Not a cloud to be seen in this morning's clear blue sky as Pheebs and I walked our country road.  In the western sky hung a pale, hardly visible partial Moon well on its way to setting for another day.  Home again, I grabbed my tall stepladder, swede saw, clippers, and proceeded to cut off some magnolia tree branches which were interfering with our neighbor Monica's roof.  When those bigger branches move in the wind it messes with the shingles.  There is still one large unreachable branch left.  Might have to toss a stick of dynamite up at it.  

 IT'S THAT UNREACHABLE BRANCH OVER MY HEAD THAT IS MAINLY MESSING WITH THE SHINGLES ON THE ROOF

Stuck for something to write about again today I will leave you with a paragraph from a post I wrote last year at this time.  It's how I felt then and it is how I still feel today. ..... Especially in our RV years, the middle of August always marked a turning point.  It was at this early time I would begin counting down the days to our October departure for the great American Southwest.  Growing feelings of excitement and anticipation mixed with occasional bouts of apprehension would begin to stir.  It was a time to begin organizing things for our upcoming travels.  And the best part of it all was knowing that we were closing in on something we so much looked forward to each year.  In fact, it was one of the two big things we looked forward to each year.  Going south in the Fall and coming home in the Spring.  Scenery has always been the biggest travel motivation for me whether at home here or on the road traveling, and I guess that is why I always carry a camera with me.  For our RVing years, I marveled and loved how twice a year we could completely change our topographical landscape.  Just when I was getting bored with one landscape we would switch to a completely different landscape.  The landscapes of southwestern Ontario and the landscapes of southwestern Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California are so different with each one having it's own unique diverse beauty.  And, for me, therein lies the magic.  Being able to live in both places for half a year at a time was in my opinion, the best of both worlds.  Ontario's green forests, blue lakes, and rural farmlands for early Spring, Summer, and early Fall and the American Southwest's mountains and deserts for the winter months.  We always considered the southwest our second home.  So much so that we even bought a house in Arizona one time.  I loved working on my winter cactus gardens there for the nearly 5 years we had the house.  Just as I don't like living in Ontario through the winters I'm sure I wouldn't like living through the hot summers of the American southwest either.  And that was the key to traveling between the two areas each year.  Come the end of March in the southwest we were always more than ready to head home for the green forests and rural farmlands of Huron County alongside the clear and cool waters of Lake Huron.  And, from the time we arrived home, we always had something to look forward to again in the Fall.  And oh how I so much miss that now.....................

2008 ALL LOADED UP AND READY TO HEAD FOR THE SOUTHWEST

 AN OVERNIGHTER IN ELLIS KANSAS AFTER A BIG KANSAS CROSSWIND DESTROYED OUR RIG'S SIDE AWNING WESTBOUND ON I-70

I LOVE THESE SWEEPING VIEWS

 BOONDOCKED A FEW MILES WEST OF TOMBSTONE ARIZONA

 THE KIVA KOFFEE HOUSE EAST OF BRYCE CANYON, UTAH

NEAR YARNELL, ARIZONA

 BOONDOCKED IN CALIFORNIA WEST OF YUMA  AT A PLACE CALLED PILOT KNOB

 ZION CANYON, UTAH

THE TRAIL BOSS:))

 ROCK SCRAMBLING ALONGSIDE ONE OF OUR FAVORITE 4-WHEEL-DRIVE JEEP ROADS WEST OF CONGRESS, ARIZONA

'THE LOOP DRIVE' NEAR  ORGAN PIPE NATIONAL MONUMENT ALONG THE MEXICAN BORDER IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA

 VULTURE PEAK WEST OF WICKENBURG, ARIZONA

AT THE VERY NORTHERN EDGE OF THE SONORAN DESERT HALFWAY UP THE WEAVER MOUNTAINS

 OLD STAGE COACH ROAD NEAR OUR ARIZONA DIGS......ONE OF OUR FAVORITE MORNING DRIVES FOR PHEEBS AND I 

 THE OLD WEST IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE

 OUR DIGS IN CONGRESS ARIZONA

 I LOVED WORKING ON MY FRONT YARD CACTUS GARDEN AT OUR HOUSE IN YAVAPAI COUNTY

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A man was on trial for murder and if convicted, would get life imprisonment. His brother found out that an Irishman was on the jury and figured he would be the one to bribe. He told the Irishman that he would be paid £10,000 if he could convince the rest of the jury to reduce the charge to manslaughter.  The jury was out an entire week and returned with a verdict of manslaughter.  After the trial, the brother went to the Irish man's house, told him what a great job he had done, and paid him the £10,000.  The Irishman replied, "It wasn't easy to convince the rest of the jury to change the charge to manslaughter. They all wanted to let him off."

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