JOURNEYING BETWEEN TWO PLANETS

TONIGHT'S 5 SCENIC'S ARE FROM OUR NOVEMBER 2008 VISIT TO ARCHES NATIONAL PARK IN UTAH....NEAR MOAB

Can't help but notice how much longer it stays dark in the mornings now as our light of day steadily diminishes.  There is a coldness in the air & I see by next week we have a few days coming up  with night time lows below the freezing mark.  Going to have to crack a little heat on in the RV I guess.  Don't need any froze up water lines etc.  It's just the unavoidable hazards of waiting this long to head south!!  Oh well, at least we're not stuck here having to wait until after that Christmas thing like a lot of other folks.

THE GUYS ARE WAITING FOR THEIR PRE-BREAKFAST CEREAL SNACKS THIS MORNING

Handyman Bruce showed up this morning to begin building a little computer station for us in the rig.  Sure will be nice to have some extra space now that the big Tiffin desk is out of there.  Hopes to finish up the project Monday.  In the meantime our rig is sure in a big upside down state of affairs inside so we'll have to do some scrambling next week for sure.

   

BRUCE SETS UP HIS TOOLS & LEVELS UP THE FIRST PIECE OF LUMBER

 

WE GATHER OUR HOUSE PLANTS INTO THE SUNROOM FOR THE WINTER

MY 'PINK' PERIOD IN THE MID 80'S

Looking for some photos to include in tonight's blog I came across an old picture of myself taken about 1986. (hope I haven't posted this one before)  This was in what I call my 4 year 'pink' era.  The girl I was going with at the time always made me dress up & wear stuff I was never comfortable in.  She had a favorite pink shirt for me so that's why I called it my 'pink' period.  I do not like wearing any kind of jewelry whatsoever so of course she had me walking around with a gold wrist bracelet & neck chain plus a ring.  I was typically a fish out of water for about 4 years.  I much preferred my good old grubby look so needless to say that relationship never did have much of a future.  Notice the pen & notebook in my pocket.  That has been an everyday tradition of mine since 1983 & I still carry a pen & notebook in my shirt pocket to this very day.

PARK AVENUE

Snow Birding is like living on two different planets.  Our sticks & bricks here in Bayfield is like our own Earth & our travels to the great American Southwest are like long journey in space to our other home on the planet Mars. (the southwest)  The two lifestyles have very little in common aside from the eating & sleeping basics.  When on Mars, I seldom think back to our planet Earth here.  Right from the moment we blast off each fall, our sticks & bricks lifestyle immediately fades into a distant memory mode for me & I rarely think of our Earth home' at all for the next 5 months.

Doesn't quite work the other way around though.  When we are home here in Bayfield for the summer I think often of our other lifestyle in the Southwest.  From the day we arrive back on Earth I am already counting the days to when we will return to our planet Mars with all it's adventures, vistas, unknowns, new horizons, & physically challenging good days.  Where will we go, what new areas of the planet will we see & explore.  What kinds of new characters will we meet & how many new & adventuress things will we learn.  Will we return to Earth with the crew & ship intact yet again.  All unknown factors & all a part of our other great lifestyle. 

IN THE DEVIL'S GARDEN

The transition between planets is not always easy for Snow Birds like us.  Within minutes of leaving home we begin the transition from our oh so familiar routines & surroundings to our life on the road.  My big comfy recliner, wide screen HD television, & favorite cabled in ambient stereo surround sound music is suddenly gone.  Long hot morning showers, my own big double comfy bed in my very own room, big monitor computer screen in a beautifully scenic sunroom is all left behind in a matter of minutes.  What must we be thinking!!!!  Our other totally different lifestyle, that's what............on our other Planet which sometimes seems so long ago in a Galaxy so far, far, away:))

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Lynn & Judy (two local blonde gals) were doing some carpenter work on a Habitat for Humanity House.  Lynn was nailing down house siding, would reach into her nail , pouch, pull out a nail & either toss it over her shoulder or nail it in. Judy, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, 'Why are you Throwing those nails away?' Lynn explained, 'When I pull a nail out of my pouch, about half of them have the head on the wrong end & I throw them away.'  Judy got completely upset & yelled,  'You moron! Those nails aren't Defective! They're for the other side of the house!'

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, part of their soul remains un-awakened.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

SEEING WITH A PHOTOGRAPHER'S EYE

WHITE SANDS....ALAMOGORDO, NEW MEXICO

If you have a keen interest in photography you may see things a little differently than other people. FISHING ON MITRY LAKE.....YUMA, ARIZONA

I first noticed that years ago in the old 35mm film days when I developed an interest in photography. It didn't happen right away but after a few years I began to notice things that I had never paid much attention to before. I think it is just something that slowly works it's way into the subconscious mind. I became aware of colors & shapes & how they interacted with the environment. Maybe it's how an old fencepost leans into it's background or how the rusted color of an old hubcap stands out against the graying fender of an aging derelict car in an overgrown junk yard. Maybe it's big billowing cloud formations on a bright sunny day. Gathering storms take on a new beauty if you have a photographic eye. Bird formations overhead take on meaningful shapes & a cactus bloom backlit by the morning sun suddenly becomes an object of wonder. Long shadows stretch across landscapes as gentle winds ripple across resting ponds. It's a world of beauty we live in & we just have to open our eyes & minds to see. An interest in photography will greatly enhance that world for you. Let it become an unending source of inspiration as you scan the vistas around you in a subconscious or deliberate search for nature's bounties. AJO MOUNTAIN RANGE....ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT, ARIZONA

Some folks are able to take their photographic skills to a higher level than the rest of us & a fellow comes to mind that we met 2 years ago while boondocking near Why, Arizona. He is one of those dedicated photographers who is up before the sun most mornings & out there in the landscape with his equipment & photographic eye waiting for those first sleepy shades of sunlight to spill soft hues of pastel colors into the morning shadows. His name is Gordon Wolford & you can find his fine photographer's eye here.......... http://www.pbase.com/merriwolf/root Gordon also has his own website at....http://www.gordonwolford.com/home.htm & Gordon's wife Sandra chronicles their daily RV adventures here...... http://srmerrikinblog.blogspot.com/

GRAND CANYON'S NORTH RIM.....ARIZONA

Well, better go charge up my cameras because I'm off to Grand Bend to-morrow with the mobility van & while I have a 2 hour stop-over there maybe I can take my photographer's eye down to the new beach complex they are constructing & see what I can find...............................:))IN THE DEVIL'S GARDEN AT ARCHES NATIONAL PARK.......MOAB, UTAH

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