Holiday travel plans derailed

Kevin called me from O'Hare airport this afternoon to tell me his connecting flight to Phoenix had been cancelled UNTIL TUESDAY! I was able to talk him into taking an airport shuttle to Carol's in NW Indiana, where he is now. He was lucky, as Carol has a big dinner planned tomorrow with everyone there, including Erin, Eric and Baby Ethan. Carol is a godsend, as she was able to pick Kevin up at the shuttle terminal. I'm sure Kevin is enjoying her hospitality. He always did like my family.

Icy roads for Chicago were predicted a few days ago for today. That is why I was nervous about Kevin flying back home today. Weather should now clear up around Chicago by early Tuesday. Until then, they will get more snow flurries and below-freezing temperatures. I get to make my hazelnut coffee for a few more days, and I get to drink it all alone...

I decided yesterday afternoon NOT to drive or fly home now. Another attempted terrorist act, this time by a Nigerian with connections to al-Qaeda, tried to blow up a plane while it was descending at the Detroit airport C'mas day. He was subdued by another passenger. How did he manage to slip through security?!?!?! Now TSA is going to get all stupid again and treat passengers like criminals: no one will be allowed to even get out of their seats AN HOUR BEFORE LANDING on any US flight. It's one more reason to give up flying forever. I haven't enjoyed flying since 911.

The weather is iffy at best again as well, just like last year, and more storms are due in covering my travel route. I don't want to risk the long trip regardless of whether I fly or drive. I'll stay here and laze around another week or so, and get caught up with some personal reading.

My Christmas was otherwise mellow. I went to my mother's outside Tucson. I love my mother but she is a nosy control freak. She expected me to spend the night and I came prepared; no use in fighting her. (I kept the back door open for the dogs. When I got back the next afternoon the house was cold, down to 55F.)

Arrow, Mom's last Chow, is now 14 years old. He recently had had a stroke and walks with a limp and a constant cock of his head. He moves slowly, and gone is his aggression toward me. He saunters up to sniff me. He is a large dog, and stays outside. He is like an unwanted, neglected dog now. When her dogs were younger my mother had four chows and they were her life. Now she seems to look forward to Arrow's demise so that she can travel more without worrying about the dog.

When it was time for me to leave in the morning, I was glad to be alone again. The drive back was scenic, with the snow-capped Santa Ritas covered in ice and snow. All roads, however, were clear.

I hope I never turn out like my mother. I worried about my dogs the entire time I was gone. The house wasn't a mess when I got back, but the couches were covered in dog fur despite the blankets I threw over them. They were excited to see me back, but we didn't go for a walk until today and they were bored sleeping by my side.

Although it's not arctic cold here, it's in the upper 40s/low 50s during the day and I'm bundled up in three sweaters. I can't imagine what I would dress like in Chicagoland where it's in the teens and 20s?

The dogs were happy to finally get out into the woods today. I hadn't taken them anywhere for four or five days. Sadie immediately found a deer carcass which distracted her. She was so engrossed in that dead thing that she ignored my calls to her to the point of me getting worried. When I retraced my path and found her, she jumped out of the tree line with a deer heart in her mouth. She had discovered a freshly-killed headless deer off the road and she couldn't be happier.

I have nothing against hunting for food but there is something macabre about killing an animal for its antlers. All three dogs gorged on the fresh meat, and all I could do was sit back and let them eat. At least not all of the carcass is going to waste if animals get to feed off of the meat. The three dogs were acting like wild wolves, pulling on the meat with their teeth and holding down the bones with their paws.

The innards were all gone and the animal had been skinned. The skin was lying next to the open chest cavity. Three of the legs had been cut apart, exposing bright red muscle meat. It is that meat that the dogs pulled on ravenously.

Needless to say the hike was a short hike interrupted by a gourmet meal. I got back the house by 2pm and resumed my putzing. I still have the bedroom to rearrange. I plan on finishing that tomorrow now that Kevin won't be here for two more days.

I also am ready for another long hike soon. Maybe I'll take the dogs down to the border tomorrow and hike a valley hike? The San Pedro Trail to the border fence doesn't get too many hikers, especially southbound hikers!

And that Zuni computer I ordered from Dell on 22 November? The one that was to be delivered 14 December? Well, Dell never emailed me of the first change, but when I checked the website on the 16th learned that the shipment had been delayed to the 20th. Yesterday I checked again and learned that the Zuni is now expected to be delivered on 7 January! I called customer service and the Indian woman was hard to understand, yet promised she would take care of the cancellation via email confirmation. That hasn't yet happened yet. Now I don't want the Zuni as it's no longer C'mas and Kevin got something else instead. ARGH! Amazon had me spoiled, as this kind of customer treatment doesn't happen via that retailer. (Note to myself: AVOID DELL!)

http://www.weather.com/newscenter/stormwatch/?from=hp_news
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/12/sleet-freezing-rain-then-snow-by-christmas.html

We got snow!!!

I was up at 5am (3am for doggie pee break) and when I stood in the kitchen drinking my hazelnut coffee, I saw snow. SNOW! It was too dark to see the grandeur, but as soon as the sun came out I was outside with my tripod. Later, when the sun was over the horizon, I was in my garden photographing the beauty. Then, by 11am, when I tired of the cold and snow, it all started to melt. Now all that is left is a wet mess. This snow wasn't forecasted to last past noon.

Sadie didn't seem too impressed with the white stuff, and Apache was terrified of that cold, wet stuff under his paws. But for a few hours, at least, all dog shit was hidden under the snow. Yay! This also means that what once was frozen has been reconstituted...yuck.

Neighborhood birds gathered around our feeder feasting on the seeds I put out again. There were more than usual around the avian commons area.

We are going to get freezing overnight temps for the next three days. Another blizzard is due across the central Rocky States and the Midwest, with freezing rain in the Chicago area the rest of the week.

Another storm due in tonight

The cold front that was forecasted to hit us today is now part of a new storm blowing in from the Northwest. Even Tucson's mountains are expecting 1-3 inches of snow and "rain in the vallies." Does that include us here on the border? The Chicago area is expecting ice storms later this week that will be from this storm. Even Tony in Kansas said last night they are due a real snowstorm finally.

Kevin left two hours ago for the Tucson airport. I got up to join him for coffee and when he left I walked outside for a block. It was windy, but mild. The houses around us are dark because no one lives in them, but there are a few well-lighted homes I want to photograph later. Even our Mexican neighbors across the street have blue "icycles" from the roof.

The thermostat read 50F at 6am and Sara wanted to be on the backporch chilling. (All the dogs slept soundly last night, probably because of the exercise!) No one whimpered to be let outside to pee at 3am.

It's still very dark out but KVOA is predicting snow for the area north and northeast of us. I have nothing planned this morning but to read one book I owe a review on and then to clean out part of the garage, a promise I made Kevin five years ago. I may find stuff claimed loss all these years!

It's going to be a lonely few days before Christmas but I hope to get some stuff done around the house. I had three great days of hiking now and I want more, but I also need to clean up my clutter. My office is starting to remind me of my dad's office. Scary.

PS--Heavy windstorms around Casa Grande caused a 22-car pile-up on I-10 this morning. Three people were killed, including two siblings. How tragic! This made national news. That area is prone to sandstorms and every year there are deadly accidents due to low visibility.
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/322450

Carr Canyon Road

All efforts to hike up to Carr Peak were in vain as the Forest Service had closed the road at the bridge near the Carr House. "Ice on Road" was the excuse. So instead of hiking a snowy peak the dogs and I walked up the deserted road to the lower campground and explored the area where paragliders take off. I had never been up on this high plateau studded with manzanitas, but it's clearly visible from Carr Peak.

This hike was was another "first." Grey rippled cirrus clouds strayed in from the South. It felt colder than forecasted, and my initial plan once I got started, was to walk as high as the snowline. I ended up hiking quite a bit!

The dogs had fun. It was a cool walk, but the higher we got the warmer it got as the grey clouds gave way to blue skies and sunshine. There was no breeze. What little ice there was was just below the campground and after the waterfall. It certainly wasn't much to close the road, though, and a few other cyclists and motorcross riders came up after me. One careless turn, however, could land a driver in a slide and roll downhill, I suppose, but with careful maneuvering one could stay as close to the cliffs where there was dry spots and be fine.

I had always wanted to walk up this road and enjoy the vistas more, but drivers tend to hog the road or come close to the edge; when cars face each other one of them has to stop or slow down and wait at the edge. As a driver on this switch-backing road one is more concerned with staying on the road that gawking at the views. This time I could take in the vistas, note the many trees along the road that were precariously coming uprooted from hill slide erosion, see beer bottles and can strewn in the gutter and not have to worry about vehicular traffic.

Sara loved the ice once we got to the campground. When she got done she looked like she had rolled around in a puddle. What little there was was in the shaded north slopes of the trees. The dogs bit into the slush, Sara rolled around in it and Sadie sat with her butt right on the ice. I rested in the sun while the dogs frolicked. It took us almost another hour to make it to the cliffs once we got to the campground.

Carr Peak was just too far to get to with such a slow start. Perhaps on a summer morning I could have started this hike from the lower parking lot at 7am and made it to the peak five hours later, but with today being the shortest day of the year and with the possibility of ice at the peak, it was best to change plans. From the base this would have a 16-mile hike. I know people who walk this road to train for marathons or the Grand Canyon.

We hadn't started the hike until 10:40am and didn't get to the lower campsite until noon. We loitered up here for over an hour as I admired the view (especially the tall crags I have always seen from below). This was a perfect nesting area for raptors, although I only saw one falcon. I could see the trails up Miller and Hunter Canyon from my vantage point. I could even see our neighborhood behind the towering cliffs. I was standing on the spot that I see from my front yard.

I could have lingered longer here but the dogs were tired and we had to get back down. They lay on the warm rocks as I snacked on sourdough pretzel sticks with the dogs. (Sara doesn't like those.) We descended at 2:05pm and got back to the truck non-stop by 3:40pm. I picked up all the trash along the road, returning with a full bag of mostly Bud Lite bottles. All this will go with me when I do my recycling in
Tuscon later this week.

A few other vehicles were near mine when we got back; people had come to walk the lower trail to the waterfall (something I could do next time as that is also a new hike for me). The dogs behaved around them, although they were very interested in the chicken they were eating.

I left my GPS at home so I don't know how high we were. The snow looked like it barely made it to the 8000'. Another storm is due in late Tuesday and with it come the colder temps and wind. From from the mileage on the road signs we walked up at least 3.5 miles on the road and another two miles on that rocky forest road to the cliffs..

Carr Peak in December

I'm dressed in arctic gear. I'm finishing up two left-over cheeseburgers. I'm wearing wool socks, gortex pants and my famed Montrail gortex boots that don't get enough wear in Arizona.

It's 40F outside in the shade. The sun hasn't quite risen high enough to warm the ground from the nighttime lows, but if I can go by the forecast, it's going to be the last warm day of the year.

I'm leaving Sadie behind. The two older dogs will be more suitable for the cold. Sara especially likes to romp around in icy mounds.

Today: Considerable cloudiness. High 66F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tonight: Considerable cloudiness. Low near 45F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.
Tomorrow: Cloudy with a few showers. Becoming windy. Thunder possible. High 57F. Winds SW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Tomorrow night: Windy with some rain showers. Thunder is possible early. Low 37F. Winds WSW at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 50%.
Wednesday: Windy with morning clouds, then afternoon sun. Highs in the upper 40s and lows in the low 30s.
Thursday: More sun than clouds. Highs in the low 50s and lows in the low 30s.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Highs in the mid 50s and lows in the low 30s.

West Hunter Canyon Trail

I did not hike Carr Peak today. Kevin gave me the impression he was game to walk Bear Canyon with me, but when we got up this morning he immediately started packing for his trip and turned that into an all-morning endeavor. He wanted to stay at home and relax. I stayed home as well and played with the computer.

It wasn't quite so warm as forecasted today. The sky was a grey overcast and it felt cool when I got to the West Hunter Canyon trailhead at 2pm. A Border Patrol van and a Sheriff Assist Team car were at the trailhead, but there was no danger with me going uphill.

I took my new Garmin eTrex Vista GPS system to try out. I still haven't figured out all the buttons but I had it reading a 1200' elevation gain from trailhead to trailend two miles up the mountain. The final reading was 6240' when I stopped to let the dogs get some water in the tiny watering hole of a creek. There was no snow at this level, so the snow I do see is at least at the 7000' altitudes.

This trail is not a particular scenic trail. Most of it is a jeep trail that the USBP use for their patrols. People who come to this canyon come here to hunt or target shoot. A few locals walk their dogs. Today I saw hunters out but no other traffic. The actual trail a mile uphill has been abandoned by the Forest Service but the remaining mile to the old homestead is worn-down by the illegals coming down from the Crest Trail. This is a steep and rocky trail with pretty views of the valley. In the summer this is an open and exposed trail, lined by manzanitas and oaks.

The dogs enjoyed this solitary hike. I didn't feel it at the time but I got back to the house two hours later in a deep sweat.

I may attempt Carr Peak tomorrow. It's supposed to be near 65F, which would make it near 50F at the peak. If I don't hike Carr tomorrow, I won't have any more chances in December. Am I ready for this? Are the dogs?

Dave called me from DC tonight. After a two-day delay and a detour back to Cleveland, he finally made it back to VA tonight. Both Dulles and Reagan airports had been closed for two days: the problem was not so much the snow removal, but figuring out where to put the snow. By the time Kevin arrives in Boston Tuesday afternoon the streets should be cleared enough.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/26/2009/december/20/county-hammered-by-heavy-snowfall.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/us/21storm.html?hp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local.html?hpid=topnews

Perimeter Trail

What a great day for a hike! Weather reported "near record highs" and I felt overheated in my poly pro shirt. I can't complain, as I have family and friends back East dug in from a severe snowstorm that started blowing in Friday afternoon (and which will hit Massachusetts by tomorrow).

I brought my field-worn Canon EOS Rebel xSi this time (rather than my smaller Canon A590IS). The photo quality is visibly better with today's photos.

Today's hike, the Perimeter Loop trail, is a combination of four segments and various trails in the eastern Huachucas. This is a popular training loop for hikers, bikers and equestrians and we saw them all today. This loop was my first hike with the club. This is also a club favorite every December and I've hiked it twice now with the club. This year I opted to lead it.

There was a good turn-out for this hike: Big and Little Steve, Eric S, Paul, and Bill and son Bruce. I haven't seen Bruce in a few years. He flies out every Christmas from Atlanta to spend time with his dad. Both normally travel somewhere like northern Mexico or southern California during this time, but this year Bruce brought some work with him, "an entire suitcase" said Bill, to get caught up with work. I walked with Bill and Bruce at a slower pace the entire Perimeter trail (3.7 miles)

By 8:05am we were on our way, trekking along the small hills of the eastern mountain slopes as we passed Emory oaks, yuccas, prickly pears and chollas along the way. The sun took another hour to warm up. When we got to an overview near Miller Canyon Road we all sat down on warm rocks and had a snack as we gazed out over the San Pedro Valley. "I can see my house from here!" I told the group. Well, at least the neighborhood...

Sadie got accolades from everyone for being such a great hiking dog--she got broken in at three months thanks to me--and of course I beamed with pride. She got half of her raw steak as a treat during this break, and the other half at the last overlook before we climbed down a rocky slope back to the parking lot.

Carol called me while we were trekking along in the shade. The last time she called me we were descending down Sandy Bob Canyon a few weeks ago.

"Hi Carol, you caught me hiking again!"
"You're always hiking!" she replied.
"That's because you always call me on a Saturday morning!"

Most of the hikers turned around at this first overlook. Eric and Big Steve and I were the remaining people, as we continued up the dry Miller Creek to Beatty's Orchard, then up the Miller Canyon Trail to the Clark Springs Trail (which actually had water in it). Now we were walking further up the ridges as along the Perimeter trail below. When we got back to Carr Canyon road we took the road for a few hundred feet before I showed the guys a side trail that led to a small overlook and from which we could bushwhack back to the parking lot and thus avoid the road. They were game.

By now Sadie was exhausted. She didn't drink much on this hike although she loved the snacks. She lay down and snored a bit while Eric, Steve and I chatted about other hikes in the area. They had never been on this overlook and appreciated my shortcut.

We were back at the cars by 1pm, bid each other a great holiday, and went our separate ways. This was a great nine-mile hike.

The website is acting up today and won't let me upload my photographs. I'll try again tomorrow.

The semester is over

My last class was Monday night. Tuesday morning I slept in as if to get caught up with lost sleep. I didn't do a damn thing all day. I worked the following two days, spending time in town. I tried to get all my textbooks for the new semester but the two women at the Cochise College bookstore were of no help. They totally ignored me when I asked what the names of the books were. I guess I shouldn't have admitted that I wanted to look up the books on-line and order them via Amazon, where the prices have been constantly lower by $15 to $20 a book. (The college bookstore has a contract with Barnes and Noble.)

I got to see my old army friend Dave last night. He was in town for a week but had been too busy with his project for us to get together earlier. He was exhausted and we were only together for about two hours. He called me an hour ago to tell me that his flight back to DC had been cancelled due to a massive snow storm that blew up and across the East Coast. He drove to Phoenix instead to spend the night at another friends' place and, according to Dave, "Save on a hotel room." It's really not that Dave has to worry about travel expenses!

While weather back East is snowy and cold, it was a beautiful day here. I was warm in my thin fleece sweater as I trekked up the trail today. I took the dogs up for a foothills hike for four miles, walking the illegal trails passed marked hunting areas. It had been five days since the dogs got their exercise, and this was my first mini-hike in a while.

Tomorrow, however, and in fact both days this weekend, I will be busy hiking right here. Saturday I'm leading a small group of people around the Perimeter Trail, a combination loop hike along the eastern foothills of the Huachucas with pretty valley vistas. This will be a nine-mile hike that shouldn't take more than five hours. On Sunday I plan on hiknig up Carr Peak for December. The snow that fell on the 1st is still quite visible, but hopefully all that white fluff has decreased in volume and won't be too treacherous to stomp through.

I now have a mellow week ahead getting ready for my trip. I want to read three books and get caught up with my Amazon Vine committment. I also have some seriously cleaning up to do around the house, a chore I never get any help from Kevin unless it's the kitchen, and the tedious tasks like scrubbing out the frig or oven always remain undone. "My idea of dirty is not the same as yours" he keeps saying.

I want to get my little office here organized. My DVD documentaries have increased in volume and I need shelves to display them all. I have books stacked up three feet high. What I need is a custom-made shelf for my computer wall, but getting Kevin motivated to make me one may take angelic intervention. I'm getting an iPod docking station for my iPod Touch which will go next to my computer so I can wire the system to its speakers. I have been completely enthralled with my little iPod and have learned to enjoy music again instead of 24-hour news. The iPod also has podcasts of Spanish lessons.

One thing I may not get the time to do is write Christmas cards, despite being in the spirit. The rest of the neighborhood, in contrast, remains dark. We don't have the impressive light show we had last year in the neighborhood. Too many homes around us remain dark and abandoned.

The undeveloped lot in town

I couldn’t take being cooped up for much longer and took all three dogs to our old neighborhood near Busby Drive on the near-eastern part of town.. A sports bar with tennis courts is there. I go there a few times a year to collect weather-worn tennis balls for Sadie. This is an undeveloped lot of mesquite, cholla, palo verde, love grass and trash where the dogs can run unencumbered. A few homeless people call this area home. It is surrounded on the eastern side with old homes and to the south with older apartment complexes. People who live here cut through this lot to go shopping.

It was cool outside, almost 60F with wind-swept grey cumulus clouds coming from the South. The sky was overcast and few people were outside. The dogs were just happy to be outside to run again and didn’t care where they were.

This lot between the Sports Gallery, Buffalo Wild Wings and the Food City grocery store is renowned for not just the homeless, but drug users huffing, alcoholics drinking and illegals hiding in the gullies. This is, in short, not a place to be at night. How many crime scenes have been reported here is only known to the local police station.

The dogs didn’t care. They ran, they barked, they chased imaginary rabbits. A lone juvenile hawk perched suspiciously on a nearby street lantern. The mountains looked cold and uninviting.

Sadie barked. A homeless man yelled. A few neighborhood children were running in the trash-filled wash. I didn’t mean to disturb the homeless man, apologized and took the dogs to another area of the open area. A few stray plastic bags stuck to mesquite branches flew freely in the wind. Nearby highway traffic was audible.
Much to my surprise there’s a new construction site of apartments coming up just north of the wash. Do the potential renters know that this area is popular with the homeless, huffers and illegals? The few shacks that are there now are getting encroached by construction equipment. The city knows these homeless are here.

Fry’s Foods across the street feeds them generously with their left-over foods every night. A large group of scruffy homeless men call the Fry’s Foods parking lot their daytime area of socialization. Maybe what this town needs is a dedicated shelter for the homeless. Instead, they sleep in undebeloped lots around the center of town.

The dogs of course were all oblivious to all this as they ran around the mesquite, sniffed the tall grass and played. Sammy peed as much as he could on every tree. The dogs didn’t get their usual two mile run in, but today they got to run around and be dogs. An hour later we were back home and I resumed my studies.

Another winter storm is due tonight or tomorrow. Although not as severe as last week's storm, the latest forecast says that Tucson will get some rain tonight. I'll be hoping we get some, too.

As for my left arm, it's still very sore. I can't raise the arm higher than my elbow. I had to have Kevin help me place my long hair (that's desperately in need of a cut) in a ponytail.

What is now wrong with me?!

I'm sitting here typing this one-handedly as my left arm is practically lame. It started hurting yesterday afternoon in class but I thought nothing of it, but the pain got progressively worse as the night waned. Today I can barely move it and carrying heavy objects like Pache is difficult. And not that a six-month-old kitten is a lot of weight, but Pache is on the road to becoming a fat Siamese-mix cat with short legs.

But how did I do this? Did I dislocate the arm in my sleep somehow? (I sleep deeply and don't toss around.) Did I plow into a wall and don't remember it?!

It's hard to pet the dogs with just my right hand as they all want love at once.

"I feel like Senator Dole with my arm hanging down" I said to Kevin as I walked into the kitchen with my left arm hanging limply by my side. Dole's right arm was partially paralyzed in combat during WWII. (He is known to stick a pen in his right fist to prove his arm still has some use.) Dole is a very likable Republican from Kansas who ran as a curmudgeon against Clinton in 1996. Known for his hawkish stance when in time of crisis, Dole also has a heart for military veterans.

My last final is Monday...and then I can relax for three weeks in the evening and get caught up with recreational reading (US History books). I'm slowly getting into the holiday spirit as I'm listening to a large assortment of free holiday songs I downloaded from iTunes and Amazon.

More rain is due late Sunday with snow in the peaks again. I may never hike up Carr this month at this rate!

The aftermath

I took all three dogs up into the foothills this afternoon, just to get them for a run and for me to walk around a bit. Winds were still blowing strongly, and high clouds blew across from Sonora. It felt colder than it really was in the cold wind.

The dogs were anxious to get out. Sammy sat in the front seat on the way out, sitting erectly and looking at the road ahead.

A lone USBP agent sat in a van at the trailhead as we drove up. I waved at him, drove on, and let the dogs out a few 100 feet from the other truck. I drove slowly uphill to our regular turn-around spot. Winds were howling, and small twigs were across the path.

It probably wasn't very safe to walk around under the brittle sycamores. The entire area was overrun by broken branches and twigs. The dogs didn't mind, though, but my hands were chilled.

I was probably out there an hour, listening to the howling winds and watching the storm clouds roll over the mountain peaks. When I left the trail and got back to my neighborhood, though, the winds had died down and I could feel the warmth of the sun. No new snow had fallen from this storm, but I did notice more water in Miller Creek. We never got any snow in the valley. The brunt of this storm had clearly fallen north of us.

I drove around the neighborhood on my way home to check out any local damage. There wasn't much damage from this storm other than a few trailers in the area losing siding. The biggest damage I saw were road signs bent at 90-degree angles from the wind, especially the Carr Canyon directional sign off Highway 92. Garbage bins were overturned, puddles had formed in the uneven grooves of the dirt road and a few vagrant plastic bags flew freely from cactus and barbed-wire fences.

The most impressive sight were the wind-swept storm clouds coming over the mountains and from Mexico.

We got back home at 2:30pm, only to discover that the electricity had gone out. Three soggy packages delivered by the USPS were in the front yard. Luckily all three contain sealed DVDs or else anything else inside would have been wet. I'm not sure why the USPS didn't just place the smaller packages in my mailbox!

Local news says the Motel6 in town suffered major roof damage.

http://www.svherald.com/content/news/2009/12/09/assessing-damage-71-mph-winds
http://www.kvoa.com/news/sierra-vista-damage/

Winter storm

The big storm that arrived yesterday afternoon didn't quite bring in the rain that was forecasted. Tucson was expecting at least half an inch. Phoenix didn't get the flooding it was expecting. I can't see the peaks so I don't know how much more snow we got on our peaks.

The hardest thing for us here near the border was the high winds. It was blowing hard last night driving home from class. Any remaining leaves on the trees are now all off. Normally our palm tree sheds a few fronds after a wind storm but when I walked around outside today I didn't see any fronds anywhere in the yard. Garden stuff was all over the backyard, though and we got a good soaking which the plants all needed, but no fronds. The temperature is a mild 48F.

I saw a double rainbow late this morning.

This storm will pack a punch as far east as Indiana. New Mexico got hit hard as well.

This is an early storm for the region and El Nino is expected to give us more moisture this year. But will this hamper my travels this holiday?

The dogs are anxious to go for a walk today. They were confined to the backyard yesterday. Their last fun was an hour with me Sunday afternoon. Even I need to get out and hike again. The 10-day sore throat and finals week have kept me sedentary, and subsequently restless.

Our annual Christmas picnic

Our hiking club had its annual C'mas picnic on Saturday, our coldest day yet this season. I dreaded the hike, the weather, and yet it turned out so well.

I couldn't find my camera, though. What did I do with it? I remember I had it in my bag--I think--before going to school, but I also remember--I think--taking out the camera before going into the school since I don't photograph students. I searched in my van, my SUV..it's nowhere. So I have no photos of the get-together that brought people together I haven't seen since our car-camp in the Arizona White mountains in 2008.

I left without Sadie, not wanting to expose her to the cold weather.

I got to our meeting place, the old Fairbank historic site, at 9:15am, 15 minutes too late. The group had already taken off. Only Steve and Jim were still in the parking lot. I joined them for a good 30 minute chat, then went inside to the museum to look around. I was dressed for an arctic adventure and I was warm, and during the day it warmed enough to be comfortable in my extra layers.

So, I ended up chatting for an hour, then resting in my truck the second hour until the others got back from their hike. There were five dogs on this hike and they all looked like they had fun! I had been feeling sleepy and could have taken a nap for a while; I just didn't have any energy in me.

My voice, however, was feeling normal and for the first time in a week I could swallow without feeling pain.

Carol, one of the attendees, asked me if I thought I had the swine flu, as one of the alleged symptoms was a dry, unproductive cough. Hmm. I did cough a lot this week...but I never had the high fever or the stomach cramps. But could I have been one of the many undocumented swine flu cases?

We all started eating by noon, and my Swiss cheese Spaetzle, one of my favorite German dishes, was well received. There was so much food, though, that only half of my dish was eaten. I dug into some of the Southwestern dishes. There was plenty of chicken from Fry's which Steve picked up an hour before, for everyone.

We discussed upcoming hikes and were able to fill in the next quarter's hikes, but by 2pm we all up and left. It had been a long morning, but a productive morning, and I returned home with a sore throat coming back yet again. I had been feeling fine all morning, too.

Winter Moon

The full moon the last two days has been a beautiful sight I wish I could have captured. My $3000 Canon camera, however, has been packed away so well even I don't know where it is. My little pocket camera does no justice.

I'm no fan of Old Winter but appreciate the season for what it does to the land. It gives the plants a chance to rest and go dormant. It adds the necessary cold needed for most stone-pitted fruit trees. Life will sprout up again in the spring, as it does every year after winter.

And so it also means that the white-capped mountains in a full moon emit a mystical blue hue at night. What breath-stopping beauty! For the past two days I've admired the scenery on my way home from class this week.

Tomorrow we are due our first deep freeze. Time to cover the more sensitive plants. My tomatoes outside are still alive, amazingly, but perhaps not for much longer. It's not like they will be able to flourish in this cold. We don't live in the tropics, afterall.

The club Christmas picnic is tomorrow as well. Boy, is it going to be cold! I'm making a German noodle dish, Spaetzle, which I made last year as well to great fanfare.

Sadie, as skinny as she is (and as much as she eats) doesn't tolerate this cold at all. While the old dogs enjoy frolicking in the back yard and terrorizing the utility trucks that drive up and down the back alley, Sadie would much rather sleep on Kevin's side of the bed during the day.

I just hope I could get over this damn cold/sore throat/cough.

White-capped mountains

Clouds never left the mountains yesterday. Even driving home from class last night I could not see the peaks, but I could tell that snow had fallen down to around 6000feet. Mount Lemon north of Tuscon reported 18" of snow; we should have the same here.

This morning, however, with the storm long passed us, I can see the white peaks. Wow! Nothing froze in the garden, though. There was a light frost on my tomato plants and some frost in the shade, but no lingering damage yet.

The birds, however, are filling up on the seeds I'm giving them. A large scoop of seed in the feeder is gone within an hour. I keep refilling the seed and the birds keep inviting more of their friends to join them. Our front yard will soon look like an aviary. But I don't mind, as these birds need our help.

My sore throat is still lingering, and now I'm fighting a headache. I can't wait to be able to breathe freely again. At night I feel like I'm choking from my congestion, and visions of my aging father drowing in his own lung fluids haunt my memory.