Sunday, March 11...Annie's Song

   I was awakened this morning by the rapid soprano bark of a small dog, accompanied by the occasional bass bark of a bigger dog. As far as wake-ups go, I prefer the birds...

   The temperature was 60 degrees when we got up…it was cloudy, then rained very briefly, and eventually went back to being just cloudy.
----------
   We walked to the little corner church last night to check the time of the service…11 a.m. We made a plan for this morning…bike ride, shower, and then a walk to church.

   Pick up my phone to head out to the bike and realize we’ve only had 45 minutes before church since it was already 10:16. I mentioned it to Kim and he said that it was only 9:16 a.m. and that we had plenty of time. Huh! So now I’m perplexed by what my phone did…it automatically sprung ahead 1 hour like the rest of the country, except that Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time. I’m in Arizona and my phone should know that, so it shouldn’t have sprung anywhere. Oh, well, it’s time to get some exercise…I’ll consult the all-knowing Google about the problem when I get back. At least we were back on track to get a ride in, get cleaned up and get to church before 11. 

---------

   We each have a speedometer app on our phones that tracks speed, time, distance, etc. It’s fairly comprehensive, which works for Kim because he’s a number watcher. He’s also goal oriented and today he was determined to increase his average speed so he was really busting his chops down the road. I ride a little differently, figuring any exercise is better than none so the only numbers I pay attention to are total miles and time. At some point during my ride I realized my phone had figured out the time switch thing and was back on Arizona time. Good deal…now I don’t have to fiddle with it or buy a new one ‘cause this one’s wonkers. Get back to the camp, look at my miles…6.25, that’s about a mile increase from yesterday. Then I checked how long it took me….to say I was puzzled to see that I had ridden over 6 miles in -23.15 minutes is an understatement. Wouldn’t that qualify as time travel? Hmmmm…gotta see what Kim has to say about this one.

   Kim solved the mystery for me when he asked if it could be because my phone readjusted it’s time during the ride. Bingo!! And, yes, we have often agreed that it’s good one of us has a firm grasp of reality. Time travel, indeed. 😏

---------- 

   We enjoy attending the little church on the corner…I’m sure it has a name but I don’t recall it.  I know the pastor is Rick Wilson, the song leader is Greg, and that Rick is married to Tara…but I don’t know the name of the church.😏 Anyway, it’s a small church…center aisle with 7 rows of pews to each side.  There were 28 people in attendance today and we spent 5 to 7 minutes walking around greeting each other.  Last year the only pianist they had was sick…our attempt at singing acappella was humorous, the pastor even said so. 😊 This year the pianist is back and our 28 voices blended so nicely with the piano.  We held hymnals as we sang several old standards. The message was Biblical and relevant.  I look forward to worshiping there again next week.

----------

  

I checked the desert grass on our bike ride this morning…the green ‘carpet’ is now visible on both sides of the road. Only one side had grass yesterday…and the grass on that side of the road appears to be a little brighter today. Rain…it’s all about the rain we had last evening.

----------

   The sun had made an appearance while we were in church, so we decided to take a ride down Indian Route 15, the highway that cuts through the Tohono O’odham Nation Reservation. From camp it’s about 60 miles out to the Gu-achi Trading Post, which is a small store located at the intersection of IR 15 and AZ 86.  It also happens to be good spot to get off the bikes.  During the ride out today, there were huge cotton ball clouds in the sky and the sun was playing peek-a-boo with us.  When we stopped, we agreed that the sky charts showing clear skies tonight might not be exactly spot on…still was a lot of cotton balls up there.       

At some point on the way home, the blue patches got larger and it was looking more promising for clear skies tonight.  Looking up I could see some thin clouds up high but could find no trace of the big fluffy clouds that had been hanging low.  Now where did they go?  The probability of imaging was rising as we put miles behind us and the sky was clearing.  Got back before dark and Kim hustled out to get his scope ready just in case.

---------- 

   Today is the eighth anniversary of Jeff’s death.  He’s wandered in and out of my thoughts all day, probably more than usual given the significance of the day.  Jeff was from a family of 8 kids…when his youngest sister, Donnette, got married, she asked her dad and 3 brothers if they would each sing a song at her reception. The song she chose for Jeff wasn’t working for him, so he decided, instead, to sing ‘Annie’s Song’ by John Denver, who happens to be my favorite all time singer. He went to a recording studio to get it on tape so he could practice singing along with himself while on the road for work.  And at Donnette and George’s reception when he nervously got up to sing, he dedicated it to me. 😍 Marshal also had the tape of Jeff singing Annie’s Song played at his wedding reception 6 months after Jeff died.  So I can think of no better song title for today’s journal entry than ‘Annie’s Song’. 😊

----------

Bicycle miles today: 6 ¼ miles

Bike miles today: 136