This morning, there were a few bees back in the yard looking for something to eat. Don’t know how persistent they are, meaning will they hang around for an hour, a couple of hours or the whole day? While I was bemoaning the fact that the feeders will have to stay in the camper another day, Kim suggested putting one out anyway. So, I hung one on the back area of the tree and a hummer found it immediately. And additionally, I ordered a couple of feeders with bee and ant guards. Ants haven’t been a problem out here but they sure are back home. Haven’t seen any ants out here but then I wouldn’t have thought bees would be an issue either. In any event, the feeders should deter the pesky insects.
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Replacing a truck windshield is not a cheap undertaking. The invoice was
in the range of $850 for parts and labor…thank goodness for insurance. But as
we were driving to Coolidge today, the rearview mirror fell off. Kim put contacting Safelite on the list of
things to do on Monday.
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I finished a lady gnome today. I
made the body and legs purple and gave her black boots with a yellow hat. Features
the ladies need that the menfolk don’t: arms, hair and a smile. I knew she needed
arms and hair, and Kim’s the one who suggested a smile. The face looked a little stern with just eyes
and a nose. Don’t’ know that she’ll win
any beauty contests but Chet and RedBeard seem quite taken with her. Waiting
for Shelby to name her.
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The Cotton Days Festival in Coolidge celebrates the city’s history and connection to cotton. Cotton Days is a small-town festival complete with carnival rides, a parade, live entertainment, a cotton bale rolling contest food vendors and more. To me, it means fry bread tacos. That taco is the reason I look forward to Cotton Days. It did not disappoint today. 😋
The past three years, we’ve done the Cotton Days 5K Walk/Run but passed
on it this year. We’re still getting our
walking legs under us. Might do the
Shamrock 5K in Marana; we stand a greater chance of blending with the crowd in
our slowness. Hundreds of people involved in the Shamrock event, while we’ve
seen a high of 40 and a low of 9 participants in the Cotton Days event. Harder
to hide our slowness with those numbers. But we need to make it to Nutt Rd. and
back, which is 3 miles, before we sign up for the Shamrock Walk/Run.
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About 12:30 we were thinking about heading to Cotton Days and I
mentioned how it was supposed to get windy this afternoon when both our phones
started blaring. Emergency notification.
It was a dust storm warning. We both
looked outside to see dust blowing across the campground road and people
running after seat cushions, towels, rugs, etc. One camper’s awning, whose occupants left it
open when they left, was ripped; it was mechanical, so Kim and Joe were able to
crank it back in. But the damage was done.
Kim headed down to check on the telescope, tucking it up under the
tongue of a nearby fifth wheel that’s being stored down there. I closed the windows, ramp and roof top bathroom
fan. It got warm in the camper real quick after that. Time to head to Coolidge after
everything was closed up, tightened down or brought inside.
Definitely
a dusty ride to Coolidge. So many fields in the area that had grass or vegetation
last year are now tilled up. Lots of dry
dirt just waiting for a good wind to play with it. And that’s exactly what the wind was doing today…playing
with all that loose dirt. Usually, the Santa Catalina Mountains are clearly visible
in the distance on the right, heading to Coolidge on Highway 87. Today I couldn’t see them at all. While we were eating, it seemed like we were
in a bubble of no dust, but all around us the horizon was a brown haze.
After lunch, we took the long way back to camp via the Tom Mix Loop. The air was clearing by the time we got to the Tom Mix Monument. There didn’t seem to be any dust issues on Park Link Drive. It was still windy, but the dust wasn’t kicking up like on the other side of the Picacho Mountains. However, as we turned on the frontage road toward Picacho, the biggest dust devil I’ve ever seen came rolling across a field. It was incredible to watch.
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Wind died down but clouds rolled in, so Kim can’t image tonight. Second episode of Reacher comin’ up.
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When we
looked out the door as the wind picked up, we also saw that Freddie and Flossie
had been blown off their table and that Freddie had lost a leg in the process. What
a story he’ll have to tell the grandkiddos. He’ll start with, “Yeah, I remember
the day I lost my leg in the Big Wind of 2025”, which will prompt Flossie to
lovingly chide him saying, “Now, Freddie, don’t you be filling these kids’
heads with your tales. You know it was just because you panicked and didn’t
remember the technique of tuck and roll when you’re going down. You just
stiffened up, fell over, hit the ground and your leg came off. And besides, Mr. Kim fixed you up in a jiffy." The grandkids will listen, spellbound.
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