Travels with Sherpa Tom: Classes have ended, final grades submitted, now it is time to relax

Not really, now I need to get things together for my spring classes and start planning for summer and fall 2015 classes. The semester at JSC officially ended at midnight Friday, Dec. 19 and I submitted final grades on Sunday morning. That was just some of the past week.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, I did my usual day as a volunteer docent at the Desert Botanical Garden - it was one of the slowest days any of us docents could remember. Since it was our monthly potluck lunch, everyone stayed for lunch but then most everyone (including me) left after lunch.

On Wednesday, Patty and I picked up Anne at 8:00 and went for a nice hike from Sunnyslope Park to the North Mountain Visitor Center - about 50 minutes in each direction.

Look at the thick smog as we looked south at downtown Phoenix - you can hardly see the tall buildings for the smog

On Saturday, Patty and I volunteered with Welcome to America Project. Phoenix is one of the two dozen cities that are under contract with the US Department of state for the resettlement with the 70,000 or so refugees the USA accepts each year. Along with about 20 other volunteers, we visited three families who recently immigrated to the USA, two from the Democratic Republic of Congo and one from Iraq (the husband had been a translator for the US Army). We delivered household goods and furniture, helped clean and assemble things, and visited with the families. One of the families from the DRC had spent 10 years in a UN refugee camp in Burundi where all four children were born.

On Sunday, Patty and I were part of the team of volunteers and staff that make Luminaria work at the Desert Botanical Garden. Between 3:45 and 5:15 each day, there some 5,000 candles which are lit, then monitored for any that blow out, and starting at 9:30, are snuffed out. There are several hundred battery powered lights that are individually turned on and off. On top of buildings, there are another several thousand electric lights which are controlled by switches. And then there are many thousands of lights on the trees. There are twelve different music groups performing, five wine/beer bars, two cafes and a large buffet dinner for those who wish. All this for the 4,000 guests who visit every night.

On Monday, Patty and I spent a bit more than three hours hiking about seven miles from the Browns Ranch trailhead in the northwest part of the Scottsdale McDowell Sonoran Preserve. We covered Hackamore, Cone Mountain, Upper Ranch, Browns Ranch Road and Wrangler trails. Beautiful places to hike. Check out the descriptions on the photos.