On Tuesday, our return flights to Phoenix went as scheduled. As on the trip to Portland, on one of the flights I got upgraded to First Class - this trip was the first time that I had been upgraded while flying with tickets acquired with frequent flyer miles, and it happened on one of the two flights in each direction.
Wednesday was a quiet day doing laundry and other errands. Thursday, I had signed up to change candles at the Desert Botanical Garden. For Luminaria, the candles last three evenings and are then replaced. Sixteen volunteers and four staff were split into four teams. The staff drove the carts with the supplies of new candles and plastic cups, as well as trash buckets for the used candles. The four volunteers with each cart are split into two teams. I was partnered with Gretchen - I went first, removing the old candles, plastic cup holders if needed and any trash that may have ended up in or near the luminaria. Gretchen then followed behind me putting in new candles.
The other two volunteers with us did the same on the other side of trail. With 8,000 luminaria in the garden, this means that each of us bent over about 1,000 times, either removing old candles or installing new candles. It took us less than two hours.
As we ended at Stardust Plaza, I stopped to admire the Jun Kaneko sculptures there before signing out and heading home.
Later Thursday, I walked the two plus miles to Alexi's restaurant for a fundraiser for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. He is term limited as mayor, but is running for the US Congressional seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, and she is running for the US Senate being vacated by Senator Jeff Flake. I met Anne and Shawn there and we enjoyed drinks and light hors d'oeuvres. Under Stanton's leadership, Phoenix has become the fastest growing city in the USA and has an unemployment rate a full percentage point lower than the national rate. He hopes to bring his experience with bi-partisanship leadership to Washington D.C. Anne offered to drive me home, but as is my wont, I declined and walked home to get the exercise.
On Friday, Anne, Shawn, Patty and I went to see a movie at the AMC Esplanade Dine In Theaters on Camelback. I decided to walk the two and half miles there to get some exercise and saw the moon visible in the late afternoon daylight.
The movie we saw was "Wonder" - it is based on the novel of the same name. Here is a little bit from an interview with the author:
The moment that led to the bestselling children’s novel Wonder — with its message about the power of kindness that is now at the center of a new movie — is one that author R.J. Palacio wishes she could take back.
A decade ago, “I was in front of an ice cream store with my two sons and my younger son, who was only 3 at the time, saw a little girl that had a very significant craniofacial difference,” says Palacio, 54. “He got a little scared and he started to cry.”
“In my haste to kind of shield her from seeing his response or his reaction to her face, I kind of whisked him away really quickly. Afterwards, I started really thinking … what I should have done, of course, is just turn to the little girl and maybe started up a conversation and shown by example that it was really nothing to be afraid of. That just got me thinking about what it must be like to face a world every day that doesn’t quite know how to face you back.”
The book and the movie are about what it is like for a young boy with craniofacial differences; he has had 27 surgeries to fix his face and been home schooled through grade four. The movie is about him going through his fifth grade school year. It is a movie definitely worth watching.
Here is what the actor looks like, without and with the makeup showing his disfigurement.
After the movie, I walked home while Anne, Shawn and Patty drove home and had a light dinner at Spinato's Restaurant.
Wednesday was a quiet day doing laundry and other errands. Thursday, I had signed up to change candles at the Desert Botanical Garden. For Luminaria, the candles last three evenings and are then replaced. Sixteen volunteers and four staff were split into four teams. The staff drove the carts with the supplies of new candles and plastic cups, as well as trash buckets for the used candles. The four volunteers with each cart are split into two teams. I was partnered with Gretchen - I went first, removing the old candles, plastic cup holders if needed and any trash that may have ended up in or near the luminaria. Gretchen then followed behind me putting in new candles.
The other two volunteers with us did the same on the other side of trail. With 8,000 luminaria in the garden, this means that each of us bent over about 1,000 times, either removing old candles or installing new candles. It took us less than two hours.
As we ended at Stardust Plaza, I stopped to admire the Jun Kaneko sculptures there before signing out and heading home.
Later Thursday, I walked the two plus miles to Alexi's restaurant for a fundraiser for Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton. He is term limited as mayor, but is running for the US Congressional seat currently held by Kyrsten Sinema, and she is running for the US Senate being vacated by Senator Jeff Flake. I met Anne and Shawn there and we enjoyed drinks and light hors d'oeuvres. Under Stanton's leadership, Phoenix has become the fastest growing city in the USA and has an unemployment rate a full percentage point lower than the national rate. He hopes to bring his experience with bi-partisanship leadership to Washington D.C. Anne offered to drive me home, but as is my wont, I declined and walked home to get the exercise.
On Friday, Anne, Shawn, Patty and I went to see a movie at the AMC Esplanade Dine In Theaters on Camelback. I decided to walk the two and half miles there to get some exercise and saw the moon visible in the late afternoon daylight.
The movie we saw was "Wonder" - it is based on the novel of the same name. Here is a little bit from an interview with the author:
The moment that led to the bestselling children’s novel Wonder — with its message about the power of kindness that is now at the center of a new movie — is one that author R.J. Palacio wishes she could take back.
A decade ago, “I was in front of an ice cream store with my two sons and my younger son, who was only 3 at the time, saw a little girl that had a very significant craniofacial difference,” says Palacio, 54. “He got a little scared and he started to cry.”
“In my haste to kind of shield her from seeing his response or his reaction to her face, I kind of whisked him away really quickly. Afterwards, I started really thinking … what I should have done, of course, is just turn to the little girl and maybe started up a conversation and shown by example that it was really nothing to be afraid of. That just got me thinking about what it must be like to face a world every day that doesn’t quite know how to face you back.”
The book and the movie are about what it is like for a young boy with craniofacial differences; he has had 27 surgeries to fix his face and been home schooled through grade four. The movie is about him going through his fifth grade school year. It is a movie definitely worth watching.
Here is what the actor looks like, without and with the makeup showing his disfigurement.
After the movie, I walked home while Anne, Shawn and Patty drove home and had a light dinner at Spinato's Restaurant.
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