From Phoenix to Vermont and back to Phoenix, Part 1

Tuesday, April 23, I did my usual day as a volunteer docent at the Desert Botanical Garden.  Many of the cacti are in bloom now and this prickly pear cactus caught my eye as I arrived on my bike.

We had three cars, two at our home in South Burlington and one at our home in Phoenix.  We sold the one in Phoenix in February, so we needed to get the Volvo in Vermont to Arizona.  Tuesday evening, Jane gave me a ride to the light rail station.  I rode the light rail and then the Sky Train to get to terminal 4 at Skyharbor Airport.  I took the red eye flight to Philadelphia and then the morning flight to Burlington, arriving around 11:00.  I got to briefly visit with Ben, Megan and Shadow, then Patty and I set out for Massachusetts.  We saw snow on the ski trails on mountains as we drove south through Vermont.  It was very early spring, with a few trees budding out.  As we went south, more signs of spring were evident.

Our first stop was Providence Place in Holyoke MA (http://www.providenceplace.org/) to meet my sister Helen and her husband Phil.  We visited Ellie McNamara who now resides at Providence Place - she is 91 years young and has a private apartment there.  We shared a glass of wine and a snack while we visited with her.

We drove on to Hyde Park NY, arriving at dinner time.  We had an excellent dinner at Coppolas Italian Restaurant (http://www.coppolas.net/).

Thursday morning, we visited the Franklin Roosevelt Library and Museum.  As we entered, there was a wonderful grouping of forsythia bushes in full bloom.

The library is under renovations and could not be visited, but the visitor center was open.

On the path from the visitor center to the FDR family home, there was this wonderful grove of dogwood trees in bloom.

We took a tour of the home.  Roosevelt was born here and he and Eleanor raised their six kids here.  The house is 22,000 square feet and is on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River.

The carriage house was where they kept the horses.  This was a working farm of more than 1500 acres and they raised winning race horses.

Franklin and Eleanor were buried in the Rose Garden.  The roses were not in bloom, but the daffodils were up and some of the tulips were also.

Thursday afternoon, we drove to Dover DE.  We went for a walk and passed the campus of Delaware State University.  Some of the flowering crabapple trees were in full bloom.

And many of the tulips were in full bloom.

More walking around in Phoenix

Another five days without a car in Phoenix.  That is not a big deal, except that only the homeless and destitute are the ones without cars.  Phoenix has a love affair with cars and is not built for walking or biking.  There are a few of us hard headed folks who are trying to set an example by not using a car.  Thursday I walked the 1.5 miles plus to the Verizon store and bought a new phone - an HTC DNA android smart phone.  It has a bigger screen than my old HTC Incredble 2 phone, and has even more things on it that I probably will never use.  Some of them I tried to delete, and was successful, but there are others where I need help.

Thursday and Friday I walked to the local grocery store to buy wine, beer and food for the dinner I hosted Friday evening.  Jane McNamara, Cathy Colbert, Cathy's mom Madeline, Meg McNamara and Shawn Harrell all joined me here.  Anne McNamara was unable to join us.  I had munchies (cheese and crackers, nachos with salsa and guacamole, popcorn, white cheddar cheese Cheez-its, fruit), salad and burgers for dinner, and wines, beer, ice water and diet coke for drinks.  We visited for a couple of hours and ate dinner on the patio.  After the others left, Jane, Meg and I played a couple of games of Scrabble.

Saturday I was out and around our condos.  As a board member, it is always a good idea to walk around and find any problems to report to the board and to our property management company.  There was a complaint about pigeons, and I found where one pigeon had created a nest on a ledge.  A thorough walk around found no other evidence.

Lock boxes are not allowed by our condo rules.  If owners can be identified (as in the next photo with the lock box on the chair), they are warned and potentially fined.

If the owner of the lock box cannot be identified, they are cut and removed - this unidentified one is on the bottom of the staircase just outside our unit.

 The landscaping is going well and many of our plants are in bloom, both the native desert plants as well as those that need watering.

Saturday, I again walked to the Verizon store and purchased a Jetpack.  This will allow us to access the internet with a 4G cell connection.  For several years, we had a digital cable box for TV, internet and land line phone with Cox Communications, and alarm system with Multicom using the land line phone connection.  Then I bought a paper thin TV antenna and returned the digital cable box.  We still get more than 30 channels, so this is enough for me.  That lowered the monthly bill to $90 with Cox plus $30 per month with Multicom.  Changing to the Jetpack will allow us switch to a wireless alarm system with ADT for $40 per month plus $20 per month for the Jetpack.  We may need to buy additional data from Verizon, but I do not think we will need to do so. 

Sunday morning, Jane McNamara and I went for our usual Sunday morning hike between Shaw Butte and North Mountain.  Anne was going to hike with us but cancelled out early Sunday morning.  We did our usual three mile hike and saw these nice vistas looking west and south from the trail.

After the hike, we had breakfast at the Eye Opener - a new breakfast in the Sunnyslope area.  It was not as good as our usual haunt, The Good Egg.  We then ran some errands and I dropped Jane at her house, as she loaned me her car for the day.  I ran some errands, then drove to theVerizon store - they gave me a $35 credit for my old phone.  Then late afternoon, I drove to Mike and Debbie Gilman's for our annual Tuesday Docent end of season party - a wonderful time with wonderful people.  Besides all of the docents and spouses/partners, many of the DBG staff were invited as well.  All of the volunteers are active physically and mentally, even though many are in their 70s and 80s.  They are also very much people who give of their time and money to try to make the world a better place.

Today, I walked two plus miles to the shopping center where Bed, Bath and Beyond is, then over to the Verizon store to use that $35 credit to buy a charging pad - rather than plugging my phone in to recharge the battery, now I just set in on this pad.  I will be trying it out tonight.  And now it is time to do some more things on my Monday to do list.

Getting around in Arizona

Since returning to Arizona last week, I continue to be without a car.  This is good for me because it causes me to walk and bike more.

On tax filing day, Monday April 15, I needed to mail tax returns.  Last year, the local post office on Highland Ave closed.  It was less than a mile away, about 15-18 minutes walking.  The Indian School post office took over the responsibilities - but that is nearly three miles away.  So I checked the USPS website for post office locations.  Much to my surprise I found a closer solution.  The post office has been opening up small post office facilities inside other businesses; these offices do not have mailboxes or delivery services - but they do provide all USPS mailing services.  It is at 4500 N 12th St. a much more reasonable distance of 1.3 miles, 25 minutes walking.  So off I went and all went well.  I took a different route on the way back because I went to the grocery store and came across this beautiful planting of blooming cacti: prickly pear cacti with yellow blossoms, drought deciduous ocotillo with long red blooms at the top of their tall stems and medium height cholla with pink blossoms.

On Tuesday morning, while performing my usual volunteer duties as a docent at the Desert Botanical Garden, I was at the cactus station.  I have many items from people to look at, touch and learn about: dried cactus slices, internal skeletons of selected cacti (xylum cells that provide vertical support and carry water up from the roots; our samples were cholla, prickly pear, saguaro and totem pole cacti), seeds from saguaro fruit, and much more.  The station is located under a large Chilean mesquite tree.  And on this morning, I was again visited by a handsome cardinal.  He stayed above me for 5-6 minutes and chirped away continuously.

My trek to the Desert Botanical Garden requires me to ride my bike about 1.2 miles to the light rail, then a 35 minute ride through downtown Phoenix to the northwest corner of Tempe, then about 2.4 miles up a long gradual ride back into Phoenix, passing the stadium where the Oakland A's play spring baseball, the Phoenix Zoo and Papago park, finally ending at the Botanical Garden.  The good news is that the ride back to the light rail is all down hill.

On my trek Tuesday, much was in bloom - all sorts of cacti and wildflowers, and the palo verde trees were covered with yellow blossoms and the mesquite trees with their catkins.  It is good to stop and smell the roses (even when it affects my seasonal allergies).

Make it a great day!

Biking and hiking in AZ and VT

Last week Saturday, March 30, Jane McNamara and I went to the Phoenix District Six Bike summit.  The bike coordinator for the city was holding a series of Saturday Bike Summits, one for each of the seven city council districts.  We live in District Six, which is a non-contiguous district that includes our area of central Phoenix and Ahwatukee.  It is a 30 minute drive from our area to Pecos Park where the summit was held.  It was sad to see that only nine people showed up.  My main concern was the difficulty I have at crossing Seventh Street and Central Avenue on my ride to the Light Rail station.  Where I cross those streets at Colter Street intersection, there is no light, just an unmarked crosswalk.  I cross here, because I go through the historic Windsor Square area, where there is no through traffic, meaning it is relatively safe to ride on the street.

While back in Vermont, I took some photos of crossings that I would like to see in Phoenix.  These first ones are on Route 15 in Colchester VT with St. Michaels College and Camp Johnson on one side and FAHC medical facilities on the other.  Here there are two lanes in each direction plus a left turn lane.  The crossing is well marked both as you approach it and at the crossing itself.

These photos are of a couple of solar powered lights on Patchen Road in South Burlington, near where we live.  They were installed for kids crossing the street on the way to and from the local elementary school.  Patchen Road is only one lane in each direction, but is a busy street with lots of commuters.

Except for this snowbank in the Lowe's parking lot in Essex, the snow is all gone from Burlington and surrounding towns - although I told that there is still plenty in central Vermont.

However, today, April 7, there was some sleet on the deck when I walked the dog this morning.

In contrast, when I was hiking last Sunday (March 31) at Phoenix North Mountain with Anne and Jane McNamara, the desert was starting to blossom.  All the creosote bushes were in bloom.

Same for all of the brittlebush.

And even the Engleman's hedgehog cactus.

By contrast, this Sunday in Vermont, cold, wind and some sleet and/or rain.  I did see some pussywillows in bloom and some maple trees starting to bud out when it was sunny and warm Friday (in the 50s) but neglected to take photos.  As the old saying goes, we all need to take time to stop and smell the roses.

Yesterday, I spent eight hours picking up donated furniture and building supplies.  Today, I am off to give platelets at the Red Cross and to do some work this afternoon.  And tomorrow, I fly back to Phoenix.