 |
|
S p r i n g / S u m
m e r
2 0 2 4
|
Return to "Fall -
Winter 2023 - 2024"
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
Sunday, April 28, 2024: Today was our first block party right next
door in front of our neighbor's house. There was lots of good food
and lots of help to set up and take down what was needed. We were
lucky to have little wind unlike the last two days. We were also
lucky to have temperatures in the high 70s/low 80s. Some of these
neighbors we hardly ever see because they don't join in many
activities where we participate. But the block party had lots of
good food which brought everyone out. |
| |
|
Saturday, April 27, 2024: Since we are season pass holders
our tickets to the University of Arizona Wildcats Spring
Football game were only $5 per seat. This is a game where
offense (in blue) plays against defense. For the first half
it was flag football. But the second half saw some real
tackling. Here is a short
video of the action. |
|
| |
|
Wednesday, April 24, 2024: I attended the "Summer Buddies"
morning meeting where I volunteered to organize a tour of a
selection of the many bakeries in this town. Once I got home I
decided to take a quick look at a couple which I have never visited.
I chose the Locale first, the photo on the left. It is more of an
Italian Restaurant than a bakery so it won't be on my tour list. My
neighbor, Daryl recommended the Ghina French Bakery, on the right.
It is at least 30 minutes away but has a good selection of bread,
cookies, pies and pastry. For that reason it may be on my tour list
but I found it to be very expensive. Fortunately there is a Webpage
which has already done the work for me. I'm looking forward to
visiting all then selecting four or five for the tour. |
| |
|
Sunday, April 21, 2024: Last year we learned of the largest Farmer's
Market in Tucson at the Rillito Park. It's only 12 miles by bicycle
but 17 miles by car. This was our first visit to the fair this year.
It was very busy and I hope the shoppers were buying lots of stuff.
We bought nothing except a pound of coffee for me. The photos above
show a variety of vendors. Plus I made a short video of
an entertainer. Click the photos for more views. |
| |
|
Friday, April 19, 2024: With the arrival of hot weather I
am finally having time to work on the projects I've been
saving for indoor, air conditioned work. This little robot
toy seemed like a good start since they claim an eight year
old can do it. Click on the left photo to see the sheets of
plastic pieces which must be separated and bagged. It took
me about 3 hours. I can't believe an 8 year old could do
this. Following instructions, I carefully assembled the main
body at the right. All robots are built around this little
cube. Time for a nap! |
|
|
| |
| Wednesday, April 17, 2024: Today was the first Wednesday
morning meeting after the Activity office closed. The season
is over. Now it is the "Summer Buddies" in charge of the
activities and Wednesday morning meeting. Volunteers bring
in the treats. During the season the treats are always
donuts provided by a Tucson business. That business then
gets a display table during the meeting to describe their
product or service. It has been an RV Dealer several times,
Medical services several times, Dental services and our
resort several times. I went this morning wondering what
they would have to say since I knew of no activities coming
up. I was actually surprised with several of the planned
activities and actually signed up for one and volunteered to
help with a second. There is always a 50/50 raffle at the
Wednesday meeting usually benefiting one of the resort
clubs. In today's raffle, I won twice ($10) after buying $5
worth of tickets. Click the photo to see my choice of the
treats. |
|
|
| |
|
Tuesday, April 16, 2024: Normally our Palo Verde
tree is just green branches with tiny leaves occasionally.
I've never seen one in bloom but here it is. Right behind
our unit. |
|
| |
Saturday, April 13, 2024: About a month ago I got a Facebook message
advertising the Tucson Symphony Orchestra (TSO). I've seen the
advertising before but this one really caught my eye because they
were to play the Gustav Holst Suite, The Planets. I have
been a fan of The Planets since my college days. I learned the
tickets were advertised at only $14, $28 for two. Actually, after
adding taxes, ticket fees and parking, the event cost $50. I have
listened to the Suite probably a hundred times at no cost so I had
to decide if I wanted to pay the $50 to hear it again. I decided the
venue (Linda Ronstadt Music Hall) and the ability to SEE the music
as well as HEAR it would be worth the $50. I remember going to a
concert when I lived at Lake Tahoe, California where the orchestra
played Beethoven's Sixth Symphony. I listened to the music multiple
times before the concert so I could recognize the themes as I
listened to and watched the music. I did the same with this concert.
I listened to The Planets multiple times, watched YouTube videos of
other orchestras and read what Wikipedia had to say about the Suite.
Finally, I took binoculars so I could see which instruments were
developing the themes which I knew so well. |
| |
|
Monday, April 8, 2024: The big news today was the viewing
of the solar eclipse from our park observatory. We used the
Stellina telescope with solar filters for the observation.
Click the left photo to see the group which had gathered
just outside the observatory to watch the eclipse. The
Stellina object are viewed on the phone of each individual
logged into the Stellina. That makes it easy to take photos
and view the image for yourself. Tucson was not in the path
for full eclipse, we got about 70% coverage. Click the right
photo to see what we saw at the maximum coverage which
occurred at 11:19 am. |
|
|
| |
|
Sunday, April 7, 2024: I spent nearly the entire day, planning
then arranging our family room/bedroom. It is the largest room
in our park model so much be a multi-purpose room. After that
project I decided to take Abby on a hike into the Pantano Wash right
out our back door. A strong hiker to go for miles. Abby and I went
for 1.5 miles which was plenty for both of us. Click these three
photos for more view. Behind the center photo is a view across the
wash. Look for the furthest Palm Tree to the left of the photo,
that's our Palm Tree. |
| |
|
Saturday, April 6, 2024: Our photo club chose to visit Patagonia, a
tiny village south of Tucson nearly to the Mexican border. It is at
4055 foot elevation and claims to be cooler that Tucson during the
summer months. The photo club wanted to visit the Hummingbird
sanctuary owned by the Tucson Audubon Society. This turned out to be
a popular location especially since it is a weekend day. We were
able to see many Humming birds but they were so busy very difficult
to get any good photos of them. We did walk a scenic trail with Abby
to a view point. Our leader, Warren, showed us a unique cafe with
some lovely bakery items and we caught the owner of the "Four Little
Birds" delivering Sourdough bread so we bought a loaf. There were
several gift shops along Main Street which we had to visit but
purchased nothing. The hour drive to Patagonia was very scenic,
especially this time of year. Click all three photos for more views.
|
| |
| Monday, April 1, 2024: This is April Fools day so nature
has played a trick on us in Tucson. She brought rain all
day. Fortunately I had prepared for such a day with a couple
of covered projects. The first is LED lighting on the deck.
I chose blue lights tonight but there are an infinite number
of colors I could choose from. The lights can be controlled
by Blue Tooth and I have programmed an internal timer to
turn them on at 7 pm then off at 11 pm. I might choose green
tomorrow. They can also be programmed to multi-color
patterns. The second project is a Galaxy Projector which
projects stars and a galaxy pattern onto the ceiling. Here
is a short video of what that looks like. |
|
|
| |
|
Friday, March 29, 2024: We finally get a view of Mt Lemmon
after several days of weather. It seems strange that Mt
Lemmon would get more snow this time of year but there it
is. We are expecting more rain on Sunday and Monday so maybe
even more snow for the mountains. |
|
| |
| Thursday, March 28, 2024: Abby is sharing her fur with our
bird friends for their nests. I just refilled the basket.
Notice how the fur is sticking our of the basket? I didn't
do that. |
|
|
|
Wednesday, March 27, 2024: We often get an unusual bird at
the Hummingbird feeder. This is a male Gila Woodpecker who
visits the feeder quite often. I'm not sure it comes for the
sweet liquid or just an easy source of water. Look of the
length of that tongue. This is a beautiful bird and we are
glad to have him around. Click this photo for another view.
|
|
| |
Monday, March 25, 2024: We get bird visitors everyday.
Mostly Quail but occasionally the Gila Woodpecker and in
this case the female Cardinal. The male Cardinal is not far
behind.
We had some very special visitors today. My friend Erik and
his Son, Andrew from Roseburg, Oregon visited for a short
time while on their drive from Roseburg to Albuquerque, New
Mexico. They took an hour out of their whirlwind trip to
stop and see how we are living now. Andrew is graduating
from high school this year with a 4.0 GPA plus the first
place trombone player in all of Oregon. He has been accepted
into four universities, Reno, Nevada; University of Nevada,
Las Vegas; Arizona State University and University of New
Mexico. He and his dad are touring each of the four
universities in five days before flying home from
Albuquerque. Of course, I suggested the University of
Arizona, Wildcats but it is too late this year to apply.
Andrew is interested in nuclear science which may not be
offered here. I feel very special that they took the time to
stop. |
|
|
| |
|
Saturday, March 23, 2024:Our one concert per month took us
to see "Short Notice", Hits from the Brits. They
played 26 tunes (they announced the number at the beginning
of the concert) and gave a bit of history with each tune.
The history made the music more interesting. The park
supported the group well. We heard tunes from The Beatles,
Rolling Stones, Kinks, Elton John, Queen, Fleetwood Mac and
more. |
|
| |
|
Friday, March 22, 2024: I drove to the west side of Tucson
this afternoon to watch my friend, Wes, attempt to qualify
for the level 1 Certification in model rockets. Wes spent
this last week building his rocket and getting it ready for
the launch. His rocket shot 1300 feet then deployed the
parachute for a soft landing. Unfortunately it landed in a
tree. It came against a large branch which knocked a hole
into the body. The rocket must land unharmed for
certification. Here is a short
video of Wes' launch. After a repair, Wes will try
again. |
|
|
| |
| Thursday, March 21, 2024: Our last view from our own
observatory here at Rincon Country East was of the Andromeda
Galaxy. It is our closest galaxy to the Milky Way. It is 2.5
million light years distant. It is a spiral galaxy like the
Milky Way growing closer to us. It will collide with the
Milky Way in a couple billion years. This photo came
directly from my phone as observed
from our telescope. |
|
|
| |
|
|
Wednesday, March 20, 2024: Welcome to the first day of
spring at Rincon Country East Resort in Tucson, Arizona. We have
been here nearly six months and aren't tired of it yet. These last
few days have been filled with fair-weather cumulus clouds which
has provided tonight's sunset. In another two weeks most of the
RVs you see will be headed to their home states and the park will
be much less crowded. Although we haven't been bothered by the
number of visitors since we are on the only cul-de-sac in the
resort. Click on this photo to view a visitor we invite to our
back yard every day.
|
|
|
