SATURDAY MORNING DESERT JEEP DRIVE FOR PHEEBS & I

Aside from Pheebs & I out Jeeping around for a couple hours in the desert behind our house this morning it turned out to be a quiet reading day.  ‘Spitfire’ is my latest book about an RAF fighter pilot before, during, & after The Battle of Britain.

THESE WANDERING JEEP ROADS GO FOR MILES & MILES & MILES

 

Try as I did tonight I couldn’t really come up with anything of interesest to write about so I’ll call it a day & maybe something will catch my attention tomorrow………………..

FOR OBVIOUS REASONS THE PHEEBS REMAINED IN THE JEEP WHILE I TOOK A FEW PHOTOS OF THIS PAIN INFLICTING TEDDY BEAR CHOLLA

CONGRESS ARIZONA ON THE SOUTHEAST HORIZON

GROANER’S CORNER:((  A tiny but dignified old lady was among a group looking at an art exhibition in a newly opened gallery. Suddenly one contemporary painting caught her eye. "What on earth," she inquired of the artist standing nearby, "is that?"  He smiled condescendingly. "That, my dear lady, is supposed to be a mother and her child."
"Well, then," snapped the little old lady, "why isn't it?"

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED ABOUT YOUR FACE

Have you ever wondered about your face?  You know the one that groggily looks back at you every morning in the mirror.  The one you might catch a glimpse of half a dozen or more times during the day.  It’s the same face you’ve been seeing since about the time you can first remember.  Yes there’s been a few changes along the way as years have slipped by but it’s still mostly the same face you remember every day right??  You see it constantly so in your own mind so nothing really ever seems to change much.  Well there is a real good way to see for yourself just how much your face has changed without you really noticing it.  And here’s all you have to do to see those changes & it has absolutely nothing to do with you looking at your own face.

Sit down at your computer & switch on your brain’s memory banks as best you can.  Think back, way back to your school years, people you have worked with & friends you have met along the way all those many years ago.  Think of your home town & people you knew there & grew up with.  Now you might want to write down the names of people you remember before you forget them again then type them into your Google search engine one at a time.  Some people you will find & some you won’t.  I recently spent some time on websites I found that had to do my old home town in Southwestern Ontario, Tavistock.  I was able to find a few friends who are still a part of the town & with a check of Tavistock’s local newspaper, the Tavistock Gazette I was able to see some photos of people I know who are on various committees etc.  Now most of these folks I have not seen in maybe 30, 40, 50 or more years.  I have also looked up people from the past through Facebook & there are generally recent pictures of those people posted as well.  Google searches also returned some familiar faces…….wait a minute!!  Did I say ‘familiar faces!!’

Time after time seeing recent photos of people I once knew I am often left staring in puzzlement.  Most of these people are unrecognizable to me & if not for captioned photos identifying who these people are I would not have known had I met them on the street.  If the caption said I was looking at a picture of Joe Blow I would immediately think, no that’s not Joe that’s his Dad Bill.  No it was Joe alright but what happened.  Well here’s the glaring truth for all of us.  It’s called aging & we maybe don’t readily recognize it in our own faces but we are quick to see it in the faces of people we have not seen for a long time.  It’s an instant shock to our memory banks.  In our minds we always carry an image of someone as they looked the last time we saw them.  Looking at someone’s recent photo for the first after so many years sometimes just doesn’t register & can send memory banks into overdrive trying to make something believable out of something unbelievable.  In a nutshell this is how I know my own face has changed so much.

If all the young people I once knew now look like old people then I have to look like an old people too because I was once like them & they like me.  I look in the mirror now & think to myself how would I feel if I hadn’t looked at my face for the past 50 years & all of a sudden looked myself up on the internet to see a recent picture of me.  Would I know who I am??  Would I be looking at an unrecognizable face.  Would I think it was the face of my Father.  How would I even know it was me.  Acceptance can sometimes be a hard pill to swallow & in trying to be my usual logical self it does indeed end in a hard swallowed pill alright.  If 10 of my long ago friends are now basically unrecognizable to me then for sure i have to be unrecognizable to them if & when they see a recent photo of me.  So with that thought in mind I’m now going to settle my nerves & go have a quick look in the mirror just to reassure myself who I see there is still recognizable to me.   And the more I look at that face looking back at me the better chance I have of not reaching a point where I look so unrecognizably old to myself.  Now lest I confuse me further I had better hurry up & get me on back for a peek at myself in that mirror again…………Hurry, hurry, hurry:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Grandma and Grandpa were sitting in their porch rockers watching the beautiful sunset and reminiscing about "the good old days". Grandma turned to Grandpa and said, "Honey, do you remember when we first started dating and you used to just casually reach over and take my hand?"  Grandpa looked over at her, smiled and obligingly took her aged hand in his. With a wry little smile, Grandma pressed a little farther, "Honey, do you remember how after we were engaged, you'd sometimes lean over and suddenly kiss me on the cheek?"  Grandpa leaned slowly toward Grandma and gave her a lingering kiss on her wrinkled cheek. Growing bolder still, Grandma said, "Honey, do you remember how, after we were first married, you'd kind of nibble on my ear?" Grandpa slowly got up from his rocker and headed into the house. Alarmed, Grandma said, "Honey, where are you going?"
Grandpa replied, "To get my teeth!"

HAVE YOU EVER TYPED YOUR OWN NAME INTO A ON-LINE SEARCH ENGINE? YOU MAY BE SURPRISED BY WHAT YOU FIND

With freezing hands after filling up the bird feeder & breaking ice in the bird bath I quickly retreated back into the house & resigned myself to just staying there until Thursday’s cloudy morning let enough sun through to warm things up.  I so much do not like cold weather just as much as I so much do not like hot weather!!  Where can we live that has nice steady & comfortable temperature of 75F each day with no humidity & lots of sunshine.  And warm nights too………..

 

 

Spent part of my day reading & was actually able to grab some new bird photos while stretched out in my backyard gravity chair.  Air was still a wee touch cool but this afternoon’s warming sun sure felt nice.

George & Suzie are soon headed to Borrego Springs California so I sent George an email with directions to the Great Stone Eagle in case they decide on a day trip up around Warner Springs way.  This is quite an impressive natural stone structure & in case anyone is interested in seeing it if they are in the Borrego Springs area here is my post for the day we went In Search Of The Great Stone Eagle.  Driving directions are in the post.

IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY AT THIS CURVE BILL THRASHER WINGING IT’S WAY THROUGH THE TREES YOU CAN SEE IT HAS A SEED IN IT’S BILL

Have you ever typed your own name into a search engine?  I did that today & was surprised at how many times my name, my photos, & the Bayfield Bunch kept coming up in different websites.  It put a smile on my face each time I recognized one of my own photos being used for a good purpose.  Some pictures had a photo credit & some didn’t but that’s alright I’m just happy that someone or some organization has thought enough of my photos to include them in their brochures & advertising etc.  I didn’t see any of my photos that I felt were not used in a proper way.  Like I have said many times in my posts if people enjoy looking at my photos as much as I enjoy taking them then that’s a bonus for me.  If my photos are used in a positive way by someone then that’s an added bonus for me.  It’s my way of giving a little something back & I’m perfectly happy to continue taking photos for folks as long as they enjoy looking at them:))

AND I WASN’T THE ONLY ONE OUT ENJOYING THE AFTERNOON SUN

GROANER’S CORNER:((   An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again."  The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to their conversations. I've already changed my will three times!!"

A LONG LONE DUSTY DESERT ROAD

SOUTHEAST OF THE EAGLES EYE NEAR AGUILA ARIZONA…HARCUVAR MOUNTAINS IN THE BACKGROUND

With cold air still upon on us this morning I figured I had 2 options.  Could stay in the house watching TV or spend time reading.  Neither held much appeal for me so my restless nature won out once again & Pheebs & I were into the Jeep & off down the road we went.

I WAS SURPRISED AT THE WIDTH OF THIS ROAD & HOW WELL IT WAS MAINTAINED

Knowing Wickenburg wouldn’t be quite as cold we headed off in that direction.  At Wickenburg’s Northeast end on the corner of highway 93 & Vulture Peak Mine Road along with a gas station & convenience store there stands a Jack In The Box eatery place.  Had only ever been to one once before & that was a bunch of years ago in Yuma.  We have wintered in Congress now nearly 4 years but had never stopped into the Jack.  This morning I did.  For under $5 I got a Jumbo breakfast including coffee.  Coffee was Ok but the breakfast was nothing to write home about but I ate it all anyway.  Scrambled eggs, bacon, a hash brown & about 8 small round pancakes.  Next time back I’ll try something else.

ONLY VEHICLES I MET ON THIS LONG LONELY STRETCH OF ROAD WERE 3 OF THESE BIG TRUCKS GOING THE OTHER WAY

HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN CAN FAINTLY BE SEEN ON THE HORIZON BEHIND THAT SAGUARO CACTUS

Had a pamplet in the Jeep with a few scenic places around Wickenburg so this morning Pheebs & I decided to check out a spot near Vulture Peak called Dana’s Arch.  Followed the directions out to mile marker 22 then headed off-road into the desert in a westerly direction.  The already rough road only became rougher so we didn’t go too far plus I could never have let Pheebs out of the Jeep anyway.  With the slightly higher elevation out around Vulture Peak the area is covered in Teddy Bear Chollas & it is no place for a dog or human to run free.  The Cholla barbs are about as painful as it gets!!

STOPPING AT A WATER HOLE FOR A LEG STRETCH I THOUGHT IT’S NOT OFTEN ONE SEES SAGUARO CACTI IN THE SAME PICTURE WITH A BODY OF WATER >>>>>

The morning was still young so we didn’t want to go home yet.  Back to Vulture Mine Road we went & turned right heading in a southerly direction.  I knew this road intersected with another road that connected Tonopah & Aguila.  Had never been across the section from the intersection to Aguila so that’s the way we headed.  About the dustiest road I’ve ever been on I think but at least it was unusually wide & well maintained.

THIS LONG DUSTY DESERT ROAD IS HEADED STRAIGHT FOR HARQUAHALA MOUNTAIN

Not always signs telling one which way to go when intersecting with other desert roads & trails sometimes so one just has to use some common sense & dead reckoning.  Fortunately I have a reasonably good sense of direction plus I’ve made it a point over the years to familiarize myself with surrounding mountain tops & ridges.  And I know if I keep the sun on my left shoulder I will always ‘basicaly’ be heading in a westerly direction.  With Harquhala Mountain on the far distant horizon my goal was to come out on the right hand side of it where Aguila would be so whatever well maintained road I was on & as long as it pointed in the general direction of Harquahala’s north end & figured we should be just fine.  And we were.

DESPITE THIS PAINTED STEEL PIPE SIGN BECKONING ME TO GO THAT-A-WAY I WENT THE OTHER WAY INSTEAD

Overall it was nice drive through the desert this morning with some new scenery to boot.  Lots of Saguaros everywhere & I did notice the landscape is beginning to take on a very slight touch of green as Spring in these parts begins it’s early stage of plant growth.  A month from now things will be looking much greener everywhere as yellow grasses give way to new shoots & trees once again begin their new leafing cycle for another year. 

LOOKING AT AGUILA’S EAGLE EYE FROM THE SOUTH

In 10 years we have never once been in the Southwest during the summer months to see what things look like but that’s Okay because winter here in Arizona sure looks a lot nicer than winter back in Bayfield & especially if they don’t have any snow & everything looks so dull, bleak, & dreary.  They may be having a mild winter up there but give me the scenicaly sunny Southwest during the winter months anyday………..:))

DOGGY WAS TIRED AFTER WE GOT HOME

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Every year, Smitty and his wife Martha went to the State Fair. And every year, Smitty would say, "Martha, I'd like to ride in that there airplane." And every year, Martha would reply, "I know, Smitty, but that airplane ride costs ten dollars, and ten dollars is ten dollars."  This one year Smitty and Martha went to the fair and Smitty said, "Martha, I'm 71 years old. If I don't ride that airplane this year I may never get another chance. "  Martha replied, "Smitty, that there airplane ride costs ten dollars, and ten dollars is ten dollars."  The pilot overheard them and said, "Folks, I'll make you a deal. I'll take you both up for a ride. If you can stay quiet for the entire ride and not say one word, I won't charge you, but if you say one word it's ten dollars." Smitty and Martha agreed, and up they went.  The pilot performed all kinds of twists and turns, rolls and dives, but not a word is heard. He even does a nose dive, pulling up 15 feet above the ground, but still not a word. They land and the pilot turns to Smitty, "By golly, I did everything I could think of to get you to yell out, but you didn't."  Smitty replied, "Well, I was gonna say something when Martha fell out, ...but ten dollars is ten dollars!"