Monday, September 14, 2020

Holding Our Breath

September 14, 2020
Tombstone, Arizona

Certainly all the fires in the west contribute to many wanting to hold their breath. Here in southeast Arizona we're surrounded with haze, often blocking all of our mountains to the west and south. 

Huachuca Mountains hidden under smoke from far away fires.

Yet that's not the breath-holding I'm thinking of. 

Almost half way through our seventh month of this unreal reality, it seems perhaps it could go on forever. Even making plans for next summer with great optimism and enthusiasm, I'm reminded that it's possible they will all be cancelled. I never even considered that the northern border might still be closed until a few comments on the last post raised the possibility. 

Another ten months??? Good lord.......

We've already held our breath hoping and praying and wondering and crossing our fingers for such a long time. In April I certainly thought that by August we'd be looking at the end of the threat, that we could breathe normally again. Instead September is sending mixed messages of flattening curves, increased hospitalizations, and possible mutations at the same time vaccine readiness dates are bandied around. 

Sanity requires finding humor where we can.

Political and social justice battles fuel human fires around the country while entire communities are destroyed by killing flames. I hold my breath every morning nervously wondering "what's next?".

Local postal workers remind us they are under attack.

Our new grand baby is coming in early November no matter what the world is doing. Life does go on. 

We continue to get a few projects done in between a whole lot of laziness. Monsoon season has moved on without giving us much water. The San Pedro River is dry in most places, reduced to a flat trickle under the bridge on the drive to Sierra Vista. Our desert is green and beautiful, and most days we have 20% humidity. But it still feels much dryer than last year at this time.

Last year!?! Yep, we've now been here a year. It was October when we moved into the house, but we opened escrow and were mooch-docking at our friends' in early September. Hard to wrap my head around how different our lives have been being off the road. Not bad at all, but certainly different!!

I did finally get the bedroom done and am very pleased with how it turned out. Updating the hardware in the kitchen makes that room feel more complete as well. Bought paint for Jeff's room, and will probably start on that after our trip to Santa Fe.

In between permanent window coverings I used lap blankets. Jeff said it "looks like an opium den". I don't ask how he knows this......

Having lived in earthquake country all my life, I like soft things above the bed :-)

Fun to decorate with my photographs.

The original plan was just the plain blinds, but they turned out "too" plain so I added the curtains to soften the feel. 

With a large yard we have lots of large and small projects to keep us busy during cooler weather. On hot days we still get out to "find" rocks for landscaping and focal points. It's the desert, we have a large selection to choose from :-)

In search of large rocks, we find a new-to-us trail to follow.

Colorful cliffs on both sides.

Erosion shapes interesting canyon walls.

In addition to living in a national historic town, we're surrounded by several smaller vintage townships. Not surprising, Ghost Town Road takes us through several ruins to what remains of Pearce, Arizona. It's a pretty drive on one of our hotter days.

Old mining tailings along Ghost Town Road.

Visiting hours are over at the jail in Pearce, Arizona

Jeff and I take a rare drive to Tucson to pick up a few items we can't get locally. Limiting our exposure to others we're back home in just a few hours. So many places I thought we'd be exploring in our closest city, so many things I thought we'd be doing......

One thing that is less than perfect at our little Arizona home is the lack of decent Internet. We added ViaSat to our AT&T MiFi and we still can't stream movies or TV shows with any regularity. Frustrating with all this time and access to Amazon Prime, Netflix and Hulu that we can't enjoy. We have satellite with 900 channels, and maybe 12 that aren't complete crap. First world problem admittedly, and maybe one that will get resolved while we're holding our breath :-)

At least football season has started, and while it's a slightly different experience, it's still wonderful to watch games again!!

Yay!!

Back in SoCal Ezra starts Kindergarten at home. Shalise has done a lot of preparation to make sure he's getting the full curriculum. Like all kids, he's missing making new friends and having humans his own age to interact with. Soon Ezra, hopefully soon!

I love that he wants to be a "demolition expert"!

Miss Clover is Ezra's new house companion.

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. Remember to breathe :-)

18 comments:

  1. Great blog Jodee--yes, remember to breathe, just not too deeply of the smoke! :) I so want all this Covid business to go away. It would be nice to travel freely once again. While up in the mountains this past week we were so isolated you could almost forget Covid existed.

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    1. Any time and any place we can be without it is a blessing indeed!

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  2. Oh forgot--I love the color you chose to paint the bedroom! And yes, just how did Jeff know it looked like an opium den???:) :)

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  3. The mask you added to Frida adds a bit fun to a crazy serious time. The long range SoCal forecast is for a la Nina winter, extending the long dry spell a bit longer. Enjoy your home base projects and Stay Safe!

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    1. Our local taco place gets the credit for a bit of humor :) I saw the forecast that also extends into Arizona - sigh....!

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  4. Love Ezra's sign and knowing that you are all well and hanging on. I feel like that picture of the cat hanging by its finger nails. I'm hanging on and that's all that can be said about spending a pandemic without your partner. Good for you for doing so many projects. I have many I could do if I could somehow get rid of the lethargy that has me playing mahjong on my phone instead.

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    1. Too many hours of solitaire on my phone as well or I'd have even more done!! Hang in there Sherry, we'll see the other side of this eventually.

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  5. You finished your bedroom! Yay!! It's so cozy and welcoming. I love the wall color you chose, and I love that you have your photos on the walls. We've done the same in our renovation, using canvas prints of photographs we've taken here on the Gulf Coast. Great minds, LOL.

    I know exactly what you mean about the uncertainty we're living with. And it helps me that you say it out loud, so that I know I'm not alone. Somehow, we have to keep hoping and making plans, while also accepting that it all could disappear in an instant, just as it did last spring. Stay well, dear friends. (The photo of Ezra makes me smile. :-))

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    1. It feels warm and cozy (which even in the desert is nice in a bedroom). I'm glad you're also putting up some of your incredible photos. I agree it helps when others express similar frustrations and even a little optimism :-) Hope the water goes down quickly at your place - and yes it would be lovely if some could come here!

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  6. Crazy times indeed! I sure hope you are able to do some version of your planned trip next summer. We had a short trip to OR planned but the fires have placed that on hold...I keep wondering if 2020 can possibly get any worse!

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    1. You know you can't challenge 2020 like that!! :-) Fingers and toes crossed we can all get on with our travels next year!

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  7. Love the Ezra picture. We don't know him, but we feel like we do, though your chronicles. I think hunting for rocks sound like a perfect way to spend this confinement, I'd love to help if we weren't confined! Bedroom color looks great, no comments on the opium den though.
    Keep making those plans, we are. Travel will look different but it's gonna feel darn good after all this time!

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    1. How lovely to have you two along for the rock hunts! Just the thought of heading out in the MH makes me smile.

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  8. Great bedroom redo!! Very southwestern (which I am a fan of). I do like that quilt color. Great comment, Jeff...opium den!! I won't ask either! Ezra is getting so old. Such a neat first day photo. One day he may have a normal life. I really like his hair. I've always been a fan of long hair (Which is one of the things that attracted me to John. Too bad it didn't stick around...haha!) Nice to see you out exploring the desert. Enjoy football. It's nice to have it back.

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    1. Ezra's dad and uncle both had long hair so it's fun to see him embracing it. He's quite adamant about not cutting it :-))) Hmmm John with long hair....will have to share a pic next time we see you! Definitely enjoyed the first week's game!

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  9. Love what you did to your bedroom. Hard to believe Ezra is starting kindergarten already. Where does the time go? Travel plans may come and go but still got to make them.

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    1. He's really going to seem like a big boy when the new baby arrives! Can't believe he's already so big. I agree that we have to make those plans!!

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