I want some coffee!

Sort of! Winter temps have actually been rather mild so my whines lack my usual, mmm... intensity! Even so, the temps have been getting down into the upper 20's most nites. And it has been clear so I had to be sure to grab this shot with a little moisture in the air. A little pre-dawn color. This is a pretty good time of year for me to catch a glimpse of dawn colors. In just a few weeks I'll have to be up before 0500 to see this... and that ain't gonna happen! And the Cactus Garden continues to be a nice pause on my morning walk. Always nice to take a short break on the provided bench and enjoy the shade of the mesquite tree. The cactus garden- a favorite stop on my morning walk. And just to confirm, yes- we did recently get a little of the white stuff. The park at about 3,600' elevation is at a sufficiently low elevation to miss the chance to look like Minnesota. Now they got hammered.   Pretty scant snowfall but we did get some this week. The last of some moisture he...

 ... but it is what it is.  We had clear skies which means we had really cold overnight temps... The morning sky has a blank expression with a tiny moon and not a single cloud. And then there's the local tragedy of a fire which resulted in the total loss of an RV which was someones' home. The result of a fire that reportedly was accelerated by a burst propane tank (hear-say info).   It doesn't happen often but it's been our experience that when an RV has a fire it's a total loss including personal possessions. We've seen 3 RV fires in our 17 years following this life style and each time the result was pretty much the same: a total loss. There appears to be salvaged (?) items from the fire in the image above. Those items you see have been moved forward of the RV remains but I don't know if they are from the casita  (located to the left) or if any of these things are from the RV. What remains of the RV appears to be a charred fragment of the steel frame and wh...

 ... the weather caught up with us! A light dusting of snow on the ridge behind the park... 4,000' to 4,300' elevation?   Yeah that's the dreaded "s" word: snow!! I'm guessing about 4,000 to 4,300 feet elevation. It was inevitable but I was kinda' hoping we might dodge the bullet this year. No joy. No bad consequential issues: the waterline didn't freeze, nothing happened to the power, and the (propane) furnace worked fine. So just another day at the office except I whined a lot! But it does signal that our 'free ride' with comfortable winter temps is probably over. Mmm... I think I want some coffee!

We managed to make it thru the holiday revelry here at SKP Saguaro Co-op without major issues. We got thru the entire celebration without a single golf cart accident. And no one stumbled and had a bad fall walking home from the celebrations at the clubhouse (we gave up on that annual event several years ago). The year is off to a good start! Our friend Les took a bad fall. He's only 1.5 years older than me so I'm pretty sure it was not an easy thing. His doctor is treating him for hip damage but he says what hurts are both knees. From the sound of it he had lost that argument before it started. I just love it when medical professionals brush off the patients complaint. I'm including the last sunset photo-op of 2025. Lots of cloud cover but no moisture...   The sunset colors are hiding behind clouds but it still has some nostalgic appeal to me. And here's a couple more 2026 shots for good measure since (with apologies to Ernest Hemingway) 'the sun also rises'......