I want some coffee!

 ... 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...

 ... when it starts with a photo-worthy sunrise. A November sunrise here in San Pedro Valley. We've had strange weather this past year- largely notable because there were no big temperature extremes. Plus we were cheated a bit on monsoons- the weather gods think we need to do a diligent job conserving our water and apparently that's not happening.  But a really strange thing is the very few times we got above the 100°F mark- the most notable was when we hit 110°F. Yeah, it got hot, but not unbearable. My blog posts on previous summers contained a lot of very descriptive analyses (I think the technical term is 'whining'), but those episodes were strangely missing this year: "... and the times they are a-changing ". But we should know clearly when fall is upon us as that's when snowbirds start arriving in the park from the North country. Well... US snowbirds this year. I read today in BBC news that large numbers of Canadian snowbirds are making other plans f...

 ... so I'm keeping a low profile. Leaseholders here are strongly encouraged to attend the annual meeting in early February. Amazing how we usually have a doctor's appointment on the appointed day! Board meetings aside, I notice that my occasional peek outside frequently includes sunrise. So a few more opportunistic shots pre-dawn here in Benson, AZ. In another month sunrise will be so early I'll be hiding in my bed pretending it can't possibly be as late as the clock says it is! Rise and shine (or not!) Even earlier... ugh! Bloody cold out there! Here's a peek across the San Pedro Valley as a freight train labors through on its way to point East. I-10 crosses the Dragoon Mountains via Texas Canyon. This route requires a very steep climb to get to the other side near Willcox. Not that anyone cares, the train follows a route across pretty-much level ground through San Pedro Valley and the town of Dragoon to a notch in the Dragoon Mountains. This route avoids the v...

The nice part about winter is that I roll out of bed before dawn. "Dude! Get a grip! There's nothing great about getting up before dawn!!" Yeah, my basic mantra.  I must admit, however, that I do see some pretty nice sunrise photo-ops pop up. So I'll post a few here to remember the event. Remember? Yeah, remember. Come summer I'll be inclined to hug the AC and look neither right nor left as I make a bee line from air conditioned space to air conditioned space! Here's a few of what greeted me as I trundled off these past few days...   Yeah... a little late getting up this day! The park (SKP Saguaro Co-op) is getting pretty crowded as snowbirds arrive from their respective warm weather domiciles.  Occupancy on 5 Jan 2025 here at SKP Saguaro Co-op Things will max-out about early February when the annual meeting is scheduled. All leaseholders are strongly encouraged to be here for that event. There are about 300 Leaseholders. 'Guests' are folks that rent a...