Retirement

The Scrap Heap

The Scrap HeapI posted about a minor disaster a couple of weeks ago on the other blog. I had some foil-wrapped vegetables roasting on the grill with the lid closed. As I usually do, I set up the umbrella behind the grill to provide shade for me and to keep the sun off of the external shelves. The umbrella was mounted to a very heavy base which is supposed to weigh the lighter part of the rig down. Unfortunately, when I went into the house to get the meat we were going to grill, a wind gust lifted the umbrella into the grill and the whole business did a plant onto the concrete driveway. We heard the noise and ran outside to discover the mess.

That was then – today, Damsel and I disassembled the remains of the grill to the point where we could get it into the truck and drove it down to the salvage yard near the airport. The scrap man had us put the grill parts in a dumpster. He then used a fork lift to move the dumpster to a scale inside the hangar bay in their building. The grill and a couple of other scraps we had weighed in at eighty-four pounds. The rate for mixed scrap was $0.05 per pound, so he had me sign a receipt and handed me $4.20. It was hardly worth the effort to disassemble and transport, but it’s out of the garage now where a brand-new grill will be sitting by the weekend.

Blue Paloverde Flowers

Blue Paloverde Flowers

Yes, I know the flowers aren’t blue. However, the host tree, Parkinsonia florida, is commonly called blue paloverde. Damsel took this photo while we were out and about today.

Damsel takes lots of photos of the spring flowers, so let’s enjoy them while we can. Summer will be here soon and there will be fewer flowers, but there will be flowers. Click on the image to enlarge.

Musical Mesquite

Musical Mesquite

Bob trimmed up my “Musical” mesquite tree along the RV drive a few weeks ago before most of the new green growth started to come back. He removed much of the growth overhanging the RV drive to clear the way for towing the trailer up the drive and cleaned up some of the dead and tangled branches to give the tree a more open look.

The work made it easier to see my wind chimes and other colorful and interesting decorations I have hanging on my Musical Mesquite as well as clearing the drive for the trailer. Click on the image to enlarge.

Back Lot Panorama

Back Lot Panorama

I took a couple of images from approximately the center of the back property line in the “unimproved” part of our property this afternoon. I combined the images into this panoramic image using Canon’s ZoomBrowser Photo Stitch software.

The image from left to right shows the west corner of the house at the left and gradually sweeps to the right to cover Damsel’s cactus and rock garden, the southwest property corner, the little wash with all the natural desert vegetation and the several neighbors buildings in the distance. The northwest property corner (circled in red) is just above the bottom of the wash below and approximately halfway between neighbor’s house on the hill (right of center with the flags) and the house with the Spanish tile roof on the right side. Click on the image to enlarge.

A Rainbow in the Sky

Rainbow in the Sky

When I took the dogs out for their first run on Tuesday of last week, I thought I heard an airplane going over. When I looked up, I didn’t see a plane, but I was astonished at the sight of a rainbow in the clouds overhead. The sun is out of the bottom of the frame in the image above. I can’t remember ever seeing a rainbow arc away from the sun until I saw this. Click on the image to enlarge.

I uploaded the image to SpaceWeather.com and found out that this is a circumzenithal arc:

The circumzenithal arc, CZA, is the most beautiful of all the halos. The first sighting is always a surprise, an ethereal rainbow fled from its watery origins and wrapped improbably about the zenith. It is often described as an “upside down rainbow” by first timers. Someone also charmingly likened it to “a grin in the sky”.

Look straight up near to the zenith when the sun is fairly low and especially if sundogs are visible. The center of the bow always sunwards and red is on the outside.

Fairly rare to see. I feel blessed.

Flyover Country

Flyover Country

This is the time of year when there are generally clear skies over central Arizona and the atmospheric conditions are conducive to forming contrails behind high-flying jet aircraft. Damsel and I see a lot more contrails than we did on the West Coast. In the image above, two jets pass in the distance behind our saguaro, one eastbound and one westbound. I snapped this picture as we were taking the dogs down the driveway for a little walk. Click on the image to enlarge.

We hope that everyone is off to a great New Year!

Pastel Clouds Over Saguaro Cactus

Pastel Clouds

We were treated to this colorful display in the sky this afternoon. I first noticed the rainbow through the front window, so I grabbed my camera and went out in the shadow of our saguaro in our driveway to get this shot. Click on the image to enlarge.