What’s on my mind?

Posted on by
56

View from the corner of our street, looking back at our house.

Here are four random things racing around my brain:

Mail Mix Up

A package arrived and it was in a locker at the community mailboxes. When we get packages, the mailman puts a key in our mailbox to a large locker. My key was for locker #3, but I noticed that locker already had a key in it. The locker was empty.

The key stuck in locker #3 was for a different locker.

I pulled out the key and discovered the lock was broken. Whoever used the wrong key to open up locker #3 forced it open and took my package! I used their key to open up the correct locker and there was a package inside that wasn’t mine. I took a picture of the name and address on that package and once home called their number in our directory.

He said, yes he had my package and wanted to know where his was. I told him it was in locker #4. I found it odd that he jammed open the wrong locker, took my package by mistake, but never bothered to return it, until I called.

CLEAR

In California, there is a proposal to ban CLEAR, a service that I use.

A new bill, the first of its kind in the U.S., would ban security screening company Clear from operating at California airports as lawmakers take aim at companies that let consumers pay to pass through security ahead of other travelers. 

Sen. Josh Newman, a California Democrat and the sponsor of the legislation, said Clear effectively lets wealthier people skip in front of passengers who have been waiting to be screened by Transportation Security Administration agents.  CBS News

I signed up for CLEAR a couple years ago after a visit with Mom in Seattle. At SeaTac airport, which has huge security lines, I was approached by a CLEAR salesperson. He asked if I wanted to try out the service. I agreed and I had my eyes scanned and was fingerprinted. I was able to register four people, which worked out perfectly for our family of four—pre son’s marriage to Buff. I was walked up to the front of the security line to wait to put my stuff in bins and walk into the machine with my arms raised above my head. I thought, this is pretty cool. By the time I got home, I got an email from LifeLock that CLEAR had accessed a background check on me. The cost was $189 for four people for one year. I think someone who flies all the time for work would find it worthwhile.

Reggie got his trophy back

LOS ANGELES — After nearly 14 years apart, Reggie Bush is reunited with his Heisman Trophy, ending a nearly two-decade saga that became a touchpoint for public opinion about how college athletes should benefit from their stardom.

The Heisman Trust reinstated Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy on Wednesday in a seismic moment for a player who was the face of a golden era for USC football. The career of Bush, who forfeited his Heisman in 2010 after the NCAA deemed he received impermissible benefits, forced fans — and now the sport’s long-established institutions — to reckon with whether NCAA penalties could actually taint a player’s on-field legacy.

“We are thrilled to welcome Reggie Bush back to the Heisman family in recognition of his collegiate accomplishments,” said Michael Comerford, President of The Heisman Trophy Trust. “We considered the enormous changes in college athletics over the last several years in deciding that now is the right time to reinstate the Trophy for Reggie. We are so happy to welcome him back.” The Athletic

This makes me happy, because I was a Reggie fan and I don’t think he should have lost the Heisman in the first place. With NIL rules changed, I think it’s time Reggie is a Heisman awardee again.

What I saw walking

In the development next to ours, the homes are huge, 5,000 to 7,500 square feet, but they are so close to together. I don’t get it.

Then I saw this:

If you couldn’t get the mail locker open, would you stop and check the tag on the key to see if you were at the correct locker?

Do you think it’s okay to pay for a service to jump ahead in line? How about paying Southwest a fee to board at the front of the line?

Any thoughts on Reggie Bush?

Is it a date?

Posted on by
42

Saguaro in bloom.

The other weekend, we had a couple over for the “Rib King’s” Baby Back Ribs. In case you missed the post, I wrote about my husband’s cooking technique for BBQ ribs HERE.

We had a fun night, they loved the ribs and my old-fashioned potato salad.

They mentioned inviting us over to their home for open houses. Their community has open houses each Saturday. You can tour homes ranging in price from $1.5 million to $12 million. Two homes were listed recently at the high end. I thought it would be fun to take a look at the sky high homes.

Saturday came and we hadn’t heard from our friends all week. I wondered what to do. My husband and I had gone for a huge hike, I was tired and wanted to stay home and read.

Here’s the dilemma. Should I call or text and ask if we were still on?

Or, should I wait for them to call?

When I want good advice I call my daughter.

“What would make you feel worse? Standing them up if they’re expecting you, or calling to see if you’re still on?” she said.

I decided standing them up would be the worse option. Maybe what I took for a set-in-stone invitation, may have been “we should do this some Saturday” — and not “next Saturday” as I heard it. They are close enough friends I that I could be straight forward and ask. But it still felt awkward.

I typed a text message and thought, “That’s not it.” I deleted it and tried again.

Finally, I picked up the phone. We had a nice, long conversation and never once did open houses come up. I heard about their DYI project they were working on and a game they were watching later.

Today, I’m going to lunch with my “lunch bunch,” two graphic designers I worked with in Palm Springs who live a few miles from me in Arizona. Each month, we meet for lunch. Before we leave, we pick a date for the following month. We rotate who chooses the restaurant and we always try something different. We’ve been to Indian, Sushi, BBQ, Mexican, etc. I kind of like how we plan ahead because then the lunch date happens. I know what to expect.

What would you have done in my situation? Wait for a call or make it yourself?

Do you like spontaneous get togethers or planned dates?

I’m sharing a video of “Desert Nights” from my son’s high school band, The Saucy Stenographers. He wrote their songs and played keyboard. The singer Marilyn Wexler’s grandfather was a well known mid-century architect in Palm Springs. This video is from a downtown Palm Springs club. I’m recording from my flip video camera (remember those?) so it’s not perfect audio! This was my favorite song my son wrote and his band performed.

FYI, the name Saucy Stenographers came from a YA book they loved (me too) called Ella Minnow Pea.

A special time of year

Posted on by
37

The past week, cacti bloomed. The beauty is fleeting, because the flowers only last a day or two.

This beauty is next to our driveway. Leaving for a walk, my husband and I stopped to admire it. He said, “I feel so much pride in this cactus, which is funny, because I had nothing to do with it.” I felt the same way, proud of our blooming plant.

This was our cactus two days after the photo taken above.

I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. —Frank Lloyd Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright made his home in our desert. He appreciated the beauty surrounding us. I’ve visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert home and school called Taliesin West. I wrote about my visit HERE.

From Wikipedia:

Wright believed Scottsdale to be the perfect spot for such a building: a place of residence, a place of business and a place to learn. Wright described it like this, “Finally I learned of a site twenty-six miles from Phoenix, across the desert of the vast Paradise Valley. On up to a great mesa in the mountains. On the mesa just below McDowell Peak we stopped, turned, and looked around. The top of the world.”

More photos of cacti blooms from our neighborhood:

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

—Albert Einstein

I feel like a kid in a candy store. I see everything around me with fresh eyes although this is my fourth Spring here. I’m in awe and surprised by the prickly cacti producing such eye catching flowers.

If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.

—Laura Ingalls Wilder

What are your favorite sights this time of year?

Smart Cooking

Posted on by
55

Baby back ribs my husband cooked with our Chef IQ Smart Cooker.

A few months ago, we went to a neighbor’s house for dinner. They told us they had perfected barbecued ribs and wanted us to try them. The best ribs ever. My husband asked for their recipe and it included a rub, but the big thing was a Chef IQ Smart Cooker.

I don’t like having kitchen gadgets that take up space. I have a crockpot that I’ve used once in the last ten years for a party — for meatballs. Before that, the crockpot showed up on the pool deck for swim meets for our snack bar, for soups or whatever was needed.

I’m also a fan of cooking the old fashioned way with pots and pans. Mostly I cook without recipes — unless it’s baking.

My husband asked me to order the Chef IQ. I was skeptical at best, but I bought it anyway. At first it was very confusing to use. It has an app on the phone and has step-by-step cooking instructions. I couldn’t figure it out, called our neighbors and they said they use the manual cooking method and press the button on the cooker itself.

We’ve done ribs a few times, and my husband’s are just as good as our our neighbor’s — fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy. The Chef IQ pressure cooks the ribs and then hubby throws them on the grill with BBQ sauce for a finishing touch. Yum!

I decided to get adventurous and tried seared chicken thighs this week which is a recipe on the phone app. The app talked to the cooker and gave me step-by-step instructions, complete with a timer!

Above is a screen shot of the the app my phone. Each step had a video, and the “Next” on the bottom was the timer. Once the white went across the bar, it was time for the next step.

Chicken thighs searing. FYI, they were delicious! Tender, juicy and done perfectly.

Now that I know the Chef IQ can sear and pressure cook, I’m curious to try more. It even weighs whatever you’re cooking and adjusts the cooking time.

I’ll try oxtails and soups in a few weeks. (I wrote about my oxtail recipe HERE. It originated in one of my great-grandmother’s Nellie’s cookbooks.)

The app on my phone for the Smart Cooker has tons of recipes including chicken, fish, beef, pork, Mexican food, Chinese, pasta — even desserts.

My husband wanted to hand out ribs to our neighbors. He said, “I’m going to be known as the Rib King of our neigborhood.” I reminded him that he was following our neighbor’s recipe…

Do you use recipes or cook without them?

What kitchen gadgets do you find invaluable?

Young love

Posted on by
35

My beautiful boy in his Nutcracker bunny suit at age three.

I’ll never forget being in a community production of Nutcracker with my son. He was the infamous bunny (it’s a Balanchine thing.) I had two roles: party guest and rodent.

I would take my son to my ballet class and he would play with another three-year-old named Katherine Bottoms. Her father is actor Joseph Bottoms and her mother was an amazing dancer who had danced with New York City Ballet.

While we moms took class, the children played together.

One day, I spotted my son lying on the floor in the dance studio. Katherine had tackled him and was on top of him.

“Promise that you’ll marry me!” she told him. It sounded more like a threat! Finally, he agreed and she got off his chest. I’m not sure if she kissed him. Of course, he ended up marrying another Catherine, who goes by Buff.

I remember having a young love. I was also three. My neighbor Victor was four and my brother was five. (Photo is me with my brother.)

One day the doorbell rang. My mom answered and Victor was standing on the steps.

“I’m sorry, Victor, Bobby is at school,” My mom explained. My brother had started kindergarten that week.

“I’m here to ask if Elizabeth can come out to play.”

“Oh!” my mom answered surprised. I do remember this happening, but I also remember my mom’s retelling it to the neighborhood coffee klatch with lots of laughter.

Victor and I played together most days. Victor ended up moving. When I was in the third or fourth grade, he came back for a visit. We were at an event with music and dancing. Maybe it was a wedding or a church social?

Without a word, he immediately grabbed my hands and twirled me around the dance floor until it was time to leave.

What memories do you have of young love or early friendships?

Nesting time

Posted on by
29

This past weekend, I was fascinated watching two mourning doves flying in and out of a bush in our backyard. They would fly up to the bush, sit on a branch and then disappear inside. They were carrying twigs and grass in their beaks.

I got the photo above before scaring the birds to the top of our pergola.

One of the doves kept guard from the top of the pergola before continuing the chore of building their nest.

I wanted to get a picture of the nest, but this is what I saw when I got up close:

Do you see the dove roosting in her nest? Her eye is to the left of the vertical branch. I backed off after snapping a photo. I don’t want to scare them away. That was quick work in building the nest!

Last year, I discovered quail eggs in a large planter next to our garage. The quail must have laid eggs while we were out of town. Once we were home, I noticed quail flying out of the planter whenever I opened the garage. I looked in the planter and discovered quail eggs, but mom and dad quail were scared away. The eggs never hatched.

I don’t want that to happen with the mourning doves. So, I’ll try to stop myself from taking more pictures!

A Gila woodpecker goes in an out of a saguaro nest in our backyard. All the holes were most likely made by woodpeckers. When they leave their nests, other birds move in.

I love watching birds in my empty nest.

What nests have you noticed in your neck of the woods?

Four years ago…

Posted on by
38

I wrote this post on April 7, 2020. We were living in Palm Springs and on shutdown. It was such an odd time. I’m not sure I really managed to get over it. I have more anxiety now than I did prior to COVID. I need more time to myself and less engagement with people outside our family. Those are just few things that linger.

IMG_5481
One of my favorite streets on my morning walk.

21 Days. Isn’t that something? My daughter came home a few days before we got the order. I’m so glad she made it here. She’s been a joy to have around along with her fur baby Waffles. We have plenty of room to have my husband, me and my daughter all working from home — together — yet apart.

Here’s a few thoughts I have about these strange days:

ONE
I go from super calm and productive to anxiety ridden from day to day.

TWO
I’m losing track of the days and the time. Twice I have woken up thinking it’s 6 a.m. and started the coffee only to look at the clock in the kitchen that reads 11:40 p.m.

THREE
My routine of daily three pages of writing, my three mile walk and Bible readings to start my day are more important than ever. All three help me stay grounded.

FOUR
I’m reading lots of good books. Sitting in my back yard in the sun reading is one of my favorite things to do.

FIVE
10,000 people have died in our country. My heart goes out to all the people suffering and losing loved ones.

SIX
We are now told to wear masks when we leave the house. I’m using a make-shift one from my quilting supplies. It’s hard to breathe during my morning walks, though, and my glasses fog up.

SEVEN
My writing jobs are completed and turned in and now I’m in uncharted territory without every minute of my day focused on meeting deadlines.

EIGHT
My daughter and I cleaned and organized the food cupboards and the laundry room. It feels good to have clean spaces.

NINE
I’m reaching out to family via phone and email. It’s important to stay in touch with your loved ones.

IMG_5474
My new morning walk look.

What are your thoughts about sheltering in place during the pandemic?

What things have lingered into your life now from four years ago?