Another one bites the dust

saguaro fallen down

Another saguaro down.

We’ve lost three saguaros since we’ve moved here. The fourth one went down last week.

I was sitting by the window in the casita and glanced outside as a huge saguaro crashed to the ground. I was glad I wasn’t standing in the way! That was the first one we lost.

We called a cactus doctor and he walked around our yard diagnosing saguaros.

He found one with a disease and he recommended having it removed or the disease would spread to our other saguaros. That project included not only paying the cactus doctor, but getting a permit from the city. An inspector came out to look at the saguaro and signed off on the permit. Then we had to hire another company to cut down the saguaro and remove it. That was saguaro number two that bit the dust.

The third was in the front yard and one of our only ones with arms. It was turning brown from the base that was slowly creeping up. The cactus doctor told us we’d need to brace it if we wanted to keep it. A neighbor told us that the previous owners had that saguaro treated for something a couple times. One day we walked out the front door and it was down.

Then last week after all the rain and a big wind, this smaller one was laying on the ground. The cactus doctor told us that once they fall they are traumatized and can’t make it if they’re replanted. In spite of his words, I wish we would have tried to replant the first one that fell.

We asked our gardener to try to save this guy. There’s a crack along the crown but we hope it lives.

This saguaro has been given a chance to live.

What special plants or trees do you have that need attention?

From Summer to Winter

Last week I sought the shade. Now I seek the sun on my walks.

When we left for Mexico last week, the afternoons at home were topping 90 degrees. That is if it wasn’t “monsooning” with thunder, lightening and major rains.

We arrived home Sunday afternoon. I checked my phone the following morning before our walk for the temperature. I did a double take. 46 degrees. Yikes!

I got out my leggings and fleece jacket and bundled up.

What happened to Fall? We went from too hot to too cold in a snap. I used to complain in Palm Springs that we had lousy weather. It was either too hot or too cold. There were only a few days that were just right. It seems that Arizona weather is much the same. But I missed the “just right” days. There were none in September or October. Certainly none in the summer.

My next challenge is getting into my swimsuit and jumping into the YMCA pool. They had been cooling the pool. I sure hope they’re heating it now!

What is your favorite season and temperature range?

Balloons spotted during our morning walk.

Issue number two

newsletter
My community newsletter

Issue number two for 2022 was put to bed today. YAY! It’s a satisfying feeling to finally get it approved and done.

I sent the newsletter to my co-editor to proof read and to make sure I made all the requested changes from the Board of Directors. Then weird stuff happened. I had made changes and they didn’t save. Also when I made a few corrections, photos disappeared and entire blocks of text disappeared. My layout skills haven’t kept up with the newest version of the program.

I held my breath when I hit send. It’s done. And I have a few months until it’s time to do it all over again.

It’s hard to remember back to when I wrote nine newsletters a month. That was way before internet and newsletters were a big thing. With social media, blogs, and email newsletters, not many are still printed and delivered via snail mail.

Without me stepping up to take over the newsletter, this one would have ended after 15 years of being published. I like the old fashioned printed newsletter. There’s something to be said for reading on paper.

I edited the newsletter for my kids swim team on a volunteer basis for years. We used to mail it out with the monthly billing. Eventually the billing went online — and my son started a website and posted the newsletter there. The newsletter was no longer printed. That was before the iphone got popular. We were using an Apple program that worked well for the new iphone, but not for the Blackberry. One of the board of directors wanted us to invest in software that was older so it would be compatible with Blackberry phones because he predicted the iphone would never amount to more than 10% of phones. Do they make Blackberries anymore?

Then one of the coaches told me she didn’t see a place for the newsletter anymore. She felt Twitter and FB would be more up to date. I was sad to see that newsletter go away.

What are your thoughts about newsletters? Do you see them very often or do you think they are going by the wayside?