We took a long walk, bundled up, between rainy days.
We were supposed to get together with our friends this weekend. I’m talking about the couple who moved from our old hometown to one mile away from us in Arizona. We were out for our walk when I got a phone call from them.
It turns out my friend was headed to UCSF — the same hospital where my DIL is receiving treatment for cancer. One of her daughters was mugged by a gang of teens to 20-year-olds during her lunch hour. They punched her so hard she has a torn esophagus. This was a gang from Oakland. She was mugged in San Francisco.
Less than two weeks ago, my DIL’s sister was mugged in Oakland. They stole her iPhone. Because it has tracking on it, the police were able to arrest the mob of teens to 20-year-olds and return her phone. She was punched in the face, but didn’t need hospitalization. The police told her that this is an ongoing problem and they were thankful for her help to catch the thugs.
I wonder if it’s the same gang that attacked my friend’s daughter and if they were released to mug more people within two weeks?
If I know two people mugged in a short amount of time, this must be happening frequently. My kids, my DIL and siblings and my friend’s kids are the only people I know who live in the Bay Area — besides a few bloggers I follow.
In my neck of the desert, there is an outbreak of burglaries. So far none in my neighborhood, but in the surrounding area. According to the Sheriff, it’s a crime ring from South America who hide in the washes behind houses and break in once the lights go out.
I have felt so safe here that we rarely lock our doors. I do now.
Do you feel safe where you live or have you noticed an increase in crime?
How odd do you think it is for me to know two people mugged in the same city within two weeks?
One thing I noticed about living in Arizona is the weather. We have more of it than in Palm Springs, where I used to live. How can you have MORE weather you might ask? There’s more variety. Look at yesterday. We woke up to rain while it was sunny and warm in Palm Springs. Then in the afternoon we had wind. The past few days we had lows of 28 degrees. Never had that in Palm Springs. We even get an occasional snow day. We had that once out of 30 years in Palm Springs. Plus, at our new home, there are monsoons and haboobs to mix it up.
When I first moved to the Palm Springs area, every morning I’d watch the weather forecast before getting dressed. My husband asked me what I was doing.
“Checking the weather,” I explained. In Seattle, I did that to know what to wear.
“Let me give you a hint,” he said. “Sunny and warm or sunny and hot.”
As a former Seattle-ite, I hated rain. After living in the desert for more than 30 years, I love every bit of rain we get.
There’s an area nearby us that doesn’t have water. The water pipes don’t make it there. Scottsdale was trucking in water to that unincorporated residential area. Can you imagine buying a home and running out of water within a few years? There was a big controversy when Scottsdale cut off supplying water. Residents were drilling wells, but instead of a few dozen yards deep, they were going down hundreds of feet with nothing. I read one horse rancher has a well 800 feet deep, and the water is only 100 feet above the bottom of his well.
Eventually Scottsdale settled with the area and they are supplying water again.
I wondered when we bought our home, why the address was Scottsdale, because it’s a little cutout north of Scottsdale and technically could be in another town. I don’t question it anymore, because I’m happy to have the water and city services Scottsdale provides. We did look at a few homes in unincorporated areas. I’m so glad we didn’t buy outside of city limits.
Palm Springs and the surrounding area is on an aquifer with supposedly unlimited water. Or at least a few-hundred years supply. They also have a number of settling ponds that capture rainfall which allows it to settle back into the aquifer.
I think one of the issues with water in the Phoenix area are the tech companies who have built facilities here.
Here’s a snippet I found about tech companies in the greater Phoenix area and water:
Water, one of the most important elements in the semiconductor manufacturing process, has always been a precious resource in Arizona. Its conservation and management have been a priority for generations, even predating statehood. More than any other state, Arizona understands the importance of long-term planning — it was the first to project its water supply 100 years into the future and remains one of the only states in the nation to do so. This proactive approach to water management ensures that any new developments have access to water for generations to come.
This commitment to transparency and resiliency in water management is vital for semiconductor manufacturers. Companies like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chose to grow in Greater Phoenix because it provides a strategic location, stable energy grid and skilled workforce, but these location decisions also rely on the availability and reliability of water. Arizona’s commitment to resilient water management and transparency in long-term planning gives companies confidence in the region’s future.
I’m frustrated because I planned to post beautiful sunsets for this post. I clicked on the block called “image” and got this message: “This block has encountered an error and cannot be previewed.” It’s not previewing I’m concerned about — it’s posting a photo!
I’ve tried everything suggested after I clicked on help. Live chat is now down. I’ve emailed help and got a response that somebody will get back to me. In the meantime, if you want to see my sunset photos, look at https://www.instagram.com/e.a.wickham/.
According to one of my friends who moved from Palm Springs to Arizona 10 years before us, it’s Sunset Season.
I didn’t know there was a season for sunsets, did you?
Before we moved, we’d visit a friend here who introduced me to my husband almost 40 years ago. The friend and I were from Seattle. My husband came up to visit said friend in Seattle and we were introduced. The rest is history.
Our friend moved to Scottsdale five or six years ago and invited us to visit. We’d stay in his casita and really liked it out here. I couldn’t believe the sunsets for one thing. I wonder if it was sunset season?
The plan was to move here after my husband retired. But then COVID hit and my husband was working remotely. Real estate prices in Palm Springs were going through the roof and hubby felt it was time to make our move — because if he could work from home in Palm Springs, he could work from home in Scottsdale.
At first I was against the move. I loved my old Spanish Colonial home downtown Palm Springs. We were two blocks from restaurants and shopping. We had raised our kids in that home and lived there for 28 years. Our kids promised to never talk to us again if we sold the house. The realtor gave us a price to sell and I (not wanting to sell) insisted on raising the sale price by 40% and told my kids NOBODY would pay that much for our 1930s house that needed work.
To my surprise, we had four offers in four hours — two over asking — and one of those with “no inspections.”
So here we are in Arizona, three years later, enjoying the Winter Sunset Season. Oh yes, the kids got over it. They are speaking to us.
Is anyone else experiencing glitches with WP?
Have you thought about moving your home or blog from WP? If so where would you go?
We went to dinner with friends Saturday night. Actually happy hour, which translates to an early bird special. The food was delicious. The company was great. Then when we got home and I got out of the car, I tweaked my back.
I have no idea what I did. But I’m in pain and barely able to move. Is this ridiculous or what? Did sitting in the car for a 15-minute ride hurt my back?
I’ve taken Tylenol, Advil and had a hot hot shower. I’ve tried Salon Pas. No relief in site. I find this somewhat ironic. I heard of Word of the Year for the first time last week from fellow blogger Deb’s World. I had decided my word for 2024 will be HEALTH. I guess that doesn’t apply to 2023!
The only thing that made me feel better was a visit from the cardinal. I also captured him on my Bird Buddy.
Have you ever injured yourself without trying? Is this what getting old feels like?
The entrance to our old home. Our homeless man, who believed he bought our house, slept on the steps.
The back yard, which had our front door, once you walked through the gate above.
Sometimes I miss my old home. We lived there for 28 years. I had my babies there and raised them until they went off to college. I never thought I’d leave. But then COVID hit and my husband worked remotely from the Master bedroom. I worked remotely from our son’s bedroom.
Prices were going crazy high because people were fleeing the big cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles. Our town offered more space and much lower prices compared to the city life. My husband believed it was time to make our move to Arizona.
When I feel like I miss the old homestead, I read my emails. Every morning I get a “Personalized Spot Crime” report for my old neighborhood.
It’s gotten so much worse since we moved three years ago in December.
Here are a couple examples from my inbox:
In the 28 years we lived there, we had very little crime. My bicycle was stolen from the carport, which didn’t lock at the time. We had a homeless man who slept on the steps of the archway.
Oh, we had someone break into the home from the hospital mental ward a few blocks away wearing his “robe” with a bare behind. My daughter was the one who ran into him in the kitchen. She was in third grade and named him Hobo Joe. My husband threw him out of the house and called the police. They caught him trying to enter the house across the street.
But through 28 years, those were off events. Nothing like the crime I see reported on a daily basis now.
Once, after flying home from Seattle visiting family, I had to take a Lyft home. My husband had COVID. Anyway, the Lyft driver told me he was once a deputy sheriff in my neck of the woods. He said the number one crime was speeding. I sure hope it stays that way! It makes me appreciate my new home and where I live.
I had crime on my mind after a run in with the Mexican police on our recent getaway. If you missed it, I wrote about it HERE.
Is there crime in your neighborhood? Do you feel it’s gotten worse or better through the years?
With the kids on their way to visit, my husband and I kept our promise to quarantine. The days at home gave me new appreciation for life in our backyard. (I wrote about the need to quarantine HERE.)
“Hey, it’s not that bad!” were my famous words I’d tell my swim coach after a hard set. We emblazoned the saying on t-shirts after the coach joked that he should advertise his Masters with my expression. (I wrote about not giving up — whether it’s swimming, fishing or writing HERE — complete with t-shirt pics.)
I discovered staying home “is not that bad” — and I that I love and appreciate my backyard.
The following are views that make me enjoy living where I do:
I watched three Harris Hawks land in a tree across the wall. They love to hang out there. Then one by one, they flew into our yard. I lost sight as they flew over our roof.
Here’s a video of one flying I captured in slow motion:
Look at the sparkle in our pool.
Here’s a young cardinal visiting my Bird Buddy until a Gila Woodpecker takes over.
I was standing outside and these quails didn’t seem to care that I was nearby.
I can’t wait to see my son, daughter-in-law, her brother and my daughter!
What are your favorite things or views from your home?
As our long-awaited annual beach vacation comes to a close, I’m feeling homesick. Not to be ungrateful, but I’m looking forward to being in my own home. I miss my cat. My friends, who moved from our old neighborhood in Palm Springs to a mile away in Arizona, have texted and asked when we’ll be back with “We miss you!”
All year long, I’ve looked forward to our weeks out of the heat, at the beach. I guess I didn’t feel “vacationy” with all the anxiety of health issues with our family. I spent the first two weeks in a state of constant worry.
Once relief hit us — that our future DIL will be okay — and COVID also had come and gone with our children, we finally relaxed.
But, then four days in a row, once our fear was gone, we accepted invitations with friends. We hadn’t felt like socializing until things settled down. Four days in a row was way too much for introverted me. We said no to friends yesterday and today. We spent evenings until sunset enjoying a beach walk, sitting until the sun set, and being quiet. Just what my soul needed.
If there’s no place like home, I wish I could click my heels three times and be home — without the nine-hour drive!
When you are on vacation, do you look forward to returning home — or do you want vacation to last longer?
