Tag Archives: HOA

“All good things must come to an end”

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I was looking through my “bird folder” and found a few photos I really liked but didn’t remember taking. They are from April and May. I brightened them up in Adobe Camera Raw and cropped them.

“All Good Things Must Come to and End” is a line attributed to Chaucer, a 14th century English poet. It seems fitting for my life right now.

First, I decided to no longer serve on the board of my women’s group. Then I learned a few weeks ago that the organization is caput. I believe it lasted for more than 30 years and I’ve been involved for about three. I was in charge of communication for membership and for the public, promoting our work and events. The group post COVID had dropped in membership from 200 to 20. Plus a lot of women are getting older. It just wasn’t feasible anymore.

Next, I decided to resign from the HOA newsletter. I worked on the newsletter for four years. I enjoyed it, but a new board was micromanaging and it was no longer a joyful experience.

Does anyone know what type of bird this is? I’ve only seen it once. I’m glad I got a photo.

I had my last photography class last week for the semester. I’ve really enjoyed it and have learned so much. There are five other students who have taken the class for three to nine years. I’m the newbie and this was my first semester. I thought this was going to be an ongoing experience for me. In our last class, I was the last person to present my final project, which I posted HERE.

Then the professor said he had some business to go over. He said the community college may be discontinuing the class. He won’t know for sure until January. So this too may pass.

A Harris’s hawk taking off.

The class is over zoom and there was complete silence when we heard the news. Apparently a student in another one of the professor’s classes was causing trouble for him. He didn’t go into detail, but said the other issue is low attendance. The advanced workshop is by invitation only. It’s not open enrollment. The group is very cohesive and everyone is talented and open to improving and trying new things.

There’s nothing I can do but wait for the New Year and find out if I have a class or not.

Mourning dove landing on the fence.

What good things in your life have come to an end?

A week of saying “NO”

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I had a quick visit by a Harris’s Hawk the other day. I was writing an article for my HOA newsletter about Harris Hawks and my proofreading newsletter partner told me it’s Harris’s Hawks. It doesn’t seem grammatically correct, but I looked it up and that’s what it is.

I had a super busy week with an upcoming charity event that I’m responsible for creating the program plus all publicity. Then there’s the aforementioned HOA newsletter plus my photography reading and assignment.

I also had lots of social activities including traveling to a wedding this weekend, luncheons with speakers, my weekly zoom call and dinner out with friends.

So, to preserve my sanity and to do my work I started saying “No” to lots of social stuff. I realized I didn’t need to spend hours at luncheons listening to speakers. I didn’t have to sit for two hours on the zoom call. I did say yes to going out to dinner, since it was an early bday dinner. Our friends will be on vacation during my actual date of birth.

By saying “No” a few times, I got work done and I could breathe.

Here are some fun facts about Harris’s Hawks:

These social and intelligent raptors are known for their remarkable behaviors and unique characteristics.

Harris’s Hawks have dark brown plumage, with reddish-brown feathers on the wings and upper thighs. The upper tail coverts are almost black with a white rump and a white band on the tail. When viewed from underneath, the inner wings and underwing coverts are reddish-brown.

They are 18 to 23 inches long. They weight from 18 to 30 ounces.

Their wingspan is 40 to 47 inches.

Harris’s Hawks live in the United States and Mexico, but migrate to South America for the winter. Their migration is driven by the need for prey items, such as small mammals or reptiles, which cannot survive harsh northern winters.

Their diet consists of large insects, small mammals such as squirrels, desert cottontail, and mice. They may also prey on larger animals like great blue herons, jackrabbits, young wild turkeys, quail, or doves when opportunities arise.

In the wild, their lifespan is 10 to 12 years. 

 Harris’s Hawks possess excellent color vision, which is one of the best among animals. Their vision is so sharp that they can perceive details and colors, making them efficient hunters.

Young Harris’s Hawks typically remain with their parents for up to three years, forming strong family bonds and learning valuable hunting skills during this time.

When do you say no?

Happy Friday!

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I have never seen this cactus bloom before, let alone in August! Must have been our recent monsoon.

I’m wondering what happened with the week? It rushed by. Usually the dog days of summer in the desert are slow to pass. But not this week.

What was I up to this week?

On the weekend, we made dinner for newish friends of ours. We cooked an all American meal of ribs (my husband), potato salad, corn on the cob and cherry pie (me.) We met these friends at the funeral of our friend who introduced me to my husband 40 years ago. He died suddenly from Valley Fever after we moved to Arizona. Our friends we had over for dinner were his brother and wife who moved to Arizona from Seattle. A circle of new friends all bought homes in Arizona, including us and another couple from Kirkland, because of this one friend. We’ve all pledged to keep his memory alive and get together several times a year.

The next busy moments came Monday morning meeting to brainstorm with my newsletter co-hort to write and layout the quarterly HOA newsletter. I’m proud to say that after 30-plus years of “newslettering,” I returned to my roots. We initiated a new process this issue that worked and the President of the HOA approved.

I compiled all the copy in a word document and sent it to the board to approve — prior to spending hours laying it out. This was similar to my early PR days, before desktop publishing and Mac computers. I would drive copy to the typesetter and then get it approved before giving copy to graphic designers to layout. Or, do the layout myself.

This is saved me countless revisions. It was annoying to have the newsletter all ready to go, and then have five board members give their two cents worth on what to change — one by one.

Other than the newsletter, which took up most of Monday and Tuesday, I had my first hair appointment since April. My hairdresser, who I love, went on maternity leave and it wasn’t worth it to me to try someone new for a one off appointment. It was fun to learn how my hairdresser is totally amazed and feels blessed with motherhood. She wasn’t expecting the dramatic love and emotions she’s experiencing now.

Thursday was a doctor’s appointment for my husband that I drove to. It was his final cataract appointment. He has new-fangled lenses that can be adjusted post-surgery with a laser light. It meant four or five extra appointments, but it’s supposed to make vision sharper.

Now that it’s Friday, we’re meeting friends who moved here from Palm Springs for dinner. But I have the day free to relax, read and comment on posts. I might visit the library, too.

I feel like one of my husband’s older clients from decades ago. My husband would call them to come into his office for an appointment. Often they’d respond, “Oh I can’t make it Wednesday. I have a doctor’s appointment.” Those were the days I was volunteering at school, taking kids to piano lessons, packing lunches, making dinners and volunteering at swim meets. I always wondered why people thought they were busy doing one “main thing” a day. Now I know!

How did your week go? Did it flash by quickly or seem slow?

What were some highlights of the week?

The bite

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Waffles, my daughter's pug, at the Utes pool.
Waffles, my daughter’s pug, made it on “We Rate Dogs” a popular “pupper” site on Twitter and Instagram. Waffles got 13 out of perfect 10 rating — and more than 75k likes for this photo taken by someone on my daughter’s college team.

The photo above is Waffles the pug. No he doesn’t bite. His snaggle teeth weren’t built to do that. This is a story about another dog from a morning walk last week.

We headed out the door around 5ish a.m. The sun rises after 5:30, but the sky glows pink and gray, waiting for the intense sun to peak over the horizon.

At this early time, we see a few dog walkers in the neighborhood. One is a petite blond lady with a pit bull named Star. We’ve known Star since she was a puppy about a year and a half ago. She’d lay down submissively so we’d come over to her for a pat. Often, she’d roll on her back so she’d get a belly rub from my husband.

I’m not a pit bull fan. As Star grew older, the owner kept to her side of the street. Often Star would lunge, growl and snarl at us. The owner apologized and didn’t know what to make of the new attitude.

I said, “Maybe Star is getting older and more protective?”

Sometimes, she’d say, “Star wants to come say hi.” She’d walk Star over to us with different results. Sometimes Star was good. Other times she’d start sweet and then snap.

From then on (several months ago) we gave up on communicating with Star.

Last week, we spotted the woman across the street. Star laid down. The owner said something to us from across the street. My husband couldn’t hear what she said. I kept walking away from Star at a brisk pace.

My husband walked towards Star and the woman, but stopped six to eight feet away to not invade Star’s space. Star was on a thick leather leash, held by the woman.

The woman was chit chatting about how hot it was and how we have to get out early to walk.

Then Star, without warning or provocation, lunged, snarling from the ground at my husband and bit his hand. The woman didn’t have the strength to pull Star back.

Fortunately, my husband jumped away with only a puncture wound. When he caught up to me his hand was dripping blood. “If I didn’t move away, I would have lost my hand,” he said. “What was really strange is she didn’t say anything to the dog. Not bad dog! or anything!”

I reported the dog bite to the HOA board but didn’t hear back immediately. I wanted to let other families in our neighborhood be aware.

We looked up dog bites on our County website and my husband decided to file a complaint. He had a picture of his hand, the dog bite broke through skin, which were requirements. We don’t want to get the neighbor upset, but we worry about what could happen. Especially because most the people in our neighborhood are older. They might not get away as quickly — or even worse get knocked down.

The dog will be under house arrest for 10 days and tested for rabies. Other than that, I don’t think anything will happen to Star. We may have made an enemy in Star’s owner, but hopefully saved other people. Since reporting, we have heard that someone two houses away from the pit bull was bitten, too.

What would you have done in our place? Would you report the dog and/or ask the HOA board for restriction of some kind? How do you think the owner should corrected Star?

What’s up with trash?

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This is the sidewalk outside our development where we walked.

On Saturday, my husband and I walked outside our neighborhood development on a sidewalk that took us two miles to the end of the road. It’s not a very busy road and across the street is the McDowell Sonoran Preserve with 130 miles of hiking trails. It’s a beautiful view looking out across the pristine desert.

But we noticed it wasn’t so pristine. We kept spotting trash. Beer bottles, coke cans, styrofoam cups and eventually a plastic grocery bag. My husband picked up the bag and began to fill it with trash as we walked.

Soon, the trash bag was full. On the way back home, I spotted a full grocery bag on the side of the road. Somebody had picked up trash but left the bag on the ground. I picked that one up and we took the trash back to our garbage can.

The next day, we decided to take the same walk and pick up trash. I wore latex gloves and we each carried a trash bag. We filled up our bags and got most of the trash.

I want to know who litters like that? I’m sure it’s not coming from our neighborhood. Next door is a country club with huge homes. I’m pretty sure it’s not coming from there. The road is a hot spot for cyclists. I’m also convinced it’s not the cyclists tossing trash. Are the litterbugs people driving through or workers like gardeners, repairmen and construction workers? Or is it kids? Who does that?

Do you notice trash where you walk or live? Who do you think litters?

Question about dog owners

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Olive the cat
I’d be a dog owner if it wasn’t for Olive, who doesn’t like any dogs except for Angus, our yellow lab RIP.

I’m working on our neighborhood newsletter — the final one for 2022. At the annual meeting and quarterly board meeting, residents voiced their concerns. Can you guess what the number one issue was?

Dog poop.

Seriously, I walk our neighborhood streets every morning. There is more dog poop on the streets and sidewalks than when we moved here in 2020. One morning there was dog poop on our driveway.

It’s weird. Who doesn’t pick up after their pets? This is a nice neighborhood and people take care of their yards and homes. Neighbors are retired professionals, successful trades people with empty nests or younger working families with kids and dogs.

A neighbor, who has a well-behaved labradoodle who is being trained as a therapy dog, asked me to put something in the newsletter about dog poop. She told me that one of her friends in a nearby neighborhood addressed this by DNA testing every dog — and then testing poop. The guilty were slapped with a $500 fine.

DNA testing? The neighbor thought that was over the top, but said other ideas were having bags at the park and putting up cameras — plus fines.

The neighborhood isn’t big on cameras. It seems too Orweillian.

We do have lots of wildlife here. I looked up javelina and coyote poop. I read it looks similar to mid-sized dogs. Maybe it’s not bad dog owners but wild animals?

Walking through the neighborhood, we stop and pet dogs who are out with their owners. Both the dogs and the neighbors don’t seem like the type to leave pet droppings around.

On a brighter note, thank goodness our number one issue isn’t crime or homeless!

What suggestions do you have for our task force tackling dog poop?

A few more issues

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The latest issue of the HOA newsletter.

I thought with my new laptop I’d be through with computer issues. But an issue came up with the latest issue of the newsletter that I volunteer to do for our homeowner’s association.

If you didn’t read about my computer issues, I was losing files and realized that the “automatic backup” wasn’t backing up. You can read about that HERE.

My new laptop doesn’t have the fonts for the newsletter. I get missing font messages and the type reverts to Helvetica or Geneva which doesn’t look great. So, I asked my son — who created the layout and template for me — to help fix it. He told me to email him the newsletter and he’d convert it to a pdf on his laptop. (He has the fonts.)

After my son made the newsletter look pretty, I sent it off to my newsletter co-editor for proof reading — plus the board of directors for their input.

In the end I received 10 small corrections and tweaks last night. Instead of sending the newsletter to my son to make the corrections, I thought I’d try turning on the old laptop — which has the missing fonts. I thought I’d be able to update the newsletter all on my own. What I discovered is those fonts on my old laptop are missing. too!

So, even with a brand new laptop that’s working great, I still have issues to fix.

With different fonts, spacing is different which changes every page’s layout.

What a mess.

On our beach vacation, our kids are joining us and my son has promised to install the fonts and we won’t have to be emailing the newsletter back and forth in the future.

Do you work on any layouts besides your blogs? Do you enjoy it or find it tedious? What computer problems or glitches have you dealt with?