Tag Archives: neighbors

Too much, too fast

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One of the sea glass photos I took yesterday in the morning light. Two more photos are below.

I was on the phone Friday with a neighbor, talking about a funeral for another neighbor when my son called and called. I got off the phone, called my son back and was hit with the news that his surgery had been moved up. He asked if I could change my flights and hotel and come up to help him.

The level of panic and stress I immediately felt was due to the chaos at our Phoenix airport. We’re number three in the country for delays. Plus I’ve read that they may need to cancel 20% of flights.

I talked it over with my husband who decided to go with me. I called Southwest and they quickly changed our flights and it was at no additional cost. I also made sure they had Waffles the Pug on their guest list. Arranging new dates for the hotel was a little more difficult because of a poor connection and the person helping me had an accent that I struggled with.

I was relieved to get everything all arranged. But we are scheduled to leave in a day rather than two weeks. So, I’m feeling overwhelmed.

At our neighbor’s funeral on Saturday, we turned off the ringers on our phones. (It was an amazing service and it was an honor to be included for a celebration of life for such a unique, kind, intelligent man. I’m glad we got to know him during the past few years.)

We forgot to turn the ringers back on. My friend from Santa Barbara was stranded at the Phoenix airport and wanted to spend the night, but we missed her call and her husband’s. She was traveling back from the East Coast after visiting her mom. Her Phoenix to Santa Barbara connection was cancelled.

This doesn’t bode well for our upcoming flight to Oakland. But hopefully, we’ll make it in time to be helpful post our son’s surgery. The reason why they moved up his procedure? The nurses are going on strike the week he was previously scheduled. Oh my! What could go wrong on this trip?

The sun reflecting in the pool behind my mountain of sea glass.

Do you have any flights to be concerned about in the next few weeks?

Which sea glass photo do you like and why?

Once in a Blue Moon

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During the weekend, I went with a neighbor to see the latest Richard Linklater movie, “Blue Moon.” My neighbor is social and a brilliant person who invited five other women to lunch and the movie. She frequently has get togethers like a Christmas lunch for 30 women, hosting a wedding shower in her home, and more recently having a birthday party of 12 for a neighbor. She seems to have limitless energy and the ability to organize and get people to show up!

I’ve seen a few Linklater movies that I really liked. The one that stuck with me was “Boyhood” which took place over 12 years, following one boy’s life from childhood to college. Ethan Hawke played the father and Patricia Arquette won an Academy Award for best supporting actress as the mother. I thought it was a remarkable project to undertake filming over so many years.

Linklater’s frequently writes and/or directs movies starring children or teenagers, e.g., Dazed and Confused (1993), School of Rock (2003), Bad News Bears (2005), Boyhood (2014) and Everybody Wants Some!! (2016).

Another common theme in his movies is they take place during one day — with the obvious exception of Boyhood. Blue Moon took place on the opening night of Oklahoma! on Broadway.

It’s the story of Lorenz Hart of Rodgers and Hart fame. After a falling out due to mental instability and alcoholism, Hart is replaced by Oscar Hammerstein. Rodgers and Hart are true opposites. Rodgers is a family man who wants to write music on a strict schedule. Hart rarely gets to bed before morning and spends his life smoking cigars and drinking bourbon in bars.

Although the movie dragged in places and the story isn’t uplifting, the writing is amazing and Ethan Hawke was beyond remarkable. I’ve read his role is worthy of Best Actor honors at the Academy Awards.

What I found especially interesting was the reaction of our row of seven women at the theatre. The woman sitting next to me was sound to sleep through most of the movie.

“Well that was uplifting!” one woman said sarcastically.

“I had such a great time today, in spite of the fact the movie sucked!” another woman said.

I rode home with my neighbor who had arranged the day for us. We drove home talking about all the things that we loved about the movie. I enjoyed what my daughter called an “Easter egg” of Hart talking with E.B. White in the bar and giving him the idea to write about a little mouse named Stuart with a “U” not a “W.”

What movies have you been to with great reviews that you didn’t like?

Then the reverse, what movies did other people not like that you enjoyed?

Official trailer of Blue Moon.

Here’s Billie Holiday’s rendition of the song Blue Moon:

What would you do?

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Sunrise view from our backyard.

If you only had two months left to live, what would you do?

That’s what my neighbor learned Thursday. He sent an email to his golfing foursome and told them he had been diagnosed that day with brain cancer and had two months to live. He added that he planned on golfing Monday, Wednesday and Friday as normal.

I received an email from my friend, his wife, that she wouldn’t be attending any of our women’s group events because her husband had cancer and didn’t have long to live.

I passed their house during my walk Friday when I spotted them walking out their front door. They both waved to me.

I walked up to them and said, “I just want to give both of you a hug.”

The husband said, “We could use hugs right now.” The wife and I burst into tears. Then he asked me to look out for his wife and call her often.

“Of course,” I said, stunned that he was so calm, collected and more concerned about his wife than himself.

“What did I do to deserve this beautiful man?” my friend said through tears. “I’m grateful for the years I had him in my life.”

He really is one of the kindest, sweetest men I’ve ever met. He always has a smile on his face and seems genuinely interested in you.

Their answer to the question of what would you do with two months left is to get their affairs in order. Live life as they always do — in love, appreciating each other and enjoying the little moments of each day.

What would you do?

Sunset.

Karl to the rescue

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old spanish style house
My dream home of 28 years in Palm Springs, built in 1937.

I was home caring for my dad, who had shoulder surgery. My daughter and husband were in Los Angeles at a swim meet for the weekend (son in college). I had to pick up my dad’s meds at the pharmacy and I told him not to leave the recliner we had rented for his recovery — placed in front of the TV.

When I returned, he was on the floor. Of course, he didn’t listen to me and didn’t stay put.

“I can’t get my dad off the floor!” I called my husband on his cell. After numerous attempts with Dad, neither one of us made an inch of progress.

In the background, I heard my daughter say “Call Mr. Siffleet!”

Of course, why hadn’t I thought of that? Karl was married to one of my close friends who lived less than a mile away. They had a daughter who went to kindergarten through high school with my daughter. Karl and my husband swam 5:30 a.m. Masters together.

Within minutes, Karl came over, picked my dad up as though he was a bag of potatoes and placed him comfortably in his chair. Thank you, Karl!

I can’t remember all the things Karl did for us during the decades we lived in that home. But what I do remember is going to a post-op appointment after knee surgery about thirty minutes away. I realized I left the stove on for vegetable soup I was cooking.

Yikes! I called Karl and he came over to the house, turned off the stove — and put the burnt pot outside.

Yes, this family had a key to our house. They even took care of Olive the cat while we were on vacation.

Another time, our swim team was hosting a meet at the city pool. We had an extensive set up of pop-up tents constructed from poles and tarps, tables, electronic timing equipment, scoreboard, snack bar, grills, timing chairs, etc. We’d have more than 1,000 people to host at swim meets for a three-day weekend — including swimmers and family members.

One morning, my husband (who was Mr. Meet Manager) arrived at the pool at dawn to find tons of equipment in the pool. We blamed the skaters from the next-door skate park. But it could have been any gang of hoodlums. My husband called (I was comfortably asleep in bed) and asked me to drive our daughter to the pool. Karl also showed up — probably to help with set up — and they dove in and retrieved equipment from the bottom of the deep end, hours before the meet began.

I miss living near Karl and his family. I’m glad we are still in touch, but I really miss a neighbor like Karl who always came to the rescue! He was our local superman.

What have your neighbors done for you when you needed help? Do you play that role with any neighbors?

Another dog story

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Malamute puppy

10-week-old Malamute Emma.

I’m not in a good mood today. So I thought writing about and posting cute puppy pics would help.

Our next door neighbor is a single guy who loves his Malamutes. He’s always owned them. About a month ago, he knocked on our door sobbing and asked for my husband to help him get his dog into his car. He had decided it was time to say good-bye.

He asked my husband if he was making the right decision.

My husband looked at the dog laying on the floor, who was unable to stand, but its tail was thumping on the ground.

“Yes, you are making the right decision.”

Since that fateful day, we’ve seen our neighbor in his yard, watering plants during our early morning walk. He’s often in tears and apologizes to us.

This past weekend, we helped him with a puppy contract. I printed it out, he signed it, I scanned it and emailed to him.

His puppy Emma arrived from Canada a few days later.

She is adorable, loving and so darn cute! I’m so thrilled for our neighbor and that I’ll get to see this cutie on a daily basis.

So why am I in a bad mood?

For one thing, the pit bull was out walking today in violation of orders of quarantining for 10 days in the house. No muzzle. She was being walked by a man who said he didn’t care about the quarantine and ended our short conversation by calling my husband a prick.

Didn’t exactly get my day going in the right direction. But then I came home to see Emma and neighbor in front of our house.

What helps you when you’re in a bad mood?

Melancholy memories

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women's swimming meet poster
My daughter on a Utah Utes women’s swim meet poster

Every morning my husband and I get ready for our walk around 5 a.m. to avoid the heat. We don’t make it out the door for at least 30 minutes, needing clothes, clean teeth and coffee!

Consistently, we see one other couple out early. We say “Good morning!” “What a beautiful day,” and usually walk on.

During the weekend, my husband stopped to ask about their granddaughters who are swimmers. They told us their oldest signed with Northwestern and their youngest is getting calls across the country at top colleges. They talked about how they did at CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) where swimmers compete for their high school teams and how they were top finalists.

“Our daughter was a multiple CIF Champion,” my husband mentioned. Yes, she was. That’s a memory I’ll look back on with pride.

Our neighbors talked about a meet they just returned from in Northern California, the George Haines International Swim Meet. Yes, we’ve been to that meet, too. It’s filled with top swimmers including Olympians from the USA, Europe and Mexico.

Here’s a video I took of warm up from the George Haines International meet in 2017:

The conversation with our neighbors brought back so many memories from the days our kids swam. Busy days traveling to meets, staying in hotels, sitting with favorite parents on the stands. Each morning we wondered what the day would bring.

I felt a little sad and melancholy after talking to our neighbors. I’m glad we were a swim family. But there’s no going back to those days. On a sad note, the team our kids swam with from kindergarten through high school folded a few weeks ago after more than 50 years. I couldn’t count the hours we spent volunteering and supporting our team.

My daughter celebrating with her relay team at the end of a swim meet.

What memories from days past do you think about in a happy or melancholy way?

Our wild neighborhood

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We saw two mule deer on our morning walk.

Unfortunately our nest of quail eggs did not hatch. It makes me sad, because I was looking forward to our own hatchlings. We do have a couple families of quail visit our backyard. I also was thrilled to see deer yesterday morning.

I’m not sure what to do with the nest of eggs. I’m leaving it alone for the time being, but think I should throw them away?

I never get tired of the wildlife in our neighborhood. Across the street we have the McDowell Nature Preserve with more than 130 miles of hiking trails. That’s probably why we get deer, coyotes, javelina and bobcats waltzing through our backyards and streets. There’s so much building going on in Arizona, it’s reassuring to know the 30,580 acres of Sonoran Desert across the street will not be developed.

Here is one of the quail families that visit our yard. The babies look like teenagers.

Another deer in a neighbor’s yard.

Here’s a video of a mule deer walking across a neighbor’s driveway.

What is your favorite thing about your neighborhood?