Mom's new woodpecker feeder
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Mom's new woodpecker feeder |
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Surprisingly, my life in Scottsdale is an odd extreme - I have absolutely zero distractions in terms of friends, parties, dinners, work, and any other events. My daily schedule is empty. But, this affords me the liberty to compile a whole new list of activities and objectives - creating websites, reading, running, cooking, movie-watching, etc. As a result, the month of November, before arriving to Scottsdale, becomes one big brainstorming session of things to do (that I do not normally have the time to do) during my short time in Scottsdale. This year I arrived with a Palm Pilot whose "To Do" list extended off the visible screen. I was ready to relax.
The days leading up to Christmas were filled by running (I actually
averaged almost 9 miles per day during the long week), shopping for gifts
and personal "not available in Europe" items, cooking, watching football
(also not possible in Europe), a movie, and a Phoenix Suns basketball game
at the America West Arena. Phoenix won in a last minute hurrah.
And in between I was able to do my share of website building and movie
renting. Each morning I tried to wake up early and join Mom on her
one hour walk through the surrounding neighborhoods and desert ranches
- we were able to see a variety of hungry animals waiting for their morning
feeding, including some very loud goats. I originally planned to
get some serious time relaxing at the neighborhood pool, but the weather
did not cooperate, as the daytime temperatures never exceeded 60F, and
it even rained at times - not typical for the Scottsdale desert climate.
A few images from the first few days:
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Shopping in the Scottsdale area is a dream compared to Paris - the space available in each aisle, and the almost overwhelming level of service and attention, and the ease and convenience of paying. I had once taken these things for granted when I lived in Houston, but I had now been converted into the quintessential consumer by the user-friendly shopping environment. I was very pleased that I had waited to buy the majority of my presents in Phoenix.
On Christmas Day the stores were closed, and I refocused my efforts to the task of baking my special cherry pie. It came out perfectly. Sarah was due to arrive that evening, too late to have a real family dinner, so we had planned to have our Christmas turkey lunch on the following day. Sarah arrived on time that night, and we made it home from the airport in time to open all of the presents that I had consolidated in the living room. My highlight was a new four-season mountaineering tent, which would turn into a sauna anywhere but on a glacier. It was a true fortress.
It had been six months since I had last seen Sarah - at the Indianapolis
500 in May, so we spent most of the evening catching up on good stories.
Sarah had a serious boyfriend Edgar, also a Schlumberger field engineer
in Bakersfield, and originally from Bogota Columbia. He had already
left Bakersfield to go home to see his family, and Sarah planned to fly
down and meet him there following our break in Scottsdale. It would
be her first time in South America, and she was very excited. A few
more images from Christmas day:
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The day after Christmas we cooked, shopped, ran, and enjoyed our family
dinner at home. That night Sarah and I went to see part two of the
"Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which was excellent. The remainder of
the week went much the same, except that the weather warmed up nicely,
and we were able to spend some time getting sun at the neighborhood pool.
On my last night Dad and I went to a hockey game, also at America West
Arena, which Phoenix won by a landslide. Saturday morning Sarah left
for Los Angeles, where she would connect and fly to Bogota. I also
left that afternoon, after eight relaxing but busy days in the desert.
I was heading on to Breckenridge to meet ten Schlumberger friends for a
week of skiing and New Year's revelry. That story I will save for
another website.
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