senior cuz

Jerome, Az.

2006-11-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Today, Ada and I took a wrong turn ( I didn't follow direction well! ) and ended up and I mean up-, in the old mining town of Jerome, Az. This town clings to the side of the mountain where they used to mine a century ago. Each street in the town is one story higher or lower than it's neighboring street. Note the white house, you're lookin at it's back side. At street level it appears to be a one story house. You'd swear that building a two story house down would bring worries of sliding off the mountain. You really need to see this amazing place. When the mine petered out the town nearly died and there are some old abandoned homes and businesses but the town has now become a tourist haven with loads of shops and restaurants that are in the hundred year old buildings. The hotel is haunted but booked solid. Looking down this street past the red brick building which actually houses the town's fire station, is a dirt road that leads to the old mine. Oh, by the way, the town is at about a mile high elevation. It sits 3,000' up the side of the mountain. If you don't like narrow, steeeeeeeeeeep highways, you'll probably never visit this remarkable treasure.

Sunrise over Phoenix

2006-10-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I not only take sunsets, but I get up early eneough to capture a sunrise. This morning, 10/13/06, I went out to get my morning paper and I saw this amazing sunrise. Note the orange blurry area at the center of the pix. That is an actual shower, that dosn't reach the ground. The weather terminology for this is "verga".

Fifty Four years ago

2006-09-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

For those who did not know me when I was growing up, here is what I looked like when I first joined the Navy in 1952. This was taken while I was at Boot Camp at the Great Lakes Naval training Station, north of Chicago. If I look rathjer dark skinned, it was because I had spent a solid month on Miller Beach immediately after high school graduation. The steel mills were on strike and no one was hiring in Gary. I was working part time as an assistant manager of the Ridge Theater. I decided that since I was living alone because both of my adoptive parents were dead, I would join the Navy and see the world, which by the way, I did by sailing around the world on board the USS Wasp, CVA-18. The young man in the picture with me is the cousin of Gordon Mc Rae the famous movie star singer.

Laid Back

2006-09-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Ever get caught in a totally laid back mode? As you can see I got caught in truly a laid back situation. Warm afternoon, church yard sale, been there since dawn setting up, found comfy recliner, fell into a doze, got rigged by others, and became subject of this trapped in time moment.

2006-09-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Cleaning out old pix that I no longer remember or have faded or no one one else would be interested in and I came across this sunset. It was taken from my apartment about 20 years ago when I lived in Pacifica, Ca. if you look closely you can see the Pacifica fishing pier to the left side of the sun's reflection on the ocean. I guess this really wasn't a sunset but a late afternoon shot, probably around 3 o'clock in the afternoon and abouit three hours before the actual sunset. An update as to what we've been doing........... Our super hot weather has finally seemingly gone bye, bye. We even have had some rain here at Sunnyside Dr. Last week we got dumped on with a little over two inches of rain right here at our place. The air is beginning to show sighs that the monsoon is nearing it's end sometime this week. Well folks, Senior Cuz will on 9/11, be celebrating reaching 72. My legs have begun to tell me that I'm no longer 50. Everything else is not too bad. Oh, well....

Monsoon Sky

2006-08-21T17:54:00.000-07:00

This is when we hope the sky will open and give us a few very drops of rain. Some parts of the valley have had 4 to 5 inches of the wet stuff. Here on the west side of the valley we are pretty parched . So far here at our abode we have only seen an inch and a quarter. There are some clouds to the east of us and may be able to work their way over the top of us. The thunderheads
your seeing here were topping 60,000 ft. In reality they are more than 40 miles away. I'm currently keeping an eye on the radar of my "Weatherbug" web site. It is a pretty neat place to go to in order to know where the rain may fall.

Bell Rock

2006-07-19T11:22:00.000-07:00

Another of those formations to challenge your imagination. This is the first formation you see as you approach Sedona from the east. This pix taken from the club house restarant at our time share resort.

You want to know something? I'm not going to mention how hot it is here. If you're in this national heat wave the country is experiencing, then I think I've got the better end of the deal. Although our temp is 109, our heat index is ony 107, since our humidity is only 19 %. With your high temps and high humidities, you are probably much more uncomfortable than us. You could be experiencing indexes in excess of 115 or 120.

Need to think cool !!!!!

2006-07-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

I need to think cool. It's 11:00 AM and it's already 105 degrees here in Peoria. The forecast for today is 116 degrees. The heat index right now for 105 is that it feals like 107. When it gets to the 116 mark it will probably feal like a 120 degrees. Our daily prayers here in the Valley of the Sun, include the continued functioning of our air conditioners. I try to imagine what it must have been like before air conditioning. Remember Dial soap? Now I know why it grew into such a giant local industry. In the days before Dial I can understand people wishing everyone would use Dial. I think I'll hide inside today and forget about any need to do any thing except maybe go out and get the mail. Let me tell you that short trip to the mail box is an experience. You take a breath and your lungs cry out what the heck are you doing to us??????

Triangles

2006-07-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

Of all of the pictures I have ever taken and that number goes into the thousands, this is one of my personal favorites. I snapped this about twenty years ago and it has wowed me ever since. I don't know who the kids were, but they were having such a great time playing on the beach in Pacifica, Ca. How many triangles can you count?

Snoopy at rest atop his dogn house.

2006-07-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

Who would've thought that nature could carve out a Charlie Brown character in the land of vortexes. From a slighty different spot you can find Lucy looking at Snoopy.

Happy Birthday America!

2006-07-04T08:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, aren't we the lucky ones! We're living in a land that symbolizes freedom. I'm so thankful that I was born where although given up at birth, I was not born in some country where at birth I might have been thrown on a garbage heap. Although there are many in this country who struggle to get by day by day, we are blessed not to be a country where 90 % of the people struggle to survive day by day. Let us each stand up today and say, I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

2006-07-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

On our trip to California this month, we made our half way stop, up and back, in the wonderful town of Solvang, Ca. It is one of our countries interesting little quaint towns. you would think that someone had picked up an entire Dannish town and set it down in southern Calif. We're not talking just about the village businesses, but also the homes of the people from Denmark. We stayed at a great motel that is a family owned that is apart of the America's Best Value Inn's. The name is "Svendgaard's Danish Inn. The first night we spent there we had a lovely room with a corner fireplace. The other night we had a room that opened directly onto the pool and jacuzzi. They did provide continental breakfast of, of course, Danish's. Our second night there we had a hunger for good Danish cooking and the owner of the inn recommended, a small restaurant a half a block from the inn it's name "Bit of Denmark". The picture you see here was taken looking down the street from in front of the restaurant. We went into the restaurant and one of the specials of the night was Smorgasborg. We got a little of everything , we nearly overdid the good thing and tried too much of the great food. Next trip to Calif. by car will be thru Solvang. If you ever travel to Southern Calif you must try this. It is North of Santa Barbara. Not really too far from Steve and Jeanette.

Slide Rock State Park

2006-06-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Right in the middle of this picture is one of the slides in the Oak Creek State Park where the rocks bottoms have been worn down by eons of water rushing down the canyon and it makes for quite a trilling ride down the slide of rushing water. This being at over 4,000 ft. altitude the mountain water temperature will give you a real teeth chattering reception. The Brins Fire did not reach the park, but did come up the the edge of the park. The firefighters did a great job in keeping it out of the park.

Sunset on Monterey beach, Calif.

2006-06-22T19:22:00.000-07:00

This is one of the most interesting sunsets that I've had the priviledge to observe. note the people sitting there watching this developing beautiful sunset. As the sun neared the horizon the people on the beach stopped frolicking and began to quietly sit down and watch the sun set. When the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, I felt that the the next thing we would see would be the scolling down from the sky, like movie credits, " This sunset is presented for your enjoyment through the love of GOD! However, eventhough there were no movie style credits. The monent after the sun did set, the people on the beach clapped their hands and stood up and quietly walked off the beach as if reverently repecting the most beautiful of sunsets.

Desert Sunset

2006-06-05T19:50:00.000-07:00

A sunset from my front yard. I've always been awed by the beauty of sunsets. When I was single and lived in Pacifica, Calif. I had an apartment that over looked the ocean and I would sit on the balcony and watch sunsets develop. Some times I would sit there with camera in hand waiting to see the development of the sunset for more than forty five minutes. I have an album of nothing but sunsets. I would even sit there at times when there were no clouds for the oportunity to see a rare green flash. What is a green flash, you might ask. It is the moment when the sun's last moment disappears over the ocean's horizon. It doesn't happen every time the sunsets over a cloudless horizon. You can blink and miss it. I've been fortunite eneough to have seen the green flash about a dozen times in my life.

I must have been pyschic!

2006-06-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

Last fall when Ada and I took took a trip to Cape Cod, we experienced a very weird happening. We spotted an old cemetary while looking for a beach that an early relative had settled. After finding the beach, Ada wanted to stop at this old cemetary to see if we could locate the grave of one of her revolutionary war relatives. There were probably a thousand graves in this cemetary. I drove around the cemetary looking for a section of really old looking grave stones. I spotted some and said I would stop so we could check the dates on the graves to see if we were anywhere near the right era. I stopped the car and Ada got out to check. I'll bet you have already guessed what she found when she checked the graves right next to where I had stopped the car. You're absolutely right! As you can see from the picture, she found him right there. Just twelve feet from the car door. Am I pyschic or what?

Beautiful desert tree.

2006-05-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

I'll bet mrsgreenthumb will know what this tree is. It is an interesting tree. The leaves slightly thicker than pine needles.
The lavender flowers are only in bloom a few weeks in the spring. I love sitting in my office looking at this fabulous tree.

New home being built in Sedona!

2006-05-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

This is a new home being built in Sedona. Three storys high. The dome will be an observatory. Front entry way is two storys high. Five car Garage on lower level. With additional parking space for about a dozen cars. Area about 15,000 sq.ft. Sits on a knoll with 360 degree of incredible views. You'll probably need a very fat wallet to own this little bungalo. Cost will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 Million Dollars.

2006-05-03T15:01:00.000-07:00

Where we were viewing from, when taking picture of the new home previously discribed.

It's always sunny on Sunnyside Dr.

2006-04-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

It seems that it's nearly always sunny on Sunnyside Dr. When they tell us that there will be scattered showers, we just smile because that probably means we won't be where it's scattered. We've been here almost nine years now and it has been overcast all day maybe a dozen times. I guess that'll tell you pretty much why its called "The Valley of the Sun"! Do you think we miss the snow and cold of winter's of Gary ???? NO! And heck NO! Do you think we have missed the wet wet wet California weather either????? Again, NO, NO, and heck NO! If we want any of that, it's just a short two hours drive to fulfill those misguided desires.
Those of you who have not been to our desert, you might be surprised to see grass and trees. The tree in our front yard was planted by us in 1998. It was ony 12' tall at the time. it is now nearing 40" tall. It is called a Jacaranda tree. In the back yard we have two orange trees and a grapefruit tree. There are nearly sixty grapefruits on it this year and the orange trees have born nearly 200 oranges. And those of you who might be curious as to what those three dark things are over the garage door, they are butterfly's.

Chief Hosa Hoho

2006-04-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Here we are at our 50's + group last Thankgiving portraying two of the prime person's of the first Thankgiving. I was Chief Massasoit and Ada was Govenor Bradford's wife. FYI, Ada is a direct descendant from the Plymouth colonists. Last October we sent a week on Cape Cod doing geneology research of Ada's tree. She has a pretty amazing family tree. The various branches are quite profuse with many famous names of American colonial history, and she is joined to several presidents.
As to this article's title, When I was at summer camp as a boy scout, I was reading a comic book by my flashlight when I thought that a fly or mosquito had landed on my belly. I tried to brush it off, but it were't what I thought! It thwere a WASP, who stung me. I let out a scream that was heard from one end of the camp to the other. everyone thought someone had been murdered. At the clo9sing campfire the leader's bestowed the Choctaw name of Hosa Hoho, which stand for loud voice (big mouth) or as more politely stated, He who speaks with mighty voice.

I was first called "Baby Boy Truppe"

2006-03-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is I, the one who for 59 years did not know that I was adopted. A year and a half later I spoke to the first member of my newly discovered family. The very first person was "Mrs. Greenthumb". I went from thinking I was an only child, to finding that I belonged to a large family with a wonderful history.

Coffee Pot Rock, Sedona

2006-03-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

What wind, rain, and time can do is truly amazing. Isn't it great that we have imaginations?

Red Rock Country

2006-03-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

This is Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Az. It was the last week of December and the temperture was near 75 degrees. Everytime I visit here I know why I'll never, ever again live in the region of Gary, In.

Senior Cuz in the desert.

2006-03-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

From the Valley of the Sun, where it gets 115 degrees, and no sweat because it evaporates before you feel it!