Who da man?

I. am. da. man!
First, I was making a meatloaf. That's right. Preparing food. Manly.
There was a little bit left over so I decided to form patties and grill them outside for lunch.
Grilling red meat. Manly.
When I came back inside, I noticed that the latch on the sliding door was broken.
Noticing a problem. Manly.
Never having encountered this exact problem in my 60-ahem years on the planet, I had to examine the mechanism and determine how it worked. Do I even have to say it? Manly.
Then I had to gather the proper tools. Which I had. Testosterone is flowing!
Next I had to disassemble the latch, reassemble the latch and reinstall it on the door. Even though this task required the use of three hands, I did it with only two. Manly.
The best part? Peggie was in the shower. She won't even know there was a problem until she reads this. And the problem is already solved. Ma-an-ly.
To recap: Home repair   1          Trips to hardware store  0
So, who da man?
That would be ME !


And the grilled meatloaf patty? Delicious.

March-ing on

Margie had free passes to Out of Africa, a wild animal park near Cottonwood, so we went up there to see that. They have mostly rescued animals native to Africa, but also black and brown bears and tigers.
All together now...."Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"  Good.
The grizzly bears were very small, and the black bears were very fat. The lions and tigers are awesome animals. They have a performance called "Tiger Splash" in which handlers tease playfully with a couple of tigers to get them to leap high into the air and land in a pool of water. The handler is also in the pool. With a playful tiger. We were there on a Sunday, which is one of the three days of the week that they feed the predators. That was fun. They throw huge hunks of meat, or chickens, or turkeys over the fence. They hand feed the grizzly through the fence. (chainlink)
Anyway, we drove home the long way and were rewarded with a spectacular wildflower show.
Now we are getting a few days of light rain, and March Madness has started, and grandkids are coming to visit next week.
Life is good.

March in Tucson

We had a little cold snap last week. It rained most of one day and the high temp was 57. We had to put on jackets to go out. Now, though, temps are on the rise and in 70's on the way to 80's next week.
Moon was full last night, and will be just past full tonight. So we are going to take a moonlight hike in Sabino Canyon tonight when the moon comes up just after 7pm. We will stay on the road so as not to trip and fall off a cliff. It would be nice if some wildlife (not mountain lions!) show up.

February in Tucson

Seventy something. Doesn't matter. When the first digit is seven, the second digit is just a detail.
High, thin clouds. A little wind.
We dressed appropriately, applied sunscreen and set out.
There was a car show with a couple of blues bands at a local mall. Outdoors. Food trucks.
We admired some of the old cars, explored the food trucks for later, selected a couple of chairs and listened to the first band. We were facing the north side of the Catalina Mountains. A large hawk was drifting on the wind. At one time he drifted about fifty feet straight overhead.
The band finished its set and we went to get BBQ tri tip. We sat on a curb to eat. Then we heard the second band warming up and headed back to the bandstand. The second band was better. More experienced. More professional. The hawk was joined by a mate. They entertained us for quite a while.
When the music stopped and it was time to give prizes to the cars, it was time to go home.
Wow. February in Tucson.

Happy Birthday Ariana

Seven!
How do you get to be seven so fast?
I think you should slow down. Don't turn eight for at least another year.
Well, enjoy your day. I hope the storm doesn't keep you from having fun.

Happy Birthday, Julian

Two years old.
At two one doesn't have the experience necessary to understand what a "birthday" is. But parents celebrate it, adding to the child's store of memories so that by age five full anticipation kicks in. If there are enough other children around having birthdays and especially parties, children can pick up on the importance of the occasion even sooner.
Sorry I don't have any pictures to post here, but you can check facebook for anything Peggie has posted.

You might think nothing is happening.

But you'd be wrong.
Our Skagway friend Dennis visited for a few days and we had a good time. We went to Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Kartchner Caverns, and several movies. Also, we had a fire in our new fire pit.
Brother Don called to invite me jeeping. I went up for a whole week and we went all over the place. We did not break anything, and did not need a rescue. We saw lots of pronghorns and deer and hawks and eagles. I found some interesting rocks including some 350 million year old fossils. Peggie drove up to get me and we enjoyed a long drive home via Pleasant Valley. Beautiful scenery.
It is raining a bit now, although the forecast called for a downpour, which is not happening.
The state is excited to host the Superbowl this weekend, but for us it could just as well be anywhere since we will see it on TV.
Speaking of TV, we use it to appreciate living here as we see the nasty weather in the rest of the country.