Thursday, January 2 through Sunday, January 19, 2025: Appointments and Devastating Fires and Life at Palm Creek

Francesco texted me a photo of his family in Florence. He and Thomas were able to visit them for several days. Also in this photo are Thomas' parents, Francesco's sister Chiara and Chiara's husband.

 

My friend Pat Thomas shared with me a photo of Mark Brown. Mark had a stroke 18 months ago and is still recovering. He lives in an assisted living facility.

 

Mark was an attorney in Richard's law firm. Here is a 2015 photo of Richard and Mark in Southern California.

 

I had a hair appointment with Miranda Palmer Thursday afternoon. It is nice to only have to drive five minutes for a cut and color.

 

Friday afternoon, Tom set up our Weber barbecue. We enjoyed barbecued rib eye steak for dinner.

 

There was a nice sunset as well.

 

Tom and I really enjoy dancing to country western music. Saturday evening, we went to the Three Palm Ballroom. The Campbell Brothers are an excellent band.

 

We danced away for several hours.

 

Sunday afternoon, Jon came over with a new media device. We bought this device for $200. It allows us to access pay-for-view programs free of charge. Nice!

 

Last week, I ordered new covers for the dog beds. The off-white color of the larger and thicker beds showed dirt too quickly.  The new gray covers arrived on Monday.

 

Wednesday morning, a computer technician named Jeremy Pata came to our trailer site. My computer keyboard has not been working properly. But, of course, it was working fine that morning! So, Jeremy shifted his time to make improvements for Tom's computer.

 

In the afternoon, I drove to Chandler for my facial appointment with Heather Liston. It is less than a 40 minute drive.

 

The new dog bed covers now clash with the brown rug. So on Amazon, I ordered a gray rug for the living room. It came a day earlier than I expected. Nice!

 

Several weeks ago, Tom developed a hernia on the lower left side of his stomach. He went to the Banner Urgent Care facility to get medical attention. The clinic referred him to Dr Andri Olafsson. Thursday morning, we drove 40 minutes to the city of Florence to see this surgeon.

 

Tom is now scheduled for surgery on January 31 in a Queen Creek, Arizona, hospital.

 

The Memorial Service for Marshall Rutter was set for Saturday, January 11. I made arrangements to drive to Pasadena, California, for this event. But, these plans were postponed due to hurricane force Santa Ana winds and devastating fires in Los Angeles County --- Pacific Palisades, Altadena, and other areas. My sister Wendy and her family were evacuated from their home in Sierra Madre. Wendy's husband Kai took this picture of the fire from their front yard.

My long-time friend, Nora, and her husband, Paul, bought a beautiful home in the Pacific Palisades. They were evacuated on Wednesday. Unfortunately, they lost their home.

 

My sister Wendy has two friends who lost their homes to the fire in Altadena.

 

 

 

Even the Hollywood sign and Griffith Park have been affected.

 

Jamie continues to have issues with his back legs. On Friday, January 10, I walked him and Kelsey to the fountain. The sling I bought on Amazon works well.

Saturday night, Atlanta and other parts of Georgia got snow. My niece, Lauren Carroll, and her son Colter enjoyed the white stuff in the city of Kennesaw.

 

Early Monday morning, the Wolf Moon appeared. One of my neighbors in Highland Meadows posted a beautiful photo of this full moon in Williams.

  

Monday afternoon, Tom and I tackled a project of replacing the black shades on our two travel trailer doors. The summer heat melted some of the former shade components.We ordered the shades on Amazon.

My bicycle has an error message on the display. There is a red E30! Communication Error. So, Tuesday morning, I rode my bike to Round Trip Bike Shop on Florence Boulevard. There, I met Parker and Jeff. I left my bike with them. They are going to contact Aveton EBikes to trouble shoot the problem.

Tuesday morning, I saw my first hot air balloon hovering over Palm Creek. I love those balloons!

 

Later in the afternoon, Tom and I had an appointment with our chiropractor, Tim Hoyt.

 

Tuesday evening, I attended a Lighting Ceremony for the Palm Creek Pickleball Club. New and improved lights were added to most of the 32 pickleball courts. Yes!

 

I volunteered to demonstrate drills for the nighttime Skills Games on Court 16.

 

Wednesday, I drove to the Barnet-Dulaney-Perkins Eye Center in Mesa for an appointment with my cataract surgeon, Dr. Aaron Amacher. My two surgeries are schedule for February 17 and March 3.

 

On my way home, there was a very nice sunset in the hills west of Casa Grande.

 

Thursday, Tom and I played Rummikub with Mike and Sandy Sachett. Mike and Sandy are from Minnesota. They have a 5th wheel trailer up the street from us.

 

That evening, there was a very colorful sunset from our site on Emerald Lane.

 

The next morning, I captured a photo of a gorgeous sunrise over the golf course.

 

Friday afternoon, Tom and I went to the Lawn Bowling venue to practice bowling.

 

Since my E-bike is in the shop, I decided to try and find an inexpensive bike that I can use. The thought is to keep this simple bike in Casa Grande and take my 70 pound E-bike back to Williams. On NextDoor, I saw a bike for sale in Palm Creek. Tom and I went to see the bike, and I bought it for $60 dollars. Yes!

 

Later in the day, Tom and I went to a Fun Bowl event at 12:30 p.m.  We only had time to stay for one of two rounds of the bowing obstacle course. But it was fun!

My newly acquired bike needed some handlebar adjustments. My neighbor, Earl Haas, along his wife Lisa, helped us accomplish this.