Weekend of March 12th & 13th

Dear Mom and family,

Yesterday was this month's travel club meeting, and it was a hike instead of a restaurant meal. The five of us who have been with the group the longest came, and one of them brought her husband. We had a lovely time. Perfect weather; sunny, breezy, and about 75 degrees.

One thing that I noticed about the dynamics of a small group hike (as opposed to a small group around a restaurant booth) was that there is a greater variety of person-to-person communication. When people are walking, they tend to group together, then break off into pairs or threesomes, then all together again, etc. So there are more chances to talk to each person individually.

I had been a little grumpy about driving "all the way into Phoenix" to go to South Mountain park when I have so much to do to get my house ready for the party. It was actually only a thirty minute 'jog' east on the 60, then five minutes south on the 1-10 E (which goes south right there). Not far from where I go to the dentist.

 We met up at a Safeway parking lot. Then carpooled the small distance, through an expensive Ahwatukee neighborhood of two-story tan stucco homes with professional-looking desert-plant landscaping, to the park entrance with one of our members to meet the last two at the trailhead.

There were so many cars parked there, and many hikers, bicyclers, and joggers, most of them very fit and wearing bright athletic wear.

 

Everyone was very friendly and it was easy to find someone to take the group photo above.

I am planning to meet one of our members in Prague this October. The idea is to spend a few days there and then take the train to Berlin. We solidified the date to meet in Prague (I will fly there a couple of days early and stay in the hostel I stayed at last time). 

However, she asked me not to buy the ticket until the end of this month, when she finds out the result of a biopsy of a lump found in her breast. She is concerned because the doctor asked her to go to the Mayo Clinic for the biopsy. She was very matter-of-fact about it, but I feel for her so much.

Here's a photo of three of our group on the trail.

During the walk it developed that Ann and Diane may meet us in Prague also. As a group, we've talked about all meeting in Europe some time, but have never done it yet. We could talk about it because "the Talker" wasn't there at the hike. She is the one "regular" who is not also a real friend.

I also had a conversation with one of the members about renting. (When we get enough repairs done on the trailer next door, we may rent it out.) She said that she would never rent to someone without a good credit rating, background check, current pay stub, etc. 

She belongs to a group which meets monthly, all landlords. Their group has an arrangement with an outfit called "doctorevicter.com" whom they call on if someone stops paying their rent.

I told her that I'd talked to a friend (my friend Laure) about renting to her friend Victoria (the one I went to the dance event with).

"Is she working?"

"She's doing baby-sitting and is paid 'under the table'."

"Does she have a good credit rating?"

"I would be very surprised if she had a good credit rating."

"Where is she living now?"

"She's living with a friend of mine in return for doing housework."

"Don't do it. It could be very hard to get her out of there if she stopped being able to pay."

So that was interesting. I could see that everything she said was true, and that if things came to that, it would be doubly hard to evict Victoria because she is a friend, not one of my best friends, but still, a friend. And itt could damage my relationship with Laure, who is one of my very closest friends.

Of course, it will be a long time, and thousands of dollars of repairs, before the trailer is rentable. For now, because of the condition it's in, all I could get on it was liability insurance.

I stopped at Costco and ordered photographs of the different stages of building the pizza oven/smoker. I wanted to put a display up with about ten photos on it. Also, John Ducette would like photos of the construction stages. CostCo was very crowded.

I also stopped at Lowe's to get hardware to mount the dowel on the shelf brackets, for the curtains on the dining room window. It has been bare of curtains since Dale Sr. built that nice shelf over it.

When I got home, I started doing some deep cleaning in the kitchen. I am obviously not going to get to cleaning the entire house, so I'm remembering something that you said, Mom. You said, "What people really notice is if the kitchen and bathroom are clean." So I'm starting there.

I found out from Ann on the hike that The Migrant Trail Walk registration is open, so I went last night to Starbuck's, opened up the website, registered and paid the fee. So I've made that plunge. I was pleased that it seemed to be so organized
(there are support vehicles for those who can't keep up with the group) and it was interesting to read the history of the walk. (Apparently when we start out, the group will be blessed by a priest!)

I mentioned this walk to Dave, the pastor who is often at Starbuck's preparing his sermons or his Bible group sessions. This instigated avery good discussion, because the immigrant issue is huge with him. He has had differences with other pastors in Apache Jct. because he is so sympathetic to immigrants, whether or not they are legal. He told me that he has had parishioners leave his church over this issue. 

He has been upset to see so much zenophobia developing in the last few years. "I try to teach them that this was not Christ's message."

He said that he had been becoming friendly with a group of "Christian bikers" who sometimes hung out at Starbuck's. These people wear vests covered with patches, with the group's logo on the back. Then he noticed that one of the patches, they all wear, a little one near the bottom on the front, said, "Speak English or go home." Dave said that he hadn't really been as friendly with them since.

I also found out that his daughter, whom I see in Starbuck's now and then, is in Washington DC, with a group of "Democrats of faith". The group will play a part in the Democratic Convention, as they did in the last one. She was chosen to open that groups main big gathering. I've always liked her, and was thrilled to find out that she is so involved in this way.

After talking with him, I thought as I walked to my car, "We are friends," (meaning Dave the pastor). I had always put him in the category of "one of the nicer Starbuck's regulars", but not in the 'friend' category.

Sunday morning I planted the rest of the tomatoes before Dale Sr. and I went to CostCo for the big "pizza party grocery run".

I had been dreading the CostCo grocery run, because I don't usually shop for groceries there. But Dale Sr. was quite familiar with the grocery section. We had the list which Mike had helped us make up before they left for LA.

Here are some of the groceries we bought for the pizza party:

In the afternoon was the music jam meetup, which was held at the home of another of the members. It turned out to be really fun, especially when this one very animated guy arrived, an excellent musician. He was late because he didn't read that the meeting place had changed.

The woman in this photo is one of the nicest people who come. She lives quite near Lyssa as the crow flies, but a long twisty mountain road away, "as the car drives". The young man shown is an excellent musician but not used to playing with people. He is the one who told me that this stuff (meeting new people) is difficult for him because he has social anxiety. He seems "loosen up" more each time he comes.

Love, 
Lennie