Mesa, AZ - Keeping Busy

Well, Gary has been busy. 

A little work on the toilet. 

Oh, yes, the washer/dryer which has been on the fritz for about 4 weeks. Gary ordered a new master board and it arrived. Now to install it. He built up a platform in the bedroom to hold it, asked the neighbor next door to help him get it onto the platform so he could work on it. 

While Gary worked, I didn’t want to look like a sloth so I chose my own project. First, here’s our site. The house on the right was bought last year by Bob and Diane from British Columbia. They knew it was a fixer-upper and Bob is hard at work on it. The house to the left is Smitty’s and Dolores’ from Orange City, IA. We visited them in August on our way back from Alaska. They dated in high school but married others. About 10 years ago, after both of their spouses had died, they reconnected, married, sold Dolores’s home in Val Vista and bought another. They are fun to talk with and we’ve lived close to them for the 4 years we’ve been coming to Val Vista.

OK, now - my project. Several days ago, I was trying to back into our spot and ran over that white pyramid next to Smitty’s house. Big black tire marks on it. Gotta paint it. (You know why that pyramid is there, right? So people don’t run into their home. Sure did the job here) So, I bought some paint in Home Depot and went to work. First I scraped the little pyramid and the one that they have on the other corner of their home. They painted up nice. Next: see that white brick rim around the base of the tree? Well, it’s looking pretty tacky. The rest of my project is to paint that. But, it took lots more scraping and paint removal. 

Now, here’s what it looks like. Lots better. 

It’s not all fun and games. We also wanted to get some walking in since we’ve missed our daily walk for quite a while. 

It’s close to Halloween and homes are decorated to the teeth. 

Since I seem to have focused on pictures of Gary for this blog, I was reviewing some old pictures and found these - the first selfies. He was in the Navy for 4 years, many of them on a carrier in the Atlantic. Of course, once sailors leave shore they can do things that sailors on shore cannot: like grow beards. Here’s Gary before and after with one picture in between. Some of the original selfies. 

Here’s he’s got the cool Fu Manchu moustache but has added a ruffle to his chin. Gary took these pictures with a film camera (imagine that!!), scanned them and put them into our digital collection. These pictures are old, really old. 

Now, we’re getting more fluff.

And, finally, he’s grown a full beard. 

When he got ashore and I picked him up at the base, I didn’t know who was in the car. I recognized the voice, but the face? Whoo-eee.

'Always walk tall and keep your head up - unless you're walking in a cow pasture.'