Life At The Hacienda

Out there among that sea of roofs is where we live. I know the picture is small but if you double click on it, it will enlarge (usually... sometimes). Look real carefully just above the top of the post, you can see my white pickup partially hidden by the tree. Our little RV hacienda is behind the tree. Jim's house is the one to the right -- not the white one more in the foreground. That is his closest neighbor. Actually the houses are not as close together as they appear in this picture. Except for the ones way in the background. Those are a small part of a VERY large development called Saddlebrook. It has a golf course, club house, tennis courts, small lake, and a small shopping area with a mini-market, gas station, post office and few other offices. In fact Saddlebrook almost surrounds the 80 acres where Jim's house is located. The road in the foreground is the one we drive in and out on. When I took this picture I was walking to the mail box for the exercise of it. It is about a 2 mile walk -- uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill. I rode my bike once and I thought I was going to die. Going downhill was fun but the uphill part about did me in.

I hope I didn't overwhelm anyone with all that information in last week's blog. Someone might ask about the other people that volunteer here. There are 200 to 250 winter volunteers, but not all at the same time. Some are here for only a week or two, others stay 4 or 5 months. They are almost totally from the cold northern states and Canada. Quite a few are from Oregon. One lady I work with used to live in the Grants Pass area and her husband knows some of the people I know. They live in Boise, Idaho now. I estimate there are 150-175 volunteers here right now. Here are some the jobs they do: sewing, quilting, book assembly, office work, furniture refinishing, upholstery, rug-making, operating the boutique, auto repair and maintenance, building/carpentry, grounds maintenance, keyboarding (what I do), and stamp ministry (what Joyce does). There are probably other things volunteers do because the need arises and there is a person who can do it.

We do have wild critters around us. We hear coyotes at night and have seen a couple walking down the road. There are a lot of doves, quail and rabbits. We also have havalinas in the area. So far we've only gotten a glimpse of them. My goal is to get a picture! Pack rats are also in the area. And they can be a nuisance. Last week I decided to clean the air filter on the pickup. It is a big K&M designed to give the engine lots of air. It is one I clean, not replace. So I opened the compartment, took out the filter and discovered rats had made a nest in there. They got in thru the intake and had a nice bed of what looked like rabbit fur and cactus buds (for food, I guess). By the time I got it all cleaned I had cactus thrones in all my fingers -- I carried tweezers in my pocket for two days. Now I leave the hood up at night because that discourages them and I also put a board over the intake. I'm looking for the right kind of wire to make a permanent barrier.

Jim left Saturday to join his wife in Bellingham so Joyce and I have the run of the place. We picked up uncle Ken and took him the Oro Valley Church of Nazarene today. The pastor is a good preacher -- not eloquent, but very personable.

This has not been a week filled with "excitement" but it has not been boring, either. I switched computers and have been keyboarding the Book of Acts. It is actually fun to do. I may be on something else next week and that is okay. Trust your week is filled with stuff that is "okay." Love ya.