Travel with Tom and Else.

A Sign of Life from the Van Erps

2025-06-13T07:21:00.000-06:00

Hi All:

Yes, here we are, in the "virtual" flesh, so to speak. Hope y'all are doing well. Else and I are still kicking, although Else is currently having a bit of a tough time of it.

As some of you may remember, several years ago she had a serious bout of skin cancer, one of the after affects being that the poor woman is losing all of her teeth. After a recent "altercation" with our sweet dog, Biscuit, she ended up with even fewer of them.

She's unable to get a new set yet because her bones are too brittle to receive implants making some sort of fancy oxygen treatment a necessity. She currently hauls herself off to a hospital in Denver every day where she has to sit, quietly, in some sort of an oxygen tank for hours at time. Not much fun.

Anyway, she could use some encouragement from y'all. Her e-mail is elsevanerp@aol.com

The second reason you're hearing from me is that this blog is no longer serving my purposes and I'm switching to another platform.

I plan on picking up my writing again, such as it is, and I'd like to invite y'all along. ONE of the problems with this blog is that I don't know who you are! I have tried everything and am unable to find out who my "followers" are.

I therefor ask that if you want to follow me on my new blog, you must separately e-mail me to tomvanerp@aol.com and say "YES" and I'll get you on the new platform.

If I don't hear from you this will be our final communication as I'm shutting this blog down. (How's that for a threat)

Merry Christmas from Tom and Else.

2023-12-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

Yes, it's been a long time. My excuse is that about two years ago my computer crashed and this blog program got completely changed causing me to lose a list of all my approximate 150 "followers" . As a result I basically lost interest which is the reason you haven't heard from me. At least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

A REQUEST:

Since I have no clue who'll be receiving this missive, I'm asking those of you who are interested in receiving my occasional blog post, to e-mail me at tomvanerp@aol.com . I realize that we're all bombarded with crap everyday in your inbox and I certainly don't want to add to that.

So, again, please e-mail me at tomvanerp@aol.com if you want to receive my occasional blog post.

Taking off for Ontario, Canada!

2023-09-15T09:00:00.001-06:00

Hi all:

Today we're taking off for a one month trip to among other places, Northern Ontario via the "Lake head" of Lake Superior to view the fall colors and to visit friends and family. Here you see the camper ready waiting for us to board.

This will be the longest trip with the new, much smaller, camper we're planning on taking. Just to be sure, we've consulted with a marriage counselor. She predicted a 76.46 % success rate. We're hoping the weather will get better soon or she might be proved wrong. There ain't much room for throwing things you know.

We're off for Montana!

2022-06-29T08:24:00.000-06:00

Hi All:

Getting ready for the trip to daughter Barb and husband Stacy in Montana. Our 110-pound dog, biscuit, plans to take up a lot of space as you can see here but leaving our "baby" home is absolutely out of the question.

Although we could get there in a long day using Interstate 25, we plan on going the "back roads" taking about 3 days, watching birds and seeing the beautiful country along the way.

Stay tuned!

June 5, 2022 - Conifer to Steamboat, Colorado

2022-06-05T05:22:00.000-06:00

Hi All: We're back!

2022-06-04T20:17:00.000-06:00

As you can see from the attached photos we've downsized.

Let me explain:

RVing these past 3 years has changed significantly. You'd think that the entire world is now on the road with some sort of a camper or RV! I don't know exactly why probably due to the "work from anywhere movement" and probably due to Covid or whatever. When you own a big 29 ft RV it's often difficult to find a place to camp for the night without a reservation and if you know us, well........ we don't do reservations and we certainly don't cow-tow to some park. Nazi asking you all sorts of questions, besides demanding some enormous ransom just for spending the night. That's just not us!

Also because we ain't getting any younger we had actually been toying with the idea of just plain calling it quits. You know, 45 years of RVing maybe was enough but when we started seriously looking at these little puppies we couldn't resist.

So here we are. Tomorrow we're off to Steamboat Springs to celebrate our grandson's college graduation. Stay tuned................

Posted for Tom by Cam

What some people apparently must tell you.....................................

2022-03-08T00:00:00.005-07:00

We were eight minutes early as we were standing in line at the drugstore, waiting for it to open. He was ahead of me. It was 9:52 am and the store wouldn't be open until 10.00 in other words in eight minutes time. We got to talking, you know, just a bit of conversation to pass the time.

He was recently divorced after a brief marriage he told me. "She moved out in the middle of the night, the bitch, he added bitterly. "Thank God for the gym!" he said. "I can bench press 200 pounds; can you do that?"

The man looked indeed good for his age which he volunteered was just shy of 65. With his neatly pressed skinny jeans and a tight fitting body shirt accented by one of those modern short haircuts he certainly made an impression. "What do you for a living ?", I asked. "Oh", he said, I'm making a killing as an Uber foods driver. "Only work three hours a day and I clear $100.00!"

"Wow!", I said. And then the lady at the drug store opened up and he was gone..................................

Oh.... Valle Del Oro

2022-03-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

An updated picture of the author

As most you are aware, Else and I spend our winters here in Arizona in an "Over 55 Resort" called Valle Del Oro. Although it has taken me a long time to actually like it here, it's finally beginning to grow on me. It helps of course that I have basically stopped going back and forth to Denver giving me time to finally make friends and such.

Because we've been here for over 12 years and when we first got here we were already past 70 years old, we're now, no kidding(!), part of the old guard. You know, folks who've been here a long time and who are one step away from the grave or the "home", I suppose.

As I sit here in my easy chair, looking out from behind the front window and Else's geraniums, I see them every morning. A steady parade of very fit and active looking people about our kid's age walking or running. What's going on? What gives? Don't they have jobs? Don't they have anything better to do but frolic in the Arizona desert? What's with all that fancy athletic wear anyway? When I go to the dog park around 4:00 pm as my dog biscuit insists I do every day I see them again. At the tennis and pickle ball courts. Literally dozens and dozens of them sweating away in the blazing sun.

It's been pointed out to me that, "yes, Tom, these people are all retired. They've sweated for 30 years at some job as teacher or engineer or policeman and are now reaping the benefits".

Oh.....

Although this blog was originally intended to be a "travel blog" only, I've changed my mind and will henceforth begin sprouting on about our world in general in this space. Some of you might like it; some of you won't. You are of course free to use the unsubscribe button at the bottom of your screen. Secretly of course I hope you stay. Your comments are encouraged.

Season's Greetings from Tom & Else

2021-12-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hi All: Finally getting back into the swing of things.

It's been some two years, eh? (As they say in Canada). Else and I are finally eligible for our booster shots (we're behind because we both had a somewhat mild case of Covid last Spring) and I, at least, feel invincible and ready to attack the world with gusto. (As usual Else is a little more sober, or realistic some would say, about all this but what does she know)

No travel news to write about except that we finally got to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary this fall albeit 18 months late. I guess it'll only be 8 years now before we get to celebrate our70th.( We're actively searching for a venue. All suggestions are welcome.) In addition we also celebrated two (!) 30 year wedding anniversaries; Our youngest daughter Chris married to Joe and middle daughter Carol married to Karl. That's a total of 120 year's worth of marital bliss. Oldest daughter Barb and husband Stacy have "only" been married 17 years, mere honeymooners in other words.

A Ty.

Our boat parked at one of our camp sites.

For the occasion we had rented a 4 bedroom 59 ft "house boat" along with a dingy for water skieng and exploration,on Lake Powell, Utah. Grandkids were not invited as, after all, they should be studying or working and paying into the social security system so Else and I can remain retired. Son in law Stacy was our captain who after having followed a required internet course on how to handle this behemoth got us safely on and off that monster reservoir.

First morning on the lake.

For those of you unfamiliar with Lake Powell, it's a huge lake fed by the mighty Colorado river right in the middle of the Utah desert. It, together with another reservoir downstream called Lake Mead, serves as the primary water source for Las Vegas, L.A, and Phoenix. It is 186 mile long, has 2000 miles of shoreline and 96 major canyons! Because of the extreme drought prevalent in the entire West it remains to be seen if it'll survive. There are dire predictions all around. One of the options on the table apparently is to drain it now that it's only half full, and combine it with Lake Mead in order to prevent further evaporation in the hot desert by reducing the surface.

Here you can see how far below capacity the water is.

Anyway, we spend a full week on the lake exploring all the various canyons, laying in the hot desert sun, water skieeng, swimming.Because we were sort of off season we were able to camp in complete privacy......

Next week Else and I will be driving down to Mesa. It'll be our 11th (!) winter in Arizona. Time flies.

The gang wishes you all a Merry Christmas.

Have a very merry Christmas and may that "Covid Problem" finally end in the coming year so we can all get on with our lives.

My computer crashed!

2021-08-08T18:53:00.000-06:00

Hi All:

Remember me? Tom Van Erp ,You know, the RV traveler.

Well, I must admit that my computer skills, such as they were, have deteriorated even further and now to add insult to injury the damn computer crashed!

For some mysterious reason my carbonite.com account (those are the fine folks who supposedly keep your data safe and sound) is none existent and all my data is (was?) lost. Yes, I know, very stupid of me to not take better care. Another life lesson learned I suppose.

I did however locate some outfit who for the not inconsiderable price of $900.00 (!) extracted all (?) my data and handed it to me on one of those little whatyoumecallit sticks. It seems I have most my data back.

Next month we'll be going on a long planned ( and last year cancelled) house boat trip with the entire family to Lake Powell, in bone dry Utah in order to celebrate our long postponed 60th wedding anniversary. That lake which was formed by damming the Colorado River together with Lake Mead further on down, provides most of the water for Las Vegas, L.A. and Phoenix. Even though the water level has dropped precipitously it's apparently still possible to do whatever one is suppose to do on that monster sized lake. We'll just have to see and I'll be of course reporting from there.

Cheers.

Our best wishes for the holidays.

2020-12-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

My Gosh, finally a sign of life from Tom and Else! Yes, even though we haven't posted anything for a long time I want y'all to know we're doing just fine, thank you, but anxiously awaiting the promised end to the current madness. Hopefully we'll all be inoculated by Spring (?) (That's what they mean by "Hope Springs Eternal" I guess.)Anyway, here we are and since we've maintained radio silence for so long I thought it a good idea I'd tell you about all the comings and goings of the Van Erp Clan.

The pandemic forced us to cancel all the plans we had for this summer of course. We had to cancel our "60th wedding anniversary trip" (Yes we're married 60 years!) we were going to take with my brother Erik and sister in law Monique to the Island of Spitzbergen (a small group of islands I don't know how many miles North of Norway and as close as we want to be near the North pole. Also chopped was a Lake Powell boat trip with the entire family in September.. Oh well.....

Because she's clearly at risk of getting the virus with her breathing issues and well....being of a certain age, Else has spend the entire summer working in her yard, talking for hours on the phone with similarly self isolated women and watching "The Crown" and "The Queen's Gambit"on Net Flix. On occasion she's ventured into the city to meet friends for lunch in various city parks. I do the same thing feeling often like some G-man or fifties style secret agent furtively meeting on a park bench, exchanging state secrets. Fortunately most restaurants have outside dining but now that winter is approaching that, too, will have to be stopped I guess.

I'm certain that many people reading this far will be bored by all the stories to follow but be assured that I won't be insulted if you use the delete button at this moment. We wish you all a very merry Christmas and hopefully a better 2021.

For those of you who are interested in the rest of the family here then is my "report: Youngest daughter Chris just left our house for the 4 hour trip back home to Crested Butte. Now that her children (our grand kids!) are out of the house and on their own she's been taking weekly flying lessons in Denver. Although she's an accomplished pilot already she wants her commercial license so she can give private flying lessons to other.. Our son in law Joe, Chris's husband, spends his time managing his real estate investments, mostly from his home office. Their two kids, A.J and Elsa are on their own now. Elsa lives with her boyfriend in the Western Colorado town of Crawford where she's employed in the nearby city of Montrose in a doctor's office. She's a third year student nurse and "on the front line", so to speak, of the pandemic. We're very proud of her. A.J lives in Anchorage, Alaska. This summer he worked as a hunting guide in the back country. He, too, is a pilot and this summer he was able to buy his own, used,( very used actually) single engine airplane which he hopes to use in his business the coming years. Because it's off season of course, he's currently literally working day and night. In addition to his day job as a "lot boy" at a car dealership he plows driveways and such until the wee hours trying to payoff his big airplane loan as quickly as possible.

Middle daughter Carol lives with husband Karl in Steamboat Springs, CO. She recently sold her interest in a craft store she ran with a group of other women. She now is sowing her own beautiful quilts. Their oldest daughter Jennifer, who graduated from Montana State last year, lives in San Francisco with her boyfriend. She's having a tough time finding anything in her field and earns a meagre living walking dogs for working folks. Yes, times are tough for young people!

Karl is also a real estate investor. He, just as everyone else, manages his affairs from home. Their son, Zach, still lives at home and is enrolled at Colorado Mountain College where he currently studies communications.

And then there is of course our oldest daughter, Barb. She and husband Stacy celebrated Thanksgiving with us a while ago, when Stacy managed to again beat me three times (I'm counting) at my favorite game chess. They live in the ski town of Big Sky, Montana where they operate a very nice property management business. They recently signed a substantial contract with an extremely wealthy out of state couple who own two (!) big ranches in the area next to Ted Turner's and are building some monster Mc Mansion nearby. So far it appears to be a marriage made in heaven. Barb and Stacy get to play "rancher" without ownership nor having to do any actual physical labor. Nice work if you can get it!

So that's more or less the story. Son in law Karl, who had sort of taken over my business five years ago, the business of arranging financing for folks who buy, restore, and then re-sell older houses (Think TV shows like "fix this dump" or "fix or flop") decided this year to concentrate more on his mobile home parks, giving me the opportunity to "take that business back" and get off my rear end.

Working about 20 hours a week is exactly what I need in order to keep me off the street and, not unimportantly, keep the marriage in tact, if you get my drift.

In a couple of weeks Else and I will be heading for Arizona. We'll celebrate Christmas with Chris and Joe in Crested Butte and then take off. We'll continue to be more or less isolated awaiting developments I guess. For the first time in the 11 years (!) that we've spend the winters there I won't be commuting weekly but will attempt to conduct my business from there. I'm not certain I'll be able to hold out without getting on an airplane. Hanging around with a bunch of retirees ain't my style. We'll just have to see. Else will be fine, as she always is of course. She'll be working as a volunteer at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, a nearby huge cactus garden. She's remarkable.

No matter where you go, there you are.

2020-07-06T20:47:00.002-06:00

And so, way back in the Fall of '82, when we were in our mid forties, we took off in a used 1977 26' Class A Winnebago I thought I had stolen for $20K.
I had this dream that we would spend six weeks on the road, to be followed by six weeks attending to business. That way we'd have it all, so to speak. I'd conduct business from pay phones (remember this was 1982) and I had arranged for my property manager (I was a landlord at the time) to send important mail to prearranged post offices along the way.
Else was all for it. The kids were "more or less" out of the house. We'd get to visit the Pacific North West for the first time. We'd see birds we hadn't seen. We'd drive up to Canada. We'd ,.....well, you get it.
Ah........... relax. The open road. Live life on your own terms. A morning latte in your own rig. Sleep anywhere you feel like it. See new things. Adventure!
Well, let me tell you. It really wasn't like that at all that first time. Sure, we had fun. Sure we saw new places but having had a fairly high pressure business life the previous few years, suddenly driving around "without a care in the world" turned out to be a mirage. There was no way I could suddenly turn into the road bum I dreamed I wanted to become. There was no way I could get my old life out of my system just like that. The third day, already, I got pissed because I couln't find a Wallstreet Journal in the little hick town we were driving through. By the time we got to the coast I was thirsting for a payphone so I could call the office.
This is the point I'm trying to make here. All those folks who think that "hitting the road" will suddenly change them into high plains drifters are dreaming.
I know that many people are of course not like me (bless them) but I'm willing to bet that cooped up city folks who today seem to be thirsting to get the hell out of dodge but really don't have a plan beyond that will find life on the road not all it appears to be.
Else and I have of course learned over the years how to become relaxed and experienced road warriors but it took some doing. We had to learn. We had to adapt. It's not as easy as it sounds.
More later.............

Blue Highways

2020-07-05T21:17:00.000-06:00

Way back in 1982, you know, way back in what was probably the end of the stone age for some people, Else and I read a book called Blue Highways. A middle aged recently fired school teacher named William Least Heat Moon who had just then abandoned wife and kids, had written this book about traveling by himself on the back roads of America in an old converted van. It hit me just at the right time.
William talked alluringly about drifting through The West on cute little country roads which he dubbed blue highways because that's how the Rand McNally atlas indicated secondary roads.
On meeting interesting strangers in little out of the way bars and local greasy spoons or general stores. On finally getting to see the real America. A book not unlike the one written by the famous author John Steinbeck Travels with Charlie.
" That's what we should do!" I proclaimed to Else after having read the book enthusiastically twice in a week.
And so we bought our first RV. It was the fall of 1982..................
Stay tuned.

Interstate Highways

2020-07-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I get to talking with fellow Dutchmen who come to America to see the country they've heard and read so much about. "Oh.... it's so big. Those highways go on for ever and you don't really see much, do you?" you hear them sometimes say with disappointment in their voice. Or friends will make disparaging remarks about "driving through boring Nebraska on that awful I-80 doing battle with thousands of trucks and where all you see is corn".
Yes,the vast majority of travelers drive those " Interstates" in order "to get somewhere" quickly. Thank goodness. that leaves the rest of the country for us!
The Father of the interstate highway system was General and later, President Dwight Eisenhower who got the idea in 1945 when he saw Germany during the Allied Invasion. "That's what America needs!" he proclaimed after seeing those (half destroyed) autobahns."That's how we we'll be able to move tanks and troops quickly from one end of the country to the other!"
That of course was just one of the reasons he later authorized the building of those roads but the idea was certainly never to provide beautiful scenery.
Stay tuned...............

The "hitting the road" craze.

2020-07-04T18:15:00.000-06:00

Hi All:

The "Stay at home" orders of the past few months by our governor has obviously made many folks go stir crazy. Here in the mountains of Colorado it's becoming a veritable zoo now that we have been more or less given the green light to at least get out of the house......... and out of Dodge!
The past few days our nearby highway US 285 (one of the main roads into the mountains from the Greater Denver Area) has been overwhelmed by a steady stream of RV's with the tow car behind, camping trailers pulled by cars,5th wheel monstrosities being hauled by muscular F350's , tent trailers and converted travel vans (Class B RV's ) plus more modest camping trailers hauled by passenger cars.
When I went to pick up my mail yesterday at the UPS store near that Highway, I couldn't believe it. What a zoo! Hundreds! Where in heavens name do all those folk plan to spend the night? I know, "the mountains". It's a big place but, you know......................?
People who obviously live somewhere in the city are apparently desperate. I can't blame them. If we didn't live where we do we'd be right among them..
This morning my good friend Cam Inglis send me an article about many people leaving it all behind. You know, giving up that expensive apartment or selling the big house, auction off the furniture ,buying one those small fancy Mercedes converted vans and....... well, get away from it all!...............
Sitting at home here in the wonderful cool mountains It got me to thinking about all that. I plan to bore you over the few days about what it all means and all the issues all those "newbie road warriors will face.
Stay tuned.................

Winter, or maybe Spring, has returned.

2020-06-09T09:26:00.000-06:00

Hi All:
I guess, we've basically decided that 2020 will be a stay at home year given the "Corona issues" and we probably won't be sending you many, if any, travel reports. What the heck. We've got our health. We've got each other. We didn't lose our income. We live in a great place. What more does a person want? Oh, forgot.................. may be snow in June?

Yes, this is what we woke up this morning. The hummingbirds are desperate.

The view from our back deck last night. We took this picture in anticipation of the coming snow storm that had been predicted, to show you just how the weather can change here high up at 8500 Feet! We're not completely amused.

Our 60th Wedding Anniversary.

2020-05-25T18:59:00.000-06:00

Yes, this week, it'll have been sixty years since Else and I tied the knot at the home of Else's parents in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.
Our plans to board a cruise ship together with brother Erik and sister in law Monique, way, I mean, way, North of Norway on the island of Spitzbergen, an island group situated at the 80th parallel won't unfortunately be realized, you know, with all that Corona mumbo jumbo going on.
(For some perspective as to just how far North this place is: the pole circle is at 66.66 degrees latitude and in the immortal words of a famous American, "you can see Russia from there".)
Sure, we're a bit disappointed but that should be no reason to mope. Heck, we made it! And in good health at that! So, to still get away a bit without people around, we're back in one of our absolute favorite places (this time of year that is) watching birds and enjoying nature totally alone. Sorry, no picture.

Covid-19 man anno 2020.

2020-04-12T21:29:00.001-06:00

Your trusted alternative news source. On the beat so you won't have to.

Hi, me again. Just some factoids for y'all to digest:
The worldwide "Spanish Flu" epidemic of 1918 started actually in Haskell County, Kansas (no kidding!)
Before it was all over a year later, an estimated 20-100 MILLION people died worldwide.50% of all US soldiers in Europe (remember this was WW1) were infected and 43K died.
Over 675K people in the US died!
Something to mull over when we're whining about not having enough toilet paper or whatever.

Home alone (eluding Covid- 19)

2020-04-12T18:59:00.000-06:00

Hi all:

Yep, here we are. "Home Alone". We're actually beginning to like our enforced "house arrest" here at Valley Del Oro just fine, thank you. No different from when we were first married in 1960. Home. Reading. An invigorating walk with the dog. Eating Else's creative cooking( as we're sort of running low on food and we don't feel like doing battle at the grocery store just yet) Having a second cup of coffee.Reading. Having a snooze. Did I mention walking the dog?
I just finished reading "1857", a book I picked up at the used book store just before they closed, about America in, yes, you guessed it!, 1857. I think I'm glad to be living here now thank you and not then. Because we're running low on reading material I guess I'll re-read David McCullough's 1000 page tomb about Harry Truman. Probably better the second time around anyway. Else, as usual, has plenty books.
Except for a few "brave" souls, most people here have left for home often with the strong encouragement of their kids who want the old folks nearby for whatever reason. We're staying, probably until the end of the month when our governor will presumably give us the green light.
In the meantime, hang in there! This too shall pass as a sign above the chair of my childhood dentist in Holland proclaimed back then.

Dutch followers please note: (Else achter de geraniums) Everyone else please note our RV patiently "waiting" across the street.

TV stars

2020-04-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

A few days ago we were interviewed via ZOOM, by my niece Barbara, who is involved with a Dutch television station in The Netherlands. She wanted to talk to people from all over to see how they were "coping" in this new "Corona World". The name of the program. "Barre Tijden" means more or less "Challenging days" or, better probably "Tough times".

Our brave grand daughter on the front line.

2020-04-04T08:56:00.001-06:00

Yep, me again, this time to brag........
Our grand daughter, Elsa Matyk is an Emergency Medical Technician in the Western Colorado city of Grand Junction. She's right in the thick of it all. 4 doctors are already sick. The hospital so far has admitted 16 patients. 3 have died.
We're thinking of her and are very proud.

In full gear.

Our EMT

Oh.... toilet paper

2020-04-03T11:13:00.000-06:00

Should y'all be interested in how the old folks are doing in Arizona now that much of the world is supposedly on "Lock down" herewith an update:

It turns out that our decision to remain here in Valley Del Oro is actually working out just fine, thank you. I would estimate that of the normal winter population of about 3,500 , maybe 1,000 are still here braving the brutal 80 degree weather and the relentless sunshine. The Canadians are all gone having been "called home" so to speak. Because all the facilities are closed and having nothing better to do, everybody visits with everyone else and wanders past our house, keeping the required 6 feet distance of course.

I'm actually getting used to the peace and quiet...............................

"Tough duty" you say. Of course we are facing a serious crisis.............. we're running out of toilet paper....... the horrors!

Yep.... the last of the toilet paper. What an unbelievable situation!

COVID-19

2020-03-26T22:34:00.000-06:00

Hi all

Because of, well, we all know the situation, Else and I have decided to remain in our winter home here in Mesa, AZ until maybe May 1st or who knows at this juncture.
Although we had planned to "head for the hills" in our RV, that plan is now not possible as all the forest campgrounds appear to be closed. We also feel that shutting ourselves off from so-called civilization may not be such a smart move. It would be nice to remain within telephone reach and to have internet and be close to medical facilities and such. We'll have to see how all this is going to play out.
Also at this time Colorado is on full "lock down" while Arizona is not (yet). Maybe the warm weather is a deterrent? Also, our home in Conifer is very isolated and we hear that our local grocery store is "virtually empty" and that old people, and I guess that includes us, are only allowed to shop between 7 and 8 in the morning. (How in heavens name will I be able to get that woman out of bed at that ungodly hour?)At least here in AZ the stores are reasonably stocked for now. I don't know. We'll just have to play it day by day....
Hang in there y'all.

Walking The Dog.

2020-03-19T17:25:00.000-06:00

"I love my dog".............. "Yes", the faithful reader will say, "He LOVES his dog, I've heard it now, can't he talk about something else". I know, I know, but please stay with me on this....................
You see, in many urban area of America now, we are expected to remain in our respective homes. Isolated. By ourselves. All alone. Practicing "Social distancing".
And, you know, reading war and peace get's to be a drag after you have struggled through the Battle of Borodino or played the Godfather on Netflix for the umpteenth time. So what to do.
Enter "Essential Services" such as buying food and booze and toilet paper. Visiting the doctor. Visiting your 95 year old mother in law and.........tada... walking your dog! Can't very well let the poor pup poop on the living room carpet, right?
So here at Valle Del Oro where we live every dog owner congregates in the dog park three or so times a day. What a relief! Someone to talk to! Someone I can explain the meaning of life to. Someone......
Anyone! Some of us are needy, you know.

My last Uber ride.

2020-03-18T09:16:00.000-06:00

He had picked me up at the Phoenix Sky harbor airport last Wednesday, my last trip before the crisis hit. We had chatted about the usual. How long he'd been driving. Full time in his case. How much he earned in a typical week. His family. You know, the usual chitchat I like to engage in.
He had particularly impressed me as he had told me that he'd raised a large family all by himself and that he had saved his money and would shortly be joining people like me, you know be retired. He had confided that all this savings were in the the stock market and even though he had lived through the stomach churning '08 debacle he had bravely stayed the course.
Nervously he had asked me "what to you think, will it last another year?"
And then our ride ended.
I thought of that man today................