Patchwork Bog Dress

Today the weather was windy and even a little cold. I decided to focus on indoor things. I decided to fix up a botched sewing project from yesterday. Threads magazine had a simple pattern for a fleece vest made from a circle of fabric, such as polar fleece. I went to the local Joann's, bought some fleece on sale, then gave the pattern a try. I didn't like the way it looked on me. I sewed on a piece of fabric here and there and still didn't improve the vest. It got colder yesterday afternoon and I started wishing that I had made a fleece bog dress instead. I was torn. My gifted sewing teacher, Jacque, had said that it can be better just to start over again than try to salvage a project. I decided that I wasn't going to show her this project, didn't have much to lose, pulled the fabric out of the garbage can, and started zig-zagging the cut pieces together until I once again had a rectangle. I looked up directions for a bog coat, the simplest kind of coat imaginable. It literally is made from a rectangle and has only one seam. Directions are on the internet from multiple sources. Instead of making a coat, I left the front intact and made a warm long dress. If you look closely, you can see that I patched it numerous times. I will not show it to any ASG'ers unless I decide it's a good converstation piece. The dress is warm and comfortable and a reminder that sometimes it's OK to piece together things. You can tell I don't hang out with quilters very often.

Mourning Aunt Ruth

Today Penny called to say that our Aunt Ruth died last night. She was 98 and had come down with pneumonia recently. The last time I saw her was on her birthday. She was living in a nursing home and doing pretty well. She recognized Penny and me and carried on a conversation. She was doing so well that I thought she'd live to be 100. She was the last of my parents' brothers and sisters. Now there aren't that many people alive that knew me as a child.

As a young woman, Ruth lived a vigorous life. She said she liked to fly--I think she meant that literally. She did hang out with a wild crowd and must have caused her parents some grief. She was a devoted sister to my mother and aunt to me and my sisters. When I was a child, we used to go visit her and her husband Mitch in Las Vegas, where they ran a casino. Those stays were always special. We would swim in their pool, then eat spaghetti at night while my parents went out to a club or two. In high school, Ruth and Mitch retired to Bothell and grew vegetables. We were able to visit more often. I got to know Ruth more as a person then. I thought she would fall apart when Mitch died. Instead, she just carried on and made the best of things. When she started to need help, Larry and I assisted her in moving to an apartment, then later to a retirement home. She always seemed to adapt and keep a positive attitude toward life. That's what I think I'll remember about her. She always tried to make the best of things. I'll miss her!

A Quiet Saturday

Today Larry and I enjoyed a rather quiet Saturday. That is a good thing after the flurry of activity we had over Thanksgiving. We were both relieved not to be too sore after our long walk yesterday. I went to a fabulous nursery here, Mesquite Valley Growers, to buy some herbs for our planter boxes. That nursery reminds me of Molbak's in Woodinville. They have acres of high quality plants and trees. I enjoyed looking around. I ended up buying more mint for mohitos, oregano, parsely, and margoram. Herbs are supposed to thrive on neglect, so I hope our new ones do OK while we are gone. If they don't, at least we won't lose a big financial investment in them. Eventually I want to plant one or two lime trees in big pots to make a mohito garden. I found out that March is a much better time for that. We get some freezing temperatures at night starting about now, so we need to wait until the danger of freeze has past. The other highlights of the day were housecleaning, car washing, and going out to Chopped for dinner.

Rain was forecaste for this afternoon. We haven't gotten any yet. Although I love the blue skies, I know that this area needs rain and was looking forward to it. Maybe tomorrow!

Back to the Road Always Traveled

Today Larry, Oscar, and I went hiking at Sabino Canyon. Oscar has the same attitude as I do about the "road less traveled." We both like the road at Sabino that most people travel. Larry proposed that we try a different route, but was outvoted. The hike we like is easy and not stressful, but it is long. We made it to the end of the paved road, then noticed some people hiking up the dirt path at the end of the paved road. We decided to take it up to look at the views. For once we took the road less traveled. It had some wonderful views to reward us. We did end up hiking a total of 10 miles round trip today instead of going shopping. When we came home, we ate leftovers and took a nap! Oscar is leaving soon, so we said our goodbyes. We all had a great time together.

Thanksgiving

Larry and I celebrated our first Thanksgiving here in Tucson. I originally thought that it might be a bit quiet and melancholy for us since we usually are with our family and host a big dinner. We ended up having a very nice time with two straglers from Bellevue. Our friend, and Larry's co-worker, Oscar and his son joined us. I cooked a turkey as usual, along with yams, cranberries, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Larry made Margaritas. We even had live entertainment. Josh, Oscar's son, brought along his electric guitar and played for us. He also tried out our digital piano. It wasn't the Thanksgiving we were used to, but we had a nice time.

Little Things

I have been working on little improvements around our house here in Tucson. Little changes make a difference. I rehung a number of prints around the house that I thought were too high. I'm enjoying them more now. I asked our neighbor Bud from across the street for a consultation on some furniture problems and he helped fix them. Our drawers in our baker's rack were sticking. I misdiagnosed the problem--I thought they needed planing down. They just needed some soap along their tracks. Now we have functioning drawers. Bud also figured out what was wrong with our dining room table. We took out the leaf and the smaller table wouldn't close all the way. A piece of metal on the trim was interfering with it and needed to be bent out of the way. Now our table is better. It's great to have a new friend to help with some of life's problems, whether they are small or big.

Bud has lived all over the country. One of his longest stints was in Bellevue, which he enjoyed very much. We have traded stories on that. He seems Hawaiian to me, though. He loves to "talk story" like the natives there do. He's got some great ones. One of the pleasures of being retired is the time to get to know people and talk story with them without feeling like I have to be somewhere else.

A Day with a Friend

Today we had a visitor from Bellevue--Larry's friend and co-worker, Oscar. His son is attending the UofA and Oscar came to visit his son. He enjoys hiking, so I took him up the road most traveled, the road up Sabino Canyon. He marveled at the lovely scenery and stopped to take many pictures. At one stop he got talking to a woman who was speaking Spanish (Oscar is from Peru). It turns out her sister runs a hotel in a little village in Peru, where Oscar is visiting next month. Small world. She gave him her card and urged him to connect with her sister. We did the 8 mile rountrip hike, came home for a sandwich, then went off with Larry to drive through Saguaro National Park East. I never get tired of the scenery there.

Tequila Taste-off

What can I say--I'm a loyal Costco shopper. I've been happy with about all of their Kirkland brand products. When I saw that there was a Costco Kirkland brand of tequila, I had to try it. I don't drink, though, at least not very much. Larry, Nephew David, and I got together this afternoon for a tequila taste-off to try the Kirkland brand and a few others we had on hand. In a blind tasting, here is how we ranked the 4 tequilas we had on hand in order of preference: Patron Silver, Herradura Silver, Herradura Natural, and Kirkland Anejo. Although we ranked Kirkland's last, we agreed that it wasn't awful. In fact, it would do just fine for a party with Margaritas. I did see giant bottles of Patron Silver at Costco, but don't think I'll buy one. I have noticed that people here tend to take their tequila seriously. There are chat groups about various brands and the bars that serve them. Maybe tequila is medicinal since it's made from the agave plant, which heals burns. Maybe I should try drinking more to see...

El Tour de Tucson

Today all of Tucson was ready for the big bike race--El Tour de Tucson. Tucson is a bike friendly place--some call it a biking mecca. It's not surprising, then, that a big road race with 9,000 participants from all over the country is hosted here. Participants choose from fun rides to races of 35, 66, 80, or 109 miles. It not just exciting for those who ride. Participants raise money for different charities. People here talk alot about the race. Always wanting to try out my technology, I took a few pictures to share. The 66 mile race started at Udall Park, which is a short walk from our house.


Here is a photo of Sabino Canyon Road across from Udall Park. I always enjoy the view.

Focus

Today I woke up ready to get things done. I ended up driving here and there around town running errands and felt my focus slipping away. I did't get much accomplished that I originally thought of doing. My brain seemed to start "pinging" from one thought to another. I think I'm going to go back to my old system of writing "to do" lists. I want to sew, plane down a sticky drawer, plant some herbs, and rehang pictures. None of these things would take long, if I'm not distracted. A retired person once told me that she finds it easy to put off doing things until tomorrow because she always thinks that there will be time later. Then she sometimes forgets what she wanted to do or no longer cares about it. I think, perhaps, a middle ground would be good for me. I could work with focus on my lists in the morning, then have nothing planned for the rest of the day. There is benefit in both structured and unstructured time.

Larry would say I did accomplish quite a lot--I went to 2 grocery stores and got our shopping done for the week, cleaned house, did laundry, rearranged furniture, located and bought some special rum for Larry, played piano, and practiced yoga. The problem is that these weren't the things I wanted to get done when I woke up...

Will I Get Tired of the Sunshine?

We've been in Tucson for 18 days. The weather has been sunny and beautiful every day. I wouldn't call it hot now, but the sunshine is bright, which feels good. I've heard that some people who move here from up north start to get tired of the mild winters and long for the seasonal weather changes. I think it will take us a long time to get to that point. Larry says I shouldn't gloat, so I'll drop the subject for awhile.

I had fun playing my piano today. I'm slowing learning some of the features for helping me practice, such as the prerecorded pieces that let me play along with right or left hand. It's slick! I've chosen 3 pieces to work on and get up to speed.

I'm trying not to neglect my sewing. I went out to a thread sale at Hancocks and stocked up on serger thread cones. I have a wrap around top cut out. Now I just need to sit down for a couple of hours to finish it. I'll set a goal to finish it by tomorrow or the next day, then wear it while I play a piece at the piano. I'll have Larry record it for you.

New Piano!

My Yamaha Clavinova CLP 340 came this morning and I’ve been having fun! It’s the first piano I’ve had that comes with a 97 page manual. So far I have been switching between playing pieces and trying out some of the technology built in. As with many electronic gadgets, it can help to read the manual that comes with it. I’m doing a combination of trial by error and consulting the manual to try out some of the features. There is a lot to learn. Many of the settings such as pedal effects can be adjusted. You can fine tune the pitch of the entire instrument, which is useful if you play along with CD’s. You can also experience various tunings with the Clavinova. Equal temperament is what has been used for the past 150 years or so, but “mean tone” , “Pythagorean” and other tuning systems can be programmed. This would be interesting for certain genres of music. I’m not going to mess around with that for awhile. I did change from grand piano to harpsichord—that’s fun. I would rather go play the piano now than blog, so I will leave my readers with a brief movie of me playing. Larry is still figuring out how to take them, so it is short.

Tuesday

Today was Penny's last full day here in Tucson. She sat out on our patio a lot and picked a lemon that was hanging down near her. We heard it was cold, rainy, and windy back in WA. I told her about Dollar Tuesday (now $1.50) at the movies. We decided to go to the matinee, where we had fun. What more can I say on a Tuesday here in Tucson? I seem to remember the day when it rolls around!

I am looking forward to the delivery of my digital piano tomorrow. I ordered something new fangeled in anticipation. I discovered that there are piano scores on DVD. I ordered one ("Piano Scores Unlimited") that has 630 classical piano scores and includes 26 hours of audio all on one DVD. They are all (or mostly all) urtext, which means the original text, copyright free, and print out well on our printer. How cool is that!! Instead of buying more sheet music, I can first listen to, then print out a piece that I want to try. I want to coordinate it with the Yamaha practice exercises that allow me to practice separate hands, with the piano playing one part while I play the other. Anticipation!

Twin Teepees

It's interesting how we can find connections in far away places. Today I went to an ASG sewing class on how to use sergers. I sat by another new comer, a lovely lady who had just lost her husband of 60 years. She said her family insisted that she go into therapy, and her therapist suggested that she attend some group meetings to get out of the house. She naturally thought of sewing because it was one of her big interests. As we started talking, I saw her relax. I asked her questions about her life and children, etc. and saw her become animated. I happened to mention that I was from the Seattle area. She said that she spent her childhood there and that her parents ran a business. I asked what--it turns out that they opened the Seattle landmark, Twin Teepees. She said that she even worked as a waitress there (part-time, of course) for fun starting from age 7. I told her that I had been there and that I heard that my parents went there on their first date. We calculated that she might have been there then and even served them. We formed a bond. She left saying that she would be back next month and would bring pictures of herself there in her waitress uniform for me to look at. We both shared some special memories.

Salome

This picture says what needs to be said about the opera Salome. Penny and I went to the AZ Opera production and enjoyed it very much. The singing was inspired. John the Baptist was played by Greer Grimsley, who sang Wotan in the Ring last summer. I was glad to have the chance to see him again. Salome was sung by Nancy Gustafson who looked the part. She did a nice job with the dance of the 7 veils. I was reminded during the performance that one of the reasons Tucson feels like home is that it has good opera.



Penny, Larry, and I went on a hike at Sabino Canyon this morning before the opera. We hiked about 8 miles up and back on the paved road. The weather was perfect for a hike.

Decisions, Decisions

Once more I am thinking about decisions I make in my life. Some are easy, some are more difficult. Fortunately, I haven't had to make any life-altering decisions recently. The big decision I have been working on is buying a piano. I've gradually decided to go digital instead of acoustic. I'm looking at comparable models in Yamaha and Kawai. I'm thinking that the Yamaha has more capability for working on pieces thant he Kawai. On the Kawai, I slightly prefer the quality of sound and like feeling the vibrations of the music when I press the pedals. I'm swaying toward the Yamaha because of the more advanced programs available for practice. Monday I'll probably go ahead and buy the Yamaha. The dealer said I could always exchange it if I decide I want a different one. Decisions that are easy to undo aren't as scary. I was impressed that Larry came along to look at the DP's with me today. He doesn't know acoustic pianos, but can relate to the DP's as fun computers.

Another decision I made today was a leap of faith. I needed to have my hair done. I had thought that I'd ask around for recommendations. That didn't get me very far, so I called a salon that is part of a chain and made an appointment. I figured that hair always grows back and the decision I made was not something I'd have to live with that long. I was pleasantly surprised! The woman who gave me a perm (Denise at Great Clips) was delightful and really seemed to know what she was doing. She also was in demand--I noticed that several people came in to ask her to cut their hair. Sometimes things just work out.

The last decision I had to make was about attending a party tonight or not. Sister Penny arrived for a visit of 4 nights. Friend Cherie had invited us all to go to a party with her near her house. We had accepted the invitation earlier. Penny was to tired to go, Larry was not energetic. What to do? Larry and I ended up going and had a very nice time. We enjoyed catching up with Cherie and meeting some of her friends, had a great meal, and Penny got to rest while we were gone.

By the end of the day, my decisions had all been resolved in a good way. I will get out my camera and post more photos next entry.

Hidden Treasures

Yesterday I read an e-newsletter sent out by Yoga Centers. Aadil wrote an article on the consciousness of physical things. His premise is: "Everything is an aspect of the Divine. To feel and respect physical things means that one is respecting an aspect of one's self." I was thinking about what he wrote as I cleaned house today. Housecleaning in Tucson is especially joyful for me because our house here is much smaller and easier to care for than our house in Bellevue. I decided to do a thorough dusting including our two pot shelves, which I guessed hadn't been dusted off in 3 years. Pot shelves are an architectural feature in SW style homes and actually were used for storage pots. We have some authentic pots on display on ours. I set up our ladder, then went to work. On the first shelf, I found a rubber ball. A previous renter must have accidentally thrown it up, then left it there. On the second shelf, I found something more interesting. One of our big pots was used for storage. I found a half-empty bottle of Jim Beam whiskey! It is interesting to speculate who may have been storing whiskey there. Was one of our renters a closet alcoholic who needed to hide drinks? Was one of our renters a teenager who was hiding the alcohol from parents? Was it a whimsical gift from our house painters? We're likely never to find out. That got me thinking about what treasures Larry and I would leave behind when we move from our home in Bellevue and how the new owners would speculate about what we left.

Levels of Truth

Today I did pay attention to what the date was—it was UFO day for the Eastside Daytime Neighborhood Group of Tucson’s American Sewing Guild chapter. Those of you who sew know that UFO means unfinished objects. I called in advance to let them know I was coming and received a warm welcome. This NG meets in a pleasant room in a church 3 miles away from our house. On UFO day, members come to sew together, talk, and perhaps go out for lunch. Back in Bellevue, we have something similar with Sew Lab, but Tucson doesn’t have a gifted instructor, Jacque. I took along a knit top I had been working on. It’s a t-shirt with an unusual diagonal line. I needed some advice on how to finish it. I discovered that I had already met one woman there in Albuquerque last summer. Her good friend lives on Mercer Island and she wanted to help her get involved with ASG locally. I soon was talking to most of the women and enjoyed the instant fellowship that sewing groups seem to provide. I received the help I needed to complete my top and received many complements. One difference in levels of intimacy I noticed—my close sewing buddies in the Seattle area would have been a bit more critical in a loving way. They would have said that the top is too low at the back neckline, that I should have put stabilizer on the diagonal hem so it wouldn’t wave, etc. As we get to know each other better we’ll give more complete feedback.

In Purna Yoga classes, we often talk about “levels of truth”. I learned in the teacher training program that we should not give the same kind of feedback to beginners as more advanced students. Each must be ready to hear what the teacher has to say. We also talk about how to know if something is true, integrity, and building trust. It gets complicated. I found this brief spiritual discussion by a fellow blogger (acknowledged at the end) that seems to be relevant.

The 3 Levels of Truth
1. Experience
2. Reasoning
3. Spiritual Knowing
What is truth? Someone once told me that ‘Truth is Death’. The basis for his explanation was that it is the ONLY thing that is GUARANTEED to all beings that take birth.

Experience is the first type of truth most of us know. Once an individual experiences something, they know it. None can then persuade them otherwise.

The second type of truth is something that we attain through rationalization or reasoning. In most cases the truth is not immediately apparent. The truth is borne out by testing or analysis of the abstract idea, or point of discussion.

Both of the above types of truth are relative, they have a range of validity. Even though truths are superior in comparison to opinions, beliefs and superstitions – they are limited by their range of validity. There is another type of truth, much different to the above two.

The third truth is the direct way of Spiritual Knowing. This is an internal experience of ‘truth’ through the opening of higher faculties. In order to attain this level of truth one must meditate to obtain perceptions of absolute certainty. There is no need for further investigation, doubt is eliminated. The attained knowledge is beyond rationalization and verbal description. The danger with this truth is that one must be careful not to let the fruits of one’s meditation pass into the realm of rationalization otherwise you will be subjected to the relativity of external truths ( e.g. the first two types of truth).

Below is a short compilation entitled ‘Truth of Life’.


True is taking birth
True is love for all
True is compassion
True is acceptance
True is knowing peace
True is detachment
True is suffering
True is Pain
True is Death
POSTED BY HARVINDERPAL SINGH


What level s of truth am I ready to experience? How do I recognize the truth? Who knows! But at least I think about it now and then.

Larry walked right into my blog topic tonight. I made chili for dinner. Chili for me is a creative process during which I use up vegetables, fruits, and spices I have on hand. Usually Larry likes what I make. Tonight he kept his mouth shut and spoke with his eyes. Unlike my closest sewing friends, my husband knows when to keep his mouth closed when he doesn’t like what I’ve cooked. That is a level of truth!

Anthropology

I went to the local library here and checked out some “Great Courses” to listen to while I sew or take a walk. The first one I’m listening to is an introduction to cultural anthropology. I took such a course at Mills College many years ago and enjoyed it. It seemed fitting to review this subject as someone who has moved to a strange land. I’m sure to find analogies about the culture here in Tucson, which I will report. I remember my previous anthro teacher talking about how hard it was to go live in a foreign land. He said that even a place as lovely as France gets old after a few months and homesickness will set in. The little differences can be the ones that bother the most. I decided it would be interesting to make a list of the things I like and dislike about Tucson, then review it in a month or so to decide if I want to revise my list.

Likes: weather, sunshine, opportunities for walking around, less work keeping up our smaller house, friendly people, easy shopping , birds year round, Dollar Tuesday.

Dislikes: the dry climate dries out my eyes and skin; opera productions are good, but the convention center isn’t nearly as pleasant as McCaw Hall; family and friends are far away; there are many red light cameras; u-turns have right of way over right turns on red (I have to learn new driving habits).

Dollar Day

Dollar Day
Today I was up and about town doing a little shopping and running errands. It occurred to me that I had forgotten what day of the week and date of the month it was. I have not been tied down to any schedule and have had practically no commitments for a couple of weeks. Without consciously trying to, I have been living a yogic life without practicing asana (poses). One of the important and difficult lessons taught in yoga classes (at least the style I practice) is to enjoy the present/to live in the moment. Today I felt closer to achieving that state of mind than I had after a weeklong intensive yoga class with asana and meditation. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without commitments and scheduled events. I miss having regular contact with sewing friends at classes and meetings , the social contacts I made at Yoga Centers, and the fun I had helping out at the cooking school. However, I think this chance to slow down and think about my life for a few months is invaluable.

I did happen to remember what day it was in the nick of time! It’s Dollar Tuesday at the local multiplex. We might have missed it otherwise. Actually, it’s no longer Dollar Tuesday. The price went up to $1.50. Larry and I joined a happy crowd of people and saw “Whip It”. That was a fun coming of age movie.

Close or Far Away

Larry and I have gone on some beautiful walks here in Tucson. Although we don't see much of the Catalina Mountains from inside our house, once we walk outside our door, we get a nice view. We especially enjoy walking around our neighborhood at twilight. The sunset colors on the mountains are spectacular. We also went for a short hike on the road most traveled at Sabino Canyon in the Catalinas. I got to thinking about which view I liked better, the distant view or close up. During the daytime, from a distance, the mountains are interesting to look at, but they don't seem as spectacular as the Cascades from a distance. The Cascades are much higher and often have snow on them. There are more distinct peaks. Up close, the landscape at Sabino Canyon is quite interesting and beautiful. There are the many different types of cacti, rock formations, washes, riverbeds, and wildlife that I don't think of when I'm far away. Hiking in the Cascades has beauty, but can have less variety in places. I think I like distant views of the Cascades better.

It is interesting how some things look spectacular from a distance, but on closer examination aren't as special as they seem. For example, you might have a favorite celebrity whose life you think you’d love to have. Then on closer examination, you might see the pain and suffering the person has experienced, such as failed marriages and unhappy children. Sometimes the opposite is true. For example, from a distance you might think that a dress is totally unremarkable. Then, when you look at it more closely, you see the careful workmanship, the perfect fit, and the style that works well with the owner, and then you appreciate the dress as something special. It’s important to consider more than one point of view when evaluating things.

Cutting out the Dead Wood

Today I decided to give attention to our orange tree in our back patio area. It is 10 years old now and has really out grown its space. It is a healthy tree, though, and we don't see a need to remove it now. Instead, we are trying to keep it pruned back and healthy. It is bearing green oranges now which means it's not the time for pruning, I've been told. I will wait to prune until the oranges are gone, in 2-3 months. In the mean time, I decided to help the tree by cutting out the dead wood. I went to work and spent about an hour sawing, clipping, and sweeping up the twigs and branches. I think the tree looks better and should be healthier now, without the dead branches getting in the way of healthier new growth.

As I was working I got to thinking about my own tree of life. What old habits and patterns do I have left in mind and body that no longer have a purpose and are blocking new growth? It bears consideration. What do I do out of habit that no longer gives me pleasure? I suppose I watch certain TV shows only out of habit and eat certain foods out of habit, to the point that I no longer notice their tastes. I need to think about this some more. I have found that here in Tucson, away from my long familiar surroundings, I can concentrate more on what I want to do with the next stage of my life. Cutting out the dead wood is definitely a priority.

A Busy Saturday

Today we finally had more moderate temperatures. It was only in the high 70's. Larry says I shouldn't gloat about the weather, but it's hard not to! I went outside to do some yard work. Our front yard is taken care of by the HOA. All that we have to maintain is the patio in the back, which has a couple of citrus trees and herbs. The trees are looking good, thanks to our improved drip irrigation system. I needed to sweep up leaves and pull some weeds. Unfortunately, I still think there is a leak in our drip irrigation system, so I will have to call for help with it. I don't want to waste water here. We went out and bought some pruning tools for the citrus trees. Tommorow I'll work on taking out the dead wood.

Larry and I had a pleasant lunch with his nephew David and his girlfriend, Katherine. We tried a great New Mexican restaurant that was new to all of us,Poco and Mom's Restaurant. They had traditional dishes with wonderful chili sauces. It's not even that far from us. After lunch, we returned to David's for a game of Domination. Larry and David (and apparently Katherine) are quite the game players and puzzlers. We plan to get together again soon.

Although I had been planning on letting my ideas about buying a piano incubate for a couple of days, I ended up connecting on-line with a group of digital piano enthusiasts on Piano World Forums. I asked the group about the Yamaha digital piano I was considering, based on the dealer's recommendation. Several people wrote back saying it was a good piano. However, most had other suggestions to consider and even told me about another piano that would save me several hundred dollars. The only trouble is that I'm not sure I can find one to try in Tucson and may have to buy it on faith and recommendations over the internet. Monday I'll call around to see if there are any in town for me to try.

I have had some good experiences seeking help with life's decisions on the internet. For example, when I first started out with Pattern Master Boutique, I connected with an on-line support group, started emailing SH, and eventually we set up a live user's group. We have become good friends, all as a result of emailing. Larry also met friend D in England through some puzzle chat group. He and I met D in person when we traveled to England, hit it off big in person, and ended up visiting him on two more trips. I'm thinking of the wonderful help I get almost instantaneously from the ASG Yahoo group and Pattern Review. The internet can be a source of distraction and a way to waste time, but it also has wonderful resources and ways to connect socially.

Sewing as a Guide to Life

I really need to get in some quality sewing time to get my mind off piano shopping. Today I decided to visit the local, reputable piano dealer instead of just shopping for pianos on Craigslist. I left my new and exciting fabric stash to visit a piano showroom. I spent a couple of hours looking over the stock of uprights, both new and used. The store had some nice pianos, but the prices were higher than what I had been thinking of. I didn't have a clear idea of what to do, so I decided to relax and think about things. As I was walking out the door, I saw their digital pianos. I had never really played one and was curious about the sound, so the store owner gave me a demonstration. I was favorably impressed. I always considered a piano to be a living thing, with wood and strings that breathed. I'm reevaluating my thinking now. I heard that the digital pianos can be musical. A digital piano would also solve some problems. I wouldn't have to worry about getting it tuned and wouldn't worry about problems associated with low humidity (a major factor in Tucson). It also has some fun programs. For example, there are 50 recorded pieces with music. You can program the piano to play either hand's part while you practice the other. The piano sound can be made brighter or mellower. You can even turn the thing into a harpsichord for authentic sounding baroque keyboard music. The down side is that it is a computer, with built in obsolescence. Something new and more exciting is always around the corner. It would decrease in value more and faster than an acoustic piano. The cost is the same. What to do?? I should turn to my other life experiences for guidance, sewing in particular. I'm thinking of my many friends who have wonderful computerized sewing machines that cost more than the digital piano I'm thinking of, but are much smaller. There are programs that they just love and they have a good time with their machines. I haven't gotten a fancy sewing machine for a long time (20+ years). (This doesn't count my new serger, which is not a sewing machine.) The answers to life's difficult questions are often found in the world of sewing. I should just get the digital piano!!

Buttons n Bolts

Today, after being prodded by friend Sally, I went on an excursion across town to the close-out/retirement sale for Buttons-n-Bolts. Sally heard great things about this sale over a chat group and didn’t think that I should miss it. I’m glad she told me about it! This store had been the premier fabric store for garment construction in Tucson for over 30 years. The owner, Joyce, moved her store here from the east coast after hearing a customer from Tucson complain that the fabric stores in Tucson only sold polyester. In a gutsy move, she and her husband moved their 2 daughters and fabric stock to Tucson. Her husband, at first, had to take a job in Phoenix until he could find a job in Tucson. Joyce built her business here by herself and it became a sewer’s shopping destination. Joyce closed her retail outlet and switched to internet based a year and a half ago. She found it was too expensive to maintain her storefront and just couldn’t keep it up. We compared notes about the state of the home sewing industry. Joyce reported that all the sewing businesses she knows about, including Joanne’s and Hancock’s, have been suffering with the recession. Part of her business has been selling lace and trims for bridal gowns. She is taking a terrific loss on her lace collection at her closing sale. She says that there has been a dramatic slow-down in hand made gowns. Instead, brides find inexpensive gowns on the internet, and then pay to have them altered. This saves them hundreds of dollars. Joyce is a special lady in the sewing world. I wish her well in retirement.

Enough about the store history! I found some great fabric at Joyce’s sale, held in a self-storage unit. Everything was 75% off, which made it hard not to buy some of the wonderful things she had left. She had a nice collection of natural fibers, including bamboo, tencel, rayon, and silk. I found many attractive prints in cotton knit, which I’ll use in sewing tops. She had some coordinating bottom wear that I also bought. I ended up buying 10 pieces of fabric, each 2-5 yards long. I remember leaving Bellevue thinking that I would miss my fabric stash. I don’t think that is a problem anymore. Tomorrow I need to start sewing, since lack of fabric is no longer the issue!

My fabric acquisition isn’t the only reason today is special. Son Phil turned 24. Happy birthday, son! We love you and hope you have had a good day.

The Lady or the Tiger

I seem to be caught up in decision making these days. Yesterday I obsessed on which path to take while hiking. Today much of my mental energy has been used on making a shopping decision. Psychologists love to talk about decision making. When I was a psychology student, we considered what made a decision easy to make and what made one hard to make. If the choices are trivial (such as whether to choose an apple or an orange to eat), then the decision should be easy. If the choices have life-long consequences (such as whether or not to have an abortion), then the decision should be hard to make. However, I have found that some major decisions have been quite easy. It was easy for me to decide to marry Larry, have two children, buy a Prius, and to buy a house in Tucson, for example. It was hard to choose which college to go to, which house in Bellevue to buy, and which grand piano to buy. More recently, it was hard for me to decide when we should leave for Tucson. I have to miss an important ASG annual meeting to leave when we did, and I miss being with my friends then. The alternative was giving up 2 weeks of vacation. Purchase of a sewing machine and computer were medium hard for me. I’m sure that son Cliff would have some explanations to share with me about shopping and brain activity, which is now the hot subject of researchers. At any rate, I have started shopping for a used piano in a low budget price range and am going through emotional ups and downs. I saw 3 today. The first would have been great—new looking, shiny black, and pretty good sound. However, someone else beat me to it. The second one I saw was recommended by a piano technician. It was in fairly good shape, but the color of wood was too light for our great room and the sound was too bright for my tastes. The last one I saw was a reputable brand, but was almost as old as I am, hadn’t been tuned in 13 years, and was dusty.

I need to be patient and keep looking. It’s hard to do that in these days of amazon.com and eBay, where you can find about anything instantly. It’s a journey to find a piano. I keep thinking of what my cousin Joanne told me when Larry and I started out in our first house. She said to buy quality things the first time around because you’ll never know how long you’ll be stuck with furniture you get. She always then refers to her bedroom set. I’ve been hearing about that for over 30 years! I don’t want my next piano to be my equivalent of her bedroom furniture.

The Road Less Traveled

This morning I woke up with the sun and decided to go for a hike at Sabino Canyon. I thought of Robert Frost. Remember his poem: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference ...Robert Frost I faced a dilemma--I always enjoy the hike up the paved path at Sabino. Lots of people take it, there are restrooms and water at regular intervals, and I feel good about making the entire round trip, which is 8 miles. I hardly ever take the road less traveled when I go for walks (by myself anyway). I know that I might be missing some special experiences that might help me grow, yet I keep to my habits. Today, as I set off up the paved path, I thought about why I liked it so well. As I passed the same scenery, I noticed something I'd never seen before or noticed how the landscape has changed with the season. Today, for example, the creek beds were completely dry. There was more shade, which changed the light. The cacti were in different stages of development than last spring when I made the same walk. But most important, I recognized some of the regulars who always walk the same path. Today I had a nice conversation with a very fit senior who jogged the whole path every day. He stopped to point out some of his favorite rock formations. I noticed how he would greet the many people he knew along the same route. It seems to me that hiking the same path is a lot like hanging out with old friends. We have some of the same experiences together over and over, but cherish our time together and support each other when we stumble or come face-to-face with a snake across our path. I will take some of the other paths at Sabino eventually, but for now, I appreciate the path most taken. PS Larry would say that I don’t take other paths there because I’m afraid of coming face-to-face with a mountain lion or African killer bees. There is some truth in that….

A Lovely Day in the Sun

Larry made it to work today after a 5 second commute! We set up his office in the roomy master bedroom, where he had space in the corner for his new L-shaped desk, office chair, and computers. The room gets morning sunshine and the windows open for a pleasant breeze, which is nicer than the offices that I used to work in. He said his day went well.

While Larry worked, I went to visit a couple of neighbors. Helen was glad to visit with me. She has been my source of information about the neighborhood. Today she pointed out holes down the street that were dug out by packrats. She also showed me ant tunnels by the sidewalk. She was quick to point out that she has never seen any signs of pests around our house, thank goodness. After saying good-bye to Helen, I went to visit Bud, who lives directly across the street from us. He has his entire garage set up as a workshop, where he spends time on projects while his wife, Tomie, goes to work as a nursing consultant. Bud and Tomie lived in Bellevue for 10 years. We exchanged stories about the weather, including wind and snow storms. He had to commute over the 520 bridge and had some stories about the bridge in the wind. Bud and I will probably wave to each other everyday--his garage faces my new sewing room.

After running a few more errands, I went for a long walk around the neighborhood. The temperature was just right for walking. I enjoyed looking at the nearby Catalina Mountains and the desert colors. Next time, I'll remember to bring along my camera so that I can take photos to post. Tomorrow, more adventures! I'm going to check out a fabric sale, work more on setting up my sewing room, and then go to $1 day at the nearby movie theater.

Trip Summary

I just wanted to make a few notes on our trip down to Tucson so that we could have a reference in case we want to take the same route/stay in the same places again some other year.

We left on Oct. 24 (Saturday). The weather was great, the traffic fairly light, and there was very little road construction. We headed straight down I-5 to Ashland. We stopped very little and didn't leave our car at all. We were fully loaded with computers and didn't want to risk break-ins. This meant that we unloaded most of our things every evening. We stayed at a very comfortable hotel just off I-5 in Ashland, the Village Suites (formerly the Windmill Inn). I would stay there again. The next day we drove to SF. We found a lovely condo for rent from VRBO/SOMA, at The Palms. It was a spacious 2/2 condo with a view of the courtyard, had comfortable beds, and was very quiet. It was only 1/2 mile away from Cliff, which also had charm. We enjoyed staying there for 4 nights. I'd also be happy to stay there in the future. But Cliff has to move in a couple of months and it probably won't be SOMA. It works out better when we stay close to where he lives. We headed toward Disneyland without a reservation. I had read about The Alpine Inn, which was walking distance to Disneyland, and talked Larry into staying there. It was your basic hotel room, that was clean, had comfortable beds, enough room for our stuff, was quite reasonable, and had friendly staff. I would stay there again, but I'm not sure Larry would. He tends to like fancier places. After staying there 2 nights, we made it to Tucson the next day on I-10.

Our Prius handled the trip well. The only problem is that we are so used to filling our gas tank every 2-3 weeks that we didn't always watch the gas gauge. We didn't run out of gas, though. We averaged 47 mpg. I'm sure we would have done a little better with a lighter load. We spent about $150 on gas, stopping once each driving day. The trip is about 1600 miles. We traveled roughly 400 miles per day and spent 4 days driving. When we do the trip when Larry is retired, it would be fun to stop more along the way and do more sightseeing.

Arrival in Tucson

I've missed a few days of blogging because I've been too tired after long days. Larry and I were inspired to go to Disneyland after going to the Disney Museum in SF. We thought about the many good times we had there both as children ourselves, then with our own children. We decided it didn't make sense to wait to go again until we had grandchildren to take. I'm glad we took the time to go. It was a great day. I got started Friday when the park opened at 8:00 AM. I managed to go on Indiana Jones twice, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Winnie the Pooh all before joining Larry at Big Thunder Mountain at 10. After that we went hopping over to the new (to me) California Adventure Park, which is just across the plaza from Disneyland. I was really impressed by CA Soarin and went on it twice. I don't remember the names of the other new rides we went on--I just remember that they were fun. Larry decided to try California Screamin', the roller coaster and seemed to like it OK, but got some motion sickness. I did the more tame roller coaster rides. I especially liked A Bug's Life 3-D movie, which had smells and kinesthetic sensations along with the movie. Late in the afternoon we went back to Disneyland. It had become much more crowded all of a sudden. We went on more rides which were old favorites. There were an amazing number of children in strollers up way past their bedtimes waiting in long lines. On the whole, the children seemed to hold up pretty well as did we during our long day. We finally went back to our hotel at 11:30 PM.

Our drive to Tucson went well. We arrived around 5 PM and found that our new floor was completed and looked great. We trusted this company and it paid off. We didn't want to live through a messy tile job, so arranged to have it done beforehand. We are settling in today. Because Larry has to start working tomorrow, we are setting up his new desk and work station today. So far, so good. He gave me a break, which I am using to blog.