30 Apr: Was April showers or flowers? I think flowers wins, it rained only twice at night, and flowers are blooming everywhere and the air stinks pretty in many places. And tomorrow is May already. The big question is, “Will Ron make a May basket for Cynthia?” Kids today are clueless about that tradition! (Don't tell Cynthia, but Ron is also clueless.) My oh my, how time flies! Especially when you spend every day up to your ears in genealogy working on a computer. In addition to fingers with saggital bands not working correctly, Cynthia wrenched an ankle and knee on yesterday’s hike. But, icing and compressing worked wonders and we strolled 7.3 miles, starting with Miley’s, then hiking the Big Park Loop. And, oh, what fun! We ran into Cindy and Mark, a delightful couple of newlyweds that we first met last year in the Grand Canyon. Serendipity!
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| Aunt Jo exiting hair saloon |
29 Apr: Today's big surprise was learning about Gene Rambo, a California rodeo star for a couple of decades. Oh and we finally saw some wildlife while hiking, a dead raccoon. (You shoulda heard Cynthia's shriek.) We did hike 7.9 miles including the Made in the Shade Trail and the concrete sidewalk to Miley's. Aunt Jo, 94 years young, loves going to the hair salon, too.
28 Apr: This afternoon we enjoyed visiting with Dale and Linda over lunch at Cafe Jose. Cynthia liked her new hair stylist and asked Ron what he thought. (Is he really supposed to think about this sort of thing?? Well he loves his wife, and she is still quite recognizable, so I guess that means he likes it.) We arrived home late, ate a bite and went for a short walk from 6:30 to almost 8. Ron's DNA studies are leaving him more and more confused even as he understands more and more. Goodnight.
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| Madd Capp puzzle (notice the border) |
27 Apr: Wowie zowie, Ron slept from 10:30 to 5:30 uninterrupted. Linda called and wants Ron to help with the puzzle today. (He had planned to wash his outfit tonight and puzzle in clean clothes tomorrow.) TA DA! It was a delightful afternoon of puzzling while enjoying Dale and Linda's company. Ron is now back to work unraveling DNA.
26 Apr: At 11:00 AM we departed to hike the Courthouse Butte Trail (which means that we have to cross the highway). We finished shortly after 2:00 PM, too late to walk even further to Miley's. By 5 PM Cynthia had changed her mind about a second hike in the day. Ron is still struggling to understand DNA cousins for ElaRuth. 8.2 miles
25 Apr, Sunday: Ron slept through the night. Yay! And we were up early, exercised, fed and ready to go to church long before the deadline. It is a miracle.!! Church was very good this morning except that juniper berries on asphalt are like ball bearings - Ron's foot rolled downhill out from underneath him while he was putting jackets into the topcase. Fortunately he rolled as he hit the asphalt and now has lots of juniper berry imprints on the knee of his "going to church" pants. Miley's was happy to serve us our second breakfast of the day, so we are full and happy as we enjoy our electronics devices until 4:30 this afternoon when the temperature will start dropping, making our hiking more satisfying. Cynthia pecks along with one finger researching and doing DNA. We successfully hiked the Court House Butte Trail, totaling 8.4 miles, and returned to the trailhead in twilight, enjoying the gorgeous almost-full moon. It was dark as we walked on pavement home, but not an inky, dark black, thanks to that lovely moon.
24 Apr: The month is rapidly vanishing. But we are the happiest two people with joy ever increasing. Thank God! We "hopped" out of bed after exercises, ate oatmeal and prepared to hike "early." Temperatures were just right, and we hiked up the Slim Shady Trail to the junction but turned around there upon contemplation of an evening hike, which, after DNA and electronics, we did at 5 pm. However by the time we reached the Courthouse Butte Loop decision point, Cynthia had discovered that she was tired, so we cut it short with the Big Park Loop for a total of 10.3 miles today. Happy us.!! Now to bed.
23 Apr: The most delightful couple we know leisurely exercised, arose, oatmealed, and hiked five miles before delivering the girlie half to the nail salon. The guy half rode off to Sedona to solve another jigsaw puzzle mystery. How much fun is that! The Madd Capp tiger is indeed a challenging puzzle, but Linda and Ron made good progress in four hours of the afternoon. Ron returned to the Village by way of Safeway, for berries and bread, ate a salmon sandwich, cornbread and is now sleepy at 8:15 pm. 6.3 miles
22 Apr: Amazing that Ron was again out the door at 9:45 AM for a hike. Since Cynthia decided not to hike, Ron sped up the hills to hike on the Hiline Trail until turning around at 11:15, his deadline to get back in time to meet cousin Susan and hubby Leo for lunch at Miley's. They are a delightful couple, and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. After returning home, Ron continued Bankston DNA pursuits. But now it is time to microwave a sweet potato in a ZipLock bag for Cynthia.
21 Apr: We awakened early, exercised, ate and were ready to hike by 9:30.!! Out the door by 9:45 and back to Miley's before 2 PM closing. Ron is getting more and more confused by DNA; it must be time to take a break and do something else for a week or two. But first his clothes need to be washed before lunch with cousin Susan tomorrow. 8.3 miles
20 Apr: Today started with a call from the physical therapist saying that she could see Cynthia at 10:50 if we could get to Camp Verde. Well, the splint on the right hand didn't work at all. We shopped for groceries and came home fully loaded! Our short walk, starting at six PM, turned into 6.3 miles, and we arrived home in the almost black dark. (Ron would have said just before it was pitch black. In fact there was a half moon in the clear sky, so it wouldn't have gotten pitch black until much later.) And Cynthia admitted that she felt 100% better after the walk than before.
19 Apr: And the sun arose here in Sedona as expected. We slept well and arose early also. Ron continues rereading DNA stuffs in preparation for more research. Cynthia spent a very frustrating couple of hours on the phone before giving up and canceling the LifeLock service she was trying to resume. (LifeLock has been purchased by Norton, and the idiots want to text a code to you while you are talking on the phone - then the call drops while you hunt for the text message. The joys of dual factor identification, which promises to be as stupid as "political correctness.") Oh, Ron has been intending to write for weeks now this sentiment: When I was young I was taught to think for myself - which has led me to ignore most of what the government, politicians, media and the press have to say. Our hike today covered 6.2 miles.
18 Apr: And here we are, the twos of us, up at six AM preparing for worship. And Pastor David did not disappoint with a marvelous sermon about God's promise to forget. (Don't you wish you could no longer remember certain bad experiences? I do, as does Pastor David.) Another of the pleasures of attending Christ Lutheran is Jim's organ and piano music. What a superlative musician.!! We met the neighbors Steve and Cathy today and got the royal tour of their remodeled house. (They spared no expense to create a lovely home and yard.) Tonight we will enjoy another meal at Cucina Rustica with Dale and Linda (who have decided that they need to start the next "impossible" puzzle while I am still close by.). And it was indeed a very lovely evening with much discussion of various subjects and personal ancient histories.
17 Apr: On 17 April 1640 - 381 years ago today, our ancestor Peter Gunnarson Rambo arrived in America on the Kalmar Nykel, a Swedish full-rigged armed pinnace. They landed on the Delaware River, where Wilmington, Delaware now stands, as part of the first shipload of permanent settlers for the New Sweden Colony. Peter Gunnarson Rambo came from Ramberget, near Gothenburg, Sweden.
16 Apr: Is our day to collect medical CDs, lunch at Jose’s, visit Konstanz, buy groceries, and dine with the Pastors. A busy day, but we got all that done plus recycling dropped off and covid vaccination cards laminated at Staples for free. No time for hiking however. Ron had forgotten how delightfully entertaining conversation with Konstanz is. Dinner with Pastors David and Gwen was delightful as always. It is Ron's belief that we are invited to their house for dinner one night soon, but he forgets these details even before they register in his memory. (The only reason he can do genealogy is because his computer remembers all the details.) And we are learning to get to bed earlier in this house without bedroom darkening window shades.
15 Apr: We are still in the Village of Oak Creek (Sedona), but we awakened in a different house. Ron's morning exercises were interrupted by a reply from a genealogy cousin who has issues with GEDCOMs on GEDmatch. No Keurig coffee maker here, so we improvised to extract coffee from the little pods. Cynthia had issues with GEDCOMS on GEDmatch, too. It helped a lot to export the files as GEDCOMS, she mistakenly learned. And after an hour of plucking away using one finger typing, it worked. She also learned the software wants to be updated annually. Our two hikes today on the Slim Shady Trail totaled 9.5 miles. Slim Shady is a misnomer, shade is rare, but the views of Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte are wonderful, and we've located a cute little hedgehog cactus in bloom with tiny red beautiful blooms.
14 Apr: Is our moving day from our pleasant condo to a lovely house with a giant backyard, so Ron can bury compost without climbing a mountain. (No dear, Ron will not bury compost in the backyard of a rental. Besides climbing mountains counts for more steps.) Ron awakened at 4:30 am and managed to pack and organize a few more things before returning to bed at 5:30. We are up, exercised, fed, and prepared to move things in two or three trips by motorcycle. Three trips and brunch at Miley's. The walks to the Bell Rock Trailhead are much more scenic through the neighborhood, and we enjoyed remembering the people and flowers preceding our late afternoon (and wonderfully cool) hike on the Slim Shady Trail - all four miles (six total).
13 Apr: We are having success arising almost early. Cynthia's feet were hurting yesterday and today, so we cooled our jets and hiked "only" the Big Park Loop for 6 miles. The shorter trek allowed us to eat a second breakfast at Miley’s before they closed at two PM. Ron enjoyed talking to brother Dean for 5.9 of the miles (per Cynthia - my phone reports that the call only lasted an hour and five minutes).
12 Apr: Again up early so that we could stretch, eat, and hike before the day heats up to its forecast high of 78 degrees. We were only so successful. The next couple of weeks are supposed to be cooler. And, yes, we did get back in time to eat egg white omelets at Miley's after an eight-mile trek around Courthouse Butte. (In all this time Ron failed to realize that the name made the court the butt of a joke.)
11 Apr, Sunday: Arise oh ye faithful at 6 AM. And we did just that! We enjoyed meeting Wayne and Carol at Miley's after church, but the day was too warm thereafter to commence hiking, so we waited until after 4 PM to venture again outdoors. Ron told his newest acquaintance. “Google: Where is Ron,” so he must mention the Condo board member here. Genealogy DNA has been quite the challenge for Ron this week. On another day he will be happy to return to James Lea. Cynthia finds typing with one finger way too frustrating. On the 26th, she begins physical therapy and life with a brace on two fingers, one on each hand, for three months!
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| How's this for a honeymoon !! |
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| Ron learned that fossil is a trilobite |
10 Apr: We were up, fed, coffee, and out the door before 9:45 this morning. Ron is still leading tours to see the trilobite fossil imprint (fossil gone), and today's tourists informed him that it is indeed a trilobite and there was likely a huge storm that stirred up sediments that trapped the trilobite within them, hence the vertical orientation. This spiral is perhaps eight inches across. (Trilobites died out 252 million years ago.) Imagine Cynthia's disappointment to discover that Miley's was closed due to a kitchen problem. She had hiked steadily for hours without even stopping for our usual celebratory apple, fixated upon the pleasure of an omelet at Miley's. Oh well, we are delighted with her hiking stamina and strong ankles. While we are hiking in Sedona, our granddaughter Lauren and Tyler are honeymooning on a beach.
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| Spaceship Rock w/ fossil |
9 Apr: Tomorrow turned into today. The world turned. We did arise sorta early and started hiking at 10:35:16 on the dot. At 1:44:16 we walked into Miley’s Cafe for our second breakfast of egg white omelets, despite Ron taking time to lead a tour of the fossil embedded in Spaceship Rock (as shown in photo). Once we were suitably ensconced in the condo with electronic devices, Ron puzzled over DNA until he realized that Rambos and Tedrows in Somerset County, Pennsylvania before 1820 must have married cousins. That done, he can now clean the kitchen before shopping for carrots before dark.
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| Cute little iris |
8 Apr: Since the weather is warming and forecast highs are now 76°+, Ron has decided that we (meaning he) needs to get to bed earlier in order to get up earlier in order to get out for a morning walk earlier when it is cooler. And this morning we were both finished with exercises before his 9 AM pill alarm sounded. Now to see if he can do a satisfactory amount of DNA explorations before Cynthia finishes her second cup of coffee and puts on her walking shoes. We didn't get back before Miley's closes at 2:00 PM, but we did walk the Courthouse Butte Loop for eight prodigious miles! Then Ron discovered an order from the Swedish Colonial Society to fill before he could start working on DNA for cousin Susan. And finally, he wrote an e-mail to the one prospective Rambo cousin he discovered.
7 Apr: We must arise at 6 AM to get to the doctor's office by 8:30 appointment. This sounds impossible, given our recent habits, except that Cynthia will be fasting for labs. Amazing !! We were at LabCorps on time, Cynthia's hand was X-rayed, and Dr. Schneider examined her before 10 AM. He prescribed a brace to keep the affected fingers immobilized so that the sagittal bands can heal to resume keeping the extensor tendons in place correctly. Then the good (young) doctor was willing to inject cortisone into Cynthia's hip bursa which is a recurring problem. The relief was immediate. After shopping at Walmart, we returned to the Village of Oak Creek where Cynthia ordered omelets at Miley's while Ron unpacked groceries. Around 4:10 PM we went for our accustomed walk around the Big Park Loop as the air-cooled off nicely. We were back at the condo just before dark.
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| April brought flowers in Texas! |
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| Corrie & kids |
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| Bell Rock, properly centered |
6 Apr: Gosh, is it possible to get up any later? Ron is finishing breakfast at 10:53. We did sleep nearly 10 hours including nocturnal trips to adjust fluid levels. Now we are again up and active with electronic devices (obviously), and Ron is puzzling over which neglected project to resume today. (Cleaning the kitchen will get Cynthia's vote.) Cynthia is preparing for tomorrow’s visit to a hand surgeon in Cottonwood. She has two trigger fingers that were to have been repaired the week of the Texas ice age. Typing with one finger is not fun. While tidying up notes on his computer, Ron took a break to discover several new symbols Ä ä Å å Ö ö ü Ü ‘ “ ½ ¼ ¾ £ ¢ $ °. Look for these in future communications. Then at 3:52 we headed off to Bell Rock Trailhead for a quick Big Park Loop (click here) and enjoyed much, much cooler weather.
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| delphiniums not shown |
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| Ron hiding in shadows in corner |
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| The horrendous jigsaw puzzle |
5 Apr: Tomorrow is approaching too quickly, but we both awakened for the first time at 5 AM after 5 uninterrupted hours of sleep - great for us at this age. We feel wonderful this morning and are preparing to get out to hike before noon. And, hike we did! Eight miles on our favorite Court House Loop (click here and watch the video)! The good news is Cynthia felt great, feet and all. We returned to the condo about 3:30 and celebrated with a delightful "date" at Cucina Rustica (click here), delicious dining amongst delphiniums. Cynthia received photos of the horrendous jigsaw puzzle, a handsome buck. It doesn't look that hard, but too many of the pieces are practically identical, so they appear nearly perfect and fit nearly perfectly - - -when put together wrong. The seminal understanding was when Ron counted 25 pieces remaining to be put into the 12 vacant spots. Close examination lead to pulling one ear apart horizontally.
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| Adam and Samantha at home |
4 April: Easter Sunday Alleluia! (Click here) So many of our friends and family wished us a happy Easter. Ron's question is: "If a person has to get up so early to get to church on time, how can that person possibly be happy?" May you all experience a blessed Easter. Pastor David's message today was LOVE. Imagine our disappointment that Miley's was closed for Easter; on the other hand, isn't that wonderful that they actually allow their employees to celebrate Easter. Ron walked twice, once up the hill to the house we will move into on the 14th and the second time near Bell Rock. Cynthia did not feel well, so she slept while he walked. While Ron was walking towards his hike over the Rector Connector, Ed K. suggested that Cynthia's reaction might be due to the heat yesterday, a real-feel of 92. Having hiked the Rector Connector once, it now should be easy to convince Cynthia that she can do it too.
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| The ocotillo is greening |
3 April: Holy Saturday’s Hymn Meditation (click here), is an incredible duet by two young sisters. In case you haven't figured it out yet, click on the words Hymn Meditation. We slept in far too late, considering todays heat, and got out the door for our hike after the day was already much too warm - but we persevered and looped the entire Courthouse Butte Loop, eight miles. Now Cynthia has her hurty feet up, and Ron has his electronic device engaged (obviously).
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| Another cute picture taken 2020 |
2 April: Good Friday Hymn Meditation (click here) is Were You There When They Crucified My Lord? Ron found a picture worth posting. Did I mention life is good? Ron's big project today is to visit Dale & Linda early enough to finish that horrendous jigsaw. And YAY! Ron finished the puzzle and brought home fleurs for his beloved bride. In the meantime and in between time, she has spent Good Friday in her robe, resting her feet, praying, and meditating, plus some DNA projects. Infinityfree has proven to be a source of great satisfaction (in knowing that his sites can be resurrected easily on other servers) and of continuing frustration when all his accounts were "suspended" for "abuse." Turns out their servers noticed the innocuous phrase "send money" and suspended all my accounts asap for violating a policy that all free accounts must be "non commercial."
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| SmoochSmooch, Nov. 2019 |
1 April: Maundy Thursday, also known as Holy Thursday Hymn Meditation (click here) is O Sacred Head Now Wounded. It is also Samantha’s birthday and April Fool’s Day. And it will be so hot we must hike early. Ooops, Ron forgot to copy a snippet in Times New Roman Large. Let's see if the post can be converted here. Ron & Cynthia arose "early" in order to get in a hike before the afternoon heat. We were partially successful although the Big Park Loop was still quite warm. And we stopped to sit often enough that we barely made it back to Miley's before they closed at 2:00. Ron is pumped to think that he can migrate his Google sites to infinityfree, so that is his afternoon project.
