Fall Hike

Disclaimer: This is not a kind post.

One of Matthew's cub scout assignments was to write a proposal for a fall hike. No date was given for this hike, but we knew it would be in October or November. So he wrote a little proposal and suggested the Wind Cave Trail in Usery, which is a 3-mile round trip out-and-back hike up to a neat cave with a cool view. There's also a 1-mile flat loop that goes around a short hill for smaller siblings and parents who don't want to climb. If that's not enough, the park has a nature center so kids and adults could learn something about the area. Matthew suggested meeting at 7:30 am with the hike starting at 8 am. (One of my biggest pet peeves about the cub scout camping/hiking leader is that nothing starts at reasonable times or ON time, so we are all for an early morning hike for ambitious--as they should be--scouts).

Yesterday I received an email from that leader announcing the plan for the fall hike. It's this Saturday. Oh, well thanks for the notice! It's not at Wind Cave. It's at South Mountain's Fat Man's Pass. That's a nice destination, but it's four miles long and there's not a lot to see on the way. Also, they're meeting at the younger kids' hiking area (some 2-mile trek that's likely really boring because there aren't too many destination hikes at South Mountain) and carpooling up to Dobbins Lookout with the older kids. The most shocking part? They are meeting at 3 pm. 

First of all, the forecast is sunny and 94 degrees on Saturday. So starting a hike at the hottest part of the day is just about the worst idea that guy ever had. And he's had many. Second, not everyone is going to arrive at 3:00 and he herds people at a snail's pace, so they'll be lucky to leave with the carpool by 3:30. Once they get to the lookout, the boys will want to look out. This hike may start at 4:00. Mark my words, they are going to run out of daylight.

I have a hunch he didn't read any of the boys' proposals and that he knew all along what the hike was going to be. Because this plan sounds like something that would come from his brain.

I have little faith this will be fun, and I'm so glad we're not going to be around for this disaster.

A Quaint Desert Retreat

If, ya know, you were the most famous American architect to have ever lived.

The kids and I tagged along with some friends who were visiting Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home and architecture and design school. Matthew's class is doing a living wax museum of famous Arizonans--never mind Wright is from Wisconsin--and his friend Miye chose Frank Lloyd Wright. (Matthew chose Joe Garagiola, who is from St. Louis. Clearly Arizona likes to claim famous people as their own.) Her mom asked if we would be interested in exploring the home and campus, so we joined them on a nice drive up to Scottsdale and the foothills of the McDowell Mountains.

We took a 90-minute tour, and it was extremely interesting. He was an eccentric fellow for sure, but they didn't share many of the negatives. The worst they told us was that he was a horrible driver; they didn't mention how he abandoned his first wife and family so I didn't either. Mostly what they told us was how resourceful he was with materials and how thoughtful he was to create structures that organically connected with the landscape. Taliesin West is out in the middle of the desert, and he really draws the best of the outside indoors. If you sit at the piano, you can see three mountains in a row through the window. The seats in the cabaret theater are so low and the windows so high that you can watch the moon rise above the mountains from your seat. He was also very energy efficient. The compound was originally a camp, so most of the ceilings are canvas. That lets a lot of natural light in during the day. In some areas, light bounces off structures to light a room all day. He also thought about where to place windows so that the sun would heat the stones and concrete during the day and stay warm in the night. As if lighting and heating weren't enough, he also considered how sound affects residents and visitors. The bedrooms are thirty feet from a noisy fountain, but a short, serpentine hallway separates the areas so you can't hear anything if you're trying to sleep. The theater is spectacular with stadium seating and impressive acoustics. Even better was the cabaret theater. The sound bounces off the six walls which are offset from each other. No parallel walls means no echo. You can hear conversations from across the room as if they are right next to you. I was amazed. Matthew and his friend demonstrated how there is no need for microphones at performances. It was really something!

Here are a few photos I took on our visit. I didn't know what to expect, but it was far more interesting than I thought it would be. I'm glad we went.

Matthew and Miye were called upon by the docent to demonstrate concepts to our group. Here they are deciphering some petroglyphs.

These oriental figures were throughout the campus. FLW bought them from the backroom of a shop in San Francisco's Chinatown. They were broken from being shipped from China, but he had his apprentices glue them back together and insert them in walls.

Here the kids are measuring out four feet. 

his office

Everywhere you look are geometric shapes. Triangles were very prominent in this area.

Matthew and Miye showing off the fireplace

dining room

my friend Candace sitting in an ergonomic origami chair in the garden room

more shapes

Miye with Frank

ceiling in the garden room's entrance

the third Mrs. Wright's bedroom

the mysterious hallway

noisy but pretty fountain

Another interesting fact I learned today is that the apprentices are currently working on projects to revitalize the Globe and Miami areas. These two cities were bustling mining towns, but the mines are no longer in operation so the towns are dying. The Wright Foundation is working with the locals to draw visitors and residents to their area. They don't want to be like the quirky town of Jerome. They don't want to do mine tours like in Bisbee. What do they want? They're figuring it out.

This dragon breathes fire at night.

sculpture garden

stick bug on a stick sculpture

written on the wall as you enter the main theater

a LEGO model of Taliesin West

our docent on the theater's stage

circles stand for happiness

My favorite room was the cabaret theater.

Miye and Matthew demonstrated the acoustics.

The docent said these are "great kids." What a relief.

A New Teenager

Our Elizabeth is officially a teenager. It's strange to realize that, but not in the expected sense of time flies and I can't believe our baby is so grown up now. It does feel like I've known her for thirteen years. Truly. But what is strange is that she doesn't really act like a teenager. (Now I should probably knock on wood.) The difference in how she behaves is strikingly different than a lot of other girls her age. I'm grateful. She's sensible and does what she feels is right even if it's not a "popular" choice. She's kind; she never excludes anyone and often goes out of her way to make others feel included. She's a focused student with excellent grades to prove it, but she doesn't put in the hard work for the grades. She honestly loves to learn, and at dinnertime she's usually telling us about what they discussed in science or the lesson in geometry that day. In the mornings, she's practicing the piano for 45 minutes to an hour. What might stand out the most at how she's not your average thirteen-year-old girl is that she is often thanking me--for making dinner, for taking her to piano lessons, for letting her go to Washington DC this summer with a group from school. She's appreciative! Isn't that unheard of at this age? Maybe someday the hormones will throw her out of whack and we'll deal with it as best we can. But for now, we're enjoying the young woman she's becoming.

She had a good birthday today. I'm so relieved because she deserved to have the best time after the last few weeks. She and I started the day with a short but sweet run at the park. Then I made French toast for breakfast. Later in the morning, we went to a local art studio called Burst of Butterflies, and she and I tried something new. We made fused glass pendants. We learned how to cut glass and tried to arrange it as best we could, and we're excited to see how our pendants come out after they are fired.

I knew fused glass pendants wouldn't excite Matthew, so he picked out a pottery piece to paint alongside us. He and that tarantula had a nice time together. Everyone was happy. I can't wait to see how his project turns out as well.

After lunch, we went shopping for a new quilt for her bed and to pick up her cake from our favorite bakeshop, Nothing Bundt Cakes. Then we came home and enjoyed some downtime from our busy day until we went out to eat at her favorite Italian restaurant for calzones. We sang to her, had some yummy cake, and she opened some presents--biking gloves and sunglasses. 

Her main gift was a mountain bike, but she got it a few weeks ago and has been riding with Brian on Saturdays. She really enjoys it and is interested in being on the high school team next year. She's practicing hard and hopes to race in the series Brian does starting in January. If she applies herself like she does to everything else, I'm confident she'll do well.

Challenge Time

As if the last few weeks haven't been challenging enough, I decided to participate in a 30-day online Pilates challenge. I figured ten minutes a day is something I can commit to, and so I asked my pal Aimee if she would join me and we've been checking in with each other daily to stay accountable. And it's been good.

It's only Day 6, but I feel like I'm getting my body back. The ten-minute workouts aren't exactly the way to fitness, but they get me moving. And when I get moving, I tend to like to stay in motion. I'm motivated to run, ride, hike, or walk more again.

It's helping my posture, too. Well it's making me more mindful of it, which should lead to alleviating my lower back pain. Here's hoping.

What's more, all this movement is helping my stress levels. And let's just say there has been a lot of stress lately.  Last night, a possible setback was staring me straight in the face, but I didn't lose control of my emotions like last time. I assessed the situation, decided this is beyond me, and called in the professionals. We're all really hoping we can put this behind us. Now.

Once again, exercise and activity prove to be my saving grace.

Garage Sale Purchase

The kids and I went on a bike ride this morning, and on our way home we stopped at a garage sale in our neighborhood. We scanned the junk quickly and then rode home. But I kept thinking about the albums. The seller had excellent taste in music and there were quite a few good records there. They were priced at $3 each or five for $10. The sale was just around the corner, so I walked back and picked out a few. I have nothing to play them on, so I guess I need to hit at least one more garage sale in the near future.

Just in case you didn't already know I was a cavewoman, I willingly admit that I still have no idea how to download music.

Pumpkin Spice Everything

...except lattes. Because those are ew.

Most people start going crazy over all things pumpkin as soon as September hits, but here in Hades it's still close to 100 degrees daily until we round the corner into October. So last week, I decided to be more optimistic about the weather changing soon--soon. it's gotta be soon--and bought some pumpkin. All the store had left was the big can, though. I guess everyone else was in the mood, too. I figured, "Oh what the heck," and bought it anyway.

The kids and I were easy like Sunday morning and made some pumpkin pancakes over the weekend, but that used only six tablespoons of that giant can of pumpkin. Ever since then, we've been making more and more pumpkin treats. Which led to pumpkin maple pecan granola on Monday. I've been enjoying that for breakfast over yogurt this week. Then we made some pumpkin oat streusel muffins for morning snacks. Those really hit the spot after our bike ride yesterday morning. I "healthed up" the muffins a bit by using applesauce instead of oil and subbing half with white flour with whole wheat flour. I also slightly cut the brown sugar. No one noticed and the next time I make them I'll halve the brown sugar.

This morning, I decided to use up the last cup of pumpkin and make this pumpkin bread. We haven't tried it yet as it's our dessert for this evening, but it smelled glorious as it baked. I'm tempted to top it with this yummy-sounding glaze. We'll see. But probably. Most likely. I think I'm talking myself into it as I type.

Are you having your own gourd festival? Tell me. I'm up for new recipes.

To the Outdoors!

Because, without a doubt, we had, had, had to get out.

So we hopped in the car at 7:40 this morning and drove east to Superior, Arizona. There we found the Boyce Thompson Arboretum, a flora and fauna refuge near the base of the Superstition Mountains. It's only about 45 minutes away, but the temperatures are slightly cooler than home, and this morning it was nice and chilly out there. The kids even started our stroll wearing sweatshirts.

This place was established in the 1920s, so there are quite a few beautiful old buildings.

We saw some giant birds on the top of those peaks. Too bad I didn't have the longer lens.

We quickly walked through an area being circled by buzzards or vultures or...something unnerving. "Kids! Look alive!" :)

Most of the main trail is level and easy going, but at the turnaround you go up then down. It wasn't difficult, but the sun was very sunny.

We obviously went no farther here.

Most of the trail is shaded, too, which is really nice around these parts.

We saw some animal tracks in the mud down below. We think they are from foxes.

A neat suspension bridge connects the Main Trail to the High Trail.

In the background is Picket Post House. It was built to house plant scientists and students who worked at the arboretum.

Elizabeth and I checking out a sundial.

A palm tree next to a pine tree? Huh.

Elizabeth demonstrating how to harvest a mandrake. Just kidding!

We had a quiet and peaceful picnic lunch after our walk.

With renewed energy, Matthew ran up and down this trail ten times. Really.

He'd finish each time with a Rocky climb up the stairs.

We found an old cabin made in the style of an Australian drover's house.

Does this truck look like Mater to you?

Good job, Conservation Corps! I didn't see any other signage, but I'm guessing they are responsible for the quality trail system throughout the arboretum.

On the way back to the car, I gave the kids the camera and they took some up close photos. Some turned out pretty good!

It was a nice morning out. We got home around 12:30, took showers, and were ready for naps. It was just so nice to be outside again.