The Spirit at Mesa Spirit

Wintering at Mesa Spirit in Mesa, AZ, Mom and Dad find numerous activities that keep them busy and active. Last week was Western Week and Mom and her friend Joann got their photo taken with "Almost Willie" after his music concert one evening.
Mom and Dad play on a bocce ball league together, the Hawkeyes of course, along with friends Jim and Joann from Sioux Center, IA. Dad's been walking, hitting the exercise room and going to therapy for his shoulder and they've both been swimming when their schedule allows. Mom belongs to Song Birds a singing group, Bookworms, teaches Swedish weaving at a craft time, sings in the church choir and and is the treasurer of their church at the park. Wednesday morning there is the Larchwood breakfast where friends with connections to Larchwood meet for breakfast and chatter at a restaurant where they know them all by name. There are street coffees, Iowa picnics and of course Friday mornings they go to the Country Store where there is delicious soup, hot dogs, ice cream cones and sundaes and a mini flea market set up at the main community room. Saturday night is bingo night where they play for cash prizes and so far this winter Mom and Dad both have gotten their chance to yell "BINGO", Dad got his last night!
They have a grapefruit and orange tree off their patio and so far this winter have had fun giving away over 175 grapefruit, many in a box they have labeled "help yourself", by their front door. They have friends and neighbors from Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota, Canada and many other states. This year there is even another couple (Marv & Sharon Lape) from Larchwood at the park!
A golf cart adds to their vehicle count, as some days they find themselves coming and going. They get to escape the ice, snow and cold of Iowa and stay active with new and old activities. There's much more going on among these retired folks, what'd I miss Mom?

Happy 2009 to You!

I'm back in Denver, IA to the cold mid-west. Arizona was great and something a person could get used to... I see why my parents enjoy their winters there. Before reality sets in I'll share some views from my trip south.
Chuck the festive bulldog was at the Waterloo airport on Christmas Eve. He was there waiting to greet someone who was to arrive. He loved the attention and made sure to greet everyone there. He looks a lot like my brother's dog Winston. His owner said he dresses up for every holiday. There were only 6 people on my first flight to Minneapolis that night. We were all fearful they would cancel that flight too! In Mnpls. a UNI student and I trekked across the airport to reach our flights which were at gates next to each other. After boarding my plane we were told to get off and switch to another plane delaying our flight about an hour. :-( Mom and Dad's neighbor, Brian from Canada, was kind enough to drive out to the Phoenix airport with Mom to pick me up. The traffic and directions out that way can get pretty confusing. What a nice neighbor to help in the early morning hours.
After a few hours of sleep at Mom and Dad's we got in the van to head to Tucson on Christmas morning.

Right: Mom at the wheel.

Left: Dad shared the back seat with me on the trip south.
We pointed out sights along the road, noticing changes since we last traveled that way, sang some Christmas songs and the time passed quickly. I even got Dad to listen to a few songs on my iPod sharing the headphones. Traffic wasn't too bad, we figured everyone was at home opening presents.

Right: Joe helping Mom navigate.

It had been raining so you could see puddles in the desert. Clouds were descending on Tucson full of rain, making for some great views but I didn't get the really good ones from the back seat of the van.
The mountains on the north edge of Tucson had clouds coming down on the tops. If it'd been pink it would have looked like cotton candy.

The next few days we had comfort foods of Christmas's past: lutfisk, lefse, lingonberries, limpa bread, ham, turkey, scalloped spinach, wild rice, boiled potatoes, peanut brittle... There were lots of leftovers so don't think we ate it all at once!

AZ Update

I suppose many of you regulars thought I fell off the edge of the Earth! Not really, but I have been enjoying myself once I finally got to Arizona.

Mom and Dad's place in Mesa.


We traveled to Tucson Christmas morning and spent a couple days at my sister's house there. It was colder than usual and even froze on our last night there so the van had to be scraped and we covered plants at Deb's. A blossom that missed the coverings was encased in ice Saturday morning, hard to believe the cold followed me down to Arizona.

Joe left for home on Sunday afternoon. It's warming up here in Mesa and we've gone swimming the last two days with plans to go again before I leave. The water's been great on my joints. (I twisted my knee getting into a seat on the airplane in Mnpls. and heard it pop! Clutz!) I'd love to have easy access to a pool back home.

We've been enjoying fresh fruit from Mom and Dad's grapefruit and orange trees. Imagine going out in the morning to pick fruit for breakfast. I'm sneaking some into my suitcase on Friday!
We dug up some rocks and spread some potting soil for a little flower bed for Mom today and I laid some brick tiles off their patio. I've been working on my Christmas cards and also have some drawings to grade for school along... always a teacher. I fly back into Waterloo Friday night and school starts Monday. Time will go fast so I'm off to relax some more...
(These are all Joe's photos so you'll have to live through mine later... :-)

Merry Christmas

Just to let you know I'm in Mesa (as of 2:30 am Iowa time) and we're heading down to Tucson this morning. Lots of trip stories to relay, delays, cancellations, switching planes,... and I even took a photo or two to share, but no time to post now.
It's raining in Mesa but NO SNOW!