February 17th to 20th – It’s been 40 years since George’s cousin, Ted and wife Sue, moved from the Toronto area to the west coast for work. During that time they have moved from Vancouver to Seattle, raised a family, became US citizens and have recently retired to Ridgefield, WA to be close to the grandchildren. They also own a home in Gold Canyon, AZ which is where we caught up with them. There have been many visits back to Toronto during those 40 years, but as with all families who live large distances apart, visits home were reserved for parents, brothers/sisters, and family celebrations…leaving little time for the extended family. It was a real treat, therefore, for us to spend 2 1/2 days together catching up on 40 years.
Ted, Sue, Nancy & George
Sandwiched between conversations about growing up in the east end of Toronto, friends from Calvary Baptist Church, Camp Manitomono, and school, various family members and general reminiscences, we found time to learn how to play pickle-ball, visit the ice cream store at Tequila Flats, take a cruise on Canyon Lake, have lunch in Superior (a struggling mining town right out of the 1930s) and tour the Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park. On Thursday evening we celebrated George’s birthday in style at the local golf and country club where we had our first taste of elk. We are looking forward to spending more time with Ted during our family adventure to France in June.
Tequila Flats – Ice Cream Stop
Big Horn Sheep
The road between Palm Desert and Gold Canyon is virtually four hours across the desert. There is not much to see (other than scrub brush and random sequoia cacti) and there are only three or four populated crossroads (one could be called a town) along the way. Just after you enter/leave Arizona, there is a one hour time change. We did notice a difference in the landscaping of private residences between Palm Desert and Gold Canyon. In Palm Desert most of the residential areas still use a fair bit of grass for landscaping purposes and since many areas are gated communities, the area between the walls and the roads are also grassed and nicely manicured. This requires much needed water, which as you may know is in short supply in California. In Mesa and Gold Canyon, most of the landscaping is done using stones and native plants/grasses. Drip-watering is usually only required about once a week for 20 or 30 minutes.
February 21st – Today we were back at PDCP church for the 10:30 blended worship. The children made a special presentation which was cute given that the little girl who sang one of the verses was very off-key and the voices on stage weren’t always in sync with the voices on the back-up tape. Oh the fun of working with technology!! The speaker today was Mark Labberton, President of Fuller Seminary. His message was based on Daniel 1 -3 and was entitled Strangers in a Strange Land. He spoke well about Americans coming to terms with no longer living in the promised land and learning how to live in exile. It was very timely given the status of American politics these days. You can listen at PDCP Feb 21st. The sermon is about minute 37.
As we enter our last week in Palm Desert we are trying to enjoy each day. It will be back to cold and regular activities soon.
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