Welcome, Neighbor

Red Mountain Wireless is now open at Lakeview Village. Another business to welcome to our community!

It's That Time of Year

I bought mine last week. Have you ordered yours yet?

It's Not Just Birds

Here is a nice article on the Riparian Preserve. There is a hiking trail between Higley Groves West and the Preserve, which is accessed by going just under the power lines and across the bridge at the northwest corner of the greenbelt. It's a nice little hike.

Rain in the Ranch

Our weather station expert gave me some totals last night:

"This last bit of rain (yesterday) gave us .37 inches. This week's total is .49 inches, making this month a whopping 2.42 inches."

The average rainfall in Phoenix is 7 inches a year. Wow.

Thankful for roads

A couple of days ago the East Valley Tribune had an article on all the road construction in Gilbert:

"With nearly 20 construction projects under way simultaneously in Gilbert, some residents say they never know whether intersections they use one day may be impassable the next.
"People are upset when the roads don’t flow, and they call the police," he said."

I know that I find myself thinking about which direction to go that has the least amount of construction, and sometimes I'm impatient with restricted lanes. But I have a slightly different perspective since a trip we took about four years ago.

We got to go to Kenya for a friend's wedding, and because we have a large family, we hired a driver and a minivan. The notable thing about driving there is that it takes the driver's FULL attention, not just because of erratic driving by others, but because of the condition of the roads themselves. Pothole is too mild a word for the large craters that we drove around - and often through - throughout the entire city of Nairobi. Only one time did we drive on a well-maintained road, and that was in front of then-President Moi's estate. The rest of the time, and not just in Nairobi, we bounced along, never thinking of trying to read a newspaper (impossible) and often wondering if a mouth guard might work to protect our teeth against the particularly jarring lurches made by the minivan. Sometime during that trip, I decided I wouldn't complain about road construction anymore; comparatively speaking, our roads are smooth as silk.

In about a month, the road widening for Highland Groves will start. I'll do my best to be thankful.

Say What?

I heard a rumor a few weeks ago that we were going to be putting in a drugstore on the southwest corner of Higley and Elliot. The reason I knew it was a rumor is because it surprised the heck out of me. The Mister and I looked at each other and said, "Say What?!!" I wonder how that got started. It is true that this corner is zoned for commercial use; it is also true that a drugstore would fit that zoning use. I suppose it's even true that a drugstore might end up there someday. But that is not our desire for that corner, and there are no, repeat nada, zip, zero talks with any businesses whatsoever for that location.

Let me add that the folks at the office are happy to talk about the plans for the rest of Morrison Ranch, including questions like "is there a drugstore going in on that corner?"; feel free to stop by the office on the northwest corner of Higley and Elliot, the yellow house, and ask them. A phone call might be wise to be sure that someone is there that can help you (480-813-8234), but the office is really a friendly place.

Back in the Saddle

Or rocking chair, I suppose. Sorry for the lack of blogging; the mister and I were out of town for a few days. We have been talking about the Front Porch, though, and we're changing a few things. We'll be adding some more bloggers from our office, we're expanding a bit on our personal profiles, and we are turning on the comments function for our readers. So this will be week two of our testing process, and we hope to keep growing both in the technical knowledge and in effective posts in the blogging process.

Water, Water, Everywhere

Did you know we have a weather station at Morrison Ranch?

As a result, we know that the first of our recent storms produced 1.2 inches of rain, and the second 1.82 inches. That's a lot for Arizona, as you well know.

Water has always been precious to a farming family like ours. One of our objectives is to utilize our reclaimed water wisely. That is why we have the weather station. When the temperature is high or the wind is blowing, and evaporation is at a high rate, the grass and trees require more water. When it is cloudy or has rained, the weather station communicates that our grass and trees require less water. These daily measurements and changes help us avoid over-watering. The system is directly tied to our pump station along side our Town Center lake. Higley Groves West, although not tied to the automatic system, utilizes the same landscape crew and the information is available to them for the same adjustments. We are pleased by this conservative use of water.

Maybe someday we can figure out how to post those numbers on the website. That would be cool!

By the way, if people talk to you about the grass in Morrison Ranch, remember this: Our grass uses more water than the desert plants of other subdivisions. Our neighborhoods are cooler than other subdivisions, due to the grass. Our air conditioners run less than theirs do, using less electricity. Therefore, less cooling water is used in places like St. Johns, AZ, as well as less coal burned. So the extra water for irrigation is only part of the story.

Food, Glorious Food

I got an email from one of the guys yesterday saying that the new Subway has opened in Lakeview Village as of, well, yesterday! I drove by before I went grocery shopping and there seemed to be a lot of cars in front. I didn't have time to stop in and welcome them to the neighborhood, but I will soon, and in the meantime I wish them success.

Vote!

I am thrilled to live in a country that affords me the privilege of self-government through elections; yet, I am exhausted with the political brouhaha that surrounds the presidential election. Nevertheless, we have another opportunity to influence our little corner of the world. There is a Town election coming up soon. We all need to be involved in our Town as well as our neighborhood. Get the facts at the Town website. And if you want to make it easy, you can apply for a ballot by mail by filling out the little green card that came in your water bill last month. In reality, our local elections more closely impact our daily lives than our national elections. I would love to see a high participation in this election by the people who live in Gilbert.

And Speaking of Smells...

Some people ask the question very graciously ("Um, where is that odor coming from?"); some questioners feel a bit more demanding ("How long will it be before I can build a house worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and not be assailed by the smell of cows when I step out the door?!"), and some find the humor in the situation ("I grew up in Texas and my daddy said that's just the smell of money!").

The fact is that the dairies were here long before our houses were, and it would be unreasonable to ask them to move just because we are here now. (Full disclosure - yes, the Morrison family owns one of those dairies, at Elliot and Sossaman.) The smells that we endure are actually coming from five to six miles away! The feed lot corrals on Higley next to the four silos have been closed for over a year now, and are pretty well dried up, as far as odors go. The good news for our state is that we've been having a lot of rain lately. The bad news is that the manure odor is increased by moisture. The good news is that we live in a very dry climate. Hopefully, the odious odors will be sporadic and few.

Fish and guests stink after three days (Danish proverb)

I don't know if your winter guests are beginning to stink, but several people have noticed the dead fish in the Town Center Lake. Not to worry; the ecosystem of the lake is all well and good. The dead fish are the small ones that aren't very strong yet, and they have perished because of the cold water. With the temperatures returning to normal (warmer), the baby fish should survive and thrive and grow up to eat the other fish that eat the other fish that eat the algae... well, you get the picture.

Lakeview Village Break-ins

The dentist's office, the insurance office, and the nail spa were broken into last night; apparently the locks were removed from the doors - a very professional job. I don't know how much damage it caused or what was taken, but I was very sad for those business owners. If you have any information on this, please call the Gilbert Police Department at 480-503-6500.

Pull Up a Rocker and Sit

We are experimenting with a new way of visiting with our neighbors in Morrison Ranch. We'll start with some news about the current goings-on, and you can let us know what you think.