Trees, Glorious Trees

I was walking over to my sister's house the other day, and found myself astounded at the size of the trees along the sidewalk. Wasn't it just yesterday I was wondering if these spindly little things would ever provide shade? Here they were, providing a delightful canopy as I walked along; and along with the shade, the various shades of green from the trees and the turf were soothingly pleasant. It's happening, I thought; the dream is coming true, and I no longer have to envision the future towering trees because they are beginning to tower now (and not just in my backyard, Sherwood Forest, but that's another subject).

Of course, I have the benefit of living on the west side of Higley Groves, and this landscaping was some of the first to go in, and is therefore larger than in other parts. Linda Street - not my street - was actually the first street, and I love to drive down it on my way to the office because it's mature trees are pleasant and shady as well. There are areas in Higley Groves, however, that still have very young trees. And here is where we have an example of a well-meaning resident actually harming the trees that they are hoping to help.

Bias For Action posted about tree pruning back in May, which is the proper time to prune trees in Arizona. Here are the key paragraphs:

I have gotten some questions about why we don't trim our trees up from the bottom. When they ask this they are usually looking at some of our newer additions. The younger trees come with tiny branches and a small amount of leaves from the ground up toward some of the more major branches. We leave them on for several reasons. First, plants need photosynthesis to grow and leaving those leaves on helps the general health of the tree. Second, the trunk is healthier and grows to a greater diameter sooner if the leaves are left on. A broad base right at ground level is important for the stability of the tree longer term.

So when a resident trimmed the pecans on Cotton Lane, rather than enhancing the trees' growth over the coming years, it actually hampers the growth and health of the trees. Here is a picture of what I'm talking about:



Believe me when I say that we consider the trees in Morrison Ranch to be one of our most precious assets. And if you don't believe me, just sit in on a meeting where some hapless engineer has replaced a tree on a plan with a lamp post or worse yet, nothing, and listen to the firm but polite reprimands by the Mister, Bias For Action and The Sixth Man! So we work hard to ensure the health of the trees for the long haul, including learning how to properly prune them, when to fertilize them and give them nutrients that they especially need, like zinc.

One word of caution, though. There is one reason why our landscapers will trim the bottom of the tree before it's time: City Ordinances demand that the sight lines be kept open at intersections; therefore, the trees at all intersections must be trimmed up, even from their youth. So if you see our maintenance crew trimming trees from the bottom up near an intersection, please don't go tackle them with the information above in hand; they are just obeying the law. Otherwise, let them trim the trees in due season, and we'll just enjoy the shade as it comes along.

Studies in Cement

At the weekly builders' meeting in our office yesterday, there seemed to be a lot of moaning and groaning, in the grown men and women style of groaning. I asked The Mister what was causing such angst, and his reply was the lack of concrete. In pressing for details, it became obvious that I was pretty ill-informed about the subject; and I always figure that if I am ignorant about a topic, there are probably one or two other folks in the same boat. So I'll pass on what I learned, with apologies to those who are quite familiar with the construction process.

The first revelation to me is that cement and concrete are NOT interchangeable terms. I have always used them (improperly, it turns out) in the same context, i.e. "the #1 Son scraped his knees on the cement sidewalk when he fell off his bike." The Mister informed me that a cement sidewalk would never survive a rain; it would just wash away like talcum powder. He then reminded me of our annual experiences of building "houses" (a small 2 room structure with no electricity, plumbing or drywall) in Mexico for the very needy; when we mix the concrete for the slab, we use a mixture of sifted sand/dirt, water, and cement - those packages of gray powdery granules that you dread if you are the one stirring the "soup" with a hoe because it thickens the mixture. Ah, I say, it all becomes clear; but isn't cement just crushed rock? Well, yes, but it's a special kind of rock, made from limestone, which is mined and then has to be cooked in giant kilns. The two main mines in Arizona are outside of Tucson, and near Cottonwood. And, of course, they have limited capacity. So why the shortage of this essential commodity?

Demand, says The Mister. We have more housing starts in Arizona than we have ever had in our history. That requires foundation slabs, curbs and gutters, to say nothing of swimming pools. And the building demand has been high across the country. And now there is hurricane damage rebuilding to consider. The overseas demand is also increasing, as China in particular explodes with building growth. Our domestic facilities have never been able to fully supply our domestic needs, and over 25% of our cement was imported last year. Most of that comes from Canada, but the other was shipped in from Thailand, Venezuela, China, Greece, and Colombia - through various ports, like New Orleans. Now our imports will be hampered because of the storm damage to the ports. Shortages are already being reported in 32 states and the District of Columbia; with the disruption to ocean, barge and rail transport coupled with power outages to the cement plants due to Hurricane Katrina, the supply is likely to grow tighter.

The builders who meet in our office have been feeling this squeeze for some time now. No concrete was being delivered on Saturdays all through the summer. Now it is not being delivered on Fridays, either, and even some delivieries during the week are short of the requested quantity. It pushes all the timelines back (as in Highland Groves), and makes everyone a little bit stressed.

So, what's the forecast? The Mister has no clue, so I don't, either. But there are a couple of facts that I found in my research that offer me a glimmer of hope. First, the demand for cement decreases during the winter months for our northern neighbors who can't pour concrete in freezing weather. I grew up in freezing weather, and there isn't a lot you CAN do in those temperatures, but I digress; the point is that this will ease the shortage for those southern states, like Arizona. Second, Mexico has more cement capacity than they need, and this seems like a simple solution - get it from Mexico. The only roadblock (pun intended) is a small (not!) bureaucratic holdup. In 1990, a group of U.S. producers complained that the Mexican firm Cemex was selling cement for less in the U.S. than in its home market. So the Commerce Department imposed an "antidumping duty" on cement from Mexico. The duty began at 80% and has been adjusted over the years, and it is currently at 55%; but it obviously prevents any Mexican cement from easing our shortage. So I can hope that the duty will be suspended in light of the circumstances, although we all know that undoing a bureaucratic rule is 100 times more difficult than implementing it. Still, it seems warranted, and there are folks pushing for this, so you never know.

In the meantime, we will continue to plug along and work together with the cement that is available. Highland Groves still awaits curbs and gutters; Panda Express has begun construction in Lakeview Village, as has Nitti Construction on the shops adjoining Albertson's and Di Ricci's. These are scheduled to be completed by February. The veterinarian going in on the south side of Lakeview Village is facing a different type of delay due to the demands on the Town of Gilbert's Design Review Board. The DRB has months' worth of backlog of designs to review.

Yep, it's true; it's taking longer.

Papers in Paperless

After a week of training, trial and error, rote processing, phone calls and answers regarding taking our office paperless, I thought I'd offer a brief update.

You can not believe how many sardonic comments I've received about the concept of reducing paper in the office. One friend even sent me a roll of toilet paper in anticipation of a visit to our office and needing some. My own son enquired how I could call it "paperless" if indeed there will still be paper lying around. My reply, of course, is to think of it as "less paper" rather than "no paper." Maybe that should be my new refrain: we're taking the office lesspaper. Hmm.

Daughter #2 (the one who has a minor degree in Computer Science) and I received the initial burst of training and began the input process last week. She understood and picked things up easily and quickly, and I am beginning to get a feel for it, though I can't really explain it to someone else. The basic concept works this way: Whatever documents come into the office, whether electronically or as a piece of paper, get put into the computer system. If the document starts as an electronic file, like an e-mail or a Word or Excel document, it's just a matter of "filing" it on the computer. If it's a piece of physical paper, it is first scanned and then "filed." The scanner has its own computer to tell it what to do, but all the computers are connected so that everyone can have access to the data. I expected the scanner to be some huge piece of equipment, like a copier, but it's actually rather petite:





So when the documents are all "filed" away in the computer system, we only have to perform a short search to retrieve the document, using some key words that the documents were indexed with in the filing process. That's the theory, anyway. In actuality, the key reason for going this route is not to rid the office of paper, though that will be a nice side effect. The primary reason is to be able to retrieve documents efficiently and quickly. I have gone looking for things we've inserted just to check it out, and it works great; the real test, of course, will be when I HAVE to find something right now. And just as in building communities "it always takes longer," so in going to the lesspaper office. There are questions and little glitches and the second daughter had to go back to Tucson to her real life and there is the training of the rest of the office yet to happen, so this really is just the beginning of the effort.

The other question we had to answer was how much paper to scan; we estimate we have about 40,000 paper documents in our office, which by corporate standards is not very much. But by how-long-can-I-sit-here-feeding-papers-and-indexing-them standards it's quite a lot. Obviously, we are starting with the current projects and then we will see how far back we're willing to go, but I'd rather not make a commitment on that just yet. Suffice it to say that my own filing cabinets are emptying rapidly; things will definitely slow down somewhat when I start on The Mister's paperwork.

Am I still excited in my own little accountant-like way? You betcha! I would like to be spending more hours at the office, but I also have other real-life opportunities that prevent that. But we will all keep plugging away, and hopefully very soon whatever document we need will be at our fingertips, literally.

Defining Community

The Mister and I are really hooked on the concept of community. The top three definitions listed in Dictionary.com are:

1. a. A group of people living in the same locality and under the same government.

b.The district or locality in which such a group lives.

2. a. A group of people having common interests: the scientific community; the international business community.

b. A group viewed as forming a distinct segment of society: the gay community; the community of color.

3. a.Similarity or identity: a community of interests.

b. Sharing, participation, and fellowship.

When I talk about Morrison Ranch, I usually am referring to the first definition, obviously. But the other definitions played an important part in the original designing phase of Morrison Ranch. Mightn’t front porches foster a climate of sharing, participation, and fellowship? Would shady streetscapes and a pleasant view encourage community as neighbors walk, jog, or stroll the baby down the sidewalk? Would mailboxes in front of the houses recapture the opportunity of “chatting over the fence” of yesteryear? Perhaps the chatting would evolve into discoveries of common interests I have seen all these things happen in my own neighborhood of Higley Groves West, and it makes me (and The Mister) happy to see it.

I’m an accountant, not a sociologist, so I claim no expertise in the study of social behavior. But I’m also a mom, and that MUST overlap the sociological boundaries a bit; and I’ve seen that folks really want relationships - true community - with each other. We may be independent Americans, but really we need each other - for having fun, for companionship, for stimulating conversation, for help.

And, on a personal note (and what got me thinking about this concept), we put on a little get-together in our own Sherwood Forest on Saturday to celebrate the 50^th birthday of my dearest friend. She and I and her husband and The Mister have been friends for over 26 years, guardians for each other’s children (they have 4 and we have 4, so we prayed fervently whenever the other couple traveled, lest we find ourselves raising 8 children), and each other’s biggest fans. Though we haven’t always been able to live near each other (definition #1), we have always pursued definitions #2 and #3 most heartily. I consider our friendship to be the epitome of all 3 definitions of community, and I don’t take that blessing lightly.

All four of her kids and their spouses and almost-spouses made it for the celebration (in spite of Hurricane Rita delaying some flights) along with many of her workmates. Here she is with her oldest son, listening to a tribute:

Oh yeah, and she has helped several Morrison Ranch residents enter the world: she’s a Labor/Delivery nurse at Banner Desert, where they delivered 758 babies in July alone!

Happy Birthday, Kimberlee!

The Good Kind of Fence

Several months back, I posted about our feelings on fences. If you've forgotten how we feel, you can go here and read it again. But The Mister called me with the information that a couple of good fences have gone up in Lakeview Village. First, they are temporary; second, they indicate progress at the center.

The first fence is between Albertson's and DiRicci's, and the construction has begun on that shop space. There are piles of dirt and everything.

The second fence is between the gas station and the Bank of America building, and that means that Panda Express is starting to build. Great take-out!

The Water Expert's Blackboard

I walked into the garage of our office yesterday to find a box for all the paper that will no longer live IN our office (yes, the dream is slowly coming true), and I was confronted with this giant board full of colorful things. I felt like I had stumbled on a hidden Christmas present. Here is a picture of one side of the board:



And here is the other side:



The Mister didn't seem to think it was any big deal, but he did explain to me its purpose. The Water Expert and his team of irrigation professionals use this to train anyone who does any work on the irrigation systems in Morrison Ranch. This shows how the wiring is supposed to be, how the connections are supposed to be made between the pipes, and things like that. You can see the diagrams of explanation attached next to the various pieces. I've commented before on the colorful fixtures at the pump stations by the lakes; it makes me think these irrigation folks are all such happy people with their bright colors!

Morrison Ranch's irrigation system is run by computer and weather stations that measure moisture, among other things. The Water Expert figures if things get installed correctly in the first place, the system will last longer, and the bushes, turf and trees that are being watered by the system will thrive and need less replacement. More efficiency translates into less cost over time and healthier landscape. Everybody wins.

Chatting With the Water Expert

I took a short break from my paperless work yesterday to chat with The Water Expert. The weekly builder's meeting was over, and I thought he might have a few nuggets of new information about what's happening around Morrison Ranch. Some of his nuggets provided encouragment for progress, and some not so much.

If you've ever walked around the lake, you may have noticed a swail in the landscaping just past the sidewalk. I don't know if that's the correct spelling, but a swail is the opposite of a berm; in other words, it's a dip. We lovingly call this The Sixth Man Memorial Retention Swail, as he designed it. But it tends to hold water after a rain or excess irrigation, and that doesn't look quite the way the Sixth Man had in mind. So we are in the process of planting a 4 inch pipe with holes in it all around the swail that will collect the water and eventually dump it back into the lake. That will greatly improve the feel of a walk around the lake.

The disappointing news is that there is a huge slowdown in the production of concrete since Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast. It's hard to get too worked up about a slowdown on our construction in comparison to the devastation that those folks have endured, and I'm not. But if you've been wondering, as I have, where the curbs and gutters are in Highland Groves, that would be the answer to that question: delayed.

As for the lakes at Highland Groves, The Water Expert and his crew are making sure everything is perfectly ready before they get the "wet" water. I'm just an accountant, and I was unfamiliar with the term "wet" water - I thought ALL water was fairly wet - so he explained to me that this means the water is actually, physically available to come through the pipes, not just available "on paper." He has come up with a rather innovative way and permission to get the lake filled even though the town infrastructure isn't quite ready for that, and so that is progressing nicely - but is still a month away.

I know that everyone in every type of career experiences delays in realizing their plans. Building communities is no different, even if sometimes it feels like our delays are magnified. I guess it's because we know what we want to see, and how hard could it be, really, to just do it?

Thanks for sitting on my front porch and empathizing with me when things seem to be happening at a snail's pace, as well as when things are really humming. And, I might add, things are really humming in the office as my daughter and I crank through the initial process of moving the paper to the computer. I'm sure you can feel the energy as you drive by the office!

Scanning, Indexing, Filing Away

The Mister is out of town today, but our second daughter and I have been getting training all morning in the soon-to-be-paperless office. We are both pretty excited at the prospect, and beginning to realize just what a large amount of work it could be. Our scanning, indexing and filing are happening in fits and starts, but we are making progress. I'll post an update when we have a better feel for what we're doing.

The 80/20 Principle

As anyone who has ever been involved in any sort of activity knows, there is a principle that you can bank on: twenty percent of the people involved will end up doing eighty percent of the work required. It doesn't matter if you are putting on a fundraiser for the school band or coaching your kids' team or decorating for prom, it is generally the small group of "doers" that shoulder the load.

At first glance, this seems a bit depressing; you mean 80 percent of the other parents/board members/committee members/whatever are reaping the benefits without contributing much? Well, yes. But I have also noticed that most people are generally involved in something that they care deeply about, which means that they are the "20 percenter" in some area. And that both makes sense and is very encouraging; we can't give our all to every opportunity that comes along. The Mister and I have a phrase around our house that our kids now grudgingly quote: there are unlimited opportunities, but only limited resources. This is true whether you're talking about money or time or energy.

With that said, we have some 20 percenters in Higley Groves and Higley Groves West that are trying to find some other 20 percenters to help with some fall activities:

Higley Groves is planning a Fall Festival on Sat Oct 15; there will be a chili cook-off, crafts for the kids, and hot apple cider. Plans are being finalized, but they could use some volunteers to pull things together. You can contact Terri Hirning for more info at 480-773-7125, or email her at hirning@cox.net.

Higley Groves West is planning a Pecan Festival in November, with the date yet to be announced. This, too, requires the help of some 20 percenters. If you'd like to throw your name in the pot, email me and I'll put you in touch with the organizers.

Grandparenting Looks Like Fun

I had coffee this weekend with a good friend and we were talking about (future) grandchildren and our plans for them. This article in the AZ Republic reminded me of our conversation; here are the opening paragraphs:

While spoiling with presents, treats, forgotten rules and extended bedtimes is a traditional part of grandparenting, some grandparents may be unfamiliar with guidelines to keep those precious ones safe and content. Some parents of little ones may find that their folks may not have worried about keeping children in car seats or covering up electrical outlets with plastic plug covers. Some grandparents find they've gotten out of the habit of cooking food on the back burners of the stove and storing household cleaners out of reach. Experts advise that parents should be clear with grandparents about child-care rules - such as diet and sleep habits.

I agree that safety comes first and foremost. I would never "spoil" a child by telling them they didn't have to buckle up in the car; that's just common sense. But when it comes to spoiling the grandkids in other ways (ice cream for breakfast? well, that's dairy, sounds good to me!), it seems like a time-honored tradition that ought to be handed down to the next generation.

The Mister has been telling our kids for years that he can't wait to spoil their children. And, as his mom would say, he comes by it honestly. One year the Mister's mother was out of town over his father's birthday, so we invited Dad over for dinner and a cake with our family, including our 3 young daughters. We had a present for him, and I had made a dinner and cake that I thought he would like. He shows up at our front door, laden with packages like a pack mule on a hunting trip! He explained he had just "stopped by" the toy store on his way over, and found a few things for the girls. There were battery operated gadgets, dolls and clothing, games, puzzles, and the piece de resistance was a huge plastic candy house that you were supposed to assemble. It had over 100 tiny pieces that decorated the shell of the house - lollipops and swirled candies and candy canes and sugar plums and I can't remember what all; I was vacuuming tiny lollipops for weeks! The girls, of course, loved it all, and he loved watching them enjoy it. This is only one tiny example of his generosity, and it's the very example the Mister uses when threatening spoiling of future grandkids. Grandchildren may be several years in the future for us, but we are gearing up for them right now. In fact, here is visual evidence of The Mister practicing, taken this past summer at Ditch Camp:

Thanks For Asking

The Mister received a question this week about the activity on the feedlot. We 've been in the process of tearing down the corrals, the mill and the quonset hut (this is all on the east side of Higley behind the Morrison Brothers Ranch office and up to the grain silos). The question was whether this activity meant that "something" was going in there. The something that we have in mind for now is alfalfa. Several years down the road that area will be included in Town Center South.

You can re-visit previous posts on this cleanup effort here and here.

Ashton Woods Update

The good news is that the Ashton Woods trailer at Highland Groves is now open! The bad news (at least if you are interested in buying the Ashton Woods product) is that they aren't selling anything until mid-October.

For information, you can contact Tiffany Ford at 480-497-6900. Her email address is tford@ashtonwoodshomes.com.

Taking Stock

I mentioned last week that The Mister and I were celebrating our anniversary. Over the years, people have asked me why we got married in September, since that isn't a typical "wedding" month. The answer is quite simple and has everything to do with being a farmer. In Arizona, September is what they call "lay by" month. The cotton, which was our primary crop at the time, was grown and the bolls were opening up. We would let the plants dry up and then spray them with a form of salt water to completely dry up the green leaves making it easier for the machine to pick the cotton. So there is a window of time between watering, weeding and nurturing the cotton, and harvesting the cotton. That's when farmers take vacation, if they're the vacationing type.

Embracing the farmer's lifestyle, I found myself using Septembers to take stock of life; school had started, but the frenzied pace of extracurricular activities hadn't yet begun, and it was before the holidays with all that those months entailed. Our pace is different now; there is no "lay by" in building communities (unless you count the time from Thanksgiving through New Year when it's impossible to get decisions, contracts, etc.), and with only our youngest still in the nest, the school activities don't take up as much energy. But I still find myself regarding September as a time frame for reflection and gathering energy for the upcoming months. So I thought I might reflect for a moment on the evolution of The Front Porch, especially as some new readers have pulled up a rocker.

First, a basic overview of the blog itself, with some brief pointers for navigating (longtime readers can skip this part). For a definition of what a blog is, link back to some posts I did early on (just click your mouse on the highlighted words to link; after you've finished reading, click on the "back" button or arrow) about blogs, Blog Reading 101 and More on Blog Reading. I mentioned last week that if you ever wish to see a picture enlarged, just put the cursor on the picture and click. I understand that some of the links to newspaper articles from older entries no longer work as the newspapers archive their articles. I'm sure there's probably a way to keep those links fresh, but I am not yet technical enough to do it. However, I do always try to quote the pertinent paragraphs in the post itself, so hopefully the context will still be there.

As to The Front Porch specifically, we started this blog on January 18 of this year, and have settled into a comfortable routine. We try to post every weekday, and leave the weekends for other endeavors. The purpose of the blog is to introduce ourselves to our new neighbors in Morrison Ranch, and to let the residents get to know the Morrison family, including some of our history - which has a tremendous impact on how we've designed the community. I am an unashamed cheerleader for the Morrison family (having married into the family, that feels more like admiration than hubris to me) and Morrison Ranch, as well as Gilbert. So the topics for most of my posts have to do with those three areas.

As to who the "we" is on the Front Porch, there are currently 3 of us who post, though you will notice that I hog most of the space (the other 2 do more actual WORK than chatting). There are six of us that work in our office, and I did a profile on each one back in April. You can find those profiles here: Meet The Mister, Meet Bias For Action (the other two blog posters), Meet The Water Expert, Meet The First Cousin, Meet The Sixth Man, and Meet The Missus. I also did a profile on each of our existing communities in June; I won't link to them now, but you can find them by clicking on the June archives button on the right side of the blog page.

One more thing. Sitting on someone's front porch and chatting is generally a two way conversation, even if the host dominates most of the talk time. The event that actually pushed me over the hump of indecision about blogging was a comment that my sister - who lives in Higley Groves West - made one day about a rumor circulating in her neighborhood. Her neighbors were feeling some distress that a drugstore was going in on the southwest corner of Higley and Elliot. The only problem? It wasn't (and still isn't) true. I thought, "you know, if people would just ask me, I'd tell them; it isn't a big secret or anything. We aren't trying to 'slip something by' the residents; heck, WE are residents!" Back in the day when Gilbert was small and everyone knew everyone, you could flag down an oncoming car you recognized, roll down your windows, sit in the middle of the street, and just ask your neighbor about the current rumor. We're too large for that now, and the horns honking would be too loud, but communication is still available in this new-fangled era, and very, very necessary. So I welcome emails with questions, comments, suggestions, rumors, typographical corrections... I expect the volume of emails and of readers will continue to increase as new projects come online; in the wheelbarrow full of papers that new homeowners receive from the builders there is a link to the blog. And of course, half of the readers are family and friends, so that segment of readers will likely increase as well.

Back to my original point of taking stock of the blog, I think I would summarize it like this:
I have really enjoyed posting, especially when there's something valuable to say; it's been difficult at times, especially when nothing valuable to say comes to mind, or when the computer gives me fits; I have LOVED hearing some stories of how folks ended up in Morrison Ranch; and so I think I'll keep doing it for a while longer and hope that others are finding some benefits as well.

Bits and Pieces

I'm still waiting for the fall explosion of activity, but at the moment there are only small movements:

Lakeview Village
The second phase of the buildings may even be starting today; the building permits are in hand now, and there was talk of surveying and such yesterday, so there should be some bustle around there.

The pedestal for the power transformer next to the Bank of America is on back-order; this is the holdup in getting the palm trees and bollards lit on that corner. Sigh.

Highland Groves
Ashton Woods has their trailer all ready to go, except they aren't selling yet. No word on when that might happen.

We have been talking with several folks about apartments, and are excited to see some of the options. There's nothing definitive yet, but we are weighing the alternatives.

Website
We are making a concerted effort to keep our website updated with pertinent information. If you haven't checked it out for a while, go give it a look.
Check out the homeowner's corner especially, and it will link you to activities and events in Morrison Ranch. If you have any information about an activity or event, you can email the info to activities@morrisonranch.com.

Technology Update

When I wondered last Friday whether the two IT guys that came in to set up our server were going to need 4 whole days to do it, I was pretty naive! Not only did they need the 4 days, they also used most of 2 more nights; one night it was after 3 am before they quit. These guys introduced me to a new axiom: Things always take 40% longer to accomplish than you plan, even when you take into account the extra 40%. It proved to be true this weekend. When I think of working for 4 days on very little sleep, I have to call them kids because they had enough energy to do that. When I think of all that they accomplished, my label morphs into Mighty Men. If you've ever fought with a computer, whether you've won the battle or lost it, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

So I suppose for the next week or so, we will be battling through some small changes, and getting used to the new security systems, and figuring out how to actually work. The Mister is our in-house IT guy, but we will be making plenty of phone calls to the Mighty Men as well. And this doesn't even include the paperless software yet! That is supposed to come on Friday, and so next weekend will be spent on this project as well. I am very excited to see it come together.

A very fun bonus for me is a biometric mouse. This little baby requires my fingerprint to access secure information on my computer. It shows my fingerprint as I log in, and there's an annoying computer voice telling me that access is granted (I'm going to change him to a beep), and I feel like a spy or at least like I'm working for CSI. I've already heard a few comments of envy about my fingerprinting mouse, so in the future I may not be the only one in the office to have one; but it's sure fun. What do you think about a retinal scanner next?

That's the scoop on the office; maybe later today I'll get some updates on the actual goings-on in Morrison Ranch...

That's What I'm Talking About

I've mentioned a time or two before that I am a shade seeker during the hot months here, as obvious as that sounds. My kids moan when I start roaming a parking lot looking for the tiniest sliver of shade to park in, and they delight in mocking my attempts to park in the shade of a neighboring Suburban. Well, the AZ Republic has an opinion article today that agrees with me:

Three women, dressed in their Sunday best, were waiting for a ride outside Civic Plaza in downtown Phoenix. All lined up behind a utility pole. They didn't have a choice. With the sun hammering down, the thread of shadow behind the pole was the only protection around. As a picture, it was worth 1,000 words. All the same word: shade, shade, shade, shade, shade. We need a lot more shade in the Valley of the Sun. Awnings. Overhangs. Ramadas. Trees. Trellises. In a series of editorials that recently ran in community sections around greater Phoenix, The Arizona Republic looked at ways to increase shade. The Valley of the Sun deserves its name. Metro Phoenix gets 85 percent of possible sunshine, more than any other major U.S. city except Las Vegas. Shade makes the difference between bearable and scorching.

The article goes on to discuss exactly how egg-frying hot it really gets, and how much difference shade makes, and then posits that we can either build shade or plant shade. It gives some suggestions for both. For building shade, the editorial says:

A park-and-ride lot in Ahwatukee has covered parking for all of its cars. Chandler made a lot of four-legged friends when it installed a shade structure at a bark park near Kyrene Road and Chandler Boulevard. In Mesa, the covered patio at A.J.'s Fine Foods at Baseline Road and Val Vista Drive attracts customers even in the summer. Shade considerations should be part of the checklist for any new project. Well-placed overhangs and designs that consider the angle of the sun, for instance, can add a lot of shade at a small cost. A few places are bringing back the awnings and covered sidewalks that were common here before air conditioning. We need more. Parents should press for shade in places where their kids play or otherwise spend time outside.

And their thoughts about planting include this:

A big, leafy tree is the classic picture of shade. Thanks to the way water transpires through leaves, trees also act like miniature evaporative coolers. Desert-adapted species can provide a relatively large amount of shade for very little water. Check out the inviting bosque of mesquite trees in front of the Phoenix Municipal Courthouse. But we should also be flexible, putting heavier shade trees where there's intense pedestrian use, such as the ficus trees along Mill Avenue in Tempe.

And then comes the key sentence (at least it should be key to my kids):

We should also come to grips with the critical need for shade in parking lots, not just to shade our vehicles but to reduce the buildup of heat.

I think I can safely say that I have come to grips with the critical need for shade in parking lots.

This quest for shade is actually one of the hallmarks of our planning in Morrison Ranch. It is one reason we plant so many trees - along with the desire to be a reminder of our agricultural roots - that will shade the sidewalks and eventually the streets of our residential communities. It's one reason we've asked the home builders to include front porches in their designs for our communities. It's one reason that the sidewalk and overhang are so large at Lakeview Village, along with the row of trees planted in front; even though the shopping center faces the west, which is the toughest situation to shade in Arizona, there is shade in the morning from the overhang, and when the trees grow there will be shade in the afternoon as well. And, most important to all of us parking lot wanderers as gas prices are rising, it's the reason we fill our commercial parking lots with trees. I was stunned to hear that the reason shopping centers don't install trees in the parking lots was because their name signs would be obscured from the road. I assured The Mister that every person I know who shops for groceries would memorize the stores that had some shade in which to park! I guess he passed that on, because I am starting to see more trees that actually shade something in more parking lots, even outside of Morrison Ranch. There are still some that plant Mesquite trees and then chop them to death so that they provide hope but no relief from the sun, but more often I am seeing honest to goodness shade trees. I welcome it, and look forward to the day when this becomes the norm rather than the exception.

One last quote from the Republic editorial:

The drought led Phoenix to suspend its neighborhood tree-planting program for several years. This sends the wrong message. With our critical need for shade, we can't afford not to plant trees.

Amen to that; and I'll add that when you're using reclaimed water, it makes even more sense.

Nerd Excitement

If nerd humor isn't really appealing to you (there are 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't!)(if you don't get this joke, then you are not a nerd; note, I'm NOT, the Mister had to explain it to me), then stay away from our office today, because the air will be buzzing with computer geeks and acronym-speak. The computer guys are coming to get our server going, install software, get all the individual computers connected, and various other things like that. They expect to take 4 days to accomplish this, though I can't see how it would take that long. The paperless office software and scanners come Monday, and get set up, and then the real work begins, which will be exciting and difficult simultaneously, I'm sure. I'll let you know how it goes.

Friday Night Football

There's a short blurb in today's Republic about Gilbert High School's coach Jesse Parker:

It was late afternoon in August.

The temperature was nearly 110 degrees. The humidity high enough to make a rattlesnake sweat.

Gilbert High coach Jesse Parker was in his element, guiding his football players through drills, yelling encouragement and barking at mistakes.
Looking younger than his 65 years and showing hardly a trace of the toll 40 years of coaching could take, Parker didn't appear to be the senior member of the Gilbert schools' football coaching ranks.

Despite having kidney transplant surgery last February, Parker is still coaching and winning football games. He enters tonight's game at Corona del Sol with 284 victories, second only to Mountain Pointe's Karl Kiefer among Valley coaches.

The coveted 300-win milestone is within his reach, but Parker said he doesn't know whether he will continue coaching beyond this year. One thing is known: When Parker hangs up his whistle, Arizona will miss one of its coaching legends.

My son was in that August practice, and the weeklong camp before that, and the passing league scrimmages before that, and the weightlifting before that; he could write an interesting article on Coach Parker, I'm sure. I love football, I love team sports, I love the discipline that my son has nurtured by pursuing his passion. I don't really love the pressure that has come to rest on high school sports, the win-at-all-costs mentality, the overlooking of bad character in good athletes. But that's all part of the package, and part of maturing is learning how to deal with undesirable situations in real life.

Go, Tigers!

Milestones

Today is a day of personal milestones for the Mister and me. The first is that our nephew is now officially our nephew. My sister and her husband, who live a couple streets away from us in Higley Groves West, finalized the adoption of their son today. He's been with them nearly all of his three years of life, but it took this long to get through the system. Here he is, waiting patiently outside the court room:






When he first saw us, he ran up and said, "It's my adoption day!" This is all more precious because we're rather certain he has no idea what it means, other than he's the center of attention, and he gets presents. Here he is with the judge and the rest of his family (including a baby brother that will be born in December):



By the way, I've never mentioned it before, but if you ever want to see a picture a little closer up on this blog, you can click on the picture itself, and it will enlarge it for you.

The other milestone is that The Mister and I are celebrating 26 years of marital bliss today. I am incredibly blessed to be married to this man, and have loved being enveloped by his family.

True Student Athletes

I see in this AZ Republic article that Gilbert's own Ryan Fitzpatrick is truly a St. Louis Ram now, lining up as the 3rd quarterback:

Soon after learning he had made the St. Louis roster as the third quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick gave his dad approval to buy a No. 12 Rams jersey.

"I wouldn't let him buy one until I officially made the team," Fitzpatrick said Tuesday.

"He was probably the happiest of all because he could go get his jersey."
The former Highland High standout beat out 2004 draftee Jeff Smoker for the third spot.

If Rams coach Mike Martz is correct, it might not be long before stores in Missouri will be inundated with fans looking for a No. 12 jersey.

"We are very pleased with him," said Martz on the team's Web site after Fitzpatrick's performance against Kansas City in the final preseason game. "Don't tell him that. My expectations for him are different than for everybody else because I think he's very special. So I expect him to be perfect.

Perhaps he expects himself to be perfect as well, since that was how he approached his studies at Highland High School. He was in many of the same classes with our second daughter, following the Honors track that eventually led to his scholarship at Harvard. He excelled as a quarterback at Harvard, was drafted in the seventh round - which was an anomaly for an Ivy League school - and now continues his quest for excellence in the NFL. He really is a great kid (I can call him a kid because I'm older), not at all self-enamored, and I wish him well.

A Higley Groves West resident shares a very similar story to this one, except he didn't see the same success on the athletic side of things. Ryan Little, our neighbor, is a year younger than Ryan Fitzpatrick, and he also graduated from Highland HS on the Honors track, and is now starting his senior year at Harvard, where he was recruited to play basketball. He wasn't able to make the team last year, but he is on schedule to graduate this year with a Harvard degree, and that's saying something. He, too, is a genuinely nice guy, very humble and grateful for the opportunities he's had.

It would be very simplistic (and incorrect!) to say that there is something in the Gilbert water that produces these sharp kids; but I will say that these two guys are indicative of the great families that live in Gilbert, and that the town seems to attract families that value education, responsibility and family togetherness; which in turn, makes it an attractive place to live. That's a great cycle to perpetuate.

Hey, Thanks!

Sometime in the last hour the Front Porch recorded its 5,000th visitor, which seems pretty unbelievable to me. I want to thank all you faithful folks who check in regularly to see what's up in Morrison Ranch - and who keep coming back even if you find me off on some completely unrelated topic. Thanks, too, for the emails and questions and comments; they help me feel like I'm not in a one-sided conversation. Although my kids will tell you that I DO talk to myself a lot. (That's because sometimes I'm the only one that will listen to me!)

Lake Walls Going Up

It still seems like things are going so slow at Highland Groves; I'm waiting for the curbs to materialize, I guess. The Morrison Homes models and first homes sold are going up pretty fast, but there are no roads to get there. But in our four-wheeling after lunch yesterday, I saw some very encouraging signs at the lakes. The headwall at the north lake is nearly finished. Here is The Sixth Man inspecting the curve:






The bricks are in place for the south lake wall, but it's not yet started:



And then I got a close up look at the pump station, which looks like a child's version of heaven, between the bright colors and all the places one could climb and all the knobs one could turn; but it, too, will be surrounded by a wall that will make it inaccessible to all but The Water Expert:



Actually, when it's finished, you won't even know it's there due to the enclosure and the landscaping around it, and because the eye will be drawn to the lake itself. Can't wait, in case you didn't notice.

Generous Folks

Bias For Action got word from the Town of Gilbert that the Fire Department will be collecting items for the youngest victims of Hurricane Katrina. Here is the memo in full:

Hello Everyone,

The Gilbert Fire Department will be sponsoring a community drive for the littlest victims of Hurricane Katrina. This Saturday, Sept. 10^th from 9:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. all of our fire stations, as well as our Fire Administration building, will be donation collection sites. We are partnering with The Woman’s and Children’s Hospital, The CajonDome of Lafayette, Louisiana and the Red Cross to collect the much needed, following specific items:

• Pedialyte
• Diapers (all sizes)
• Baby Tylenol and Motrin (drops/suspension)
• Diaper Rash Medicine
• Baby Food
• Prebottled formula and nipples
• Pacifiers
• Unopened Packaged Baby/Children’s Socks, underwear and hats

Cash donations for disaster relief will also be accepted by G.E.R.F. (Gilbert Emergency Relief Fund).

If you want to help in this way, it seems pretty easy to do. I was noticing in this article in the AZ Republic that Arizonans (as well as the rest of Americans) are indeed very generous:

Gabel said between noon Monday and noon Tuesday, the Phoenix donations totaled more than $100,000. "This is a very generous community," she said. "Thank you to everyone who is helping. If you're going to be sent somewhere other than your own state, Arizona is a great place to come. They've welcomed everyone with open arms."

On Tuesday afternoon, people waited up to 45 minutes to drop off donations at the Salvation Army.

Yes, that says WAITED to drop off donations; we don't like to wait, but for the right thing we will. This is really encouraging.

Kids These Days

I am married to an incorrigible optimist, and over the years of marriage it can't help but have rubbed off on me a little bit. That's why when I saw this article in the AZ Republic, I smiled and said to myself, "There are some great kids out there!":

Some Gilbert teens say just because they want to dress trendily doesn't mean they want to look like scantily clad pop stars.

The teens say they are fed up with the clothing options offered by retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister Co., Charlotte Russe and Wet Seal, and have started a group called Youth for Modesty.

The group said it plans to present petitions Wednesday at Chandler Fashion Center to several teen-geared clothing companies asking for trendy yet modest clothing options.

Cassi Castleton, 17, a senior at Highland High School, said she and several church youth group friends started Youth for Modesty after several years of frustrating back-to-school clothes shopping.

"The tops are all spaghetti straps or they're supertight, and the shorts are all way too short," she said.

Peers have been supportive, she said, with almost 1,000 teens signing the petitions since last year.

Parents and students in Valley school districts have complained in recent years that it's been increasingly difficult to find school-appropriate clothing when retailers offer mostly low-rise jeans, sheer mini-tees and shrunken tennis skirts in their back-to-school collections.

Most East Valley school districts, including Gilbert Public Schools, don't allow the skimpy tops and suggestive slogan T-shirts that dominate the shelves at retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, where the fall collection offers skimpy tanks and T-shirts with suggestive slogans such as "How about them apples?"

Castleton and her peers in Youth for Modesty say they'd like to be able to shop at teen favorites such as Abercrombie, but with the option of age-appropriate trendy clothing that doesn't show too much skin.

You go, girls! I remember struggling through this exact issue with my daughters, especially my youngest, since she attended a private school. The school wouldn't allow the short shorts - nor did my daughter wish to wear them - but the suggested Lands End product looked too old-lady-like, in her opinion. And what to do for proms? Strapless, low cut, low back, skin tight dresses were standard fare; we had to look very hard to find darling dresses that were appropriate for 16 and 17 year old girls. A group of high school girls at that time (about 5 years ago) did the same thing as this group, begging Robinson's May for some attractive, modest dresses, and to their credit, the store responded.

Maybe it's because my own kids are great (no doubt due to the great genes on their father's side) and they hang out with other great kids, but I'm very encouraged about the next generation.

I am happy to see these girls get some good press, since it just confirms what the eternal optimists among us believe - most kids these days are pretty darn awesome.

A Win is a Win

Gilbert Tigers 24, Sunrise Mountain 20 in a hard-fought battle. Whew.

Rain in the Ranch

Yesterday's little microburst dropped .27 inches of rain in Morrison Ranch.

Cleanup Continues

The cleanup of the corrals along Higley Road continues. At the moment, the Mill is coming down. The Water Expert snapped a picture with his phone:


This is sort of a bittersweet time; the mill and the quonset are in such disrepair that it's a relief to have them going down to improve the aesthetics around the tanks. But the dismantling fairly screams once again that an era is coming to a close, and it's an era that holds many fond memories for The Mister and the rest of the family.

One memory that isn't fond, but is definitely a badge of courage, involves the "fat tank." The purpose of the mill was to mix the feed for the cattle in the feedlot out front. It was a mixture of various grains and vitamins that ended up much like a cow's version of granola (The Mister says that the reason he doesn't like the taste of beer today is because it smells like the barley he mixed for the cows to eat; though he's the only farmer I've ever heard say that). One of the ingredients was rendered fat (think of it as serving the same purpose as butter on your toast) that was kept liquid in the fat tank until needed. The fat tank was actually a railroad car upended, with steam pipes around it to keep the fat warm and liquid.

Apparently, the fat tank pipes became clogged up, and they were unable to get the fat out efficiently. So The Mister, being young and full of juice, volunteered to go down into the tank and clean out the clogs. I cannot imagine how terrible that smelled, or felt, or how scary it might be, but it was so distasteful that he never volunteered again.

Fast forward several years; the fat tank is clogged again. The First Cousin's son, who currently runs our farming operation, descends into the tank. Only this time, the ladder leading down is old and corroded and several of the rungs break as he's descending. He agrees with The Mister that it was an awful experience. So these two brave men are the only ones to ever clean out the fat tank and emerge alive.

Their record of prowess remains secure; no more mill, and no more fat tank.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

I'll remind you that in our household, The Mister is the computer guru, and I am the sports fan. (The Mister asked me once why all of our entertainment budget seemed to end up going to sporting tickets; I replied that any time he was ready to schedule some entertainment, he could choose the venue. The cultured among you will be happy to hear that we will be attending some live theater productions this year.) And my favorite sport has always been football. Some of those genes got passed on to my number 1 son, and it turns out that this is also HIS favorite sport. This week is the opening of the high school football season. So I'll be sitting in the stands at Gilbert tonight, cheering on the team and that really smart linebacker, number 33.

Last night just after the microburst, some of the Booster moms planted signs at all the players' houses:



What a thoughtful gesture!

Go Tigers!

Just Kidding

I said yesterday that the Ashton Woods sales trailer was going to be open on Saturday, but they have apparently changed their plans. The Water Expert asked me to pass on the information to you; they didn't give him a new date for opening.

Power Technology Center Update

I read this article in the AZ Republic today, and ended up feeling a little bit confused about the message concerning businesses moving out of industrial parks in Gilbert:

Floratech isn't the only Gilbert company to move to Westech.

Scott Tonn, president of Essco Wholesale Electric Inc., said his company was one of the first to build in the center and moved there from a nearby Gilbert industrial park last year. An electric supply wholesaler, Essco wanted to relocate from leased space to a company-owned building but didn't want to move too far and inconvenience workers, he said.

Greg Tilque, Gilbert's economic development director, said the town always is working with companies and brokers to try to fill vacant spaces. Tilque also said the town attempts to stay in contact with companies already there, but it isn't easy.

"With all the growth we've had, we can't contact all of them," he said.

For nearly two decades, the 130-acre Westech Corporate Center, northeast of Warner Road and Arizona Avenue, just west of Gilbert, has grown little more than weeds behind elaborate monument entry signs.

The Chandler site is sprouting buildings, businesses and jobs.

This sounds like Chandler is getting the buildings, businesses and jobs, and Gilbert is losing them. So I asked The Mister for an interpretaion and an overview of the industrial land situation in Gilbert.

He says that there is no net move of businesses from Gilbert to Chandler, and if the reporters wanted to, they could have featured other businesses moving into Gilbert. There are two parks in Gilbert with virtually the same story as this article: they sat vacant for years and now they are approaching buildout. So the fact that it is happening in Chandler does not mean it isn't happening in Gilbert.

Much of the industrial space along I-10, the Price Freeway and US 60 is now occupied, so Gilbert's (and Chandler's) industrial parks are starting to get some action. This also drives interest in the industrial zoned ground along Power, Sossaman, and the SanTan freeway, even though the freeway isn't yet opened.

So Morrison Ranch has seen some new interest in its industrial ground as well. We are actually beginning to get calls of interest for something other than residential or commercial projects. The Power Technology Center at Morrison Ranch is on the west side of Power Road from the power lines north of Elliot to Warner. The town has brought sewer service out there. We have brought water out there because of our other communities; so the infrastructure is already there.

We are currently working on putting together a joint venture agreement with a company that is very experienced in industrial park development. So one of these days in the not too distant future Power Technology Center will be more than just a name on our map.