Progress to the Naked Eye

I'm getting a late start this morning because I had to make a fashion adjustment to The Mister's wardrobe. He's been working on healthy eating and exercising for the past few months, and as a result, he's been sagging like the cool guys in high school. Personally, I've indoctrinated my kids since they were very young against that look; and since The Mister doesn't like it either, he consented to go on a very short trip to buy clothes on sale. For him, shopping for clothes ranks somewhere below root canals and standing in line at the DMV on his preference list.

But I do have a picture I wanted to share, especially for those folks waiting to move in to Highland Groves. Yesterday we took a little tour by car, and the progress was quite encouraging. The guys were musing over the placement of some street lights at one of the entries, and then The Mister said, "Hey, wait a minute! We're talking about street lights here; that means there are street lights installed!" And so there are. Here are a bunch of street lights down Park Avenue:



There is also much more street paving, and the cement trucks were pouring sidewalks and curbs, and one of the lake edges has been reformed, and the other lake edge was in the process, and palm trees planted next to the lakes, and there were just all sorts of signs of progress, even to my untrained eye! It was a very exciting trip, so I wanted to pass that on.

Morrison Ranch HOA

The Morrison Ranch residential HOA had it's first annual meeting last night. It was open to all residents of Morrison Ranch proper (which does not include either side of Higley Groves, the reasons for which I've explained earlier), and at the moment there are only residents in Higley Estates to which that applies. Six Higley Estates residents joined The Mister, Bias For Action, The Water Expert, The First Cousin, and the property manager for the meeting. Bias For Action started by giving an explanation of the structure of the HOA, the Community Council, the IWDD, and the design review board. For a brief overview of these associations you can go to the website.

The Mister then explained the master plan for Morrison Ranch, and some of the timetables involved. The discussion moved into the status of the landscape installation in Higley Estates. The Morrison Ranch Community Council has had oversight of the landscaping for about 4 months now, and I've mentioned before that the decision to overseed late was based on the desire to let the bermuda get better-established before putting in the rye. That overseeding has now been accomplished; and a consequence of the extra water required for the rye to get established is that the installation of the public area strips was halted. Whenever a construction vehicle ends up on turf that has just been overseeded and frequently watered, the tires leave deep ruts. Believe me, I know about those ruts. At any rate, the installation of those turfed areas is resuming this week.

I suppose that my experience in my neighborhood causes me to expect that the neighbors will generally be great; The Mister reinforced my expectations by commenting on what a nice group of folks showed up at the meeting. A couple of folks were even familiar with this blog; how cool is that?

Because this HOA is for all of Morrison Ranch proper, it will be several years yet before the homeowners actually take control of the board. The requirement is for 3/4 of the residential portion of Morrison Ranch to be in the hands of the homeowners, and then the board will elect representatives from the residents. There are 5 more neighborhoods to complete, including Highland Groves, which should have new residents soon; in the meantime, The Mister and Bias For Action will look forward to meeting new residents at these meetings.

Gilbert's Star

You may remember that I'm a sports fan, and a football fan in particular (but let's not talk about the UA/ASU game at the moment). So I have to pass on part of this article in the Republic about one of Gilbert's bonafide stars, Ryan Fitzpatrick:

Ryan Fitzpatrick arrived early at the Rams practice facility on Monday morning, still dizzy from his part in the team's come-from-behind victory over Houston.

"Who are you?" a security guard said.

Fitzpatrick, the most sought-after interview in St. Louis this week, smiled and kept walking.

"Seriously," the guard said. "Who are you?"

Who are you? Who are you? Only the NFL's most unlikely success story. Only a rookie quarterback from Gilbert who transformed from afterthought to hero Sunday in Houston. Only a player who's the antidote for the league's highly publicized bad boys, an Ivy Leaguer who can break down both economic theory and the Cover 2 defense.

The security guard incident "was fitting and funny," Fitzpatrick said Monday. "I've always been a guy who's under the radar. I guess I still am."

Not for long.

Until Sunday, Fitzpatrick, 23, was a third-string quarterback with zero NFL experience. That changed at the end of the first quarter when Jamie Martin, who was subbing for the injured Marc Bulger, left the game because of a blow to the head.

Interim coach Joe Vitt approached Fitzpatrick and told him to get ready. Receiver Torry Holt called the offense into a huddle and told everyone to stay focused. Players offered the rookie words of encouragement. Sure enough, the quarterback who had "ice water in his veins as a high school sophomore," according to former Gilbert Highland coach Mike Reardon, still did. He threw three touchdown passes, including the game winner in overtime, to overcome a 24-3 deficit.

Read the rest of the article; I especially enjoyed the description of his parents' and family's reaction to his amazing performance.

I've mentioned that my two oldest daughters attended Highland with Ryan, and he truly is a stand up guy (for the younger crowd that means "fly"). I agree with the reporter that he is just what the NFL needs: a guy who can think, speak and play football, all while displaying a little humility.

The Island Conundrum

The second definition of conundrum, according to dictionary.com is:

1. A paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem; a dilemma: “the conundrum, thus far unanswered, of achieving full employment without inflation” (Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.).

This seems to perfectly describe the county island problem in Gilbert at the moment. I first posted on this topic back in October, and things are heating up, according to this article in The AZ Republic:

The problem of providing county islands with emergency medical and fire services has boiled over in Gilbert, prompting conflict between state legislators and Town Council members faced with county residents who refuse to annex into the town.

It's an issue across Arizona and will only swell as urban sprawl continues, leaving more county islands in its wake, said Rep. Eddie Farnsworth, R-Gilbert.

The situation has reached a critical point in Gilbert: Rural/Metro Fire Department has chosen to stop providing service on July 1 to most of the town's county islands, which are unincorporated pieces of land surrounded by a municipality.

You can read the entire article for a sense of the problem, but there does not seem to be an easy, fair solution (just like tax law: you can have simple, or you can have fair - you cannot have both).

I asked The Mister how we ended up with these county islands throughout Gilbert, and his explanation is really quite straightforward. Back in the day, when Gilbert was a postage stamp-sized town, various housing communities were built in the county. When the housing boom began, and the larger homebuilders started developing the land, they wanted to provide their residents with the big four town services: water, sewer, police protection and fire services. So naturally, they annexed into Gilbert. It never occurred to them to annex the land around them; they weren't looking to damage their relationships with their neighbors - many of whom were already unhappy about them moving in next door anyway - even though they had the legal right and ability to do so (this is complicated, but annexation is achieved by having a 51% approval of the property owners, which by dint of sheer size of ownership, most large home builders possess). So, for example, when The Mister and I were young marrieds, we lived in a county-approved neighborhood in Higley. That neighborhood is now surrounded by Shea and Standard Pacific developments, which annexed into the Town, leaving our old neighborhood floating as an island.

It's interesting to note that the Town of Gilbert is being framed as "the bad guy" that won't provide services to these islands. The event that has actually forced the discussion is the pullout of Rural Metro as the provider of fire services. This is not to cast Rural Metro as the culprit, either; as a private company, they deserve to make their decisions based on economic feasibility.

What's the solution? Either annex, or pay for the services. How can that transition be made?

Now, that's the conundrum.

The Lakes are Clear

This article was printed in the Gilbert section of the AZ Republic last week, and then was reprinted today. It gives the all-clear for golden algae in the lake at the Riparian Preserve:

The water is clear now, but state game officials are slow to declare victory over the algae that killed nearly 1,000 fish in a Gilbert lake last spring.

Water tests at Water Ranch also have turned up no signs of Prymnesium parvum, or golden alga, said Kenny Martin, the town's parks superintendent.

Keeping it algae-free is going to take some planning and effort.

Read the whole article to get the facts on the process and the fish-stocking. We are happy that they have it under control. Keeping a lake ecologically balanced takes work.

Our lake at Town Center escaped with no algae problem, and The Water Expert continues to monitor it closely. Here is a picture to remind us of its beauty; this is not a recent photo, but it looks similar now that the rye is green:

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It was so cold with the wind yesterday that I finally capitulated to my son's request to turn on the heater. I'm so glad I did; when I awoke this morning, our temperature gauge stated that the temperature on our front porch was 36.9 degrees! Brrr. According to this article in the AZ Republic, the cold weather will be moving on:

While much of Arizona awoke this morning to a freeze warning, the cold weather is expected to be short-lived.

The warning will remain in effect in much of the state through midmorning today, following a night with temperatures forecast in the 20s and 30s. The cold air flowed in behind the first major cold front of the year as it moved through the state early Sunday morning.

Lows at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were expected to be in the upper 30s Sunday night, but the surrounding cities to the west, east and north were all expected to see below-freezing temperatures. The entire Tucson area was also expected to be in a deep freeze.

A high of just 62 degrees is predicted today in Phoenix, but warmer weather will return as the week progresses, with highs again in the low-70s by midweek.

Roots

When I was at the Pecan Festival last Saturday, I noticed that the roots of the Cottonwood trees at the edge of the park were visible as they snaked down the edge of the basin. They are huge, and extend pretty far out. As I pause to think about Thanksgiving and our annual traditions surrounding it, it occurs to me that the roots of this family are very similar to those of the Cottonwoods. They are visible, huge, and extend very far, on both sides of The Mister's family. There is an article in today's AZ Republic about The Mister's second cousins on his mother's side:

After several tries, Thompson Alexander Knox II finally spun the side wheel of the restored 1935 John Deere fast enough to start the motor.

When he heard the engine come alive, Alex Knox cheered his son.

"Can I keep it now?" Thompson asked his father, thinking the family tradition would go on.

Knox smiled at the boy and hugged him.

The tradition Thompson started after Knox's father - Thompson's grandfather - gave the BN-model John Deere to Knox when he was 9. That was the day he started the tractor on his own. Back then, tractors were important to the Knox family, which owned more than 300 acres of farmland in southeast Chandler.

Saturday, the Knox legacy, along with contributions from the Shumway and Humphrey families to the city, were memorialized with a kiosk unveiled at a ceremony at Espee Park on Knox Road.

We will actually share a meal with these family members tomorrow as about 100 members of The Mister's family on his mother's side gather for a feast at the Methodist Church. After we eat, there will be introductions by family units descended from The Mister's grandfather and siblings. There will be memorabilia and stories from the past. There will be delicate hand-carved birds handed out to lucky recipients by one of the artist cousins. There will be bored kids who have not yet grasped the importance of their roots, or how unique that is in this age of mobility. And there will be a sense of continuity in the family.

Later in the day, our immediate family will repeat the feast on a smaller scale, here in Higley Groves West, at my sister's house. New offshoots of the roots are growing out here, contributing to the sense of "home."

This begins today, when all 3 of our daughters will come home and we eagerly look forward to "being 6" tonight at dinner.

I won't be posting the rest of the week, and you won't be reading for the rest of the week, so that's a fair trade. Happy Thanksgiving; may you especially enjoy the relationships in your life these next days... they are the real blessing of this life.

Water Cooler Talk

Since the temperatures have been under 50 degrees on my front porch the past few days, I thought we might move our conversation this morning to the office. I am, after all, the Wyoming girl who has thoroughly embraced Arizona, and I get cold pretty easy, as all my kids will tell you ("is it just me, or is it chilly in here?" "IT"S JUST YOU, MOM.").

So you may have noticed that the office now has a new coat of paint; the trim was being finished up yesterday. It's not as noticeable from the street, but it's much improved close up. The geraniums are planted and blooming in the front flower boxes - the best place I've ever seen for geraniums - and the wallpaper is complete, and now there are just a few small indoor painting projects and our sprucing up will be finished. Next stop for the painters will be the grain tanks.

We actually do have a water cooler in our office; I have never seen anyone stand around it and talk. I guess that is more likely in the larger offices; we usually get our water and then go back to the conference table or the desks to do our chatting. I have joked before about our management style - "Management by Eavesdropping" - because everyone can hear everyone else in whatever conversation they may be having. Except me, of course; accounting requires some solitude, so I hibernate in the back office, emerging only for lunch or questions.

On the paperless front, or the "less paper" front, that is, there continue to be wonderful successes, and irritating glitches simultaneously. Early this morning we received a call at our house about an electricity issue at one of our barns, and we needed the account number to call for service. "Easy!" I exclaimed. "I'll just remotely pull up that last bill I paid." And we did, in less than a minute. But we couldn't view it. Sigh. My attempts to work from home have been sporadically torpedoed by connection problems. That should be rectified this week.

Balancing that irritation is the success that my accounting through October 31 was completely caught up before the middle of November - a feat not accomplished for some time, since the work has increased exponentially over the past few years. Even with the glitches, I am convinced this really is the way to proceed. I do want to get most of the bugs worked out before I drag the rest of the office into the process, but we are very near.

This week of Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the very slow season. It isn't that there is no work to do; there is more work than ever. It's just that because of the holidays and the extra family events and trips and such, it's difficult to get the principals in one place to make decisions. So the work that is already underway will plug along, and any major decisions will most likely wait until the new year. Don't misunderstand me; we relish the holidays and the extra emphasis on family events. This is just acknowledging the facts about how the season affects the community-building.

I'll keep my ears open for more water-cooler talk, and pass it on when I can.

Pecan Festival in Pictures

Saturday's Pecan Festival - the Second Annual, I might add - was another good success; we are grateful to all the folks who worked hard to put it together and pull it off. Here are several pictures to share the event, though I didn't get photos of everything.

The Mister was the MC, and he dressed in the Gilbert Days theme (which was actually his everyday clothes back when he was farming):



He encouraged a tug of war between the "under-25" crowd and the "over-25" crowd, and I was worried that they might be too rough on the younger folks:



I needn't have worried; the older guys ended up on the ground:



What would an event like this be without a sack race?


And clowns to make balloon sculptures for the kids...

And every party needs a couple of bouncy toys:


One innovative project was building with PVC pipe:


And there were hula hoops for the trying. This young lady had no problems keeping her hula hooping; she nonchalantly ate her entire snow cone and checked out the rest of the park, never missing a beat:


My favorite event of the day was the bike parade. There was an area roped off to decorate the bikes, with every imaginable decoration item, including empty pop cans to pull along behind. The grownups got pretty excited about this, probably because it reminded us of our own youth:

After lots of decorating, eating pizza, snow cones, cookies and cake, taking a break for some bouncing or sliding, and some more last minute decorating, the time came to show off the bikes:

Riders of all sizes participated:


Everybody loves an audience, and when you're showing off your decorations, sometimes slow is better than fast:


The weather was perfect, the neighbors were friendly, the raffle prizes were great, the food was tasty, and oh yeah; if memory serves, there were 398 pecans in the jar.

Paving The Way

Literally, I mean. For those of us who get excited about such things, now is the time. The Mister and I drove through Highland Groves and rejoiced over Park Lane being paved as we watched. Soon all those folks who are building houses in this neighborhood will get to go see the progress of their house while driving on actual streets; and the models will open because they can handle the traffic, and things will seem like they are happening.

Our Streets Are Public

The East Valley Tribune has an article today about some communities with private streets, and how much it costs to repair those streets - a cost borne by the homeowners:

The pecan trees that line the roads in Gilbert’s Park Grove Estates are nearly 100 years old and create an ambience that’s attractive to home buyers. But many residents who have moved to the nongated neighborhood built in 1984 didn’t realize that the roads — made narrower to save the trees — didn’t meet town codes and had to be made private by the developer.

Now, the 60 homeowners are having to pay about $1,800 each to resurface the aged, cracked and crumbling roads that homeowners association president John Sentz said are often used by drivers who don’t live in the community trying to find shortcuts from Lindsay and Elliot roads.

"When you buy a house in a new development and you’re signing 500 different items, I don’t think people understand what it means," said Sentz, who also is a member of Gilbert’s Planning Commission.

Read the rest of the article if you're interested. At the beginning of the article when it talks about pecan trees and narrow streets, one might be tempted to ask if the same fate might befall us in Morrison Ranch. The answer to that is, no, our streets are public and therefore maintained publicly. Our streets are narrower than the norm for traffic control; we made room for the pecan (and elm) trees from the beginning.

And on a side note for Higley Groves West residents, the HOA board determined at the last meeting that there is indeed enough in our budget to improve the tot lots, install a fertigation system, and replace the lights at the monuments with the kind that can stand up to mowing and kicking (you may have noticed The Mister at odd times hunkered down over one of those light fixtures, repairing it; he's been trying to keep them all going for about a month now. These repairs were not at the top of the priority list for the HOA, so he took matters into his own hands, literally). And the best part of this news is that our monthly assessments are in fact going up next year - by only 35 cents! The Mister has long been a proponent of the motto "Underpromise, Overperform" and that is what our HOA board did in this instance. In our last newsletter, they were cautiously predicting some extra fees to get the things we want to improve our neighborhood; it appears that the fee increase is very minor, AND the improvements will happen. Good job, HOA board!

Unlimited Opportunities, Limited Resources

That's a mantra that The Mister and I have repeated to our kids from their youth (so much so that now when we start the phrase, they kind of roll their eyes...). The truth is, of course, that there will always be choices to be made in the distribution of resources, whether it's money, time, or energy.

Well, this weekend there are lots of opportunities available for our time resources. Gilbert Days is here once again, for one. When The Mister was young and Gilbert was small, this was a huge event for the town, with lots of celebration and lots of involvement. Even when we were young marrieds, we had to go early to get a good spot to see the parade, pushing strollers and packing crackers for our toddlers. We didn't usually end up at the dance, but we tried to make it to the rodeo. (On a personal note, I grew up in Wyoming, and early on had aspirations of being the first World Champion Lady Bull Rider; those dreams eventually evolved into wanting to be Rodeo Queen, and then further devolved into becoming a CPA. Go figure.) There is probably a Gilbert Days activity for all different tastes. The AZ Republic has the schedule here:

The Gilbert Days Parade is 9 a.m. Saturday, marching south on Gilbert Road through the downtown area.

The Gilbert Rodeo Park at Val Vista Drive and Ray Road will be the site of several activities, including rodeo competition Friday night, Saturday and Sunday.

The final weekend's activities include:

Jackpot Barrel Racing: Today. Gilbert Rodeo Park.

Gilbert Days Festival: Today through Sunday. Gilbert Rodeo Park.

Lil Dude Rodeo: Friday through Sunday. Gilbert Rodeo Park.

Gilbert Days IPRA Rodeo: 6-9 p.m. Friday; 2-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Gilbert Rodeo Park.

Gilbert Days Parade: 9 a.m. Saturday. Parade will go south on Gilbert Road, starting at Juniper and ending at Warner.

Gilbert Days Rodeo Dance: Saturday. Gilbert Rodeo Park. Admission is $10. Must be 21 years of age to enter.

Information: (480) 380-8399.

We hope that you enjoy the Friday night and Sunday afternoon rodeo, and go check out the Saturday morning parade, and then spend some of your limited time resources at the Morrison Ranch Second Annual Pecan Festival, from 1-4pm at Windmill Park North in Higley Groves West. This is a great family celebration and a chance to hang out with your neighbors and friends. You don't have to live in Higley Groves West; all Morrison Ranch residents are invited, past, present and future! There will be raffle prizes, contests, bouncy toys, games, food, and a holiday toy drive.
It's an easy-going celebration of the Pecan crop, and fall, and just a good excuse to get together. Last year, I won second place in the pecan pie contest (don't ask me how many total entrants there were), but I really had a good time watching the kids play.

Hope to see you there.

Why Yes, That IS Unique

One of The Mister's second cousins came by the office yesterday. She lives in Tennessee and came out for about a week. The Mister's aunt (our family historian - she knows the answers to any family question, from who married whom, to how so-and-so is related to us, to did Uncle so-and-so really break his arm getting kicked by a cow?) drove her around for several hundred miles to visit folks and eat Mexican food, and they ended up at our office. I'll point out to new readers that our office is situated in what was once The Mister's grandmother's house, and there are many memory-laden artifacts throughout.

This second cousin was quite taken by the door-knocker, and as I looked at it, I had to agree that it is indeed unique. Sometimes we take things for granted. I snapped a picture of it; you can't quite see it, but at the very top is The Mister's grandfather's name, H.C. Morrison. The spur actually extends out to perform the knocking. I've actually never heard it used for that purpose; people usually ring the bell. And The Mister echoes that thought: he has never heard it used, either. I'm going to try it out when I get to the office today; I'll let you know if it works.




Our visiting second cousin has been writing a book on the geneology of the Morrisons for about 10 years, and she said it will be finished this year. I'll be looking forward to it.

Orange Chicken on the Way

I'm still digging out from the pile of cleanup required from our trip to Mexico, but I wanted to share my excitement about Panda Express being framed, so here's a pictorial update:




The Mister had to go out of town yesterday on business, so making supper wasn't very high on my to-do list. My football dude and I celebrated the framing by getting some Orange Chicken for supper, and I am excited for the future when it won't take a long drive to accomplish that.

A Worthy Weekend

Several years ago, The Mister was asked to participate in a three day project building a house for some folks in Mexico. He and some of our kids went, and came back very excited about the experience. I joined in not long after, and soon we were hooked on spending our Veteran’s day weekends in Rocky Point. I’m going to show the process, and you will see why we think it’s a great way to spend a few days.

An organization called “Amor” (Spanish for “love”) has engineered a way to help underprivileged families in Mexico get a leg up in the world. They estimate that the families they help end up 10 years ahead, financially speaking. The system is very simple, and as meaningful (if not more) to the Americans as it is to the Mexican families. Amor screens the families who apply and selects those that have ownership of their lot as well as seem to be the neediest. On the other side of the equation are church groups and youth groups that will provide about 25 builders per house and the $3,000 plus for the building materials. Amor purchases and delivers the materials to the site, and provides some oversight of the building process, but the sweat and blistered hands belong to the groups tackling the house building. We are not allowed to use power tools, both because the culture in which we are working doesn’t have access to them most of the time; and of course, we are unskilled labor, and so it is much safer not to use power tools.

Okay, let’s start the tour. We left Phoenix early Friday morning and arrived at the campsite that Amor provides for the groups a little after noon. We partially set up our campsite, and then most of the builders went to meet the family and pour a concrete slab for the floor.

Our family consisted of the parents and five kids, and the mom was very pregnant, due in just 15 days. We didn’t get much contact with the dad because he is a cook’s assistant and he was working double shifts due to the motorcycle convention in town for the weekend. According to the information he gave Amor, he makes about $80 a week at his job. This family of seven, about to be eight, live in a two-room structure:

The walls are made of sheetrock; the roof is plywood covered with tar-imbued corrugated cardboard, which holds the rain out for a little while. But, unlike some families we have built for, they have electricity and a refrigerator, though no telephone or car. She cooks on a propane stove and does have access to propane and drinkable water.

Here are three of her girls sitting in front of the outhouse (with the blanket door) on the side of their current living situation. Note the clothes hanging to dry on the line next to the girls: this is not a clothesline per se, but a barbed-wire fence.

After the slab of concrete is poured (and all the concrete is mixed by hand and transported by wheelbarrow), the framing begins. One of the really great things about Amor’s system is that even the younger set can be involved and make a substantial difference. Here are some teenagers working on the framing:

And the men aren’t the only ones who mix or move the concrete; even moms can wheel a barrow with the best of them:

The slab is 11 feet by 22 feet, and our finished house will have 2 rooms. Sounds more like a good shed for your lawnmower than a house for 8 people, doesn’t it? But it will be sturdy and straight and will keep out the weather.

After the slab is poured, and some of the framing readied, the crew comes back to camp to eat and apply bandaids and get some sleep. The next morning they start again early and finish the framing and the inner wall and the roof, and then go back to mixing and barrowing, only this time it’s for stucco. They apply the first coat of stucco and let it dry overnight. Here are some stucco queens who are actually applying the finishing brushing touches to the second coat of stucco:

One more night back at the campsite, and this night every bone is aching and many fingers are blistered. Years ago I actually spent some time mixing concrete at the site, but The Mister requested that I restrict my contributions to the kitchen henceforth. I’m taking that as meaning that he thinks I’m a good cook, not that he thinks I can’t mix concrete. You may remember that I actually do run the kitchen at our annual camping experience called Ditch Camp, and so we have the equipment and the experience to fill folks with the calories needed to do this back-breaking work. This year a new group tagged along with us to learn the ropes a bit, so we fed 50 and built two houses. Here is a shot of camp in the early morning as folks get themselves excited about the new day:

So on Sunday morning the builders headed back to the site to finish the last coat of stucco and hang the doors and windows. Amor provides one door and one window, but we always pay the extra option to get a second window and door, and the mom gets to choose where she wants her windows and doors. This mom didn’t really want her window on the front of the house, so here is how it looks from the street:

We have a few Spanish speakers in our group, and they always try to spend a little chat time getting to know the family. The Mister can communicate well, especially about things like where she wants the door or where he can get water for the concrete, but he feels limited when it comes to issues of the heart and daily life. The kids that we bring along usually make friends with the kids that are there even though there is a language barrier. So we can’t help but feel warmth toward this family that we build for; and like any normal human being, we want to do more than just give them a 2 room lawnmower shed with no running water or bathroom. Amor strictly prohibits giving the families extra things, however, because they can’t control what is given and they don’t want to foster feelings of envy or disappointment. There are over a thousand people that come to build tens of houses over this weekend; it’s impossible to make sure the families would be treated the same by each group. The Mister, resourceful as he is, has come up with a way to satisfy our desire to give a little more. He has a photographic memory of how to get to every house we’ve ever built; and so after we finish with our current house and before we leave town, we go back and visit prior recipients and take them clothes and food and bedding and mattresses and such. Once again, this is as meaningful to us as it is to them, because we see how they have changed and prospered in the years since we built. Most of the houses have been painted, trees and bushes have been planted, and the pride of ownership is evident. This year a couple of our builder’s kids got very close to the family’s kids, so I’m sure we’ll be back next year for a brief visit.

Having handed the keys to the new owners and prayed for God’s blessing on the family, we take one last picture. The Mom and four of her kids are in the right hand corner, and the other daughter is in the lower left hand corner (Dad was at work):

We returned to our own palatial surroundings late last night, feeling satisfied and thankful to be able to help out; and I’m already thinking of ways to improve the efficiency of the kitchen for next year.

Happy Veteran's Day

The Mister and I are off to Mexico for a few days, and I have been knee-deep in preparations for that. I'll explain more and share some pictures from our trip next week. In the meantime, Gilbert High School's football team advances to the second round of the playoffs after a hard-fought victory late last night; Panda Express is pretty much framed up; and there are lots of opportunities to celebrate Veteran's Day, including a big celebration out at Williams Gateway.

Back on Monday.

A Well-Rounded Attorney

Last Saturday night, several of us in the office attended a 50-year anniversary/fundraising banquet for Young Life, a nonprofit group that reaches out to teenagers of all stripes. One of the guests at our table was one of our attorneys, Jim Huntwork. He is helping The Mister set up the structure for our work on the industrial portion of Morrison Ranch. While we were chatting, he let it slip that his and his wife's garden had been chosen for a photo in the current issue of Phoenix Home and Garden, page 108. When I was next at the store, I picked up the magazine, and sure enough, here is his backyard:






If you click your cursor on the picture, I think you can read the accompanying caption on the enlarged image. (Or maybe not; just go buy the magazine, I guess.)

He was explaining to me that the chess board idea sort of evolved, and what a tremendous effort he put into his internet shopping for the chess pieces. I never knew there were huge, hand-carved wooden chess pieces for sale in the world (with a huge, matching price tag, he said). These are the more economic, non-wood, variety; and he actually plays chess on this board. He says it's great to walk around the pieces while pondering the next move.

There are plenty of attorney jokes out there, and I will confess to telling some myself; but this guy busts the stereotype, I think; and he's a very good attorney. Nice combination.

Random Details

Yesterday as I posted a picture of the Panda Express slab, I said that The Mister was expecting even more exciting news. He was told that the framing of Panda would happen today. This is more exciting because it's so obviously a visual change. When engineering or landscaping plans are being drawn up, it is very much work and progress, but nobody sees it, except The Sixth Man. When a building is framed, it feels more like real progress. So keep an eye on the corner of Higley and Elliot.

Other random details include:

Lighting on the southeast corner of Higley and Elliot
I have posted before on the reason the palms and bollards on this corner have not yet been lit, namely that the wrong pedestal for the electric box was ordered, and the correct one was backordered. The elusive pedestal has arrived, and has been installed. Now it is only a matter of getting the wires hooked up properly (speaking in layman's terms), and, of course, there have been some problems doing that. But I have hope!

Higley Estates
This may not mean much to most of us, but to the Higley Estates residents, the arrival of the tables and trash cans at the ramadas are very welcome:




The overseeding of the rye is just happening because we wanted to let the bermuda get very established before the overseeding process. When the rye comes up, this is going to be a beautiful view.

Highland Groves
There are many many curbs and gutters now; and The Mister tells me there is plenty of AB as well. Yes, I had to ask: it stands for aggregate base, and it's the gravel stuff that goes under the paved roads. Soon, the new residents will be able to go look at their house without having to wash their car afterward.

Ashton Woods is selling homes now. They have actually lowered the prices on their smaller product to reflect the difference between a larger back yard and a smaller back yard.

Yes, and Yes

That's how I'm voting today in Gilbert's election for bonding and capital override. The AZ Republic is predicting a low turnout:

Gilbert Public Schools district residents have a chance to have their vote really count today.

District voters, at least those who bother to show up at the polls, will decide the fate of a $120 million bond and capital override.

Apathy has reigned during the weeks before the bond issue, with bond proponents saying they expect 2,000 to 3,000 at the polls. There are 85,000 registered voters in Gilbert.

The polls are open now, and for those of us who live in Higley Groves West, the library is our place to vote. Oh yeah, and for those who think passage of this will raise our property taxes:

Because of growth, the bond issue, if passed, is not expected to raise property taxes. Instead, it would mean that taxes would drop less, according to bond proponents.

I think that our property taxes are much more likely to increase because of the huge appreciation of our property in Morrison Ranch than because of this bond issue. The assessments lag behind the values increases by several years, usually.

At any rate, please vote; it's a privilege.

What's Up

A friend and I spent the morning baking 18 loaves of pizza bread (I'll post on reasons for mass cookery later this week), so I'm a little later than normal with my posting. I think that rolling out the dough will stand in nicely for my missed upper-body workout at the gym this morning. It's no wonder the farm women of yesteryear didn't go to the gym: first of all, they didn't need to, and secondly, even if they did, there wouldn't have been enough hours in the day to make it happen.

But way more important than my exercise schedule is what's happening over at Lakeview Village. There is a concrete slab at Panda Express! I thought it might never happen, but The Mister brought me pictorial evidence:




And he's promising even better news for tomorrow...

Changing Landmarks

I have posted this picture several times before, but here it is again to illustrate another change in the landmark department. This is Morrison Brothers headquarters, taken about 1960; the road running from left to right at the bottom of the picture is Higley Road, and the view is to the east. At the top of the square, past the rows of corrals, sits a quonset hut, and to the left of it is the mill. This is the topic of my reminiscence:


The Mister cannot remember a time when the mill did not exist; it was just part of the headquarters to him. The purpose of the mill was to mix grain for the cattle in the feedlot out in front. They were mostly fed hay, but it was supplemented by a grain mixture. The mill was actually a sort of Rube Goldberg-like contraption, with conveyor belts to move the ingredients and trap doors to release the ingredients, and massive wringer-like fixtures to roll the grain (this crushing opens up the hulls to make it easier to digest), and giant augurs to stir the ingredients, and then more doors to drop the mixture into the waiting trucks. The fellow who ran the mill would sit up in the control booth and manage all the levers and buttons to get the mixture just right.

The Mister shared his outstanding memory of the mill:

One Christmas vacation while The Mister was still in high school, the mill operator wanted to take some time off. So The Mister was pressed into service to run the mill over the break, and he was afforded a single on-the-job training session to learn the ropes. He claims that, while the consequences of failure are not as dire, the process of running the mill is more complicated than flying an airplane. But learn he did, and so began his Christmas break of starting the mixing about 5 a.m., then loading the trucks, and mixing more, and loading more, until finishing about 4 hours later. He did this every day for the entire break, and only had one mishap the entire time.

After loading a truck, he forgot to close the flue to hold the grain for the next mixture, and so everything ended up outside on the slab, and he didn't even know it until the truck driver came tapping on the window. This of course meant getting a front end loader and scooping everything up and starting over, and it delayed the feeding process by several hours. It also delayed opening Christmas presents because, ironically, this happened Christmas morning.

If you missed The Mister's fat-tank story, also related to this era, you can go back and read it here.

We closed our feedlot along Higley Road 3 or 4 years ago, but continued to run the mill using the grain in the tanks for our dairy cattle until about 2 years ago. There was a more economical option at that time, and so the mill hasn't been used for a while and had fallen into disrepair. Bowing to the need for change once again, we decided to have it removed, along with the quonset hut (which was too difficult to repair). It's heartbreaking to the family; we see it as "the place I spent that Christmas break", or at the very least as an entrepreneurial monument and cutting-edge machine to serve agricultural purposes. Its removal leaves a large hole in the landscape for all the family members used to having it there as a backdrop.

This love for our roots is one reason why the grain tanks are staying as a fixture at Morrison Ranch. They are a majestic landmark, but they are also a piece of the past that we can hold onto while sharing it with some whose roots are not as deep.

So here is a picture of the tanks minus the mill and the quonset hut:





They are ready for their new coat of paint, and some new lights, which we hope to have completed by Christmas.

And Speaking of Fishing...

The lake at Town Center is ecologically balanced by being stocked with various types of fish, including the ugly (but helpful) catfish. The Water Expert was checking on the newly seeded rye grass around the lake, and happened upon a young man having some great luck catching said catfish, and he agreed to pose for a picture (note the pole and the chair in the shade):




The Water Expert thinks the larger fish was probably 5 pounds or so; not bad at all, for city fishing. He helped the young man put them back in the water (our lake is catch-and-release since it's filled with reclaimed water), but asked what any fellow fisherman would ask: What bait were you using?

The surprising answer?

Shrimp.

Fishing at the Riparian Preserve

This Saturday from 9 am to noon is Youth Fishing Day at the Riparian Preserve, according to this AZ Republic article:

Gilbert's youngsters can enjoy a couple of hours of casting and reeling this weekend.

Youth Fishing Day will be 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch. The free fishing is open to the public.

Kids and adults can fish for blue gill and catfish without an urban fishing license, but they sign up with an Arizona Game and Fish official who will be on site.

"As long as they can hold a pole, we'll get them out there," said Rob Matthews, a town recreation programmer for youth sports and teen services.

A kids' raffle for rods, tackle boxes and other items is scheduled.

If you don't have fishing gear, extra rods and reels will be made available to the first 100 people. Volunteers will help tie hooks and bait lines.

Mathews said it creates an opportunity to generate interest in Gilbert's urban lake, Matthews said.

"A lot of people don't know Water Ranch Lake is there," he said.

The Riparian Preserve is within walking distance of Higley Groves West residents; the trail starts at the northwest corner of the community under the powerlines.

Wallpaper Complete, Office Paper in Transition

After a few fits and starts (not ordering enough rolls, and the loss of power and therefore light for the hanging work), the wallpapering of the office is complete. As happens with any remodeling project, the finished product nudges us toward some painting of the unpapered walls and a few other small improvements, but overall, it really looks great. (If you're interested in the "before" pictures, go here.) Here are some samples of the new paper. Below is the hallway; it's a little lighter color than before and because the hallway has low ceilings, this has really brightened up the walk back to my office:





Below is my office wall; this is The First Cousin's favorite pattern. It is much lighter than before, as well, and makes for pleasant work surroundings. Of course, I still have my corner office window that can distract with the view, but the walls are now clean and crisp.





Below is the paper in Grandma's bedroom, which has not yet been converted into an office. This room had never had wallpaper on it, so this is a new experience. It is my favorite pattern:



Why would anyone want wallpaper in the service porch, The Mister asked? Because it's there, we replied. Below is the paper we selected for this area; this is the entrance to the Brain Center of the irrigation computer which The Water Expert runs, as well as our server:





And the room that reminds me most of Grandma, the kitchen, has now had the roosters restored. This really does look fabulous, especially with the rooster/chicken figurines on various shelves; it really does hearken back to the original kitchen:





So, you may wonder, now that the paper on the walls is complete, how's it going with the paper in the file drawers?

Slow, steady progress in the accounting area, at least. I have never been a whirlwind of activity; my style is more of the methodical, keep-plugging-away type, until the job is finished. I am hoping to have converted most of my files by Christmas, and then I can help The Mister and Bias For Action in the conversion of their many, many files. The most exciting thing for me has been when I've actually retrieved a document online that I've needed - quickly and efficiently. Conversely, when I've needed a document that is not accessible online, and had to dig it out of the file drawers, it only emphasizes my desire to keep on converting those files. I'll keep plugging away.

County Islands Will Lose Rural Metro

To follow up on my post of last week regarding fire service for county islands in Gilbert, today's AZ Republic has a long article on the conclusion:

Rural/Metro Fire Department announced Tuesday that, starting July 1, it will stop providing emergency medical and fire service to unincorporated county land that falls within Gilbert's planning area.

This gives the estimated 9,000 people who live on those county islands in Gilbert eight months to annex into the town and receive emergency services from the Gilbert Fire Department, Town Manager George Pettit said.

Refusal to annex would mean no fire service, creating a scenario that could jeopardize county residents' ability to acquire insurance that mortgage companies may require, Pettit said.

Read the whole thing if you're interested in the topic. This does not affect ambulance service for those county islands, but the fire fighters are often the first to respond to medical emergencies, so that will have some effect on medical services. It's a complex situation; it seems like the most prudent action will be for those islands to be annexed into Gilbert.

Treats

I'm always impressed with those parents who do such a great job of costuming their kids for Halloween. My own children were severely scarred and handicapped by a mother who once fabricated a bumblebee costume at the last minute by dressing her daughter in a yellow turtleneck and wrapping black crepe paper around her... It's a testament to her character that she has grown into such a wonderful young woman in spite of that!

We saw some great costumes last night:



Okay, okay, all these kids are my nieces and nephews, I'll admit... But all the costumes are still great.




And The Mister, who is the Supreme Candy Hander Outer at our house, treats himself between kids by getting caught up with his reading online:




And now November is here; let the Holiday Season officially begin!