Highland Groves Parkway Progress

The Mister and I returned from the mountains this morning, and as we drove back from Williams Gateway, we turned in at Highland Groves for a brief look at the landscaping. Frankly, I was a little disappointed, thinking that the lush green sod would greet me. But once The Mister explained what I was seeing, I became more excited as well. The gravel along the edges of the parkway means that this is ready to have the turf block laid. I have complained on many occasions about trucks and other vehicles leaving giant ruts in the beautiful parkways. The turf block is actually made to be driven on, and while we still discourage driving on the turf, if it happens, this should prevent the big ruts.


And the white powdery stuff? Amending the soil, of course! I posted about soil amendments here in early May, so you can check out that post if you don't remember. But this means that they are very very close to laying the sod; and when that happens, the green will be instantaneous!

Now THAT'S a Tree Lined Street...

Thanks to Bias For Action, The Mister and I are enjoying some tree-lined streets in Lakeside at his mountain house. Sometimes it does a body good to escape the telephones and do-lists, even briefly. We have been celebrating so many great events that our cup is running over; now is a good time to regroup.

Proud Mom Alert

Our number one son joined the ranks of graduates last night. Well done, son!

Here's The Real Thing

Bias For Action and his missus with their number one son and graduate.

Proud Aunt Alert

This picture, taken at Easter, shows Bias For Action in the background, and his oldest son on the left posing with our oldest daughter on the right - the First Borns from each family, you might say. The oldest son graduated from Mesquite High School last night, and The Mister and I joined about 5,000 other folks at Wells Fargo Arena on ASU's campus for the event.

I was going to make some snarky comment about how that is more people than that arena usually sees except when the U of A comes to town to play basketball, but since my youngest will soon be a Sun Devil, I guess I'll pass on that.

The Mister just had a birthday, and I'll have one yet this year, so I'm going to allow myself one "back in my day..." comment. It seems like, back in my day, graduations were more of a solemn event, and the audience behaved with the appropriate solemnity and respect for the occasion. Last night's audience wasn't as respectful as I would have wished. I'm not talking about the beach balls; when a graduating class is over 700, that seems like a natural consequence. I'm not talking about the parents and friends cheering and tooting their air horns when their graduate is announced. Again, because of the size of the class, that is the only way to differentiate and honor the individual kid. I'm talking about the audience yelling things and disrupting various parts of the program, like the music portions or the principal's remarks; and the audience participating in the behavior of throwing beach balls down to the students on the floor, and then of flying paper airplanes over the crowd after the beach balls had run out. The audience did redeem itself somewhat by cheering loudly for the special needs kids receiving their diplomas at the end.

I suppose my feelings were heightened somewhat because of the person I'd come to honor in graduating; my nephew is one of the most polite, respectful guys you'll ever meet. He's affectionate to his sisters, sweet to young children, gifted athletically, musically, AND academically, a hard worker, and a generally upbeat guy. He will be heading to his momma's home state in the fall where he will attend Texas A&M. I have no doubt of his success, and I expect to see him doing pushups after touchdowns on televised football games with the rest of the Corps.

Gig 'em, Aggies!

About That South Fountain...

The south fountain at Highland Groves remains off, due to the fact that the motor burned up when they started it up the first time. There is now some ongoing discussion about who replaces it, the manufacturer, or the installer. So it will likely be some time before we see that fountain operating.

The irrigation system is being installed at a rapid clip, and Park Avenue should be landscaped by the end of the month, which is next week already, according to my calendar.

I see the construction trailers parked next door to Highland Groves in anticipation of Big League Dreams starting construction; but there has been no activity on the property itself yet. I don't really have any inside information about this project, so I don't know where they stand.

The "soft closing" of Elliot from Recker to Power is opened again, and I'm watching for them to remove all traffic restrictions at the corner of Elliot and Recker, but so far there are still turning restrictions.

Who is Robert?

I missed this article in the East Valley Tribune, even though I was sort of looking for it:

Situated on 60 acres of dirt in Gilbert is Priscilla Tyler’s peace of mind. Tyler and her husband, Robert, knew their 86-year-old town had no hospital when they moved to Gilbert in 1997. But that knowledge hit home when Robert had a heart attack in 2001.

Now, “there is something close by to relieve that anxiety,” Tyler said.

Tyler and roughly 5,000 other residents toured the new facility on Saturday during an open house. Mercy Gilbert Medical Center, the town’s first full-service hospital, will open June 5.

“The town has grown so fast that services can’t keep up with it,” she said.

“I think the powers that be worked as fast as they could. Things can’t happen overnight.”

The hospital has 88 inpatient beds and 33 beds in its emergency unit. The property can accommodate three additional 100-bed towers, one of which is expected to be completed within the next year.

Artwork by local artists is hung throughout the hospital, which also has wallpaper and carpet to absorb noise. Computers are by each bedside to keep charts in a database that physicians can access from their offices. Flat-screen televisions are in every room — including the emergency rooms — with options for more expansive cable and movies for an additional charge.

The hospital is owned by Catholic Healthcare West, the same company that owns Chandler Regional Hospital.

The Tylers are friends of ours, and residents of Higley Groves, and I don't think I've ever heard him referred to as Robert; we usually call him either Bob or Curmudgeon, whichever his behavior dictates at the moment. I spoke with them on Sunday and Priscilla was indeed effusive about the new hospital, as has everyone been who has visited. There are couches in every room, unlimited visiting hours, even in ICU, and everything points to serving the customer and making them and their families comfortable.

Priscilla's parting comment illustrates how well the hospital has succeeded in projecting hospitality: "It almost makes me want to get sick!" High praise indeed.

Happy Birthday to The Mister!

He deserves a day off, but it will be work as usual. No doubt we'll feed him some Mexican food, and tell him how much we appreciate him, and that will be about the extent of the celebration this year. It just so happens that his birthday has gotten sandwiched between The Wedding and the graduation of our youngest; and when you get as advanced in years as The Mister and I are, that's about all the partying we can handle!

Roads, Open and Closed

The long-anticipated opening of the San Tan Freeway is just around the corner, and everyone is invited to the party, according to the Republic:

GILBERT - The town has announced that the Santan Freeway, the largest public works project ever in the town, will open to traffic June 12.

An opening party, which is expected to draw between 10,000 and 15,000 people, is scheduled for June 7.

The much-anticipated, $160 million freeway, which will complete the southern leg of Loop 202, has been under construction since late 2004.

This will make quite a difference, both in terms of traffic flow and new retail lining the freeway and the offramps. It should be quite a party. An Open Road.

As for the closed road, The Mister was somewhat bemused by the activity along Elliot between Recker and Power over the weekend. The Town of Gilbert had informed him of a "soft closing" of that portion of the road, as they would be burying water lines as part of the construction of the water reservoir across the street from Highland Groves. When we drove by, the road was impassable to any traffic but construction equipment. "Soft?" I do not think that word means what they think it means.

The Growth Paradox

The Wedding (yes, I believe I will have to forever capitalize it) is past, and my mind is turning back to all things Morrison Ranch and Gilbert... And one of the first things to meet my eye is an op ed in the AZ Republic about the growth paradox:

Is the explosion of people in the Valley of the Sun the biggest problem we face?

For many, growth is an enormous issue. And never more so than when it affects us personally.

Oh, on the big screen of life, being the second-fastest-growing region in America has its upside. For one thing, it means we're thriving economically. Arizona's population is projected to increase by 83 percent by 2025, to more than 10 million people, mostly because those new arrivals see more opportunity here than they did . . . wherever.

The problem is that while the thrill of making a new life in the desert may be fine for the other guy, that's not necessarily so for those already here.

A recent survey by Valley Forward, a public-interest organization, confirms what most anyone trapped in a freeway traffic jam already knew: We don't care much for growth when it disturbs our current quality of life.

The study, conducted by WestGroup Research, found that 72 percent of Valley residents view sprawl as either a big or moderate problem.

In fact, we don't much like efforts to ameliorate sprawl, either, according to the research. A still larger percentage of the 400 residents surveyed - 75 percent - said they would oppose high-density development such as apartment or condominium projects in their neighborhoods. Same for smaller lot sizes. Bad, bad, bad.

Read the rest of the piece as it goes into the citizen activism on new projects. I think it is written evenly about the dilemma of appreciating growth but opposing any change in one's backyard. It seems to be human nature.

Berenstain Bears Revisited

When my kids were little, we read a lot of Berenstain Bears books. One of those books, entitled "Too Much Birthday" recently came to mind. The basic plot is that Sister Bear has a wonderful birthday, but she ends up pretty exhausted and emotional by the end of the day. I was wondering if we were experiencing "Too Much Wedding" since The Mister and I are both pretty exhausted, and he especially seems pretty emotional, in the sense that he is very affectionate, not that he is crying. But then I received a few pictures from my photographer, and I have to say that it doesn't seem like too much at all. I'll share them with you, I'll skip posting again tomorrow, and then next Monday I'll get back in the swing of daily posting.

Don't these two look so happy?!!




This is newly married, just before going in to the reception. You can see the lake and fountain in the background. Once again, I have to publicly thank the guys who made the park look so phenomenal!


I didn't think they were going to be able to swing dance like they normally do, because of her dress; but I was wrong. He tossed her, wrapped her, and threw her, and she loved it:



I mentioned before that the tent was beautiful at night, along with the moon. Here is a perfect shot:


And the sunset picture about sums it up:

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

So the toast from one of the maids of honor went; and I think they will. My photographer is going to send me a couple of digital pictures to post, but while its still fresh in my thoughts, I'll share some photos a friend took. The Mister did not cry as he walked her down the aisle (much to everyone's surprise!) but there were plenty of misty moments of joy for all the parents. My friend took this picture with the tanks to the side on purpose:



The tent was like a fairy tale come true (remember to click on the picture for a larger look); from the fountain to the lit palm trees to the lights of town center reflected in the lake, the scene was gorgeous from every direction. The moon was full and low and bright and, might I say, very romantic.



All of my kids love to dance - from birth up, I think. One of the values we have tried to pass on to our children is that you can have a whole lot of fun without getting drunk; we think dancing is one way of experiencing that. Here are brother and sister cutting a rug:




And The Mister and I enjoyed the music as well. Here is a shot of us and the bride's godparents:



When about 400 of your closest friends and family come to your party, there tends to be plenty of socializing. The bride and groom were planning to do more dancing and less talking, but they loved sharing their joy with everyone:


And now they are off to honeymoon, and we try to return to somewhat normal. We will re-live the evening many times (I didn't know the parents did that; I thought that was reserved for Prince Charming and his Princess, but there is something very gratifying about seeing your children so very happy); we will clean up the aftermath with pleasure, and I will post more pictures of the event in the future.

And I Thought The Circus Was at MY House...

Did you know that if you put up 10,000 square feet of tent, you have to start a few days early? This is the beginning of the wedding reception, and I had to share my excitement with you. The points of the tent show up from quite a ways away, and though it might look small from the road, it looks huge when you walk around underneath. It was also fairly comfortable temperature-wise, even though my car thermometer showed triple digits. There will be port-a-cools chilling things down on Saturday.

All three daughters and I hit the spa today, both to bond and to get the last touches taken care of, like nail painting. It was a delightful day for us.


This is from the bride's point of view, of course. The groom's family did their bonding at Disneyland over the weekend (not a drop of eyebrow wax in sight!); and now we are all entering the party-brunch-rehearsal-rehearsal dinner phase.
Wow.
The Big Day is near.

Wedding Week Warning

Blogging will be sporadic at best this week; at worst, it will be about the wedding preparations for our daughter. If you want to avoid visiting my front porch until after this weekend, I'll understand, though I can't promise that I won't be showing pictures of the big day for a while longer...

Let the celebration begin!

Congratulations, Hersh

One of our son's buddies got some headlines in the AZ Republic today, so I had to pass it on. Here's the beginning of the article:

Gilbert High senior Hersh Goel plans to major in medical research, so to him it seems logical he would develop a model of a cancer cell.

Goel's proposal may seem audacious, given cancer has vexed scientists for decades, but not to one of Gilbert's graduating elite.

They're asked to shoot for the scientific stars.

Goel, along with his partners Michael Fan and Corina Oprescu, will present their project at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis, Sunday through May 13. Twenty-one Arizona high school students were chosen to participate.

Read the rest of the article for a more complete explanation of this honor; but Hersh is the young man in white surrounded by his behemoth buddies:


He is a great kid; I don't know his current ranking in his class, but it's in the top one percent, I think. He has garnered all sorts of honors and scholarships. The funny thing is that he hangs out with these football players; he will be at our house playing XBox and they will be merciless in their comments on his XBox skills, but he just smiles and doesn't respond. I asked him once why he put up with it, and he just shrugged and smiled again. Personally, I think it's his way of relaxing; after all, the reason he isn't so skilled at XBox has everything to do with how much time he spends studying and nothing to do with his coordination. To prove my point, just listen to the name of his research project:

A Hybrid Reaction-Diffusion Cellular Automata Model of Glioblastoma.

Well done, Hersh; good luck.

Change is Inevitable

Things change, and even if you are a change-agent like The Mister, sometimes the change is difficult emotionally. As Lakeview Trails North begins to sprout, it requires some changes to the view, and several folks are affected by this change. I gave a little of the history of Uncle Hugh's house last August here.
Now the barn that housed the airplane has been demolished:


In recent years (say, the past 25 years or so), it's been known as "the carpenter's shed" because it housed the tools for the farm carpenter. Why, you may ask, does a cotton farm need a carpenter? For the labor houses, of course. This was a part-time job, but there always seemed to be a part-time carpenter available.

And speaking of labor houses, the little ones behind Uncle Hugh's have also come down:



So things look very different, and are about to look even moreso. It's unsettling, even though we feel it's the best way to direct the inevitable change.

That's why it was no surprise to me to hear The Mister exclaim, "They can't do that!" - only half-joking - when I told him that Rittenhouse Road is being relegated to our memories as well. The AZ Republic has an article today that starts like this:

Motorists in Gilbert can start saying goodbye to the diagonal adventure down Rittenhouse Road.

The two-lane road, which runs along the Union Pacific Railroad and is one of the major access points to Queen Creek, will be permanently closed between Williams Field and Power roads starting Wednesday.

Yep, change is inevitable all right. Sometimes it's downright unsettling.

Status Report

I pulled myself away from the details of wedding planning - well mostly, anyway - to spend some time at the office yesterday. So as we were getting our Nando's fix at noon, I pummeled The Water Expert with questions about the progression of some projects. My disclaimer is that my brain is currently stuffed with details like centerpieces and dress fittings, but I'll try to pass on some of his answers.

There is still no running fountain at the south lake at Highland Groves. The divers are going in today to see if they can find the problem. The Mister wondered why they don't just pull the entire thing out, since it's a floating fountain anyway, and look at it on dry land. Nevertheless, the procedure seems to be to handle it in the water, so we'll wait and see what they discover. In the meantime, everything else is operational. This means that the common landscaping can be installed and that will green up the views considerably.

Speaking of installing the turf, and of the interesting language unique to development, The Water Expert is requiring the landscape company to "amend the soil." At a recent seminar, when The Water Expert asked the secret to installing healthy turf, the reply he got was something like this: "There are only three things you need to do: first, soil amendment. Second, soil amendment. And third, soil amendment." So Highland Groves will see their soil amended. What this means is to add some stuff (can't remember the name) to the soil and work it up to a depth of about six inches; this is done after the sprinklers are installed and before the sod is laid. The purpose of this stuff is to keep the dirt fluffy and allow the water and nutrients to feed the grass. Our soil contains a lot of clay and ends up "binding" - clumping together - and so the water runs off rather than into the roots. (Note: "fluffy" is definitely NOT The Water Expert's choice of words.) In my line of work, we amend tax law and tax returns, we amend contracts and trust documents and wills; so amending soil doesn't sound all that foreign, I guess.

The Water Expert had no idea when the traffic restrictions on Recker might be removed.

On a different topic, the roof on the office was finished on Monday. We had wondered what the impact of the marches and boycott might be on various aspects of work around Morrison Ranch; the answer seems to be - not much. Some construction crews were not at Highland Groves, but others were; our roof was completed; the guys doing landscape maintenance at Higley Groves West were mowing on their normal schedule; and about half of the workers at The First Cousin's sons' farm in Gila Bend worked and half didn't. These are all anecdotal examples, of course. I'm not sure what the broad impact was, but there is certainly some discussion going on across the country, so that chapter has yet to be completed.

Arbor Day Update

On Saturday at Higley Estates, Bias For Action spearheaded an Arbor Day celebration, and several folks stopped by at different times over a couple hour span. Albertson's donated some food, and MMM Landscaping and Waldron Farms pitched in for the event as well. The Mister snapped some pictures while he was there, so I thought I'd share them. As always, if you want to see a bigger picture, just click on it.





They had a bouncy jumping play area, plus some new attractions, like these horses:





And a petting zoo area:





And photogenic children:



And the ramada at this area, with plenty of light:



Thanks to all who helped, thanks to all who stopped by, and thanks to Bias For Action for doing the work to make it happen.