The Everett Pedersons

WEATHER We have heard that this is an unusual year in Arizona.  Temperatures have been pretty moderate, and sometimes just downright cold.  We had a couple of days of rain... I mean all day.  The ground here isn't used to absorbing that much rain all at once, so we had small rivers running down the street.  Of course they new this and designed the streets so they are deeper in the middle than on the sides.  But if you wait long enough it will warm up in a hurry and this week it is starting to heat up.   CHURCH We go to church here at the resort, and it's a good old fashioned service, with good old fashioned people.  Sing hyms from a hymnal, responsive reading and a down to earth sermon.  The pastor trys to use some stories to illustrate his sermons.  Here is his from last week.   There was this 85 year old man sitting on the park bench crying.  A policeman came up to see what was wrong.  He asked ...

We hit the road again today and went to the Maricopa / Gila Bend Petroglyph site.  Ancient native americans carved symbols into the rock, which are preserved to this day.  There were quite a few at this site and a few instances of people from the 1800's making their mark. It was a crisp beautiful day, temps have been low for here, was about 58 today.   Although the weather has been a bit cool for here the past couple weeks as you can see by the weather app, we will be seeing a 25 degree change in the coming week.   S topped at an artistic store in Gila Bend, and admired the rusted metal sculptures. We'll let you know when we are on the road again, took the scenic route back from the petroglyphs on the Maricopa highway.  Well worth the slower pace.  

This last week Doris and I visited the Casa Grande Domes.  This site is just down the road from us, but is basically in the middle of the desert.  You will see by the pictures that the Domes are crumbling now and it wasn't advisable to enter them.   The story behind the Casa Grande Domes The Domes were built in 1983 by InnerConn Technology Inc., a manufacturer of circuit boards for computers and watches. In 1982, the owner of InnerConn, announced plans to relocate the company headquarters from California to the 135-acre site in Casa Grande, AZ. The unusual shape and composition of the structures was chosen for its relatively low cost, speedy construction time, and efficient insulation. Each structure took approximately six weeks to build and cost about $150,000 apiece. Construction went something like this: After the foundations were complete, giant balloons were mounted onto them, supported by steel skeletons. A coating of polyurethane foam was applied to t...

We attended the Casa Grande Gourdfest this last weekend.  They had some pretty comical gourd creations and some beautiful ones as well.  It was at the Pinal County Fairgrounds, not far from us.  With many vendors, fair food... etc. The Gourdstone Cowboy. We saw a lot of this type of work.  It fascinates me as I was introduced to this application of design by a wood turning mentor of mine.  Its applied with high voltage electricity using some water and baking soda brushed on the surface.  It's usually applied with a homemade electrical gadget assembled from a neon sign transformer.  This can put out up to 15Kv, and is very dangerous if not handled properly. This is enough electricity to kill someone.   Fractal Lichtenberg wood burning  Anyway, the electricity follows the grain in the wood and burns these amazing fractal images in the wood.  On this piece the artist added a turquoise inlay.    ...

Tucson Gem and Bead show is a colossal affair, huge venues all over town and many small tents popping up everywhere.  We spent the day looking at all kinds of gems and beads.  Unfortunately it rained all day.  Shuttles take you from one venue to the other.   These deer greeted us just outside the Tombstone hotel's hospitality area.  They came in and nibbled on the grass just outside the large windows of the dining area.  Met a couple of guys from Australia escaping the hot summer and taking a tour of Arizona and California.  They were hotrod fanatics so they were going from car show to car show.  Tombstone was fun, they do the old west routine pretty well.  However there was a guy all dressed up in a complete cowboy outfit with a sherifs badge.  I walked up to him on the boardwalk and told him there wasn't room enough in this town for the both of us.  He just said . OK.  It was really anticlimactic. ...