Call me Red

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_telephone_box

There are a few things that, for me, represent London and the UK in general:

• red double-decker buses
• royal guards in uniform
• Big Ben
• red phone boxes

Now that so many people have and carry cell phones, the traditional telephone booth is rapidly disappearing. I’ve read several articles lately about this phenomenon, including how it impacts those who do not have or carry mobile phones. (Just try to find a working pay phone!)

This article that gives a fascinating look at the rehabilitation of Great Britain’s iconic red telephone boxes.

At the cost of anywhere between £2,000 and £10,000, a fully restored phone box is not an inexpensive purchase but think how amazing it would be to own one!

You can read more about the history of the red phone boxes here.

I owe, I owe, so off to work I go!

I owe you the truth: I truly do love my job.  I work in an old building, parts of which were built in 1917 (above), 1926, and 1958. Sometimes, the places where those parts come together have a bit of oddity– like the juncture of various roofs that recently sprung a leak:

A meeting of 2 roofs from different eras. There is a third juncture which is not seen in this picture.

Click on pics to embiggen

Somewhere up there is the source of a leak…

My husband was the one who manufactured this awesome drainage system in the midst of a heavy rainstorm. The water had been coming in at the rate of 2 gallons an hour.

The good news is that once everything dried up after that storm, the guys investigated the problem, the leaky seam was sealed, things are being dried out and we will soon have a “new” bathroom.

We have a couple of handy men who voluntarily keep us in working order. I love it when they show up each Tuesday, even if I feel foolish when I walk by a room, glance in, and suddenly squawk, “There’s water on the floor! Water on the floor!”  (This was last week and completely unrelated to the roof or drainage system.) If they hadn’t been there, I would have been the one looking for a mop and bucket. Instead, I was the one sheepishly going back to my desk and they were the ones mopping up the mess.

It’s not all patch and mop around here. Sometimes there are flowers, cat art, and history.

This particular stained glass piece reminds me of a watercolor landscape painting.

And of course, there are some beautiful stained glass windows.

Carmi‘s Thematic Photographic this week is focusing on where we work. Click the link to join the fun!

Pink Saturday: Cathedral Wash

Cathedral Wash is carved out by water flowing downstream to the Colorado River. At times it is a mere trickle  or even a dry streambed, but when it rains heavily in the mountains, a flash-flood of water and debris change the landscape.

Caught in perfect lighting, the walls here look pink.

See more pink-themed pictures with Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Five on Friday: Texts from the road (in no particular order)

1. A pair of incoming texts in response to the above information being shared:
   “I swear I didn’t make any of those pies!”
   “Wouldn’t that more accurately be called a tart?”
   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –
   I mentioned earlier this week that my youngest son, driving with his learner’s permit, was traveling quite legally at 75mph in a strong headwind. The road was not straight so with each rounded curve of the mountain highway we were buffeted from a different angle. Add to that a rather inexperienced driver, and the following texts to friends is how I attempted to keep quiet in the backseat:
2. “Eeek!  [Youngest son] at the wheel here on I-17 which has winding mountain roads. I’m getting an ulcer in the backseat and I’m not the one instructing him.”
3. “My tummy hurts… [SnakeMaster] is an inexperienced driver. Rumble strips, varying speed, truckers entering the highway. I’m feeling nauseous from the weaving and especially the stress. The guard rail has been too close for comfort more than twice. Luckily, [SuperDad] is calm.”   I was just trying to keep clam! 
4. “My deodorant isn’t strong enough for this experience!!! I’ve got a stress headache on top of the nausea. Oy!”My now-15-year-old son may not appreciate those feelings… until he teaches his own children to drive.
   –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –
   While the guys were hiking Angel’s Landing in Zion, I took myself on several smaller hikes. Then I limped back out the way I came in, wondering if I could somehow not walk again for the rest of the day. At 3pm, I sent the following texts to my friend:
5. “Decided I was done hiking. As in, stick a fork in me, I’m done! Just ordered a stout and an applewood-smoked BLT at the brew pub outside the park. My feet are screaming at me.”
   “PS: Conviction Stout is delicious.”By the time my menfolk found me, I had enough sustenance and relief that I was able to share my fries and applewood-smoked bacon like a good mama should. 

Unwritten stories of life and death

There are things about which I simply cannot write. Things like possums that curl up and die in a hidden corner of the garage/bonus room. It’s been nearly 9 years now since that incident and my boys know that just saying the word “possum” still gives me the heebie-jeebies.

There are other things about which I have written only in passing — upchucked chipmunk heads, for example — because I am thoroughly squeamish about such things. (I avoided both the cat and the front porch for many days after that incident.) When my husband was deployed, I relied on neighbors to rescue me from the horrors of decaying creatures and dead birds in the fish pond. When faced with a mouse in my suitcase, I locked myself and my baby in the bathroom (oblivious to the fact that there was a one-inch space between the floor and the bottom of the door).

Becky over at Noodleroux is much better about injecting humor into the situation. Go read this post and you’ll see why she’s my new hero.

24

MM’s first birthday, celebrated with his older cousins

5th birthday with James (the red #5 engine from Thomas the Tank Engine series) — yes, the birthday boy helped to decorate his cake!

Happy 13th Earth Day birthday! Mom made the cake,  MM did the decorating.

MM’s 17th birthday

High School, June 2010                                        …and…                           College, May 2014

You’ve worked hard and found happiness and success.
I am so proud of you and excited for your future.

You grew up and moved away but you will always be my firstborn son.

Happy Earth Day Birthday, MusicMan!

Ten on Tuesday: Spring Break edition

1. It’s all about FAMILY. Family in the vehicle on a journey of 2,000 (or was it 3,000?) miles… family at the terminus… family visited along the way.

2.  Did I mention it’s a long drive? Our minivan now has over 107K on the odometer. A few hours of time were put in behind the wheel by the resident teenager driver-in-training (45 minutes of which was 75mph in a strong headwind between Flagstaff and Phoenix, poor kid). EB helped out for an hour or so but he preferred looking at the scenery. I drove a few hours each day but SuperDad put in the bulk of his time in the driver’s seat.

historic minivan

3. If you want to sleep along the way, I can recommend listening to the audiobook of Walden by Henry David Thoreau. The combination of prose and narrator’s voice conked me out multiple times. I had no idea that Thoreau had written a lullaby.

4. Strangely enough, Machiavelli’s The Prince was more engrossing although ultimately it also lulled me to sleep.

5.  If it is an audiobook, do I still underline the title or should I use quotation marks?

6.  For the safety of the passengers when I was driving, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, episodes of “Car Talk” and my Rush Permanent Waves CD were put into play.

7.  The desert in springtime is lovely.

8.  The desert is actually quite lovely any time of year.

Zion National Park

9.  My older brother, his lovely wife, and two of their three kids were also visiting in Tucson on spring break. The 8 of us might have been a little overwhelming all at once, but my father and his wife seemed to enjoy having us there.
It’s all about FAMILY.

Clockwise from top left: posing with my dad and the book I made for him, my almost-twin brother with Dad, 4 cousins, me with my sweet SIL, my niece with Grandma, 4 cousins with Grandpa

10.  On the way home from Tucson, we had a brief visit with my sister and an overnight with SuperDad’s younger sister and her family. Our final stop matched our first stop: my dh’s parents live just a couple hours away from us and they kept the dog occupied and content for the week.

My Town Monday: Bleeding Hearts

We had several bleeding heart plants in Virginia but my camera could not do them justice as evidenced below.

Early in the farmer’s market season last June, I purchased this wee plant from a landscaper who rips out plants as requested by homeowners, takes the unwanted ones home and rehabilitates them. I was happy to pick out my very own small bleeding heart plant and hopeful for its new opportunity. Here is proof that it is blooming and that I now have a camera to do justice to such beauty.

I look forward to taking more pictures as the blooms mature.

Pink Saturday: Vermilion Cliffs

Driving from Utah to Arizona brings you through incredibly rugged and beautiful country.

See more pink -themed pictures with Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound.

Zion National Park: hiking Angel’s Landing

Last week I quizzed you as to where we might be on our spring break trip. Here is one of our destinations:  Zion National Park in Utah.

Angel’s Landing hike at Zion National Park

SuperDad, EB, and SnakeMaster went on this hike. I have a healthy fear of heights with no desire to fall to my death as six people have done since 2004 on this very same hike. 

My boys proving that they don’t need to hold on next to that drop-off. THIS is why I couldn’t go on the hike!

The park does warn that those with fear of heights, pulmonary disease, heart disease, and those who cannot hack a strenuous hike should not venture forth. Also, young children are disadvised. Obviously they could not be trusted next to such an edge. (I wouldn’t trust my 15yo, either, but I wasn’t there to tell him to HOLD ONTO THAT CHAIN!)

See that shiny tram on the road below? We rode in those 2-car trams throughout the park — a huge improvement over the RV traffic jams we experienced 25 years ago.

This is my husband’s foot. He held the camera with one hand and the chain with the other hand to take this photograph.

I am grateful that my dear husband took a camera on this hike and used it to take some great pictures so I could share them with you. I’m also grateful that I didn’t see them until we were all safely together later that night and was too tired to freak out.

SuperDad deserves center stage today.

It was a fabulous view from up there! The colors are so captivating and the heights are so dizzying. I’m glad they went but I’m also glad I kept to lower ground.

Over time, the chain has worn into the sandstone rock. I’m not sure if this is a comfort or a worry.

A proper Friday Five post would have only 5 photographs, but here are a few bonus pictures for you.

The high desert has amazing sights, including trees seemingly growing out of rocks.