3-13-05

I went into town today to get some grub and  see about getting my phone back in service. The phone was no problem getting it going again. I had my service temporarily suspended while I was out of the country.

As I was driving into Globe, Az I saw a little flea market along side the road. Not wanting to buy anything to pack home, but always a pack rat, I stopped. A guy had three solar panels at a cheap price. They are small panels that are made for keeping a battery charged while you are not using a vehicle. So, I have to repack again. Lil Red is getting a little top heavy. I found at the bakery department a package of flatbread supposedly Italian style. Here is a photo of this flatbread and some of the flatbread/cookies that I bought in Mexico. I really like this type of quick food.

The flat bread is the one with the bite out of it, it is  good but way too expensive at $3.45 for 4 ½ oz.  The one under it is another style of coyota. The two under that are sesame seed and oat and under that is something really strange made out of two thin pieces of rice wafer with molasses and peanut filling, which is the only one I really don’t like.

The Safeway store was great and I bought way too much food. I really know better than to walk into one of those stores hungry and it seemed like my defenses are down. I got some great food though.

When I came back I took a little nap and then went down to the commune and started in on weeding a bed in the garden. I was surprised at how hard the ground was, but I guess all the rain has pounded the ground and settled it. Don came by later and we discussed a project he has in mind of building some small walls of stabilized adobe for the sides of the beds. He thinks we can get a small group together and try one wall and learn from that. If that works out, we will expand the project.

One of the guys named Sunshine had been building a fire in the Sauna in the afternoon and just after sundown I went in for a good sweat. It is a really nice Sauna built out of cement block and built underground. I had a photo in the last road log. The fire is stoked from the out side and the iron stove is covered with rocks on the inside. They were using it as a wet sauna by throwing water on the rocks and that really makes the sweat run. I think I actually prefer the dry sauna but nonetheless it gets the sweat pores open and flowing. A nice cold shower after the sauna and sitting out in the new moon light drying off was nice.

After the sauna I was invited to the communal cook shack for beans.  One of the guys built two big pots of beans. One was mild and the other they said was hot. I can tell you that it was fairly hot but not too hot to really enjoy.  They had a cake/pie for the little redheaded girl that I had a photo of in the last log. Her name is Peony. The candles and the singing of happy birthday was a little confusing for her but after a few more she will pick right up on it. She can say a few words like mommy, daddy, cat, and dog. She just looks at me with those blue eyes and doesn’t say a thing. She is a real cutie.

3-13-05

I had forgotten how clean you get with a good sweat. I almost want to go find a dusty place where the horses roll.

I did a major clean out of lil Red and I think I finally got rid of the hitchhikers that have been with me for several weeks. I don’t know how they got aboard but I had a small colony of ants traveling with me. They lived in the passenger floorboard carpet. That area would get a little dose of water every time I got water out of my five-gallon jug that I keep on the floor there. There might still be a few along for the ride. They have never given me a problem and never got in the food. Once in a while I would get one or two with water I poured out of the jug. They didn’t seem to add much flavor to a cup of tea, as they were so small.

I went over to sneak up on a little purple flower that I thought I might take a photo of when a cholla piece snuck up on me from behind and punctured my pants and back of my heel. It is crazy to be out here in the desert with sandals on. They sting like crazy and have barbs that hold on and a lot of force is required to pull them out.


3-14-05

I am sitting in the sun this morning working on making some sort of sense to my photo files. There is supposed to be a little storm come through today but this morning it is fantastic. Here is my view this early moring.

I am headed down now to the farm to see what  the project is for the day.

3-15-05

it was a cold and windy day and it seems like everyone took the day off. Me too. I hung out in camp and watched a movie from their extensive collection.

3-16-05

I was back at it in the garden killing weeds and visiting with Don and Brenda. Brenda is visiting for a month checking the community out and has lived in Arkansas and northern AZ. She has a few years, several gray hairs and is very calm and observant. She has gardened before and seems like she may take on the garden project. I think it takes a more mature person to head the garden project and I hope she stays. It will be good for the garden and I think  she can get some of the young energy focused on the garden if she needs help.

Don picked out a few movies for me to watch over the last couple of days on more controversial subjects like the 9-11 news inaccuracies and one on Fox news. I wasn’t able to make it through either of them but I got the drift for sure. I guess I am a believer in the government conspiracy theory, but I try not to think too much about it as I know I have no power to do anything about  it.

3-17-05

Don had made me a cd with a lecture that Bill Moyer had given at an inequality conference and I played it this morning. I wont bore you with the doom and gloom scenario he paints, but he seems to have a good understanding on how screwed we are. It was a perfect way to get me fired up this morning. I made a run down to Winkleman this morning, as I needed to mail a package to Susan for her birthday. I also added in a couple of things for Anna that I got in MX as she will be there next week visiting for a month with little Jojeez who is now 1 ½ years old. I wish I could see them all but I don’t want to go back east, and especially MO again.

 
I saw this guy along the highway pulled into a rest stop. He is a can buyer on the San Carlos Indian Reservation just east of Globe. He says that this is a really small load. We exchanged email addresses and he is going to send me a photo of a BIG load he has taken down. I told him I was impressed with the Mexican loads  and he agreed but he can do better he thinks. When/if he sends me a full load I will post it.
The colors and variety of the cans was kind of cool.
I told him that I read that aluminum prices were the highest they have ever been and he said that might be but he isn’t getting that good of a price for them. It must be the old ‘middle man gets the profit’ game as usual. 

The side of the road was covered in places and I stopped at this spot that has a good variety of what is happening out there. There are three kinds of purple flowers here with lupine and a mint the ones I could identify. The other purple one comes from two thin long leaves and is some sort of lily maybe.
 
It is dangerous out there in the poppy field. With so much green growth I couldn’t see the small  pieces of cactus and ended up with both sandals with cactus sticking  to them. I didn’t get punctured this time but easily could have. I need some really strong boots with thick leather sides to protect myself, or stay out. I wore my LL Bean boots the other day but the spines just go right through them.

The photos don’t show it but there is an under story of little white and yellow flowers that are maybe match head size. The desert is in bloom for sure.

I have been hanging out in the afternoon after naps up on the ridge. Sometimes walking and sometimes just loafing and reading stuff I downloaded from the Internet. The desert walks are great. Everything is so green and there is a carpet of flowers everywhere.

3-18-05

It is overcast this morning but not particularly cold. I just went out to look at the temp and it is 45 degrees which is a bunch better than Miles City where it is 24 and snowing with a 10-15 breeze.

When I opened my email I received a photo from the guy who had the load of cans that I took a photo of. He said he would send me a photo of a ‘real’ load and here it is. He said he has had bigger loads but this was the first photo he came across with a fairly large load.

I just love these kind of loads. The guys name is Virgil and he carries two Cannon cameras. One is a small one like mine only more mega pixel and a really nice bigger one with a telephoto lens that I really liked a lot. He let me squint through it and I can see how nice it would be to have that telephoto lens. I didn’t look to see what model it is but I think he said it was $800. I think I will get along with what I have and just keep wishing and hoping I will find one someone had lost along the road somewhere. J

I will be heading down the highway to Tucson this afternoon to the street fair. The weather forecast is for partly cloudy which will be nice rather than the rain that was predicted.

OK, now Virgil has sent me a photo of a 'really' big load..

Hah, hah, hah, I think  he should get a trophy for this load, he even has the Mexicans beat. Although it seems like if he extended the rack out over the hood and attached supports to the front bumper....................