The late rain has made for a gorgeous year in wildflowers and flowering trees. The palo verde have bloomed now, and are wearing a veil of tiny yellow flowers. This is a fascinating tree. I've heard the name before, usually as a place name. Never realized what it meant or that there was a tree to go with it. The trunks and branches of this tree carry a lot of the clorophyll, so they show up as almost lime green, at least when they are young. I've seen some very mature trees that look like they might be the same tree, but the bark on these is brown and rougher.
The flowers on what I think is a domestic variety of beargrass in the front yard are finally mature. I expected a bigger flower based on the size of the buds, but the showy coral-colored buds actually just open to a tiny, delicate, pale yellow, 4-petaled flower. There are also a couple of spikes on one of the succulents. I have yet to learn the difference between yucca and century plant by looking at the leaves, but I think this one is a yucca.
OOPS! Just got a text from the library that I have four books overdue. How could it be three weeks already since I checked these out?! Guess I'll be making a second trip to the square today. Walked there earlier for the mail, but found none. Somewhere there is an electric bill waiting, but we haven't seen it yet.
We went to Phoenix, or, more accurately, Chandler for the weekend. Budd was dying to get away, so he came home early on Friday (after putting in 43 hours at the park last week by 2 p.m. on Friday) and we headed out. It was so unexpected that I left the pork ribs thawing for dinner on the counter. They were well-thawed by the time I came back! :(
While in 'town', I was able to buy a kit for my next cross-stitch project. I'll put a picture of the current one--in progress--in my FB photo album. It's a depiction of a style of Navajo rug called 'Yei', pronounced yea. I've been saying yay, but I think the vowel sound should actually be shorter. Anyway, the yei are the 'Holy People' that intercede for Navajos with their gods. A properly-conducted ceremony is thought to promote healing. The rugs, though, have no religious significance, so I thought it would be fun to have one in a collection of cross-stitched representations of the real thing. At least until I acquire one of the real ones! I found a kit at Chinle before we left, and fortunately there is a website with the rest of the collection. As soon as I can get my collection of floss from storage in Salt Lake, I'll buy the patterns. What I really want is a picture of at least half of Ruby's rug. I would be willing to try to create my own pattern from that--it's still the most beautiful example of Two Grey Hills that I've seen.
We also had two absolutely great meals. If you're ever in Chandler, I recommend Villal Pandos on Chandler Street just off I-10. I had chicken mole verde, something new for me. Spicy and delicious! On Sunday we had breakfast at Crackers Cafe in the same shopping center as Costco, on Elliot St. I had wanted eggs benedict, so we went looking for a Village Inn, but the GPS took us to one that had closed. But right across the street was Crackers, and there were lots of cars there, so we gave it a try. There were actually three versions of eggs benedict! One was the traditional, one had steak on it, and one, the one I chose, was a California Benny. It had bacon in place of the Canadian bacon, sliced avocados, a slice of grilled tomato, and spinach. The eggs were literally the most perfectly-poached I have ever had, and the dish was heavenly! I don't recommend it, though. If you ever have this, you'll be forever spoiled for traditional eggs benedict, lol. YUM!!!
Counting down to my new job at Organ Pipe--I start on Monday. I'm really looking forward to it, although I've never done anything in the maintenance arena before. I understand a lot of the duties will be keeping track of assets like the furniture in park housing, the housing itself, the trucks and the fuel they use. Since I'm a little OCD, this should be fun! In the meanwhile, I'm slowly accustoming myself to a 5:30 a.m. rise time. With a half-hour commute to the park and a 7:00 a.m. start time, that will be the latest I can possibly get up. May have to back it off to 5:15. Got up at 6:30 yesterday, 6:15 today, and will back up by 15 minutes per day until I'm there. It's a drag, though, to fall asleep in the middle of a playoff basketball game when you're team is winning by only a hair. Go Jazz!
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