Arizona and Easter

Currently we are in Holbrook AZ. It’s a stop on the way to see friends in Albuquerque NM. It’s also close to the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest National Park. We left Mesa in a gust of wind that blew us to our current spot. 40 mph gusts yesterday and more today.

I think we’ll wait till it dies before we hit the park

Before we left, we made a trip to Costco for another box of coffee pods. For a year, we’ve been exclusively using an off brand Keurig machine. Bruce bought it for our basement stay. It saved us from running upstairs for coffee, while our friends were doing their morning thing, to get out the door for school and work. It’s also a space saver, key in an RV.

Bruce has been playing, Coffee Pod Jenga, with our Costco pods. I disrupted that once by pulling all the side pods down, it was fun! That’s when he told me that I’d spoiled his Jenga game. Since then, I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.

A trip to Costco also means a play toy for Milo

He loves boxes! I think they remind him of his first home away from his mom, which was a taped up box in a dumpster. We added a blanket and put it on the backseat in the truck, but it didn’t provide him with any comfort on the climb to Holbrook. Moving from 1,500 ft to 6,000 definitely makes an impact on those ears.

Arizona has been a place to escape the Midwest winter, reconnect with friends of 30+ years, and catch up on life stuff. A wheel bearing in the truck needed replacing. The RV has had some warranty issues. Bruce found a local repair place, that specializes in our particular brand. Unfortunately the parts didn’t arrive in time for the repairs, but they concocted a solution for seeing it finished at another location.

And of course, I’ve been sewing. I made a quilt to gift. Can’t post a picture as the people who will receive it read this, and I don’t want to spoil the surprise. It’s for an Eagle Scout who we dearly love. When I dropped it off to be quilted, the woman doing the work had already searched for some Scout type patterns.

She had also raised an Eagle Scout

I also spent a couple of weeks working on some pincushion/blocks. I made one for myself many years ago, and found myself using it to death.

I’ve given them as gifts. So I figured, why not use up some scraps and make more. 20 blocks and 30lbs of crushed walnut shells later and voila’

The weather here has been wonderful. Some days we swam in the mornings. The pool was warmer than the outside temps and we had it to ourselves. We wander through Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky towards the end of April, fingers crossed for warmer temps there too.

One of the things that this venture has shown us is our need to heal from the stresses of the corporate world. Bruce had a recent talk with his therapist, who has been following our journey on FaceBook. He told Bruce that if he could prescribe a treatment for trauma recovery, escaping the trappings of every day life would be part of it. In his words,

“CARRY ON!”

As we’ve met people on the road, a common theme is this very prescription. Everyone plans to settle somewhere, at some point. But for now, the freedom that living on the road offers, is as much a recovery program as it is an escape.

Shouldn’t that tell us something about, life, culture, work…?

Our reconnects have been marvelous! Old neighbors, homeschool friends and a church/family friend from my own childhood. Catching up on that much life is time consuming, but so worth it.

Our former neighbor picked me up one day to go to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum east of here. She packed a picnic lunch and we made a day of it. I adore anything plant related, especially if it blooms, so it fed my soul.

We caught up on our kids, neighborhoods and life. She and her husband are retired and they spend their time between 2 houses. One in the Phoenix valley, and the other in the mountains, from May 1 to October 1, (official golf season).

And they fed us the night before we left town, so marvelous!

Being in the West has fully confirmed that we are now adopted Midwesterners. The West doesn’t even tempt us a little bit! The cost of living is atrocious, especially when so much of the year is 100+ degrees. Winters are nice, but too short to justify the prices. And wow, does the sun shine a lot or what?!

Can you tell my roots have been replanted?

Complaining about housing prices in the West is a Midwest pastime. We’re spending spring in IL/WI to be near our youngest, catch up on doctor visits and see friends. Summer will be in MI, so we can explore for the future and visit our grandson.

Hopefully it feeds our roots for the year, cuz it’s anyone’s guess where we’ll go after that!

As we approach Easter Sunday, my thoughts are full of the incredible love of God for mankind. He didn’t have to do this. And while he sent his son, it really means that he came himself to redeem us.

Jesus = God, right?

I’ve always wrestled with the idea that Jesus was a human sacrifice, something God punished Israel for practicing. But when I acknowledge that it’s actually God sacrificing himself, it makes sense. Pagan gods would never sacrifice themselves. Their love of self and demands for total fealty, are in complete opposition to the self sacrifice, and choice that God offers to us.

And if that wasn’t enough, he even conquered death by coming back to life!

Blessed Easter Sunday to all