Where have I been?

Where have I been? I can't believe that my last blog was on July 18th... Totally unacceptable behavior on my part and a thousand apologies to my readers and fans (both of them). When I last left you, I was sweltering in the Valley at an event called Mighty Mud Mania and seeking shade wherever it presented itself. As you can read, I survived and have been fairly busy keeping myself hydrated and air conditioned whenever possible. I tried to host Evening tennis on Monday the 20th but was denied by weather (can you believe it?). This is the "monsoon" season in Arizona... (read that as "blistering hot, humid and chance of thunderstorm at any minute"). The days are still a balmy 100-120 (mostly in the 114-115 range) and sunny but around 6:30 pm the clouds come out of nowhere and lightening and thunderstorms arrive. So there I was in Tempe waiting for the members to show when I received my first phone call... ("Is tennis still on?"). I walked outside and saw the clouds coming from the West right at me... The wind picked up to about 40 mph (which means a sandblasting in this state) and the trees started bending like Hurricane Andrew was bearing down. I quickly called the members on my list and canceled the event (with the help of Susie in the E&A office--she is a great help). I made a judgment call and it was a good one. By the time I was blown to my car (Auntie Em, it's a twister!) and made it about a mile from the venue, the lightening and rain started... (and a spectacular lightening event it was). So much for evening tennis...

The rest of the week followed suit... Beautiful day followed by evening wind and thunderstorms. But not the T-storms I was used to. Downpours that don't cool anything off, puddles that don't remain puddles for very long, and rain that blows through so fast that if you not looking you miss it. Thursday the 23rd was how badly can you overdo it day. Early morning golf, mid-afternoon workout in the gym and indoor volleyball for two hours at night... (I thought I would eventually outgrow this behavior--how great it is that I haven't!!). Sore muscles (even my fat was sore!) are the precursor to memories. I find that the more something hurts the greater the retention of the memory... (here's to me not killing myself to prove this theory).

Friday began my exodus to the land of less heat... i.e. California. Sister Sheryl had to go there for work the following week and Cousin Beck (who lives there and had arranged her schedule to accommodate--thanks Beck!) were planning to meet so Southwest Airlines carried my carcass (an hour plane ride--what a great thing) to LAX where I met Sister Sheryl and we trekked to Cousin Beck's place. We had a great visit catching up and playing with Grace, Beck's daughter... We took a water taxi ride in Marina del Rey and ate dinner in Malibu where Mel Gibson was before his infamous arrest and tirade about the Jewish faith... We also went to Pinks a famous hotdog stand in LA (est. 1939) and waited 45 minutes on line for hotdogs. They were worth the wait. Beck let us invade her home until Sunday (I am NOT tired!) and then we moved further up the coast to Valencia where Sister had to be for work... Monday we drove around (had great sushi for lunch), discovered a great lake in the middle of nowhere (Lake Piru) and then went to Manhattan Beach and walked in the Pacific Ocean... (not bad--two Oceans in less than a month). She then dropped me at LAX and I flew home to the Valley (it was still over 100 at 9:30 pm when I landed). The weather was gorgeous in California...(80's during the day and 60's at night).

So here I am back in Arizona and trying to resume routine living (what the heck is that and why would I want to do it?) The hell with routine. Bring on the unexpected and spontaneous... Many thanks to Sister Sheryl for suggesting the trip and hanging with her bro. Many thanks to Cousin Beck for opening her home and letting us come for a visit... (it was way overdo and it was great to see her and Grace). Hope your feeling better, Beck... (keep using that inhaler--great call Sis). I am working this weekend and have another event coming up, but I have rambled enough and that stuff will be handled in future blogs... Hope everyone out there in blogdom is doing okay. Type at you later.