A Lovely Week

DAYS TWENTY TO TWENTY-THREE This has been a fairly quiet week. I've done some work on projects: e.g., I downloaded the Bach Cantatas that the Chorale is singing in October in a memorial concert for Blanche Moyse, got them printed up, and am now rehearsing them with the help of an amazing website called CyberBass which plays the Cantata and highlights the bass choral line.

I've also put together a mailing to all the retired ministers back in Vermont who I keep in touch with in my role as Annuitant Visitor for the Pension Board of the United Church of Christ - just to let them know that I'm on this trip and how they can reach me.

Ellen and I have taken several short walks in the neighborhood, including several with Max up to a nearby horse arena where local folks board their horses. Max loves the mud puddles along the way and also likes feeding grass to the horses (well, that's a little scary for him - having a big horse eat out of his hand - but he's sort of fascinated by it too). As you can see, this is a wonderful spot in which to take a walk!

One day we visited the place where Jenny works. It is a ranch on the Salt River being developed as a mecca for fly fishermen. The couple building it live in California, and have hired Jenny to be their on-site manager, to oversee and coordinate the various aspects of the project. They have already built a large car barn; their house is almost completed; there is already a greenhouse, which has its own manager, and a fly-fishing shack (an old settlers' cabin that was moved and reconstructed on the site). A Day Lodge is in the works. There will eventually be a gourmet restaurant. The river is at flood stage right now, so there is no fishing. But later this summer, things could be hopping. That was an interesting excursion, and I'll post some pictures from there later.

Yesterday, we took a bit longer walk up the nearby McCoy Creek Road, where the wildflowers are beginning to be spectacular. The Balsamroot is at its peak, and Ellen counted c.30 other varieties on our walk: Western Valerian, Oregon Grape, Hoary Puccoon, Sticky Geranium, Serviceberry, Nutall's Violet, Prairie Smoke and Western Groundsel are some that come to mind. I got what I hope are some great close-ups with the Yashica, using the Macro setting on my 300mm zoom lens. I'll post them if they turn out well, but since it is film, it will be a while before I can get them developed.