Finger Update

Good News!!! After 1 1/2 weeks on Vancomycin, Ron's finger is actually starting to look better. The swelling is down, although it's still red especially along the crease of the knuckle and he still can't bend it. But it definitely looks better! We are very happy and relieved. Although we're afraid to go off the antibiotic for fear it will come back.

Since he is supposed to rest, he has been doing puzzles. He has more patience than I do.


Especially with this one which was terrible - all dull browns and greens. And if you look closely, you'll see two pieces are missing. That's what we get for buying used puzzles.

And for those of you who I told that my thumb swelled up, it's all better. I don't know if it was anything I did to fix it, but I think I might have over-medicated in fear. All I could think was that I'm allergic to Vancomycin and if that's the last resort, I'm in trouble. Perhaps I overreacted a tad.

Quick Trip

First of all, for those of you wondering about Ron's finger, it's still red and swollen after 2 1/2 months. We are depressed. He is now on Vancomycin twice a day through a PICC (like an IV, but different. For the curious, click here.) The doctor swears this will take care of it, but since all the cultures and tissue samples came back negative, they still don't know what they're treating. I hook him up twice a day. He feels okay, but this enforced inactivity is killing him.

Meanwhile we took a weekend flight to Corpus Christi, Texas, for his nephew/godson's wedding on May 1. While there, we took a tour of the USS Lexington, the aircraft carrier turned museum. At 910 feet in length, a good picture was beyond my abilities (not helped by the angle of the sun.)


Here's Ron controlling one of the four 150,000 horsepower stream turbine engines.


And doing his Red Baron impression.

We followed a comprehensive tour of below decks where we saw everything from the machine shop to the surgery.

But since I toured the battleship USS Alabama in Mobile Bay, I felt like I was already familiar with those features. I wanted to get up on the flight deck and see all those cool planes with the folding wings. (Now, that's a scary thought.)


And what I REALLY wanted to see was the catapult that shot the planes off that deck (even scarier thought.) There were two originally on the ship, but, darn, they must have taken them out or filled them in. Well, I guess you can't have tourists falling into the catapult.

What we could see was the hook used to stop the plane when it landed (scariest thought!) I can't believe how brave the pilots are.


Here I am 'walking the plank' off the bow of the ship - it was really a long way down to the water. It was actually a 'bridle catcher' and was part of the catapult system.


Good advice!


Driving around the area, we were excited to see these roseate spoonbills. Once again, the picture was into the sun and I cropped it to within an inch of its life. I had never seen them in the wild.


On to the purpose of the trip - the wedding. Here are Ron and I all duded up in our finery. Yes, I am actually wearing a skirt for the first time in years!


Those of you who are not Ron's relatives might want to skip the rest. Here he is with his siblings - Mike, Mary Jo, and Jo Anne. They are just missing their oldest brother, Joel, who sadly passed away a couple years ago. Aren't they a good-looking group?


And two of Ron's three children - Jim and Kelli - with Kelli's guy Sean.


The food was delicious as well as pretty. Although I'm not a big steak lover, this was melt-in-your-mouth wonderful and the cheese garnish for the chicken - yum!


Here are eight of the twelve cousins - a nicer group you'll never meet. It seems that boys run in the family, although two of the four who are missing are girls.
We had a really good time and it was a nice break from sitting in Mesa, waiting to heal. Honestly, I don't know what retired people do who don't travel!

More Around Town

Beginning in our own front yard.

Last Sunday we trimmed the palm tree (well Ron trimmed and I picked up,) and we discovered that a dove had nested on one of the fronds. Ron snapped a good picture of the babies while he was up on the ladder. The one on the left is facing away and the right one has his head toward the camera.


Today, just four days later, they're alert and watching us as we move around on the ground. Although it's really windy today and maybe they're just holding on for dear life.


There's a very creative artist around the corner who painted his fence to match his landscaping. Although the oranges are off the tree, they're still depicted on the fence. In the lower left he also added some quail to his barrel cactus.


In another area, he continued the theme and even ran over onto the neighbor's fence with a roadrunner. (Well, you know you can't control those roadrunners.)


This barrel cactus has flowers that are more green than yellow. Interesting.


But my favorite cactus flower in the neighborhood was this one.


These magnificent blooms were on a tiny cactus. I don't know what kind it is, but I plan to ask the owners.


I wonder if this guy is an escaped pet.


I took the next two pictures in early April. This is the beginning of the new crop of lemons. (Since we acquired the trees, we found that the peak month for citrus is February and you better pick it all by the end of March when the new ones start.) All our citrus trees have a lot (LOT!!!) of new fruit and all are about 1/2 inch.


Except these three lemons which are about 2 inches. What's up with that?


For those of you who inquired about the saguaros (alright, just Diana,) they are now coming into bloom. I guess they really appreciated all the rain we had in January, because they are unusually prolific this year.


As you can see they are just packed with flower buds.


But the blooms are still out of reach so I'm re-posting my pictures from last year when I dragged the 7-foot ladder down the street . . .


And took this close-up of one of the blossoms.

Finger Update

After six weeks of messing around taking antibiotics with little effect, last Friday we took Ron's finger to a hand specialist. Although I think the doctor would have continued the 'wait and see' attitude, Ron pushed for action and the doctor scheduled him for surgery today.

Here's the poor digit now. We can only hope they got all the bad stuff out.

While in there, the doctor said he would take a culture to check for both bacteria (which came back negative last time) and fungus which was suggested by our WIN friend Karen who had seen similar symptoms during her nursing in ER. Antibiotics do not cure fungal infections, so we really pushed the doctor to check for that. I think I saw some eye rolling and Ron saw the nurse wink at the doctor. We don't care as long as they do it.

But look! He's still smiling.


And here is what I think are the villains in this story.

Shortly before the beginning of this tragic saga, Ron trimmed these rose bushes. Rose thorns are known to transmit fungus. Ironically, I don't like roses and had threatened to cut them down which is why Ron did the trimming this year. Next year they're going!

More Hikes

While waiting for Ron's finger to heal (more on that in the next post,) we had a couple more outings to see the desert in bloom.

One day we checked out McDowell Mountain Regional Park which is about 15 miles directly north of Mesa, but, because of a lack of bridges, it's about twice as far by road. Although the hiking trails would not be particularly interesting during most of the year, in the spring they turn into 'yellow brick roads.'


The majority of color was courtesy of the brittlebush which looks dead most of the year.


The creosote added to the profusion of yellow - such a happy color.


The wild heliotrope added some contrasting blue.


Most of the hike was along a ridge with nice 360 degree views.


Another day we went to Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park, luckily not one of the Arizona state parks that are scheduled to close. The park has a forest of giant Red Gum Eucalyptus trees.


This was labeled as an Arizona Hedgehog, although I was convinced it was a claret cup.


These yucca were looking fine.


And here's one of the reasons why Ron and I are sneezing - Sweet Acacia.


They have an interesting way to keep visitors on the path.


We were too early to see this century plant in bloom.


They do a good job showcasing the native plants.


Look how the spots on this guy help with his camouflage.


I don't think this is a native desert plant, but look how gorgeous this gazania is.

My Babies

I have this picture on my desktop and every time I open my computer it makes me smile. It was taken about 30 years ago by my father and the subjects are my darling daughters.

It's funny the things you remember. When I look at this picture I think about how Laura loved that brown dress and would have worn it every day if it had been clean. With her dark hair, I was always pushing her toward red, but he had her own opinion. On the other hand, Christy's criteria for the perfect dress was how well it twirled. Memories. . .

I can talk about them since they never read the blog. :-D

Around Town

First of all, I know all of you are asking, "What the heck are you doing still in Mesa when it's hitting 90 degrees?" Well, the answer is Ron's finger.

Over a month ago, his finger mysteriously swelled up and turned red . . .


With an area of pealing skin. Since then he's been to the doctor five times, been on two different antibiotics, had an MRI and a CT scan. The doctor is baffled. It looks even worse now, but I didn't want to gross anybody out. Things might be looking up, though, at least it's starting to ooze. (Oops, gross, sorry)


Anyway, I thought I'd take some pictures of the local area. First, here is my cactus garden - planted with tiny cacti which will probably take ten years to grow appreciably.


But a couple of those tiny little cacti are blooming! This one was labeled 'red-headed Irishman'. I call her Jonetta.


And look at the size of the blooms on this tiny inch-tall cactus.


The ocatillo are in full leaf and flower instead of looking like dead sticks.


I always thought the flowers were red, but these are orange and yellow.


The century plants in front of my friendly neighborhood Walmart picked this year to impress me with their bloom.
Speaking of Walmart - the other day I was bummed because somebody was in MY parking spot. Then I thought, "MY parking spot??? I've definitely been here too long!"

Also the palo verde trees that usually look like this . . .


Have been transformed into things of beauty.


But my favorite is this gorgeous tree . . .


Covered with orchid-like blooms. Amazing, huh?