Coffee heat rising

Aging in place

Parboiled in Phoenix…

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Ruby and her human are just back from the neighborhood park. HOT, stuffy, stagnant morning over there…ugh!  Hardly a jolly frolic.

Oh, well. At least we got a little exercise. Ruby is flopped under the master bathroom toilet: in Canine Estimation, the coolest spot in the house. The Human is parked in front of a fan, swilling iced coffee.

In the Olden Days, when Whitey-Whites first lived in these environs, people would leave town for the summer. They’d go up on the “Rim,” as the high country is called, and pass the hot months there.

Yea verily: we used to own a ranch up there. We co-owners would betake ourselves to that place whenever we could.

Sure do wish we still had it!

😀

But oh!  The little kids in the park are so delightful, frolicking around in the dawn heat! Ruby and I loafed and watched the urchins burn off the parents’ calories. Eventually it got too warm to linger, and so we ambled back to the Funny Farm.

And here we sit, continuing the loafing chore.

Thank goodness we found Pool Dude!  Otherwise, I’d be out there in the backyard with the brush and the vacuum right now, cleaning the Hole in the Ground into Which to Pour Money. And lemme tellya: loafing, that is NOT. 

{chortle!} I do love the pool, though. Really, I ought to be out there right now paddling around in the drink. But oh, my…it really IS fricaseeing hot outside. Having come back from the park nicely parboiled, I can’t move myself to go back outdoors, even if it entails cooling off in the luxurious pool.

Phoenix, Arizona: Garden spot…

Report from the Hubs of Hades…

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EGAD, but it’s hot outside. 

Actually, it only seems so: Wunderground tells us the current temp is a balmy 95 degrees.

Brrrr!  Break out the jacket!

Actually, 95 isn’t all that hot for Arizona. I think it’s a little sticky out there, though: but…but…no!!!!  Only 4% chance of rain; Wunderground claims we have 6% humidity.

Right, guys. R-i-i-g-h-t…

Left Ruby home while I took a short hike around the ‘Hood, not wanting to fricasee the little pooch. Being only around 6 or 8 inches tall, her furry body would be one helluva lot closer to the frying pavement than my tall, thin, and unfurry one.

Came across a neighbor beating himself to exhaustion: Here in the middle of the afternoon, the guy had DUG UP HIS LAWN to pull out part of the irrigation system, which he was trying to repair. Lordie!!!  Beat me some more!!! 

All of which goes to show that some people are even crazier than I am.

Looked around the neighborhood just south of ours, wondering….would I like to move over there?

  • The houses are bigger, fancier, nicer.
  • It’s a slightly more upscale slab of the neighborhood.
  • Closer to the park: much to Ruby’s advantage.
  • Further from the ever-threatening Sunnyslope slum…

But…but…seriously?  What AM I smoking???

  • Yep: the houses are bigger, fancier…and commensurately more expensive to air-condition.
  • The lots are irrigated, meaning someone has to be paid to come around and mow the grass every week or two. (Mine is gravel: virtually maintenance-free.)
  • Close to the park means close to the traffic, close to crowds, close to noise.
  • Further from the slums means…nothing. Two or three blocks a difference in the crime rate does not make.
  • Rich people make me kuh-RAZY. No, I do not want to move into a more affluent slab of the ‘Hood.

Ahem! Okay, so much for THAT idea. 😀

Movin’ on…

Good Dog(gy-less) Walk

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In full Nut Case mode, the Human charged out into the afternoon heat, determined to exercise the spavined hip with a nice walk around the neighborhood.

😀
Not to say
:-0

Quite possibly not the critter’s smartest move. 

Amazingly, I failed to cripple myself. But did just about bake myself!

Yea, verily: it’s hotter than the Hubs out there. Not hot enough to beat back a brainless human, though…

Traipsed around the blocks to the north of my parts, where SDXB and I used to hike almost every day when we lived in another part of the neighborhood. Looks about the same. I kinda miss it….

Walked by the beloved Ole Guy’s house. What a nice man he was! SDXB and I became pretty good friends with him, until he had to move out. His wife, who also fell into the “old” category, had reached the point where she needed to go into assisted living.

She resisted with all her strength. Finally, to get her into the old-folkerie, he moved in there with her. So he had to sell their home, and away they went!

Much, much missed, we might add.

House looks about the same…still decently cared for, thank goodness.

It’s such a nice neighborhood! Gosh, I hope I can manage to stay here until I die!

O’course, we all know that ain’t a-gunna happen. But it’s something to work toward, eh?

Too, too hot for Ruby the Corgi out there in the afternoon heat. So the Human stumbled around alone out there, eventually smartening up enough to realize it’s too hot for humans, too. 😀  Ohhhh well.

Survived. Staggered back to the Funny Farm. Fed the dawg. Collapsed in an overstuffed chair.

Honestly, it’s not all that hot out there (for an Arizonan, anyway). But it is unusually humid. Icky, even. No clouds. Just sticky air.

Dawg is now overstuffed with food. Human waits for the chow to move through her little gut, so she can be let outside to do her Thing. And then…what?

More loafing, presumably….

Fuzzy Gray Day…

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High, flat, smooth-looking clouds coat the morning sky. The sun tries to blast its way through the grey blanket, with only half-way luck. Doesn’t look like it’s gonna rain…but…what the heck, this IS what we have the Internet for, right? Look it up on Wunderground…

hmmm….   80 degrees just now; 97 forecast. (WHAT are they smoking? It’s damp, cloudy, warm, and soggy out here on the back porch. And solidly socked-in overcast. Ninety-seven degrees will turn this place into a bathtub!) Looks like temps will hover in the 90s and then the low 80s for the next couple days. Ugh….less than perfectly balmy.

A dove in the palm tree off the back porch holds forth monotonously:  cuCOO cucooo…cuCOO cucooo…cuCOO cucooo…  Aren’t you glad you’re not a bird?

Yeah, it would be grand to be able to soar through the air on feathery wings. But all the rest of it?  Dodging cats and dogs, baking in the sun, soaking in the rain, chowing down on random seeds….naaaahhhhh!  Not so great.

The dawg has gone back to bed. Feeling a little under the (heh!!) weather, I may follow her.

Contemplating…do I want to follow SDXB out to Sun City, after all?

Except for the blasting jets from Luke Air Force Base, it’s probably quieter and safer out there: fewer criminals, less ambulance noise, far less traffic…

But…but…GAWD, I hated living out there with my parents!

Now, obviously this time I would be free of the parental reins.

Back on the other hand, though:  ugh.

  • The noise from that air base(!!)
  • The staggeringly incompetent medical care (with any luck, that has improved…I hope!)
  • The mile on mile on mile of ticky-tacky look-alike cinderblock houses
  • The hatred of anyone who doesn’t look like you…especially if their skin is darker than yours
  • The paucity of decent grocery stores to shop in
  • The endless drive to see your family in Phoenix — or for them to get to you
  • The ease of break-ins: a tabby cat could burglarize your home, with no problem

One could go on and on…every which way you look, some drawback lurks. A big one, IMHO, is the relatively low sale value of the houses. When I finally croak over, my son will be able to sell my house here in middle-class North Phoenix and retire to Tahiti on the proceeds. If he inherited a Sun City house, the selling price would barely buy him a submarine sandwich.

This house, on the other hand, because of its central location AND because the city ran that crazy light-rail up our western border, makes it possible — easily possible — to live comfortably without a car. We have three major supermarkets within walking distance, plus two computer stores, a hair stylist’s, a veterinary hospital, a major drugstore/pharmacy, two huge regional hospitals staffed by highly trained and experienced medicos…on and on and on. Because of that central location and because of the neighborhood’s overall quality, if and when M’hijto inherits this house, he’s going to be set.

He either can move in and loaf his way through life the way I’m doing, or sell this place for damn near enough to retire on. Maybe, by then, for altogether enough to retire!

😀

Wouldn’t that be neat? What a great inheritance to leave for him!

Whew! Hotter than the Hubs!

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Well…no. Maybe not. It’s probably NOT hotter than the hubs of Hades out on the lovely streets of north Phoenix. No…it’s just hot and humid. Light overcast, 93 degrees, 0% chance of rain, 14% humidity….whatEVER! It surely feels hotter than the hubs, to say nothing of sticky-damp.

Not your standard Arizona springtime afternoon, that’s for sure.

Ruby and I strolled into Upper Richistan: the tony, fancy part of the ‘Hood. Ohhh, how we miss “The Ole Guy,” as SDXB used to call him. What a nice man he was!

The Ole Guy and his wife were deep into retirement, living in a handsome upscale home. Every day when SDXB and I would pass his house during our morning stroll, he would be out in front fiddling with something: whittling a piece of wood or repairing a gadget or whatever. We would say hello — sometimes chat a bit — and consider that encounter one of the high points of our daily stroll.

He’s gone now, presumably “late” or else hauled off to an old-folkery. And much missed.

The two of them lived in the more upscale section of the ‘Hood: custom or semi-custom houses, as opposed to our tract shacks. If that house were to come on the market, I’d surely want to look at it…maybe even consider buying it. But…what the hey! I surely couldn’t afford it. So on my part, that would be nothing more than an exercise in curiosity.

Meanwhile, the corner of the ‘Hood just to the south of my neighborhood is undergoing some mad gentrification. Good grief! New roofs, new plastering, new paint jobs, on and on. Dunno why a bunch of residents decided all at once to fancify the place…but if they put any of those houses on the market, you can be sure that antic will jack up our property values (and our taxes) some more.

{chortle!} I do feel exceptionally lucky to have stumbled across this corner of North Central Phoenix, guided here by a savvy Realtor. If I can hang onto this house until I croak over, my son will inherit a very nice asset, one worth more than most houses in this part of the Valley. If my son feels like moving — and likes taking on the care of a swimming pool(!) — he’ll be able to come right on in to this place. If not, though, he can either sell it for more than enough to pay off his own mortgage, or rent it for enough to let him retire!

Either way, it’ll be a nice gift to leave to him. 

Circumnavigating…

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Yea verily: another dog-and-human circumnavigation of our lovely North Central Phoenix ‘hood. This morning no sh!thead was holding forth in the park — too early for him, presumably. Whatever: it was a relief to walk around without having obscenities shouted at me.

A new (presumably) owner is re-renovating the handsome, classic home on the corner of the park and Main Drag Central. That place is gonna be worth about a zillion dollars by the time they get through with it.

Seriously: property values here in the ‘Hood are headed for the stratosphere. By the time M’hijito inherits this house (as I sincerely hope he will), he’ll be able to retire to Tahiti on whatever he can sell it for.

Meanwhile, directly behind that fancfiying house, the lovely green park stretches out in three directions — constrained by the presence of Main Drag Central. I personally wouldn’t want to be that close to MDC…or, for that matter, to a wide-open park that beckons to every pot-headed bum who staggers past. But still: get a little deeper into the neighborhood around it, and it’s pretty fine.

If I manage to stay out of an old-folkerie (big IF!), my son will inherit my house and its ever-inflating value. That will give him a juicy choice: he can either move in here and enjoy its classy construction, its lovely pool, and its outrageously central location; or he can sell it and move…just about anyplace he pleases.

Tahiti presumably would not be his first choice. His dad came from Grand Junction, Colorado, a mining town on the Western Slope which, over the years, has evolved into the largest town in Western Colorado. He has remarked that he’d like to move there…so I can imagine him making his escape to those climes, after his dad and I pass on to our furry fathers.

That, unfortunately for him, is likely to be quite a while. Longevity is a Thing in my family: women who didn’t smoke have lived into their mid-90s…and because they were Christian Scientists, they never saw a doctor or had an immunization, either. I do go to doctors and do take flu shots and tetanus shots and the like, so as long as I manage to stay off the local roads, chances are I’ll live nigh unto 100 years old.

He’s doing OK for himself, though…as a practical matter, he could sell his house and get himself into Grand Junction without undue suffering.

Hmmm… What would I do, if I were him and I inherited a pile of dough at just about the time I was ready to retire with a decent pension & Social Security?

Hmmmm…indeed! Y’know…probably not much. I’ve seen the world, having grown up in the Middle East and traveled all over those environs, Europe, and the United States. Absolutely ZERO interest in any further junketing.

Chances are, I’d simply stay right where I am, invest the money, and let it support me comfortably for the rest of my life. I might even get a job just to keep myself amused. Of course, adjunct teaching jobs are all over the place. A journalistic job would be more fun and more interesting — and a lot less work of the unpaid variety. Whatever…I figure money is for loafing.