Candace sent out a few cards last week. I don't know what got into her. This may be the first year she ever did this in all of our married years (coming up on the mid 20's fast). If you did not get one .. well... please read this to get up to date with us if you are not too upset about the card you didn't get (or the one you DID get). If you feel like writing her to complain you'll find her email address at the bottom of this note. I'll try to keep it short and let a few pictures do most of the talking. There are a few links throughout this little newsletter. Just click the yellow text for fascinating web diversions (no porn sites, it's a Christmas newsletter!) ... use your browser's back button to come back here if you don't just go off on a tangent as I am prone to do.
We've had a fun year in our new house. We passed the one year mark just after Thanksgiving. So far it has not fallen down. We do have one unwelcome guest rummaging around in the space between the lower level ceiling and the upper level floor, and in various wall cavities here and there in the lower level. What it is, how it got in, and what it is eating on is a mystery. (We are hoping it is an "it" and not a "they".) We called the exterminator for help but Christmas must be their busy time (getting Santas out of chimneys and such), as we've not heard back from them yet. Oh yeah, I was bitten by a scorpion at 4 in the morning (in bed) in February. Our builder said he leaves at least one in each home he builds as a house-warming gift.
From time to time we also have a family of javelina (they're peccaries, not pigs!) that meanders up the driveway, stops about half-way up, and takes a giant collective you-know-what in the middle of the driveway. After making their deposit they continue on their merry way back into the desert to the east. I'm theOrdinary Average Guythat Joe Walsh sings about. In this photo they are headed down the driveway for the flower beds where they pluck the prettiest flowers as appetizers. Now that they've eaten them all they won't bother to check that area until we replant.
Other than the javelina and birds, that we attract by the hundreds
due to our feeders, we don'tsee a lot of wild life up here,
(except inside or on the patio when we have friends over). We see
a few snakes, lizards, scorpions, centipedes, and very
infrequently an owl or two "who-whoing" in the middle of the
night. A few weeks ago we were returning from a round of golf and
our cart was struggling up the hill. As we came around a sharp
switch-back turn we saw a big fat skunk running up the road. It was
dark and he was running right up the middle of the road, square in
front of the headlights on the cart. We continued on behind him
for some distance (probably 100 yards or so) until he finally got
smart and ran over to the side of the road and into the bushes
instead of straight up the middle. I'm sure as soon as he stopped
running he dropped over dead from a heart attack.
A hummingbird feeder just
outside Mike's office is constantly
busy but thus far myphotos of them have been less than
spectacular. I'm still working on them.
When we lived nearer to the golf course while this place was being builtbobcats paid regular visits to our patio and we miss seeing them a lot. I did see a ring-tail cat on our patio one evening sniffing about the BBQ shortly after we moved in. We have a bunch of doves that lineup on the side of the spa and watch the sunset. So far I have not been able to get in a position to take aphoto of them without frightening them all off, but it's something you have to see to believe. Sometimes there are 15-20 of them lined up side-by-side, all looking west watching the sun go down. They seem to enjoy it as much as we do.
Throughout the year we've heard a bit of good music at various local concerts, including Keb Mo, Leon Russell,Dr. John, Charlie Musslewhite, and Leo Kottke. We also saw the traveling musicals Mama Mia and the Producers which were both wonderful. Candace does most of the movies with a few ladies she plays golf with. We both saw and enjoyed F-9/11. We know you think we are commies for saying good things about it. (We both voted for Kerry but have no intention of moving to Canada, so you're stuck with us. Next time! A friend got an invitation o the inaugural and won't be able to attend, so he sent to me but I had already received one.) We also loved Sideways, mostly due to the wine-oriented theme. After seeing itwe promptly made tracks to the nearest restaurant and had dinner and a bottle of Pinot.
If you somehow missed it, Candace had her share of medical calamities this year. First she had a detached retina. This laid her up for a month or more in early spring. On the day she finally recovered from that she broke her leg in a sand-trap playing golf. The medical staff at the hospital really enjoyed that story. They didn't think it was possible. Her doctor wanted to publish the story in the New England Journal of Medicine but the space was instead wasted on yet another story about a cure for cancer. But thanks to the internet you can still read the entire story. She's now trying to arrange forcataract surgerysometime after the first of the year. In other medical news, this has been ayear of expensive dental work for both of us and next year looks to be more of the same.
We did a small bit of traveling before and after Candace's medical
misfortunes. We visited her sisterin Naples, Florida, in March.
Candace's father passed away in September and we made a very short
notice trip to Pittsburgh for the funeral. Next week all the Neff
girls and the one Neff son will be gathering together again with
their respective spouses for Christmas in Naples, Florida, where
one of Candace's sisters has a house big enough for us all. We
visited Sedona, Flagstaff, and the Grand Canyon for the first time
and had a wonderful time seeing these truly amazing areas.
Mike
had a chance to visit the Bryce Canyon area in the spring
while on business. We made a quick trip to San Diego and LA in
early August. Candace flew in for a short visit to Seattle while
Mike was in the area on business in late August. While in Seattle
we fired our realtor and hired yet another. A month or so later we
finally had an offer for thehouse and it closed in November after
being on the market for over three years. What a relief to have
that over with.
As noted a few paragraphs ago this was our first year in the new house. As a result of our tales of three years of construction many friends were tempted to get out of the cold weather they normally call home and visit Tucson. Our neighbors who've been through this experience tell us the 'plague of visitors syndrome' will subside in future years, but,even for those of you Candace didn't send a real card to, our doors are open, including ALL of you who mooched off of us this year.
From the 18th fairway on Ventana Canyon golf course
Closer in
Taken early in the year
before the landscaping filled
in
Both prior to and following Candace's catastrophes, which kept me home for most of the summer, I did a good deal of traveling on business to the four corners of the country..unfortunately not enough on any single airline to make elite status on any airline for the coming year so next year it's the back of the bus for me! But the upside was that I was home to learn how to cook (a little) and enjoyed a great summer of heat and fantastic thunderstorms.
As I had a bit of time on my hands during the summer I
proceeded to waste it creating a web site devoted to the
airplane I flew in the Air Force, the C-141. This old
airlifter first flew on December 17th, 41 years ago.Not
coincidentally, that's the same date as the anniversary of the
Wright Brother's first flight. The C-141's, having been
replaced by the C-17, are now being scrapped at the
Davis-Monthan AFB "Boneyard", which I pass every time I go to
or from the airport here in Tucson.
In my younger
days I never understood it when old geezers who flew various
aircraft in WWII and Korea bemoaned the destruction of their
aircraft. But now I'm an old geezer myself and when my old
plane started showing up here in large quantities over the past
few years I came to appreciate their feelings. The web site
has been a big hit with those who flew, maintained, and built
the C-141, and even some who just like airplanes. You can see
it at
www.c141heaven.info.
With my eBay addiction still in full force I found a guy here
in Tucson who manages to get parts off the planes being before
they feed them through the grinder on the wayto becoming Coke
cans. I've gotten hold of a pilot's control column and yoke
(steering wheel for you non-pilots) which is destined to
become a desk lamp, and a couple of control panels from the
cockpit which are going to become end tables.
Having been unsuccessful in prior attempts to do any decent lightning photography, I finally had a brilliant idea: GOOGLE. Is there anything you need to find that you can't find on GOOGLE? Sure enough, I learned what I needed to know and took a few nice shots this summer, all from from our outside dining area porch.
Over Tucson
Looking West
Up the Driveway
We feel the sunsets here are the prettiest we've ever seen and this summer and fall was full of them.
We still have three cats. They keep us laughing and warm in bed.
Henry, Mrs. Peal (aka FEED ME!), and Lucy.
That's 2004 in Tucson. If you want to complain to Candace about not sending you a card, please contact her at this address: candace.neff@gmail.com. If you want to send a check, return the towels you stole while staying here, or send us a mail-bomb or letter full of anthrax check here for full contact info. Please note our mailing addressis NOT where we live as we can't get the post office to deliver here yet (after all, it's only been a year .. they move slowly at the Post Office).
In spite of all the stories about Candace's medical
experiences this year, in the grand scheme they were minor and
we are both still blessed with reasonably good health (for old
farts) and grateful to live in this beautiful place in
this wonderful country. "Life's been good to us so far" and
"The future's so bright we gotta wear shades" is our theme
music for 2005.
We wish you all a happy and safe
Christmas and a great new year.
Mike and Candace