Walking on my tippy toes

This post isn't as exciting as our last one. Thank goodness.

Since I (Bev) have been back in Tucson, Jim and I have made a return trip to Barrio Brewing because Jim loves their fish tacos (not to mention their beer), visited Dragoon Brewing, attended an eat-street-tacos-and-meet-the-new-RV-park-manager event here at the Davis Monthan Fam Camp, and made a trip to Tucson's Fourth Avenue area. Fourth Avenue is Tucson's hipster place with funky shops, restaurants, bars, thrift stores, a food co-op, tattoo parlors, and lots of folks on skateboards. It's one national chain is Dairy Queen; the day we visited was DQ's anniversary and we each got one of the free ice cream cones they gave out.

We've also kept up our gym routine. Which we need after tacos, beer and ice cream. Monday I did a leg exercise I hadn't done for a long time and didn't think much about it. Afterwards we walked up and down Fourth Avenue. Yesterday I went to a mall and walked a lot but nothing out of the ordinary.  

Not long after getting back from the mall both my calves suddenly cramped up.The only way I could walk was on my tip toes. Today I can slowly and gingerly walk on my toes or wearing shoes with a heel. Note to self: When at the gym, go easy on the calf raises.

Below are some family shots I took while in Ohio, plus one taken in Tucson. They have absolutely nothing to do with what I just wrote -- I just wanted to include them because someday I am going to print out our blog and want to include these photo memories .

My brother Bob, Mom and me.  Bob and I both have degrees from Ohio State. Our younger brother, Don, went to the University of Colorado and says the letters on our hats could stand for Totally Hedonistic and Egotistical. That's funny, but Bob and I disagree.

My son Paul with his Grandma (my Mom).  Paul lives in Lakewood, Ohio, and plans to move to California soon. Love you, Paulie and Mom. 

Paul, Mom and me.

Not technically family, but pretty darn close:  My high school friend, Sally.

Meanwhile, back in Tucson:  The morning after I got back from Ohio, my cousin's daughter, Chris, and her family stopped to visit us at Davis Monthan.  They are currently in El Paso, where Chris's Army husband, Jimmy, is attending training at Fort Bliss.  Chris, Jimmy and their boys were driving through Tucson on their way back from a Grand Canyon camping trip. Tent camping. In the snow.  These guys are hardy.  From left to right:  Chris, sons Zak, Jake and Austin, and Jimmy. 

May contain inappropriate language

Wednesday I flew from Ohio (where I was visiting my Mom) back to to Tucson (where Jim had stayed with Cooper and the rig). On the Chicago to Tucson leg of my flight, I had a window seat. There was an empty seat between me and the elderly, dignified-looking gentleman in the aisle seat. As the plane was backing up on the tarmac, a flight attendant brought over a woman who'd gotten on late and couldn’t find a spot at the back of the full plane.

Middle Seat Woman and Elderly Gentleman had trouble deciding whose seat belt was whose. During the seatbelt-detangling process, Middle Seat noticed a pronounced bump on Elderly Gentleman's finger. She asked him what it was. “It’s caused by my arthritis,” he said. “Can I touch it?’ she asked.  

I knew then I was in trouble.

During the course of the flight, Middle Seat asked about my kids, my marriage, my job. She offered me an unwrapped sour patch candy from the bottom of her purse, and asked me to touch the “lucky rock” she also pulled from her purse. The topper was when she told me I had “great t*ts.” No lie. On the positive side, she didn’t ask to touch them.  

I called Mom to tell her I’d arrived in Tucson safe and sound and also told her about my conversation with Middle Seat.  Right away she asked “What were you wearing?” Geez, Mom. Blame the victim. (I’m kidding, Mom. About blaming the victim, not about what I told you. But I had on my gray and purple long-sleeved, high-necked T-shirt.) 

If Jim had been sitting next to Middle Seat, he would have broken the window and climbed out on the wing. Or he might have gone with it and told her he was a secret agent. I just felt bad because it’s got to be tough being her.  

But it was a long flight.

We're having a heat wave

It seemed like Ohio was never going to warm up.  But it appears to be happening. 

Last week this was the view out my Mom's south facing window: Ice courtesy of Mother Nature plus crystal prisms courtesy of me and my niece Brooke.   That's a tree waiting for spring in the background.  

Until Sunday, the only bird we saw in Mom's yard was the mourning dove pictured in a previous post -- plus a big red hawk that eyed the mourning dove on occasion. When temps started to rise a bit, all sorts of birds appeared including this cardinal.

Monday I decided to visit one of Jim's and my favorite walking paths in Wellington: The Wellington Reservation, a 550 acre park not far from my Mom's.  It took me two hours to do two miles as I was snowshoeing in my sneakers. 

Today it's rainy, foggy and in the 40s. Ohioans are seeing bits of bare earth for the first time in what must seem like forever.

Biggest micro moon ever

I visited a friend this afternoon and came back to my Mom's about dusk.  As I walked into Mom's sun room with its big east facing windows, I noticed a flash of red low in the sky. It was a huge, orangey-red full moon.

As I write, the moon is higher in the sky and silver. I read here that tonight's full moon is the smallest one of the year, but it looked enormous as it rose over my Mom's woods at the eastern edge of her Ohio farm.

Tonight's full moon is the called a micro moon or mini moon because it's 30,000 miles farther from Earth than the closest full moon of the year.  But it looked plenty big when it first rose above the trees in my Mom's wood. 

Local Forecast: "Sunny and Frigid"

A couple of days ago in Tucson a woman told me it was "freezing cold" outside.  It was in the 50s and a little drizzly.  If she thought it was cold in Tucson, she should be where I am as I write: northeastern Ohio, where the weather forecast the day after I arrived was "sunny and frigid."  Most of the time I've been here the weather has been similar but without the "sunny." Today's forecast is for probably the warmest day of the year so far, but includes "periods of freezing rain." The weather gods have not been kind to this part of the country in 2015, and it's worse elsewhere.

Despite the cold and snow -- which is getting a little old for most of those who actually live here -- I've had a great time. I'm visiting my Mom, spent a weekend with my brother and sister-in-law, and was able to get my son to his Grandma's as well.

Jim is with the rig at Tucson's Davis Monthan Air Force Base, and I'll be in Ohio  another week.

A mourning dove has been hanging out in Mom's lilac bush and bird feeder.  I tried to melt the water in the bird bath, but with these temps I have not been too successful.

The first night I was with my brother Bob and SIL Suzie, they took me out to dinner at a Brecksville, Ohio, wine bar called "750 ml" -- the measurement of a standard bottle of wine. Very nice.

One of my brother and SIL's six black poodles looking for a shortcut into the house.  

SIL Suzie, son Paul (who lives in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood) and my brother Bob in downtown Cleveland where we did a little sight-seeing and grocery shopping.

Part of the Cleveland skyline on a day that was frigid but not sunny.  Actually, it didn't feel that bad.  The skyscraper on the right is the 708-foot-high Terminal Tower, the fourth-tallest building in the world when it was dedicated in 1930. It originally was an office building atop a new railroad station.  Now it's atop a casino, shopping mall, and hotel.

Five opulent theaters opened in 1921 and 1922 in downtown Cleveland; by the late 1960s four had shut their doors.  They've since been restored and a couple of new ones added to what is known as "Playhouse Square."

This 20-foot long chandelier hangs over the street at the corner of 14th Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland's Playhouse Square.

Rotunda gracing a newly opened (just last week) Heinen's grocery store in downtown Cleveland. The upscale supermarket is in the beautifully renovated Cleveland Trust Bank building.

Suzie, Paul and Bob at Heinen's "Sip, Swirl, Savor" wine tasting station.  You buy a smart card, slide it like a credit card, select the wine you want and the amount, place an actual wine glass (no plastic cups here) under a spout, and voila!

After staying two nights with Bob and Suzie, Paul and I drove to my Mom's via the town of Medina, where nearly 100 ice sculptures -- including this doggie -- grace the town square. They were carved in mid-January.