Last night we turned off the A/C units and opened the windows to let the fresh air in. When I got up at 0630 to take Max for a walk it was very comfortable, even cool out. Nice. Now it’s almost 1000 and we’ve closed all the windows and ignited one A/C unit to fight the rising heat.

Sitting here at the table, sneezing and coughing, we wonder about the wisdom of opening the windows. Seemed like a logical thing to do because it wasn’t hot. But apparently there’s something in the air that disagrees with both of us. Or perhaps we just jumped the gun and need to get ourselves more acclimated to the dessert life.

I have to admit that not having green grass, or even brown grass, to walk on is different. As I showed you yesterday, all the grass has been replaced with rocks. Once in a while we’ll see what appears to be grass, but it turns out to be plastic turf. The upside of having a rocky yard is that Diane is not accosted with the smell of new mown grass, one of her worst allergies. Now it’s about dust, maybe, from us kicking rocks around. I’ll be walking softly from now on just in case that’s true.

This is how tall Max, and I were this morning on our walk …

That’s s perfect look for Max because when he encounters big dogs this is the persona he displays. Like he could beat them up badly.

While on the mountain yesterday, we came across this display of large metal discs displaying pretty much all the animals and fish Arizona has to offer. They were laser cut and each of the three pieces of art were comprised of two intersecting discs. I walked off the road through some questionable vegetation and stood in the afternoon heat to get these for you so hope you enjoy them.

The first disc has a Road Runner on the top left. Those guys run around in the RV park and Max would really like to be their friend, but he can’t catch them. They are pretty quick. Plus, he’s on a leash. But he tries. He also saw a jack rabbit the other day, the first one we’ve seen, and they are pretty fast, too. It’s interesting that I can’t find a rabbit on any of the displayed discs. Considering where we are, I can only assume that the rabbits are illegal aliens. If anyone can find a rabbit on the display, please let me know. They have really big ears.

I just this moment used my salt shotgun to remove a pesky fly from our midst. Diane didn’t want me to use it indoor because she said it would get salt all over the place. But, oddly enough, we haven’t seen many bugs at all.

Today we drove around the base looking for likely places to find projects for us to do. Since the base caters more to active duty folks there aren’t many choices for us. We did find the Arts & Crafts building but they didn’t have basket weaving. That’s what I asked about from the very British lady working there. The only do it yourself fun they had was picture framing. They have a class on that once in a while, but we missed that window. So, we went up the road to the Community Center where I talked with a young airman manning the desk. He was helpful but couldn’t find any basket weaving classes either. So, we just chatted a little bit. I sensed that he doesn’t normally get to talk with people much.

We also stopped by the Veterinary building where I talked with another nice lady with a British or Australian accent. I didn’t ask which one. We wanted to find out if they could clip Max’s nails. I’d do it but I’m pretty sure neither he nor I would like the outcome. So, we’ll go to a professional. We (Diane) just need to fill out a form and provide proof that he’s had all his shots. Diane planned ahead and packed all that info for reasons of this nature. Smart thinking, huh?

We found the base theatre, even though it’s without markings of any kind. They’re going to have a Free movie Friday evening, It’s “Ghost Busters Frozen Empire”; the new one. I am told they are even going to supply Popcorn for me.

Then it was time for lunch. We headed home and I cooked a bunch of eggs and made it look a little like an omelet with cheese, ham and onions in it. Diane doesn’t like anything but cheese in hers, so I only put it on my half.

After lunch we had semi-naps while watching FBI and NCIS.

Max is bored to a standstill with no yard to run in. He does chase his ball in the RV a little, but you can tell his heart isn’t in it. So, I try to make it up to him by taking him on long walks, letting him sniff things as long as he wants. That perks him up a little, even in the 100-degree heat.

Actually, the temp was only 70 or so this morning so it was very refreshing during that walk. This will last a few days then it’s going to heat up a little. The weather people also said that we may get some rain on Friday! They predicted we’ll get 0.1″ or so. How exciting! After seeing the ditches they have around here to control water runoff, I was kind of hoping for a gully washer. But, no, it’s just a tease.

Time for Max to take a walk so I’ll end this for today. He wanted to say something, but he just couldn’t get the words out.

Ya’ll stay safe, ya hear?!