Our Abba Father

The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. If they fall it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with His hand. Psalm 37: 23-24

After a long winter and late spring . . .

For at least four of us, the real reason that we take this annual pilgrimage is not about baseball. We did however see three baseball games and we cheered for our respective Chicago teams and sang loudly during the seventh inning stretch.

Following the game, we were hungry, having passed up the ballpark food in anticipation of steak and salad at a place we read about on the internet: Reatta Pass Steakhouse. Unfortunately hard times have hit the restaurant and so they no longer serve steak or salad. We found the menu to be much like a children’s menu—hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, and chili and no salads or fruits. The wait staff was friendly and happy for our business.

Right next to the restaurant was a path leading to an apparently deserted area called Greasewood Flats. We were amazed as we went down the dirt road and around a corner to begin seeing cars—lots of cars and bikes.

We were delighted with our find. Hundreds of people, mostly bikers were hanging out. . .

There was good music, fire pits and we had an opportunity to work off some of our fried dinner. It was great fun—an unusual cultural experience.

We took in a different kind of culture the next morning at the beautiful Scottsdale Art Festival before attending our second baseball game.

Aawww. what can I say . . . I married a good man.

I laughed at the eateries and their creative names. "Short Leash, A hot dog eatery . . . Keep your hunger on a leash.”

And this one—but we were waiting for some yummy food later in the day.

The ribs at the Saddle Ranch Chop House were worth the wait. They more than met all of our hopes and expectations. The desserts looked phenomenal, too, but we did not have room.

We might have had room if we had been brave enough to ride the bull. We were entertained as we watched rider after rider lose their seat.

Sunday before our ballgame, we attended church at Desert Springs Community Church in Goodyear with old friends—well not old friends—just good friends that previously lived in Illinois and attended church with us many years ago. That was a very special treat for all of us! George and Cheri introduced us to Mimi's Café. Since it was our first visit, each couple was given four beautiful, large, delicious muffins to take with us.

On Monday, we coerced our men into taking us on a hot air balloon ride.

For most of us the anticipation of the ride and doing the ride together as a group and the beauty of all of the balloons made it a special outing.

I thought that the ride would be thrilling and perhaps scary but I am glad that it was not. If you decide to do this, wait until the desert is in bloom as that would be beautiful to see. It was peaceful and pleasant.

And now we are back home. . .

I am so glad that these are not just fair weather friends.

Who makes those up?

My first hubby and I liked to watch Electric Company—before we had kids. We loved Fargo North Decoder, etc.

I think of that show every time I comment on a blog. When I submit, there is usually a word verification. I am not sure how or why those work because the password is right there for you in squiggly letters. The word is not a real word but is almost-a-word.

Bringing me back to The Electric Company from lots of years ago, and this song:

You can make up a word
Just make it up out of your head
And you can decide what you want it to mean
And how, and how it is said.

You can make up a word.
Your own private personal word.
And then all you do id just say it aloud
And your word will be heard.

When you make up a word
And tell what the word’s supposed to do.
Then suddenly there’s a new word in the world
And it came out of you.

I am pretty sure there are some more verses but you have the idea.

So, yesterday, I commented on some blogs and wrote down my word verification words. Yes, these words are exactly as copied but the meanings are just a guess.

waxingie: Something menopausal women do to their chins

fervies: disgusting little brown rodents

vityllyte: Some kind of healthy diet drink

hussere: Oh dear, something not very good comes to mind

wombi: adjective, meaning dizzy, wobbly, sleepy. Ex: In the morning I take a wombi walk out to the coffeepot

aptol: This is one of those southern expressions, a contraction of sorts, meaning something just right. That’s an aptol good looking hat. (Translated: That’s a right, you all, good looking hat.)

misorin: When you ought to give more but you just don’t feel like it, you are misorin.

So who does that? Who makes up the word verification almost-a-word? Don't tell me they are random because they all have vowels and consonants in normal patterns.

I was just wondering?

Facets of Beekeeping

Chuck Lorence has been promoting, educating, encouraging and protecting bees and their keepers for many years. He is creative, experimental and entrepreneurial. He has a long history of serving on boards, presiding over beekeeping clubs, and advancing the causes of beekeepers by his involvement in organizations, the state fair and politics. He is, in my opinion and I am pretty sure that I am in good company, The Master Beekeeper of Cook DuPage Counties in Illinois. In addition, he is frugal, approachable, entertaining and wise.

Chuck says that he and his wife were hippies in the 1970’s. Not the pot smoking kind of hippies but the natural food, gardener, live-off-the-land kind of hippies. He says, “You know, hippies brought us organic farming. They were the pioneers in that field.”

In 1971, Chuck read an article about beekeeping in a copy of Mother Earth News while waiting for a dentist appointment. It reminded him that his father used to keep bees when he was around the age of eight in Racine, WI.

He told a humorous story of how his father used to pull honey. With the bees swarming his father like a cloud, Chuck and his siblings and his mom watched from the safety of the screen door. He recalls his mother saying, “Do not laugh at your father.”

After reading the article on beekeeping, and seeing what it could do for the environment and our food supply, he went to the Wisconsin farm where he was raised and got his father’s old beekeeping equipment. He burned all that was beyond repair, and scraped, sanded and painted the rest and got his beekeeping start with two hives. He has been keeping bees ever since. He continued to teach graphic arts at Glenbrook South High School. However, unlike most hobbyist beekeepers, he figured out a way to make it a lucrative hobby. At his prime, he kept 150 colonies but recently downsized to 25-30 colonies.


When I heard that Chuck was going to semi retire, I jumped at the opportunity to sit under his teaching. I am so glad for this experience. Chuck is good. He is passionate. I leave class each Wednesday really wanting to become a beekeeper and believing that I can do it.

However, to be quite honest, I think that I like the idea of beekeeping better than actually doing the beekeeping. Much in the same way, I like the idea of dogs—especially Lassie-like stories. I like the idea of horses and horse stories and yes, I went through a phase of drawing horses. However, I can’t say that I really want a dog or a horse. In fact I am quite sure that if someone offered to give me a dog or a horse and pay for the expenses for one year, I would decline. I am not too optimistic that beekeeping is ever going to be much of a passionate hobby for me either.


Yet I was excited and eager to accompany my beekeeping hubby on Saturday to see if his girls had survived the winter.


He was overjoyed, ecstatic, to discover four surviving hives at this beeyard. We did not get to the other beeyards because we needed to do some other chores before attending our local beekeeper’s club meeting.


At this particular meeting, a CSI panel shared what they knew and did not know about dead-outs. (In beekeeping terms, a dead colony especially one that did not survive the winter is referred to as a “dead-out.”) One gracious beekeeper, brought an unopened winter colony—a dead-out and it was opened and dismantled and scrutinized—an autopsy of sorts. The panel and other knowledgeable beekeepers explained the forensic science of beekeeping. Several theories for this dead-out emerged. Perhaps there was too much moisture in the hive—but that theory did not make sense to me as it was wintered just like other colonies in the beeyard that survived and the dead bees were not wet. There was plenty of honey in the hive and no evidence of disease. The theory that made the most sense to me was that the queen died and the cluster became confused with no queen to protect. Thus small clusters were found in four or five areas of the hive. When they did not huddle and work together, they got cold and could not survive. Several beekeepers made suggestions as to why the queen might have died. It is important to know why colonies do not survive the winter so changes can be made for a better outcome the next year.


At first glance, you might think that beekeepers are an unusual group of people.















But here is what I discovered after attending several of these meetings each year.

Beekeepers are:

• unpretentious
• generous
• vulnerable
• sharing
• kind
• learned
• hopeful
• motivating
• fascinating
• hardworking




• and appreciative of good desserts.

I am so glad that my hubby is a beekeeper!

Sweeter than honey

After being with the grandkids for ten days, I have lots of material for blog posts but instead just did a little movie of pictures. I think this song is so sweet and of course the kids are sweeter.

Slowing down? Eat something red!

Andy checked out a book from the library on Eat This Not That! for Kids!. The boys have especially latched on to the designations on pages 12-16 about what kind of Superpowers vegetables and fruits give you—depending on which color they are. Jacob uses the phrases like code words for whatever he would like on his plate at mealtimes.

• Red food makes you dash like the Flash!
• Orange foods give you night vision!
• Yellow foods make you jump higher and play harder!
• Green foods give you sharp vision and superhuman healing abilities!
• Blue foods make you the smartest kid in the class!

Jacob loves his Red Fireball shirt and being on a team. In the video, he is the smallest Red Fireball. His number is three. Jakie is particularly into “dash like a flash” foods.

Apparently it works?

Y Fan

I like the Durham Downtown Y

I like the zero depth pool.


I like free play in the gym and the walking path above it.


I like the staff.


I like the programs . . .

for all ages . . .

I like the families.

I like the spectators.


I like the participants.

And guess who scored in his Blue Lasers game on Saturday!

I am a fan.