Hello from the Desert Southwest 2008

Hello again blog readers:

For those of you who do not yet know, we are back in our winter homeplace, the desert southwest. Specifically, the City of Desert Hot Springs.

We’ve been here for three weeks now enjoying the pleasantly warm mostly 80+ degree days, the hot mineral pools, and the community around us. It has become an interesting experience to live two separate lives with friends and activities exclusive to each of them.

Our family is weathering the economic downturn okay but Laurie has had her hours at work curtailed as well as a reduction in pay that is making life tough on she and Dani. Dani is a straight “A” student, including classes in Mandarin Chinese!

Though we had no opportunity to see him, Kevin was down here in Southern California during the recent fire disasters in the community of Yorba Linda. He and Dodie and the boys are also just fine. The boys are growing like weeds, of course.It’s amazing but I think the situation right now is less stressful for those of us living on a secure fixed income.

When we left this area at the end of April this year we were amazed at the amount of new construction going on. Not just residential—though there was plenty of that—but huge new commercial and shopping complexes everywhere. Now, sadly, most of that has come to a screeching halt and those commercial developments that were near completion are now finished and standing empty. Who knows how long that situation will last and I don’t usually spend a lot of time feeling either good or bad for land developers, but this situation is truly sad. The developments here in the greater Palm Springs area are, of course, mostly very upscale and to see the millions and millions of dollars spent with absolutely no return on the investment must be financially punishing to these developers.

With jobs being lost by the thousands, companies closing by the hundreds, and banks going belly-up faster than the fish that lived in my acquarium, it’s tough out there. If ones income depends on other people’s disposable income or the stock market, one had better look for a different line of work or income for a while.

You may recall that Ron had a Goiter removed last April before we returned home. It was discovered as a result of his being so short of breath. After returning to Grass Valley his breathing became even more labored, rather than improving, and it was determined that the surgeon in Palm Springs had left another huge goiter in place that extended beneath his breast bone down to his heart. To make a long story short, in September that mass of thyroid gland was removed in Sacramento. If an adult man places his two fists one on top of the other that is the approximate size of the thing they removed. To get it out they had to crack his chest, just as is done in open heart surgery. When they do that they press both shoulders downward to help open the cavity. Since Ron has two unresolved rotator cuff injuries they were both severely aggravated by this procedure resulting in an extended recuperation lasting several months.

Since he was virtually unable to do anything for the past six months, time has passed Ron by this year. Just this morning he finally realized that Thanksgiving is less than a week away and it’s only 3 weeks till we return home for Christmas. Up until our return to the desert his world has been his recliner and a paperback book since the first of May.

We had plans and reservations to attend the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, N M, again this year but, when the beginning of October arrived, Ron was not physically able to drive the motorhome. By November, he was finally well enough for us to head for the desert for the winter.

After three weeks of the kind of weather we all dream of when we say, “Southern California,” we expect some rain over the next few days, leading up to Thanksgiving. The recent wildfires just added an exclamation point to the desperate need for some precipitation to fall on the State and, while we all enjoy the idyllic 80 degree temperatures, we’re also sensible enough to realize how wonderful a couple of rainy days will be.

We’ll be here in Desert Hot Springs until the end of April—except for a two-week sojourn home for Christmas and an early January trip to the Phoenix, AZ, area to visit our friend Sue Anderson for a few days followed by a visit with the Don Youngs at Lake Havasu, before returning here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU AND YOURS.