Mesquite Happenings

The weather has improved and things are hoppin’ around here.

As previously reported, our landscape project is moving along at a brisk pace. Darrell and his crew have finished our second patio, and have included a retaining wall/bench.

There are paver paths from our living room patio and our master bedroom out to the second patio. And, lots of big rocks that will provide drama for the trees, shrubs, and succulents that Darrell will be planting.

Tomorrow (Monday), Darrell and I will be meeting with “Tyler” from Southwest Awning to develop final specs for our pergola that will cover the second patio.

Last night, we attended the Mesquite Community Theater, where a troupe of local actors put on a play about the old west, complete with damsels, a hero sheriff, a villain, and a screwy plot.

It was entertaining, I think, except that a lady with an extremely large head sat directly in front of me in the small theater, so I couldn’t see everything that was going on.

At intermission, some local Sun City cloggers entertained the audience. The lady on the right end of the chorus line is our neighbor “Sue” McPherson, the wife of my hiking buddy, “Mac”. Sue did good, despite having a cold; the show must go on, you know.

(BTW, the lady on the left end was a 78 year-old gal who looked and acted like my Mom back in the day. It brought back memories of my Mom dancing on cruise ships to calypso bands, oblivious to everything else going on. She definitely had a jive bone!)

Charlie is having no problem fitting into the local social network. We now have a “regular” card game with the McPhersons, she has a Friday morning coffee klatch with two other neighbors (Barbara and Rita), she’s doing taxes for another neighborhood couple (Don and Casey), and we will be babysitting a couple of 80 plus year-old parents this coming week while their “kids” (my hiking friends and neighbors John and Lynda) are taking a week off to go to Death Valley and Sequoia National Park.

The house across the street from us is almost completed. “Marcus” and “Carol” will be arriving later this month, I believe. We’ve met them a few times and they seem to be very nice. They are moving here from Las Vegas.

Two more houses on our long cul-de-sac have begun construction, and will probably be occupied by mid-Summer. That leaves three lots yet to be built upon, and we understand that one of them is already sold.

This coming week, I will be taking the RV and Charlie up to St. George to (a) service the RV, and (b) meet with Charlie’s new cardiologist, Dr. Gleed. Sounds exciting, huh?

Speaking of medical stuff, Charlie fell off a small ladder yesterday in our living room and took a nasty tumble. Nothing broken, we think, but she is very sore. No more ladders for her!

Not to be outdone, I fell down during a hike last week while just walking along, minding my own business. What a klutz! I got a bruised sternum and a scratched knee out of the senseless pratfall.

I’m getting old, I tell ya’. Long gone are the days when I hiked Mt. Whitney in a day or climbed up the back side of Half Dome in Yosemite (like this gal):

Where’s my wheelchair?