Bob
Rainy Day Schedule
Verna and I woke up to a rainy, drizzly day this morning. We decided to just stay indoors and watch some of the college football games.
This afternoon, Verna made a special comfort food dinner for us – spinach enchiladas with Tex-Mex rice and pinto beans. Man were those yummy! She uses two kinds of cheese in her green sauce that tops the enchiladas. She made enough that we can have enchiladas for lunch during Thanksgiving week.
We will do our usual thing on Saturday night by watching football, Cops, America’s Most Wanted followed by a DVD movie. Some rainy days aren’t bad at all!
Dark Sky
Several years ago, I visited Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, AZ. Some friends and I took the guided tour that brought us into several of the telescope domes on the mountain. One statement the tour guide made stuck in my memory. He said “We get more light pollution from Phoenix than we do from Tucson which is less than half the distance from the observatory.”
Tuscon, which is home to the main campus of the University of Arizona (go Wildcats). The University does a lot of optical and astronomical research and was a main influence on Tucson’s Dark Sky Ordinance. Most of the Phoenix Metro cities do not have a dark sky ordinance. We can stand in the 18 wheeler lot after nightfall at our Wickenburg hotel and see the glowing dome of light pollution to the southeast.
The Town of Wickenburg is considering a dark sky ordinance. The ordinance isn’t yet in effect, so we don’t have to comply when selecting our outdoor fixtures, but we want to be compliant. The image above shows the light pattern that our compliant fixtures will deliver – no upward light.
We have two telescopes – serious ones – 10″ and 90 cm catadioptrics, but we don’t use them much because of the terrible seeing in Southern California. We want to be able to take them out on clear Arizona nights and be able to see the planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae without competition from our own lights.
Southwest Chicken Salad
Maybe you have seen those Dole Salad Kits in the produce section of the supermarket. They have a variety of them such as Caesar Salad and Southwest Salad. Dole also offers Asian salad and some others which we have not yet tried.
For lunch today, I grilled up a chicken breast outdoors that Verna had seasoned with lemon juice and cumin. When it was done, Verna chopped it into bite sized chunks and tossed it in with the Southwest Salad kit. It was a heart-healthy low sodium, low fat and high fiber lunch that tasted like an extravagant (and expensive) salad at a ritzy restaurant.
In the past, we have occasionally grilled up a beef tenderloin steak for Southwestern Salad Kits and put the grilled chicken in a Caesar Salad Kit – they were all really good!
Painting the Pylons
During our October trip to Arizona, we crossed the Hassayampa River and noticed some people painting the pylons under the pedestrian bridge across the river. We passed by again later in the day and documented what a good job they did. Roll your mouse over the image below to view the results.
We read an article in the Wickenburg Sun that told about a group of student volunteers that did the work under the supervision of several adults. Local sources donated paint and materials for the project.
Two Special Veterans
This Veterans Day, I would like to remember our two very special veterans. My Dad, Jack and Verna’s Dad, Bill. Both of them are gone now, but we remember and thank them for their service and for their devotion to their families.
The photos of Jack (left) and Bill were taken in 1944 and 2004, respectively.
Jack was aboard the USS Brooklyn, CL-40, from Casablanca for the east coast 17 November 1942. Between January and July 1943 The Brooklyn made three convoy escort voyages between the east coast and Casablanca and then steamed to the Mediterranean where she carried out screening and fire support duties during the invasion of Sicily.
On 15 August 1944 the USS Brooklyn furnished part of the heavy naval gunfire which preceded the landing of Allied troops on the coast of southern France. She remained on duty in the Mediterranean until 21 November 1944 when she departed Sicily for New York, arriving 30 November.
Bill, served in U.S. Naval Aviation. He was stationed at Gibraltar in 1948 where Navy Patrol Squadron 26 had a detachment in those days.
The Cold War was fully in progress, and Bill’s Squadron was right in the thick of it all. Bill was a flight crew member and flew missions on the Navy version of the old B24 – the PB4Y-2 ‘Privateer.’ He flew missions all over the Mediterranean, Europe, the North Atlantic Ocean and back to the US for logistics and repairs.
We’re proud of all of our veterans and salute them on this day. And we’re especially proud of our Dads.
