Cloudless Day

I hiked about five miles this afternoon, under a blue, cloudless sky.  Just beautiful!

Flying Low Toward the Mountain

Late yesterday afternoon I heard flying engines coming toward our house.  I stepped outside to see a chopper flying very low.  I got my camera and he was flying toward the mountain, ever lower. Another chopper was behind him, this one higher in the air. 

I heard a flying engine again this morning.  This time it was a small plane, flying directly toward the mountain.  He turned and flew quite low down a ridge, then into a canyon, out of sight. 

Snow Capped Mountains

We've had snow in southern Arizona, a couple of times over the past week.  We were in Tucson a few days ago and woke up to snow on top of the Catalinas.  We returned to the ranch on Tuesday of this week, to see snow on all the surrounding mountains.  Just beautiful!

Mementos

Going through boxes of mementos yesterday had me laughing and crying and smiling and remembering so many events over the years.  Our girls boxes were filled with medals won at more swim meets than we can count, trophies won at tennis tournaments, art projects, baby clothes, tickets from plays on Broadway and museums in Paris, programs from piano recitals, Mother's Day cards, photos from trips to the Caribbean, France, Portugal and more, report cards, SAT scores, high school resumes, and so much more.  All those mementos represent lives nurtured, spoiled, 

loved and well lived.  We are so proud of our children.

 

Mishap in BVI in 1994

I spent most of today going through containers of medals, trophies, papers, and report cards from our girls birth to college.  I came across a speech that Claire wrote that reminded me of a vacation mishap we had on a trip the summer of 1994.  I can't think about that day without laughing uncontrollably.  Claire was 11 years old and captured the details perfectly.  She got an "A" on her paper.

   "My whole family was up before dawn to motor from Peter Island to Tortola.  We had been sailing in the British Virgin Islands for 10 days on a 43 ft. yacht.  I helped my Dad pull up the anchor and we were off.
   An hour later we arrived at the harbor and turned into the marina to get gas.  We pulled up to the dock and the service attendant told us to go to another dock.  My Mom turned the boat around and headed to the other dock.  There were two boats already tied up in front of the gas pump at the other dock.
   My Dad was at the front of the boat with ropes.  My Mom was trying to steer the boat close enough to tie up to the other boats, but it was really hard so she asked my Dad for help.
   He went back to steer.  He got really close to one of the boats and my Mom jumped onto the boat with her bathrobe on.  She pulled on the rope so she would have enough slack to cleat it off.  But we were just too far away, so my Dad got into the dinghy with another rope to pull us toward it.  The rope my Mom was holding started to slip and she let it go!
   My sisters and I were on our boat all by ourselves and it was drifting backwards toward a dock full of other big boats.  My Dad told my sister to steer the boat and he quickly came back in the dinghy.  My Dad said, "somebody get in the dinghy!"  I ran and got into the dinghy.  I was the lucky one!
   I saw my poor Mom on that other boat by herself, so I went over to get her.  As I did, a rope in the dinghy fell into the water.
   I got my Mom and my Dad was screaming.  The propeller on our boat had gotten tangled up by that rope in the dinghy.  Our boat wouldn't steer and it was then drifting backwards toward more big boats.  My Dad quickly threw out an anchor in the middle of the harbor to stop our boat.  
   I looked around and noticed that we were providing the morning entertainment for all the people in the harbor.  Everyone was out on their boats and docks watching us.  We almost crashed into a boat, but the lady on that boat pushed us away from her boat.  Three men in dinghies came out to rescue us.  They tied ropes onto our boat and pulled us away from the docked boats.  My Dad got a big knife and his mask and swam under our boat.  He tried to cut the rope off the propeller, but he couldn't.  He did cut someone else's anchor rope though.
   The three men in dinghies finally pulled us to the dock with the gas pump.  My Mom went to find someone to cut the rope off our propeller.  She came back with a man named Johan.  He cut the rope.  We paid him $25 and gave him a bottle of champagne.  It was only 8 a.m.  What a morning!"

Written by Claire

This is a true story!  We have not bare boated since 1994, and I am still laughing!     
   

Showers and Rainbows

Showers moved across the valley yesterday afternoon, and up to the mountain, with a beautiful double rainbow arcing over the ranch. 

The Big Sky of Winchester Ranch

After spending several days in Kentucky for Sonny's Memorial Service, its good to be back home on the ranch.  We arrived yesterday at noon.  I had a quick lunch and set off on a hike.  There were big clouds with sky peaking through.  Sun was hitting the mountains in small patches.  The views in every direction were magnificent! 

I left home in Kentucky when I was 18, to go to college in Florida.  I moved to Tucson just after college graduation in 1979, to go to work at Ernst and Ernst.  Papa and I married in January 2001.  Since then, Papa and I have lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and back to southern Arizona in 2003.  While in Kentucky this past week, I was reminded of a big part of the reason I left... better weather and a larger sense of place in Arizona.  I enjoy seeing the sky and seeing for miles in every direction.  Mountains are a bonus!  The sunsets are too.  Last night's sunset was breathtaking!

Memorial Service for Sonny

Papa and I arrived in Kentucky on Friday afternoon, to attend a memorial service for Sonny on Saturday.  We are staying with Mom until Wednesday, trying to be helpful but mostly just to be with her.  Sonny was a dear man with a positive, happy disposition.  He never had a negative word to say about anyone.  Sonny and Mom attended our girls weddings in NYC and Los Angeles.  They drove to the ranch soon after we moved there and Sonny helped Papa hang blinds and shelves.  Sonny loved basketball and enjoyed watching games with our son-in-laws at various family gatherings.  We spent time together on visits every year, either in Florida or Kentucky.  We will miss Sonny.

36 Years

Papa and I are celebrating our 36th Anniversary today.  We've had an amazing life together 

over these  years.  We're still counting!  Couldn't be happier!

Our BGC Kids

We had six of our BGC kids for lunch today.  We had a good time hearing about their college experiences, jobs, roommates, and so much more.  They came at noon and left at 5.  We had fun!

Happy New Year!

We are ringing in the New Year with wonderful memories of the past week on the ranch.