"You'd better start swimmin', or you'll sink like a stone, For the times, they are a changin'."
Do you know that song? Bob Dylan wrote it a long time ago. It came to mind today for two reasons. Bear with me if these seem unrelated at first. 1) The radio stations in my area seem to be playing a lot of older music these days; things from the 60s and 70s. Some of them deal with change, some deal with social issues or injustice, some just conjure up cozy images. Many of the people who do radio in my area are Baby Boomers, and I think that the music is comforting for many of us from that generation. 2) I heard a segment on CNN this morning that was an interview with an older couple about the economic situation. The woman said several times "I want my life back".
I think a lot of people feel the way that woman did, but I don't really think we're going to GET our life back. Not the same way it was. Whether we like it or not, things are changing. Whoever wins the election, things are changing. This is not a political post- but I AM going to say this about the election- I very much encourage everyone to vote; not from fear, but to honestly vote their courage and conviction and conscience. We will STILL disagree on who to vote for, but if we all vote for the candidate we really think is THE BEST for the country, then we should at least be able to respect each other's decisions.
Back to change- a lot of those songs I mentioned dealt with change, because those times were also a time of great change in our country. I'm a Baby Boomer, and I can remember when I was young younger, the feeling that we could "change the world" and make things better. We really believed that, at least for awhile. It was a time of turmoil, but it was also a time of great hope, for many people. Hope that things CAN get better, that we can make a difference for good.
Part of the lyrics are: "Love is but the song we sing, And fear's the way we die You can make the mountains ring Or make the angels cry"
There's that hope. We can make things better (or worse).
"C'mon people now, Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try and love one another right now"
I find that I still have that feeling, down deep. It got buried way back when, by disappointment and discouragement, by cynicism and self-interest, but it's still in me. I still think that change can be good, that we CAN change the world (at least our part of it). Now, you can call me silly, just figure I'm getting dotty in my old age. But if you know what I'm talking about. If you are from my generation, or ANY generation, and can find that same hope, down deep, then tell people this: Change is coming, like it or not. We can get pulled into the future, kicking and screaming and whining; or we can walk into the future, confidently, on our own two feet, believing that we can make things better.
"If you hear the song I sing, You must understand You hold the key to love and fear All in your trembling hand Just one key unlocks them both It's there at your command"
This year I just can't get it together enough to be in a craft show. I'm getting calls from people wanting my candles, and I hate to disappoint, but we do what we have to do. We are managing almost 100 rentals this year, and we are BUSY! Maybe I'll make some cinnamon roll candles and sell them at the office!
Anyway- there are shows galore coming up in Payson.
The show I often participate in is the Presbyterian Church Show. It will be held this year at the Payson Senior Center, on W. Main Street.
Saturday, November 8th, from 8am to 2 pm.
There will be lots of homemade goodies, Food, Santa, Music. COME AND ENJOY!
I will be adding more shows in the next day or two, so check back!
We took a couple of days last week, picked our sons up in Flagstaff, and drove to the North Rim. The drive takes you to within 30 miles of Page, then you turn west and climb up to the Rim. That is one long drive! The scenery is interesting, passing through Indian reservation, past the Vermillion Cliffs, across the Colorado at Lees Ferry, and then into the mountains. The North Rim is 8,000 to 9,000 ft. elevation.
The North Rim being so much higher in elevation, gets much colder (and sooner). We were there the 1st of October and the temperatures were 60s, but the park closes for the winter October 15th each year.
The evergreens are mostly fir and spruce. The elevation is too high for Ponderosas.
Even though the daytime temperatures were great, the nights had been cold enough to turn the aspen leaves yellow. In the middle of the day, with the sun on the leaves, they were so bright yellow it was if they glowed.
The North Rim park includes a lot of woods, one can backpack or camp in the park.
This is called Angel's Window. You can't tell well in the picture, but you can see the Colorado river through the "window". To give you scale, the little lines up on top of the end of the rock- those are people.
There are only three main areas for viewing the Canyon, at the North Rim. At this one, there is a walk to several points. One of the view areas requires a four-wheel drive vehicle and a lot of time, so we didn't visit it. Another trip.
We stayed in a cabin, right by the Rim and the Lodge. We had two rooms with a 3/4 bath for about what a motel would be. They take reservations a year in advance, but we got in with about a month's notice.
The Lodge has a gorgeous Dining Room, high ceilings and chandeliers, and very good food. It also has patios from which to watch the sunsets (crowded!)
With the North Rim 1,000 to 2,000 ft. higher than the South Rim, there are places where you can see over the South Rim and beyond.
To give you some scale- that part in the middle ground- it is several miles away, even though it looks close.
At one point a helicopter dipped down into the canyon. It looked the size of a bird.
Vacations are good for the soul! I know the economic situation is in melt-down, but I'm very glad we went when we did.
Well, figuratively anyway. Actually we took a couple of days, picked up our grown sons in Flagstaff, and went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. That is a LONG ROAD from Flagstaff to the North Rim. One travels through some of the weirdest looking landscapes anywhere, past the Vermillion Cliffs near Page, and then climb up to the Rim.
Why, you might ask, are we going on vacation with the sky (or at least Wall Street and maybe Washington) falling?
1) Vacations are good for the soul. We only take a few days a couple of times a year, but we come back refreshed and ready to work.
2) Our boys are 19 and 21, and we know there won't be too many more years that they WANT to go on a trip with us.
3) We live in a little, backwater town, we owe way less on our house than it is worth (even today), we don't own stock, we rarely buy on credit, we DON'T run our business on credit; so the situation isn't really affecting us yet, and won't hit us as hard as many.
4) those idiots politicians in Washington are going to do what they choose, whether we like it or not.
So we took a mini-vacation. We stayed in a cabin right at the North Rim.
The weather was perfect, the aspen trees were a glorious yellow, the mule deer were adorable (and everywhere). And when we got back nothing much had changed in Washington. If the politicians had gone to the Canyon for a couple of days, maybe they could think better!
When we first moved to the Payson area, we lived in mobile home about two miles South of Star Valley (a small town four miles East of Payson). Now this put us OUT IN THE COUNTRY! we had all kinds of wildlife around. One morning a woodpecker woke us early banging on the metal roof. We had an owl perched near and calling one evening. And one night, in the Fall, I woke up and heard what sounded like a SCREAM. It was down at the end of the valley and I wasn't sure I heard right, but as I lay awake listening it moved closer, and then passed our house.
It scared me half to death at first. I swear, it sounded like a woman screaming. I wondered if I should wake my husband, should we get up and see about it, should we call 911? But the way the sound was moving up the valley, with no other noises, no commotion or sounds of violence, made me think it MUST be an animal.
Turns out it was a bull elk. If you have never heard them, watch the video (make sure you turn your sound on).
Elk are calling all over the Rim Country. We live in town now, but behind us are 5 acre lots and National Forest is near (not uncommon in Payson). One night we heard an elk SO CLOSE that we could hear the intake of breath before he bugled. We couldn't see him, he must have been in the trees, on the 5 acre lot behind us.
If you love Fall, or miss it because you now live in the desert, come and visit Northern Arizona. The nights are just starting to cool, and the leaves will start changing soon.
OK, I'm cheating just a little with this photo. The leaves aren't changing JUST YET in Payson. The photo is from another year. But the nights are getting cooler, and it won't be long!
If you live in the hot part of the state, come visit us in Northern Arizona. we're low 80s now in the day, low 50s at night. Beautiful weather!
An old joke goes: How do you know if a politician is lying? Is his/her mouth moving?
Yeah, I'm partisan. But I don't like ANY candidate spinning, stretching, telling half- truths, or out-right lying. FactCheck.org is my new favorite web site. They do what I would do if I had the time. They check out the political speeches, ads, emails, etc. And they report on the FACTS.
They seem to be what they claim, non-partisan. There are articles calling to task both republicans and democrats. You can search a particular person/ad/issue. I believe they do the same for state political ads, too. They list their sources, so you can research further if you wish.
Some claims are so outrageous we know they are lies. But if you aren't sure and want to know, check out the site. Let's hold the politicians (and their more rabid supporters) accountable for truth (or at least accuracy).
If you come to visit in Payson or Pine, consider a side trip to the old school house in Strawberry. This is a restored, one room school house which is open to tour on weekends through mid October. The school was built in 1884 to service families in the area.
Strawberry is a small town about 20 miles North of Payson, on Hwy 87. It is nestled RIGHT below the Mogollan Rim. If you head North from Strawberry you begin to climb immediately until you are on top of the Rim. There are not a lot of businesses in Strawberry, but there are many houses and cabins scattered in the trees. Stop off for lunch at the Strawberry Lodge, they have great hamburgers.
Come and let your children see what it used to be like to go to school!
This is a very nice home in a very nice neighborhood. Golden Frontier subdivision is an area of site-built homes, many built in the 1980s, and now often updated, as this home has been.
Pine is an attractive, small town about 15 miles North of Payson, on Hwy. 87. Pine is home to many antique shops, craft shops, and art galleries. On Holiday weekends in the Summer the Pine-Strawberry Arts & Crafts Guild features a craft show on the grounds of the old school house, with many and varied booths selling all sorts of interesting items. The shops along the highway are open, some people put up booths along the street. People park wherever they can, and walk up and down the street looking at everything. It makes for a very ferstive time.
This coming weekend the show is 8 to 5 on Aug. 3oth (Sat.) and 8 to 4 on Sunday, Aug. 31st. According to the Chamber of Commerce page it will feature over 80 booths, they usually have a pancake breakfast on Saturday, there's something for everyone!
The weather right now is lovely, cool temperatures, big white clouds. But remember, if you visit, that we are still in the Monsoon, and an afternoon thunderstorm is likely. Those big, white clouds can produce heavy downpours, and even hail. Come prepared.
Leslie Prest, Prest Realty, Payson, AZ — Homes for sale in and around Payson, Arizona
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