Hitching A Ride

Okay, so we're not really hitching a ride, but we are heading out again. This time we're on our way to the one, the only...GRAND CANYON! What makes this trip so exciting is the company we will be keeping. My family, Old Ironsides' family, and my two best pals were able to finagle they're way out to Arizona and join us as we explore more of the beautiful west together. We'll be camping, climbing, laughing, and eating...lots and lots of eating...

Pictures will soon follow. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Sayonara until the Fourth!
K

It Is What It Is

So, it has been my intention to update you all on my beautiful container garden. My baby tomato plants have had ample time to beautifully blossom into the mature producers of summer's sought after fruit. Red, ripe, juicy tomatoes. Bright, green, strong plants. Ready to be picked and eaten in all their glory.

You're probably wondering why I am taking this time to describe my "run of the mill" tomato plants. Well, I went to bed Sunday night knowing I would be able to eat a fresh, homegrown tomato this week. And, I woke up thinking the same thing. Then, Old Ironsides came over for breakfast and asked me if I had been outside yet. This was a strange question to ask, so I asked why. Very carefully, Old Ironsides informed me that they were gone. The tomato plants had been wiped out in the middle of the night. (He told me this news as if someone very dear to me had passed away. He is so good to me!) When I heard the news, I decided to take a look for myself. This is the carnage I discovered:

Gone...

Alas, my beautiful tomatoes that I worked so hard for were gone.

Actually, I'll let you all know that my first reaction was anger. Then...laughter. What can you do? I can probably save the one in the middle and the one on the left. But, if this does not work...I'm hoping all of my Missouri gardeners will allow me one, red, ripe, juicy tomato when I get back!

Green Thumb but no Animal Control,
K

PS Some little raccoon, rabbit, squirrel, lizard, or whatever had a wonderful dinner that night!

Don't Know Joy Without Sorrow

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

Lamentations 3:22-26

This verse was the basis of our God given church service yesterday. Since the church building is in a mandatory evacuation zone, we held a makeshift service inside the conference room of a local hotel. Pastor graciously reminded us that the people are the church, and not the building. Together, with our sister church, we gathered to worship and praise God as a community of believers.

Service began with several songs that seemed to touch each person on an individual, spiritual basis ("Mighty Fortress Is Our God," "He Leadeth Me! OBlessed Thought,""Abide With Me," "Great is Thy Faithfulness, & "It Is Well With My Soul."). Then Pastor Mike invited some time for the sharing of stories, thoughts, and concerns dealing with the fire. This was perhaps the most inspiring portion of the service. While listening, I was amazed to hear not one negative comment or thought about the tragedies occurring to individuals and their church family. Instead, we heard believers professing the goodness of God's hands, the thankfulness they had towards Christ, the protection they received from the Lord, and the comfort His believers have continuously and freely given. You could feel the life in these believers. Even though their world's are caving in as I write this, they continue to profess and acknowledge that the Lord knows best. At one point in the service, Pastor Mike asked all of those who were displaced to raise their hands. We looked around and saw nearly 60% of church members had been evacuated and displaced. At least two families have lost their homes and many more are waiting to hear. It's incredible to think that something as small as a spark can start such an immense and destructive fire.

Pastor Mike continued the service with a sermon preached on Lamentations 3:21-27. It was such a powerful and meaningful message to all who listened. We were reminded of the faithfulness of our God and that nothing can separate us from Him. Pastor also reminded us that there is a time for everything, including the sorrowful and destructive events occurring in Sierra Vista. We cannot know the blessings of joy without the experience of sorrow. But, what joy comes out of sorrow?! This is such a blessed truth. In times like this, we are able to witness the amazing power, spirit, and hand of God working through lives that may have never been touched otherwise. What great joy!

So, as you finish reading this, please continue to pray for joy. Pray also for the safety of those fighting this fire, for the comfort needed by those who have lost everything, for the resources  needed to keep this community alive and well, and for the continuous acknowledgement of the joys of the Lord!


This most certainly is the day the Lord has made,
K

Country Estates Baptist Church: The fire came through this area last night. As of today, there is confirmation that the church is still standing!

What A Day

Yesterday started out like any other day in Sierra Vista. After Old Ironsides left for work, I had plans to run and hit the library for a few hours. While at the library, I received information that an elderly woman was looking for a "temporary" home for some of her cats (one adult and two kittens). I provided them with my contact information, and I headed out to Ramsey Canyon Rd. (For those of you keeping up with the fire, this road is within the evacuation zone.)

I got there and was then told these were outdoor cats and not the most domesticated ones at that...a little bit of a surprise for me, but I wasn't going to leave them high and dry. So, we caught as many as we could and placed them in a carrying case. Just as I was getting ready to head out, the woman received a reverse 911 call warning her to evacuate immediately. We, along with her daughter and granddaughter, frantically began packing and loading her valuable items.

About an hour in, we looked to the north and saw a large cloud of black smoke. For those of you who do not know, the fire is in the southern parts of the Huachuca Mountains. Firefighters are trying to keep it along the ridge of the mountains to detour it from Sierra Vista to the north and multiple housing complexes on the east. So, to see smoke in the north was extremely scary. It appeared as if the fire had jumped and ended up in Sierra Vista or on post. There was smoke to the north and smoke to the south...it was a little daunting. At that point, I took the hint and got the heck out of dodge, advising everyone else to do the same.

I rushed back to the apartment with the three cats in tow, unsure of how bad the fire situation was. After various texts and phone calls, I was able to get into contact with Old Ironsides. The fire we saw in the north was on post; however, it was started by a spark from some training equipment and not a jump from the Monument Fire. By 1800, the fire was 90% contained and 100% contained by this morning.

Last night was quite the night. The two kittens we rescued were in desperate need of some medical attention, so we headed to Tucson. (All of the vets in Sierra Vista are boarding and caring for emergency animal victims of the fire.) They're eyes were matted shut and it took the vet about fifteen minutes or so to get their eyes open. They are now receiving oral and ointment antibiotics to help with the upper respiratory infection. The kittens were not weaned and we were not able to catch the mother. So, we are having to bottle feed them every four hours and start them on kitten food. If any of you have experience with kittens, please do not hesitate to leave a comment or email me. I am open for any and all advice...Also, we are unsure where these kitties will go after the fire dies down. We have various options. If any of you have suggestions or people who may be looking for a pet kitty (or three!), let me know.

Enjoy and keep praying for the fire to die down!

K&T

PS Thank you to all of you who kept me sane yesterday! Love you all. 

Now, I'll leave you with some pics.

This is Blue. We have not named them yet, but she was tagged blue at the vet's office.

Blue

Blue

Red

Blue

Blue and pseudo-Mama!

Check Out the New Page

I have created a page to keep all of you up-to-date with the Monument fire raging near Sierra Vista. I will be posting all information about the fire under this new page instead of the home page. Thanks!

No Pain, No Gain

This past Saturday started out wonderfully. Old Ironsides and I decided to bike six miles to a local diner for breakfast and then bike the final three miles home. Easy enough, right? We made it to the diner and enjoyed our breakfast of eggs (burrito and omelet style), juice, and water. Then we hopped back onto bikes and were homeward. About halfway there, I made a poor last minute decision and ended up face planting into the asphalt. Even though I was speeding out of control when I hit the lip of a curb then the corner curb of a light stand, it felt as if the whole world slowed down to give me some reactionary time. In that five seconds, me, myself, and I remember thinking four things: 1) Why didn't you wear your helmet?!?!?!  2) Since you didn't wear your helmet, how are we supposed to fall safely?!?!?! 3) You should probably try to tip over instead of going over the handlebars!!! 4) No time to think!!! We're falling, safely or not!!!

Before I knew it, I was sprawled out on the hot blacktop, tangled in my bike frame. Old Ironsides stopped in his tracks and quickly headed over to rescue me. After taking a few minutes to catch my breath (no tears, mind you), I hopped back onto my bike and we rode the final mile and a half back to the apartment. Thankfully, I did not hit my head and managed to walk away with minor scrapes and bruises. Oh yeah, and that hurt ego thing. :)

No matter how embarrassing this bike accident was, I really am thankful for it. God used it to drive home a point for me. Life is full of ups and downs. It's impossible not to fall down as we journey through this world. But, we always have the choice to stay down or to get back up and keep on riding. I would venture to say that we gain so much more when we choose the latter. So, will you decide to stay face planted on the pavement, or to hop back on the bike and continue the ride?

Thanks for listening,
K

Day Three of Monument Fire

View of smoke from the apartment.

Update: The Monument Fire is still raging and has now consumed 4,600 acres in Arizona and Mexico. This fire has been moved to top priority across the nation, with crews being  pulled from other fires around Arizona to help with containment. As of this afternoon: the fire was still 0% contained, seventy-five homes have been evacuated, and three out buildings destroyed. Still no word on how this will affect Sierra Vista.

Full coverage of the Monument fire:
http://www.kvoa.com/full-coverage/monument-fire/#fcanchor

Coronado National Monument

Monument Fire

After four weeks in the desert, I am learning that wildfires are to Arizona as thunderstorms are to Missouri. I’m sure most of you have seen coverage of some of these fires on the national news and radio, and until recently, that’s the closest exposure we had too. About two weeks ago, fires were sparked twenty to thirty miles away from us. We could smell the smoke and see the haze surrounding the mountains around us, but it was never too much of a threat.

Yesterday afternoon, a fire was sparked along the Huachuca mountain range and has grown to encompass a total of 2,500 acres in the last twenty-four hours. Last night we were driving home from Tucson and you could see the orange glow from the mountains forty miles away. As we got closer, it was apparent the flames were uncontained and moving quickly.

This morning it appeared that the fire had settled down. I ventured over to the foothills of the mountain around 11:00 and witnessed the restart of the flames and various helicopters and planes working to contain the fire. About three hours later, many of the once smoldering areas had transitioned back into full, flamed fires. What makes this fire so difficult to deal with is the dryness of the earth, the mountain’s rough terrain, and the fast moving winds. According to the media, the fire is 0% contained and there are five crews of firefighters, 13 fire engines, four water tankers, one air tanker, two planes and three helicopters working to control the situation. Six more fire engines and four water tankers are en route.

The Monument Fire is about three to five miles away from our church and ten to twelve miles away from the apartment. So far we haven’t heard anything about evacuations for the Sierra Vista area. They did evacuate the area immediately surrounding the fires. Keep in mind that the fires seem to be moving into the canyon and mountainside. This means we are relatively safe and out of harms way. I think the choking smoke is the extent of damage/inconvenience we’ll see.

 Please prayer for a quick containment and safety for those working to control this fire.

We’ll keep you updated!

K & T

PS Here's the local news link for you news junkies:
http://www.kvoa.com/news/monument-fire-grows-to-2-500-acres/

Here are some pictures taken of the Monument Fire:

Monument Fire, 12 June; evening flames @ approx. 7:00 p.m.

Planes dropping fire retardant on Monument Fire

Monument Fire 13 June,  approx. 11:00 a.m. (notice helicopter)

Monument Fire, 13 June; restart of flames @ approx 11:30 a.m.

Monument Fire, 13 June; growing flames @ approx. 2:00 p.m.

It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing

We had quite the weekend! After an interesting experience in a local town, an evening of grilled chicken and McLintock, and a morning at church, Old Ironsides and I embarked on a new journey together: swing dance lessons. About a week ago I found a Tucson dance company that was offering beginners Lindy Hop dance lessons. Old Ironsides agreed to it, and we signed ourselves up! The first night was jam packed with instruction, and we learned all of the beginning steps in just one hour. Needless to say, it was a little overwhelming! We plan to practice, practice, practice so we're ready for next week.

For those who are interested: The Lindy Hop is based on the Charleston and made it's debut in Harlem, NY  in the 1930s. It is considered more of a street dance than a ballroom dance, and is a fun and effective workout!

Back to Basics

What a week it has been! I'll give you a quick recap of our recent trip to Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado.

1) Colorado is only ten hours away, not twelve! This was a welcome surprise.

2) Driving from southeastern Arizona to southwestern Colorado is a gorgeous undertaking. We were blessed to have views of the desert, the Grand Canyon, and the Rocky Mountains.
3)You really can be in four places at once! Four Corners, USA

4) Two tents can fit comfortably on one campsite, as well as, two chairs and a well-made fire!

5) God made sure to design some of his creation so it would not  have cellular service. In all actuality, it wasn't too hard to forget about the phone and unanswered emails and take in the beautiful scenery and wildlife He's provided us.

6) It's all good and well to have the intentions of making breakfast on site; however, you should probably make sure you bring breakfast food items: like the eggs that were left in the cold and comfort of the fridge. Thank goodness for local joints!

7) Vinram Five Fingers are the way to go...Plus, they are great conversation starters.

8) The best way to end a day of hiking about ancient cliff dwellings is with many, many s'mores and rounds of Monopoly Deal.
9) Waiting for the sun to rise is a beautiful reminder of God's timing.

10) Having the opportunity to spend four days together was a huge blessing and provided us with many laughs and memories. Wouldn't have it any other way!