Living on the edge

Yesterday with The Commander, Kadizzle set out to reach the Bullhead Canyon Trialhead.  This is by no means a simple task.  Some of the most wild difficult country you might drive into is in the Cherry Creek drainage that is on the east end of Lake Roosevelt.  On various occasions we have done many explorations in the area looking for Indian ruins.  It is one of the longer runs we ever make on unpaved roads. Our goal was to get to the trailhead and assess the condition of the signs there.  We also wanted to find the beginning of another trail.

The treacherous part of the journey is the drive on 203A.  203A is a cliff hanging road that goes for five miles or more.  The problem with the road is that the road is so narrow.  The Forest Serviced Truck we were assigned for the job is a big pickup truck as pickup trucks go.  If we met another vehicle on the road someone might have to back up along the cliff edge for up to a mile before two vehicles could squeeze buy one another.  To add to the fun in many places the road had some serious washouts that made it even worse.  If they do not fix the road they should seriously consider closing it.  However, it has a magnificent view once on top.  Both on the way up and down Kadizzle dreaded the possibility of meeting someone.  In our favor was the road is rarely used. Most people would not make the venture.

Aliens leave message on creek bed.

If you cannot understand or explain something the best thing to do is just make something up.  Driving up to a trail head yesterday Kadizzle and The Commander came across a massive rock display.  Creek rocks were carefully stacked in every direction.  Who did this, whey did they do it, and what does it mean.  It is all very simple.  The rocks are a digital message from aliens.  Each rock is a series of bits and bites just like computer code.  All you have to do is figure out the code and you know exactly what the aliens are saying. There are a few minor problems.  Do aliens read from left to right, top to bottom, or from north to south.  After a great deal of puzzling Kadizzle was able to figure out the code. This is what the aliens said. " Earthlings you idiots, you have enough to eat, all the energy you need, and all the resources to live very comfortable happy lives if you would just share.  Instead you fight and kill each other for the most silly reasons, and squander your planet.  We don't wish to visit any more, it is depressing".

We are a flash in time, and a speck of dust in the Universe

As humans we have such a small vantage point, and perspective on the universe.  Hiking the other day into mountains west of us the geology was amazing.  In the canyon we hiked the Earth was eroded, folded, uplifted, bent and twisted in every direction.  As part of our new job The Kadizzlites hiked with Ruth and Rodger up the Barnhart Trail.  The trail turned out to be a real treat.  Waterfalls, incredible overlooks, and a very nice trail all wrapped together to make a nice hike.

Upon this Rock I will build my church, or was it these wheels?

Most people would be surprised how many people call a vehicle their home.  Yesterday Kadizzle visited Camp Bum More to see how Dr. Dwayne is recovering from his carpet knife surgery.  Dwayne just turned 61.  Kadizzle would have guessed he was much older.  After his home made surgery Dwayne bragged he had just peddled his bike to the Post office about five miles away.  Sitting in a chair at the encampment was the other all pro bum Gary.  It was a sunny day and cheerfulness was in abundance.  The day trader who recently moved back and lives in his van walked into the bum encampment.  Day Trader makes his living trading penny stocks and says it keeps him alive.  Day Trader was on his way to the Solar shower when he stopped in to see the senior bums,  Day Trader is in his early forties.  Dwayne reached into a paper bag and pulled out the largest can of beer one could purchase.  Before Dwayne opened the beer Day Trader shouted for him to stop.  Quickly Day Trader checked his watch.  As it turned out Dwayne's internal clock was very precise.  It was 11:59 A. M.   Bum etiquette does not permit drinking until noon.   Day Trader gave Dwayne permission to proceed and the afternoon was off to a good start.  Kadizzle drove away on his motor cycle with joy in his heart knowing the bums were so content with so little.  This brings us back to people living in vehicles.

It is amazing the number of people, many with decent resources that live in a van.  The recent sprinter vans with the high roofs have become popular abodes.  Two groups really like them, the kayak people, and the hard core bike people.  Some of our friends here are an older couple living in a van.  Their last career was driving a truck as a team.  Before that they were both professionals making the normal life work.  Another couple beside them is also living the van life.  Most of these people are active and healthy and just don't like being tied down.

Kadizzle meets so many different people in the course of our travels it is hard to keep track.  One person always leads to another.  At the boat ramp Kadizzle engaged the host their in a conversation about model airplanes because he noticed they guy had one.  Model Airplane guys are also a subset of old people looking for something to do.  Kadizzle wanted to get a special battery charged, that only model airplane guys can charge.   As it turned out the host did not have a charger, but said the model airplane guy up near us might have one.  Kadizzle figured he would put the old "It don't hurt to ask" trick to work.  Luckily Model Airplane man was sitting by his big fifth wheel.   Beside his big fifth wheel was his black trailer.  It had a huge array of solar panels.  Kadizzle told him of his dilemma.  Model man took Kadizzle into the black workshop trailer.  It was the mother off all solar power stations, plus a nice little workshop where he worked on his planes. The first thing Kadizzle noticed was a strange little machine that appeared to be making ice.  Kadizzle inquired about what the machine was and indeed it turned out to be an ice machine.  Mr. Model explained to Kadizzle that his solar output was so strong he had nothing to do with all the power so he made "Sun Cubes".  The sun cubes fell out of the ice machine right into his beer cooler.  How convenient.  As usual when you ask for something you often get way more.  Mr. Model offered to give Kadizzle a computerized battery charger for his battery.  To top it off  Mr. Model rewired and delivered it.  Now Kadizzle must find a was to repay.  His wife it turns out plays the electric guitar in the evening and has a good voice to go along with it.

Mrs. Kadizzle took advantage of the nice day to ride her new bike.  In the course of her ride she met a woman with four nice children living in their fifth wheel.  The husband was in Alaska doing oil work.  He works two weeks then returns for two weeks.  The family had just captured a large lizard and that was the excitement for the day .

One more off the list

For some strange reason our mission in life seems to be to find every place in the Southwest were an ancient Indian may have had a dwelling.  Sometimes finding one of these places takes years.  Today we scored a victory.  For years we have heard about a dwelling close to the falls on Workmen Creek high in the Sierra Ancha  wilderness.  Today with Ruth and Rodger we set out to find the ruins.  Yesterday we made a six mile foray on the Tule trail so our batteries were already worn down.  In the neck of the woods high in the pines were many of these ruins are located it seems these people did not want to be surprised, consequently they built their homes in some very inaccessible places.  In this wilderness every ruin we have found is extremely difficult to get to.  You always wonder on a daily basis what these people did just to get water and to and from their hunting.   So off we started on a scramble straight up the mountain.  Climbing up a scree slope is no easy task. It is nothing but a steep slope of football sized rocks that are as steep as gravity will permit.

Making the Country Safe for Democracy

Once you give a task a noble goal everything falls into place.  When our country was embroiled in the Vietnam War politicians used to say we were "Making the country safe for democracy".   Cutting brush on a trail is not real glamorous, until  you consider it making the country safe for democracy.  Yesterday we set off into the wild in our Forest Service truck to work on the trail at Oak Creek Flats.   First we put up a couple of signs so people could find the trail.  Near the start of the trail there are traces of Indian occupation.  With a little waterfall nearby and a year round supply of water it would have been a perfect place to live.  Kadizzle suspects the natives were doing some irrigation.

On the trail we hacked and clipped for hours working our way up the mountain.  Since the trail had been neglected for a long time some giant Sotol Cactus had grown right in the middle of the trail.  Removing these sinners that had encroached on Government right of way was a big job.  Once they were pitched into the brush they still looked like they were planted.

Possessed

Norm is one of those guys who lives out of his truck for a great part of the year.  There are a lot of people like him. If Norm needs ice, he gets on his bike and pedals eight miles to get it.  As a bicyclist Norm thought he might come join The Commander to admire her new single track bike.  When we stopped by Norm’s to invite him over The Commander mentioned the new security measures needed to deal with the new bike.  Since the Kadizilites are now volunteers for the Forest Service, we are entitled to lock up The Commanders new bike in the back of the rest room where the supplies are stored.  The Commander explained this to Norm.  Norm said “ Don’t become possessed by your possessions”.  This idea intrigued Kadizzle.  How many of us are possessed by our possessions.  Norm lives a happy simple life.  He sits by the lake and reads,  at other times he house sits for those possessed by their possessions.

Too many times Kadizzle has seen the possessions possess the owner.  It is not unusual to see some guy pull into an encampment with his new 250k diesel motorhome.  The first thing the newly retired old goat does is get out a ladder and start polishing it.  The goat may have landed in the most wonderful part of American with scenery to die for.  All his life the goat worked so he could enjoy retirement, but now he is working for his RV.  It owns him, he does not own it.  

Today the Kadizzlites plan to head up to the Oak Flats trail head. The plan is to clear the trail a little, and gather some data on the trail.

Dr. Dwayne does surgery with a carpet knife

Yesterday Kadizzle decided to make a round and check on life at Camp Bum More.  As he drove up to Gary's tent he could hear Gary singing nicely at the top of his voice just like the first time he bumped into him.  When Gary stepped out Kadizzle got an update on the great renovation of Gary's truck.  The truck seems to be working fine with the exception of the new ignition that will be installed when it comes.  However, the project has faced a major slowdown. Gary reported that the ace mechanic Dwayne was recently at the emergency room for a hernia.

After speaking with Gary Kadizzle decide he should check on Dwayne.  Dwayne was up and about and seemed in good shape.  Kadizzle inquired about Dwaynes health and trip to the hospital.  Dwayne said last year a black widow spider bit him.  The spider causes some sort of pustule to go against his intestines.  Somehow this had something to do with his hernia.  Dwayne had a beer in his hand and his mind seemed a bit garbled.  As best Kadizzle could deduce Dwayne was admitted to the hospital with an inflamed pocket of something.  Dwayne felt the pocket should be pierced and drained, but the hospital thought it best to just treat the problem with antibiotics.

Dwayne decided to take things into his own hands, so when things looked like he was not being observed he disconnected his IV and walked out of the hospital with it dangling from his arm.   Once back at Camp Bum More Dwayne decided to do what he called jungle surgery.  Holding a carpet knife Dwayne explained to Kadizzle how he lanced the swollen pocket on his abdomen.  According to Dwayne it has now shrunk in size and all seems to be going well.  The people at the hospital must wonder where he disappeared to.

Captain Underwear fails to catch The Sneaker

After The Sneaker stole our generator last year Kadizzle has been determined to catch him.  This year The Sneaker has stolen one generator so far.  Kadizzle invested in high tech security lights that come on with bright LEDs when motion is detected.  Old Kadizzle went to bed early last night and the LEDs had just been re-positioned by The Commander.  Suddenly awaking from a very deep sleep Kadizzle heard a car quietly driving off and noticed the security lights were on.   The immediate thought was The Sneaker had been scared off.  Kadizzle went outside to see where The Sneaker would go.  As we now sit The Sneaker would have to come back towards us on a nearby road to escape the campground. Kadizzle thought about running up to the road to get a glimpse of The Sneaker.  It was at this point Kadizzle realized he was in his underwear and a T shirt.  Not a good set up for running through cactus at night in the desert.  Then the thought came to Kadizzle, there were no headlights heading anywhere.  That could only mean The Sneaker was down farther in the campground with his lights out hiding.  Ah, ha, thought Kadizzle he could get in the truck and catch The Sneaker.   After failing to find the multi million candle power boat searchlight Kadizzle jumped in the truck and headed down the road.  Shortly he came across an SUV with the back open and a man nearby.  Kadizzle asked the puzzled man if he had just driven into the camp ground.  The startled camper said yes he had.  It was clear this was the person who had set off the lights and he was clearly not the sneaker.  Now Kadizzle's brain slowly came out of the sleep fog.  First he realized it was only 11:00 P.M.   It was not Sneaker time.  Then it slowly sunk in that had Kadizzle confronted The Sneaker he was wearing only Walmart slummer shoes, a t shirt and his underwear.   Hopefully the next Sneaker attack will be met with better preparation.

First Sail of 2015

Today is more or less a rest day. Our friends invited us down to the lake to go in their Hobbie Trimeran, and their SeaEagle inflatable. Out to a bay we went for lunch.  The Hobbie is very unique.  You peddle the Hobbie.  Cissie and Barb were stuck with the traditional paddle boat. It is amazing how much more efficient peddling the Hobbie is. Whomever invented the system is a genius.  Under the boat are fins that work as a fish would.  It was amazing how much faster the Hobbie went than the traditional paddle boat would go.  It seemed like we could do 4 knots easy, and five or six was not that hard.

Do you have a flat tire? No, I am nuts.

If someone had met Kadizzle about a mile down the trail lugging a hydraulic car jack they would have wondered what the problem was, but there is an answer.  In the great trail maintenance adventure The Kadizzilites were assigned the task of replacing 8x8 timber steps.  To do this the old rotten steps had to be removed.  Roberto suggested using a hydraulic car jack like you see in gas stations.  The steps are pinned into the ground with rebar about three feet long.  By digging under the step and jacking it is possible to get the blasted rotten steps out.  After doing five steps Kadizzle lugged the jack back to the truck and called it a day.

Things at camp Bum More are under control  The bums put a brand new starter in Gary's truck and were flummoxed that it would not work.  Dwayne is a pretty good mechanic, and that much unsuccessful work stimulated his beer gland.  Dwayne was out of beer. Kadizzle was going to make a beer run for Dwayne when he went to the post office to pick up a package, but the package did not come in.  Dwanyne's van was have it's own electrical issues and he did not want to drive to town.  The good news is Gary cleaned the lead on the starter and now it is working.  So the sun is shinning on the bum mechanics.  Kadizzle had a bit of fun with the bums while they were working.  The Forest Service is relatively tolerant of the bum life style, but would not be real happy with two bums doing car repair.  In his new shinny Forest Service truck Kadizzle deliberately pulled up on the bums while they were doing mechanical work on Gary's bum wagon.  The bums thought they had been busted.  Both bums were relieved when they saw it was only Kadizzle.  Today will be a day off and the plan is to relax and enjoy.  No doubt a bee will get in The Commanders bonnet.  Just as this is written here comes The Commander.  The bee is in her bonnet, what luck it is a bee without a big stinger. The Commander actually has a good plan.  The Forest Service wants the milage by road to trailheads from their visitor center. The Commander is suggesting we drive to The Jug and get the distance.  If here plan comes to fruition, we will get work credit for the drive.  Stay posted and see how this adventure turns out.  The picture at the top is the Jug and if all works out we will be heading there today.

Commonality

Birds of a feather flock together.  So many of our winter friends have the same interest in common, sailing, biking, hiking, and traveling.  Jeff and Barb have done a lot of hiking with us lately.  The two Canadians have a trimeran they can peddle and spend a lot of time on the lake.  For easy lake access they parked right beside the water.  The lake is inching up and they had a problem. Their truck was gone for repair. Jeff asked Kadizzle to come down and move their trailer.  Kadizzle said sure, but it turned out the key for the hitch lock was with the truck.  As their veranda slowly disappeared the space around them shrank.  Yesterday they got their truck back so all is well.  We had a nice evening sitting by the water listen to some Canadian fold singers.  Jeff was amazed that The Kadizzlites had a vast knowledge of Canadian fold singers.

The Path to Success

Repairing the damaged trail involved a lot of shoveling, and pick swinging yesterday, but Kadizzle made some progress.  Later in the day the Kadizzilites met with our boss Dough.  We discussed having the Department of Corrections prisoners help with some of the work.  Arizona accomplishes a lot with these young guys, and ironically they young incarcerated workers enjoy being outside and doing something.  One of our problems on the trail is getting supplies a couple miles into the wilderness.  On trail work you eventually get to the point where half your work is walking to where you are going to work.  We  need to get some very big timbers to some steps and hopefully these guys can carry them in for us.

Trail Blazers

Burdened with a terrible cold Kadizzle hit the trails yesterday to make them safe for democracy.  On the edge of Lake Roosevelt Kadizzle punished the ornery flora and fauna that were encroaching on government right of way.  With a handsaw Kadizzle made many thorny bushes and weeds wish they had never thought about protruding into the land of the hiker.  Again today we head out with a full crew.  If all goes as planned earthwork is the theme.  It never rains in the desert, but when it does it does serious damage to the trails.  Fixing washouts will be the plan today.

The Thule Canyon Bust Through

A couple weeks back The Kadizzlites tried to make it from one end of Thule Canyon to the other.  About three quarters of the way it was impossible to go any further without a little technical climbing gear.  Not to be defeated attempt two took place yesterday with Jeff and Barb.  Changes in the canyon from recent rains were amazing.  On the first attempt we had to wade through a pool sixty feet long and three feet deep.  Now that same area is completely full of sand.  Rains had scrubbed some of the brush out of the canyon which was also nice.  Jeff and Barb were amazed by the magic of the place and how spectacular the rocks were.  They were slowed down by gazing and picture taking.

As the hike went on we got to the dare to be stupid part.  Our first obstacle we overcame with an aluminum chock block which we wedged in a crack above us.  By placing the chock in the crack and hooking our rope to it we could pull ourselves up the steeply sloping rock and make it to the next level.  From there things only got worse.  With some skillful rock scrambling we kept going.  This time we had a good idea how close to the end we were because Kadizzle had driven to the canyon entrance and made a GPS point before we started the hike.  Although we were within 1500 feet of the finish we contemplated giving up because it looked like we were trapped by a hopeless ravine with no way around.  As The Commander just said it was very useful having extra hands and eyes.  Jeff took one route and Kadizzle tried another route.  Briefly Kadizzle was trapped on a ledge.  With some jiggering the rest of the crew managed to get him off.  Jeff said that we needed to keep going or we would not have bragging rights.  So we pushed on and we could see the bust out was coming.  After a mile hike back on the road that parallels the canyon we were all happy to go back to beer, wine, and pizza.

Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude, Changes in Altitude

From 2,200 feet above the sea The Kadizzlites, with Jeff and Barb set out on our adventure to 7,400 feet.  Most of the gain was accomplished with the Tundra, but the last and best was done with the feet up Reynolds Creek.  Amazing that the transition from desert to mountain pines can happen so quickly.  The goal of the trip was to find Sieria Ancha Ruin V1:162.  Current PC is not to disclose the GPS points for ruins, so we had no hard data to go on.  Our only hope was to find the ruin from pictures of the area, and general descriptions.  Our mission failed, but we had one of the nicest hikes imaginable.  At our stopping point the view was incredible. In every direction we could see for miles and miles.

As usual we did not do our homework enough before we left. On return and re-examining the pictures it appears we were very close to the site when we stopped for lunch.  If the site is now where we think it is, there will be some difficult scrambling to get to it.  That is all saved for another day.

Another day, and another discovery.

The Commander and Kadizzle left their gated community and went down to Camp Bummore to check on everyone.  Had a long conversation with two older German women.  In their camper van they have been traveling the United States.  Unfortunately they chose to bring a Citroen van.  As one would expect of the Germans the interior was excellent and had the best layout one might imagine. No one in the United States services Citroen, so when the women had a problem in the middle of Utah they had a big problem.  The only nearby mechanic refused to even touch it.  Unbelievably they decided to ship it to a friend in Florida to have it fixed.  In Florida their German friend found one loose wire, and the problem was solved.  Soon they will put the van in a container and have it shipped to New Zealand.  The women had to get a ride to Salt Lake city to fly to Florida.  They were amazed by the bubbas that drove them.  The Utah bubbas in their pick up truck had matching his and hers side arms.  The woman's gun was pink.  The women were amazed how bad public transportation is in this country.

Later in the day Kadizzle set out for a cycle ride.  As he rode a path he had take before on the motorcycle he was able to go a littler farther.  At the end of the road Kadizzle saw some tell tale rocks. Could this be an Indian site?  Yes, it was.  It was a large site with a great view.  Searching the site there was not pottery shards.  This is something strange around here.  Two sites withing a mile of each other will be entirely different.  One will have pottery shards everywhere, and the other will be devoid of pottery shards.  How do you explain it?  It could be people picked one clean, but that is improbable.  Rain always brings new stuff up.  It might be that some of the sites had a different use and people did not live there. Just another mystery.

The Canadians

Kadizzle loves Canadians.  Tonight we had some good drinks with Canadian friends down by the boat ramp. We met them last year.  About 80 percent of our good friends in the winter are from Canada. The real invaders of Arizona are Canadians.  Canadians are much happier than Americans.  They enjoy their beer, and their national health care, they are not afraid to enjoy life and have nice vacations in Mexico and our country.  They don't have right wing radio, Fox News, and they get wars for a bargain because we pay the part of the cost.  The social safety net in Canada is so much better than ours.  They might bitch about paying taxes, but ask any one of them if they would switch countries, and they all say no.  They come down shop, vacation and live well. Meanwhile we give them a nice place to visit and work ourselves to death.  During 15 years traveling winters in the southwest, Kadizzle never recalls meeting an unfriendly Canadian. In fact Kadizzle has never met one anywhere.  They don't pack guns, they take it easy, they live life all their life. We could learn a lot from them. When our housing bubble burst they all came to AZ and bought up the cheap homes. The Canadians know how to cash in on our stupidity.   You never hear silly stump preachers in Canada, you don't have any Rush Limbaughs  in Canada.  The Canadians don't feel they have to be armed to the teeth.  So strange that we are number one in everything, but Kadizzle has not yet met a nasty Mexican, a nasty Costarican, or a a nasty Canadian.  Just about everyone in Ireland seemed nice but one guy, and he was drinking. So what makes people happy?  We meet so many nice people traveling.  Take away the job hassle, and give a person some freedom, and chances are they will be a nice person.

Recently another good friend just retired. She had a hell of a time giving up her job, but now only a month later she does not miss it one bit.  The same was true for old Gerty.  She worked for the phone company for a hundred years.  She just could not imagine not working, but once she got into the swing of retirement she loved it.  Old Kadizzle has been retired for almost 16 years.  At fifty it seemed strange to retire, but Kadizzle has never regretted it for a minute.  Sit in that little cubicle until you rot, but why?  The world is a big place, and you don't need that last nickel to make it enjoyable.  Even the bums here are happy.

Day Two

The Commander caught a bit of a cold at the Super Bowl party, but she is up for working today in our new career.  Yesterday we got off to a good start and cleared brush from about two miles of trails.  One problem occurred when we inadvertently worked in the wrong place.  What looked like the trail was not.  A sign is needed.

Getting up early and going to work is a whole new life style.  Thank God and Greyhound it is warm in the morning.  The camp host down at the Grapevine group camp area where we are working invited us to his spot for some roasted pecans.  It was a good treat and he had cooked them in a solar oven.  Which brings Kadizzle to the sun.  Then New York Times has a good article about the sun and it is worth reading.  The realization that we live at the mercy of a giant nuclear bomb makes one realize how fragile life on this planet is. Many stars like our sun pulse.  If our sun were to do so we would be history.  The energy put out by the sun is mind boggling.

The Commander keeps commenting on how good life is plugged into electricity.  It does bring to realization how much people depend on utilities.  We have no television, which is both good and bad.  Public Radio is our main connection with the world.

Take that you blasted cat claw

There are some nasty plants in the desert, and one of the worst is a bush called cat claws.  The damn things grab onto you and scratch you like crazy.  Also they tear your clothes.  Trying out my new career as a trail maintenance person yesterday Kadizzle took great pleasure in assaulting the little bastards.  The Pala Verde has some small stickers, but it grows so fast that you can see it growing.  Whacking those guys was also nice.  Vengeance on the nasty plants brings joy to Kadizzles heart, but those plants can talk and do have brains.  You might give one cholla a good wack and another one will hear it scream.  Next thing you know the buddy of the injured one fires a ball of needles into you.  In the desert it is a war of animals versus plants. The animals would like to eat the plants, and the plants would like to stab their swords as deep into the animals as possible.  Add to the mix some snakes, and scorpions, and the battle is on.  Old Kadizzle is not a desert rat by nature, so he does not always keep in mind the rattlesnake could be in any bush.  This time of year they are not too active and hopefully they are hibernating, but you cannot count on that.  So here we sit at 6:30 A.M.  about to embark on our first full day serving our country for free.  The Commander will pack us a lunch, and we will pick up our government truck to head off to the wilderness.  Stay tuned

Yesterday was a mini Christmas.  Kadizzle's new monocular came general delivery to the post office.  It will be a great addition to the hiking gear.  We have come a long way from the Pony Express.  Now you can order something from Amazon and have it delivered to your campsite in a day or so.  Yesterday at Camp Bummore the UPS was delivering truck parts to the bum racing team.  In 1929 during the great depression desperate people were living in cars and tents.  Today the relatives of the desperate are still living in cars and tents, but now they have digital cameras, laptops, solar lights, and the life of a bum is not all that bad.  Forgot to include the nice solar showers at Camp Bumore.   Kadizzle and The Commander have been availing themselves of the solar showers.  The recent stretch of sunny days have made the showers pleasant.  Since we are in an exclusive loop the showers get used by only a select group of idiots dumb enough to work for free.

Right up there.

Sun is shinning over my left shoulder.  As Kadizzle looks out the window to the south he sees in bright sunshine the ruins of ancient people up on the mountain side.  The Tonto National Monument in all its glory overlooks the valley we sit in.  What was it like when actual humans lived there?  They would be up early, maybe a little chilly today.  They would have to think about getting some water up there, and probably some food.  Down here they probably would have seen field growing their crops.  They would have seen the big platform mound they built to the East.  To the West they would have seen another of their platform mounds.  They might see smoke from all the occupied sites all around them as everyone starts the day.

Would people come from lower on the Salt River to bring them goods and trade with them?  Would they send people up into the mountains North of here to harvest some game?  Who was making all those pot shards that are now everywhere.  How many people where here?  Someone was regularly attacking these people. Who was it?  Was it other hungry close relatives? Was it people far from the North or South? Was it the Apaches who are now at the Walmart in Globe?  Turn the clock back 600 years and ask what happened on a sunny morning in February 600 years ago.  How did these people exist? What did they know? They never had a clue some people from Europe would show up and bring them the best diseases man could offer.  They never knew they would be tortured, killed, and driven from their land so some hopeless cattle could take their place.  Perhaps someday Earth will be invaded, and humans will be seen as an obnoxious weed.  The aliens will wipe us out and replace us with space buffalo.  Unless of course it turns out we are tasty.  We would be put on display in their stores meat counter and the alien butcher will say do you like white meat or dark meat?   An alien will see me on display and tell the butcher he is trying to avoid too much fat and perhaps he could have someone a little more lean.  All seems impossible, but lets not forget that the Spanish invaded Cuba and cut up the natives and cooked them.  Supposedly it was to fry Satan out of the, but who knows if they made stir fry.

Working for free is a very intensive process

Kadizzle is almost 66 years old.  During the course of his life he has worked many different jobs.  None has required more paperwork or time than volunteering to work for free for The Forest Service.  Not just anyone can work for free.  Nope, you have to have a background check to volunteer.  You have to take a defensive driving course, and take two paper test, one for a regular pickup, and another for a four wheel drive pickup.  Good thing Kadizzle took the test after he has been driving four wheel drive vehicles as part of his job for over forty years.  Naturally all of this is not enough, one must also pass an actual behind the wheel test.

This just scratches the surface.  Multiple forms must be filled out and signed by multiple people.  So far the process has been in process for over a month.  If god is willing and the creeks do not rise there is a good chance the Kadizzles will actually be able to work tomorrow.

The Kadizzle crew will be doing trail work.  Trail work will be anything from removing brush to documenting problems on the trails with washouts.  Since we do a lot of hiking it will work out well.  In exchange for our good deeds we will get a campsite with electricity, water, and sewer, a pair of gloves and a hat.

The whole process got the gears in Kadizzles mind churning.  Many people live their lives thinking about the so called welfare cheats that abuse the government.  Few people think about the people who are just the opposite of welfare cheats.  Billions of dollars in donated work has been done for everyone by volunteers The United States Government.  Yesterday Kadizzle walked into the Forest Service shop.  It was Sunday.  A man was there welding for free for The Forest Service.  In a conversation with the man he said he was a boiler maker.  The Forest Service needed a steel container for a set of portable outhouses.  It was a big project, and this man was working free on Sunday to do it.  If the tax payers had to pay this man the wage he would normally make with benefits on a Sunday, the sum would come to well over $60 per hour.  

As we travel we see middle class and poor people doing work for free for The United States Government.  Many of these people are getting social security, some type of disability payment, or some government subsidy.   These people are not welfare cheats, they are heroes.  We have one friend who is very wealthy. He is 80 years old, but he chooses to work very hard everyday for free cleaning up the mess inconsiderate people make at one of the parks on the Salt River Project.  

Foggy in Froggy Bottom

Going to bed Kadizzle checked the stars and found them working very well, so he figured today would bust onto the scene in all it's glory.  Waking up this was not the case.  Fog has enmeshed the local portion of the planet. Fog is unusual in the desert, but perhaps an interesting change.  The sun will burn the hell out of this fog and surely the day will be overflowing with sunshine.

At 9:00 we meet with Doug our new boss at the Forest Service.  We will be a trail crew of two.  An amazing amount of paper work is required to work for free.  No paid job Kadizzle ever held required the paper work it takes to work for free.  Also the rules are endless for working for free.  People are so worried the government will waste money, that the government waste a fortune doing paper work to make sure no money is wasted.

It is a different life having the amenities of the city far out in the boonies.  Kadizzle was almost looking forward to harvesting sunshine with the solar panels today, but it will not be necessary. No matter what all the electronic gizmos still have to be charged all the time.