The Bust Out

Here we go, the bust out is in progress.  Up early the goal is to get to Bismarck. Of course this being North Dakota the roads may be a problem.  Hopefully we can make it to the airport.  Road information is not coming across the radio from NPR so we are looking at the maps on the internet.  The information is sketchy, but will have to do. Getting stuck is not a good option.

As always there are dozens of little task, like shut off the water, the water heater and so on.  The real trick is not to forget something vital. Wait the guy on the radio is talking.  Maybe he will say something about the roads.  He is giving the weather, how about the roads.  Nothing, he said nothing about the roads.  Mrs. Kadizzle is still in her PJ's.   Getting Mrs. Kadizzle to actually blast off is a big job.  Each little detail has to be dwelt upon.  The house must be sparkling clean when we leave.  The garbage disposal has to be sanitary, the window blinds just right.  The obsession goes on.  The garbage can has to face the right direction.  Now, Mrs Kadizzle is inspecting my luggage.  The TSA right here in my kitchen.  Now she is going to repack my grab bag.  This is how things get messed up. Kadizzle puts something in his luggage and Mrs Kadizzle takes it out.

So keep up to date, see if the next epistle comes from AZ, or will we be stuck in the winter wonderland?

Stillness at the Crazy Club.

As the sun shines in the windows of the crazy club Shinny tells Mr. and Mrs. Kadizzle about the slow shopping season in Hazen.  Snow has plugged up the town and the dollars cannot get out to be sewn into the economy.  So the crazy club has been still.  Stoupini is in Port Townsend, and even the gossip has come to a halt.  Shinny said the Christmas cookies needed to be eaten so Kadizzle plowed into them.  The Crazy Club may shut down for January.  Crazy people will be roaming the streets with no where to go.  Wait, that has always been the case.

Cliff is out hiking today with the new boss in AZ.  Little Mike has been worn down and is taking a break.  Mrs Kadizzle will kick some ass and the loppers will be in the hands of the choppers next week. 

Will it flood in Hazen this spring?  With the huge piles of snow everywhere the chances of water problems seem good.  If the perfect disaster comes look out.  If the ground is frozen, full of moisture, and it warms up too quickly rivers will run.  If Montana sends a good load the lake will come up and the good ship will be able to get into the back bays.

Trusting experience

Has this happened to you? Someone tells you to do something that seems wrong, dangerous, or just not right, and what do you do?  Kadizzle remembers one of these experiences with Kee Chee.  Kee Chee was an old Indian in Canyon De Chelly.  Strangely Kadizzle met the niece of Kee Chee about two months ago some 20 years after Kadizzle went up the canyon with Kee Chee.

Kee Chee was an Indian guide. You cannot go into the canyon unless you hire a guide. Kee Chee told Kadizzle to drive into the river.  This was a bit strange, but Kadizzle thought we would cross the river in the Toyota Tundra.  No, Kee Chee told Kadizzle to turn and drive up the river.  This seemed wrong.  Kadizzle inquired with Kee Chee if indeed he heard him correctly.  Chee explained that the bottom of the river was perfectly flat and all sand.  It appeared to be that way.  So in about two inches of water we drove up the river with no problems.  Must have been an old Indian trick.  Kee Chee said you could not drive up the river if it was dry you would sink in the sand. Everyone has seen this phenomenon at the beach.

So what is the point?  Well sometimes in life you have to just trust someone.  Of course many times this may go wrong.  How do you decide who to trust?  It is strange that often we trust people we do not know more than someone we have known a long time.   When you get on a plane you trust the pilot, who may have just come from a bar, but you trust him.  Doctors are the most dangerous people in general to trust.

Once upon a time Kadizzle was a student in college in West Virginia.  Two dolts paid by the college led out outdoor recreation class.  The dolts took us on a trip to Cooper's Rocks to repel the 900 ft rock face.  Now the two dolts had talked a good game, and Kadizzle assumed the dolts had some actual repelling experience.  At the top of the repel Kadizzle was a bit concerned about the tree the dolts were using for an anchor, but figured the dolts must know what they are doing.  One of the dolts was a pretty fat guy.   Kadizzle asked the fat guy leader if he was going to go down the repel line next.  This is when the fat guy who was telling everyone how to do it replied, " No, I have never done this before".   The dolts had just read about repelling, and only knew what was in the book.  The fat dolt said he was scared just standing there.  Kadizzle went down the rock face, and the dolt teaching the class climbed back down the trail.  So the moral of the story is the old line about don't assume anything.

Every six months

The doctoring is done and the news is good.  Old Kadizzle will continue on the planet.  The good news is the PSA is at zero, which means either the prostate cancer is gone or it cannot find a new home.  In a body this size it should be able to find a new home, of course it may not want to live in a fat neighborhood.

Saturday morning the laws of physics will lift us into the air and we will head to Arizona.  Just imagining the door of the plane opening into 55 degree weather is a comforting thought.  Once back at the Earth Module there will be no more television, good sound system, or snow.  Long hot showers will be a thing left in Hazen.  The humming birds will no doubt be glad to see us and we will be able to hear the coyotes under the window.

Coal Mining Blues

Coal Mining Blues.  Kadizzle started his career way back when Kentucky didn't have any union men.  Not really, but it seems that long ago when Kadizzle used to get up from bed at night, and get ready for the midnight shift.  Way up the little valley in the hills past Benwood  Kadizzle would head to the mine.  The mine was just a change house, some small offices, and mainly a shaft.  As mines progress new shafts are put down to get people to work.  Otherwise you would spend a lot of time riding underground just to get to where you will remove the coal.  Kadizzle can remember so well sitting in the cool evening air waiting to hop on the elevator and go down to the mine.  All the miners sat around dressed in filthy cloths with their headlamps on. Coal mines run on time.  If you are not at the bottom of that shaft when the man trip comes you don't get another chance. Just go home unpaid.  Kadizzle was always amazed by the elevators that took miners down to the depths.  The amazing thing is they are identical to elevators in a big office building.  The inside of the elevator is a nice stainless steel finish and the button panel is just the same. Only one problem, you do not get to select the floor you will get off on.  There is only one button, and that takes you to the basement.  In the basement it is a whole different world. The mantrip is there to take you back into the mine where the coal is cut.  Eight hours later you emerge, go up the elevator, and try to wash the coal dust off.  It never works. Your body is permeated with coal dust.  In the shower room you scrub, and scrub, but when you go  to the bar people know you are a coal miner by the raccoon eyes you have from the coal dust under your eyelids.

Festivus

Today is scheduled for the great Festivus celebration.  Festivus will require a lot of work.  Snow is piled everywhere.  Just getting down to the creek will be a lot of shoveling.  More firewood needs to be gathered, but if all goes well the celebration will go forward.

Ticklepinch is stuck out in the country with her mom, and dad, so who knows it may just be the old Grandparents.  The deck has snowed in again and the big question is can the garbage truck make it down the street.

This is the first year in twenty years the Kadizzles put up a real Christmas tree.  Taking it down should be relatively simple.  Perhaps Kadizzle can convince the boss to toss it in the Festivus fire today.

Before long we will head back to the warm life in Arizona.  No more endless hot showers and a few other amenities will be missed, but warm sunlight  is a fair trade.  No television in the wild.  That is a good thing. Sleeping with the windows open, a good thing.  No noise, the silence of the desert.

Waves of snow

Well boys and girls we are awake in North Dakota.  Ah, yes, a blizzard.  So look out the window.  Mate is going nuts worrying about one blizzard thing and another.  Her favorite is worrying about the vent for the furnace plugging.  Next she just transferred that thinking to the dryer vent.  The front door is just about the same height as the drift in front of it.  The back porch Kadizzle just cleaned a few days ago is back to it't original condition.

Inside coffee is brewing, and NPR is blasting on the radio.  Festivus is scheduled for Tomorrow and the dig out will take a massive effort.  The wood pile is not high enough and more wood will be needed.

There will be nothing like the year we are about to enter.  A crazy man has been elected president.  Trump is so unpredictable it is hopeless to figure what he will fix or mess up.  It is like going to the monkey cage at the zoo.  Of  course the old Trumpster has put his other favorite monkeys in the cage with him.  Giving an insane, egotistical, delusional, man control of nuclear weapons, the economy, and congress is going to be a sled ride we will not forget.  Most of us have tried controlling a drunk, now we will have a man drunk on power.  If we are lucky he will play golf and let lesser idiots try to manage the government.

Sometimes good things can accidentally happen.  What if an old abandoned building burns down in the middle of town.  If a new building or park takes it's place the tragedy was not so bad.  Trump could have the effect of educating people.  Sometimes a car wreck inspires people to drive safely.  Right away we will see the brakes come off as the Republicans try to destroy years of social progress as fast as they can. The current plan calls for throwing as many people into poverty as possible.  Tax breaks for the rich in and of themselves can accomplish this, but old Trump will include the destruction of social security and medicare.  The poor white trash that voted for the Donald will have fun once the food stamps evaporate.  Starving granny by taking away her social security will be fun to watch.  The military gang will be provided with so much money and so many new toys their heads will spin with joy. Christmas will be every day at the Pentagon.  We are only days away from the beginning of the Apocalypse.  But then again, maybe the trainers can restrain the monkey.  Maybe some Republicans will see the disaster Trump will try to bring on and stop it.  Maybe it will just take a little longer for the Republican party to implode than people think.  It will be a good show, and we will all have a front row seat.

Mazatal Wilderness

About a week ago the trail crew hopped in the Forest Service Truck and set out to check the Deercreek trailhead in the Mazatal Wilderness.  Once you leave the four lane highway that leads from Phoenix to Payson you are suddenly in a different world.  The Forest Service provides us with a 3/4 ton truck, which is too big for some of the roads that hang on cliffs in the Mazatal Wilderness.  Cissie was a bit apprehensive, but old Kadizzle is an experienced hillbilly road driver and cut his teeth on the mud roads of West Virginia.  Last year the Forest Service turned us around at the last minute when we started to venture back into the outback.   As we drove out there this year Kadizzle could see they made a good decision last year.  Once that road gets wet or snow it would be hopeless.  The Forest Service said last year they did not want to have to rescue us.  This year the road was dry and the surface was fine.  Once we made the 17 mile journey we finally came to the end of the road at the trail head.  Our supervisor had sent us on this mission because he received a report of trees down on the trail.  Sure enough there were plenty of trees on the trail.  Kadizzle used the huge handsaw and dealt with the first tree.  The second tree was a different story.  Cliff and Kadizzle struggled for over an hour to dislodge the tree from the trail.  Since the Forest Service does not permit any motorized equipment in the wilderness we could not simply use a chain saw and cut the tree.  Instead we improvised.  With rocks and a lever and inch by inch we moved the tree.  It was a big tree.  Well if the roads have not iced up or the snow has not fallen when we get back to Arizona we may attack the trail once more.  This time we will take a few extras tools like a winch and a hydraulic jack.

Ticklepinch

Ticklepinch spent the night at the other Grandpa's so old Kadizzle awoke to a calm home.  Yesterday the little neutron ate a couple Christmas cookies and it was game on. Kadizzle had to chase, tickle, and rumble with Sylvie for hours.  Then the time finally came to open the presents.  The little princess was delighted with what she got, but she has no idea the surprise she is in for when she gets home.  For months Sylvie has been begging for a set of gymnastic bars.  So parents and grandparents with weak willpower submitted and the gym set is in the basement back home.  If it wears the energy bug down it will be worth the insane price.  The energy bug inherited a few things from Granny.  The nuclear power is one of the genetic gifts from granny.  Sylvie has endless energy and strength.   Hiking up in the mountains is no problem for this kid.  Also the girl inherited her grannies fascination for the weather.  So grandma got her a little weather station that will constantly tell her the temperature outside.

Old Kadizzle was not as fortunate as the young Sylvie.  A family with nine children has limited resources, but God must have had a heart.  Kadizzle had an Aunt Agnes that worked with her husband at a famous toy factory.  Does it get any better than having an aunt and uncle that work at a toy factory.  One thing that would happen before Christmas was a trip to Aunt Agnes basement.  There one would see a marvelous display of toys.  Somehow Agnes keyed in on what opened your eyes the widest.  Magically those toys would appear under the tree Christmas morning.

As Hazen experiences a blizzard it will be hard to motivate Kadizzle to go out on the creek and gather more firewood for Festivus, but only time will tell if he becomes brave enough to go out today.

New Hat under developement

Now more than ever our country needs a good tin foil hat. The market research department of Kadizzle enterprises realized there is a strong demand for tin foil hats since the Trump election.  Several models are under consideration.  First is the Trump hat with " Make America Great Again" on it.  The problem is where to put the tin foil, as a liner, or on the outside?  This version would look like the typical baseball cap.  Another version being considered is the Klan style which simply comes to a point.

The hats are expected to sell well to the right wing crowd.  A lot of crazy ideas are floating around in the heads of the Trump crowd.  The trick is to keep them in.  Also many Trump supporters fear information may penetrate their skulls which makes them feel like they made a big mistake.  The hat will keep that information out.

Now that Trump is considering starting a nuclear arms race the hat should protect wearers from the radiation that is sure to flourish.

Eloise.

Grandpa and Ticklepinch are having a great time watching Eloise.  Eloise reminds Grandpa so much of Sylvie.  So here we sit in Hazen enjoying the freezing 4 degrees.  Fran cooked up a wonderful meal for everyone at the Bodine country home.  Bodines are slowly pouring in.  It is not unusual for 24 people ot be staying in their home for Christmas.  Of course they have the mother of all dinners.  It takes a couple of big tables end to end to seat everyone, and massive amounts of food is cooked and consumed.  We ran into Peggy at the grocery store with a cart overflowing with food.

Peggy is Fran's mom, and one of Kadizzle's heroes.  Peggy is a staunch Catholic, but she would correct the Pope if she thought he was wrong.  On several occasions Peggy has corrected the priest in her church after a sermon.  Peggy plays the piano in church, so she is in the ideal position to spread the gospel according to Peggy.  Before the election the priest had the audacity to promote Trump for president.  After finishing her song on the piano Peggy got up and gave the Democratic view to the congregation.  This is not the first time Peggy has pointed out that God is not a Republican too the congregation.

Well got to go now,  Eloise is locked in a locker in the basement and the marraige she is trying to stop looks like it is going forward.  The tension is building.

Undetectable.

Undetectable, ah what a good word.  The PSA check today said there were no detectable antigens.  Now, that is good news for Kadizzle, and perhaps a curse for the rest of the world.  Once you get the dreaded cancer you live in six month increments.  The nasty little cancer cells may be roaming your body looking for a new home.  Discrimination is good in this case. Most neighborhoods will not welcome the cancer cells, however the little devils are clever. Once they realize they are getting no where, then they may decide that a disguise is needed. This is called mutation.  So all it takes is one cell getting smart and the game is on again. So far so good.  We all have to die from something, and Kadizzle would prefer something besides cancer.  Kadizzle has always wished to die from acute prosperity.   Unless lightening strikes that will be unlikely, and anyway we don't really lack for anything.

So here we sit in the arctic shoveling snow for entertainment.  The little Ticklepinch is back for Christmas and should show up within the hour.  The young gymnast is out at the other grandpas right now.  Sylvie has been pleading for an expensive gymnastics bar to work out in her basement.  Between the grandparents and the regular parents it looks like it will happen. Sylvie is so full of energy it should be a great investment. As is it seems impossible for her to stay upright. Constantly she is doing a cartwheel or a handstand.  If the gift manages to drain her down to a reasonable energy level it may be a good investment.  Granny is the one that put the energy gene into little Ticklepinch. Granny must be hiking, biking, or doings some physical activity every moment of the day.  Grandpa on the other hand has perfected idleness.

Hopefully grandpa will get enough gumption to start preparing for Festivus.  It appears there is a lot of snow on the creek and a lot of shoveling will be required.  Then there is the wood to gather. Over the past years we have burnt the easy stuff, so wood may have to be dragged a long way.  Well maybe tomorrow will bring enough good weather to make a go of it.

Johnny, a remarkable man

Up the street so to speak lives Johnny.  By up the street Kadizzle means two camp sites to the East.  Johnny lumbered in about a month ago in his old motor home that looks like it has fought many battles.  Johnny is 87 and has probably shrunk by several inches.  Johnny doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and to top it off he is a good liberal.  Johnny comes down from Alaska in his motor home to spend the winter at Lake Roosevelt.  There is something unique about Johnny and that is why the Forest Service values Johnny.  Johnny was there when the 40 million dollars was spent to build the place.  Johnny knows where every wire and sewer line runs, and he remembers.  Johnny is a portable set of blue prints.  So the employees can put Johnny in the truck and drive anywhere with confidence they can dig down and hit a pipe where Johnny says it is.

On just about any day Johnny will drive by ten times suffering from boredom.  Johnny has a little white poodle or whatever it is named Bessie. Bessie rides beside Johnny with her paws on the dashboard or her head out the window.  Bessie knows English as a second language.  In the summer Johnny loves to fish for salmon, which he brings down for everyone.  We had a great salmon dinner courtesy   of Johnny.

What set Kadizzle on this train of thought was how much Johnny contributes.  At 87 you cannot swing an axe or dig with a shovel, but the other day Kadizzle went into the shop and there was Johnny.  Johnny was straightening up, and sorting bolts.  How many people do you know 87 that are volunteers and get their ass out of bed and go work for the greater good.  Johnny is the only one Kadizzle knows.  May my old girlfriend who is 93 has a lot of spark.  She is in the nursing home, and having a good time harassing everyone while no doubt she is cackling up a storm. Kadizzle does not plan to live so long, but if he does maybe he can have the energy of Johnny, or May. 

Polar Bears looking in the window

Back in the arctic it seems like any minute a polar bear might peer in the window.  Walking out to board the tiny cigar tube in Denver that brought us to Bismarck we had our first taste of the white powder.  Of course in Bismarck the roads were terrible and snow was blowing.  No in a mood to have a crash Kadizzle drove like what he is, and old man.

The house in Hazen just does not want to warm up.  After huffing and puffing the furnace struggled to get the house up to 63 degrees.  No more walking out the door at night in underwear to water the flowers.  No more roasting in the sun reading The New Yorker.  Humming birds will not be coming to the feeder at the window.

Now our task will be to buy unnecessary crap for Christmas and prepare for Festivus on the creek.  Of course as we sit here having coffee the assistant is still going through tons of mail that came while we were gone.  A few nice surprises like checks out of nowhere, and of course all kinds of nickle and dime bills.  By Thursday the little Ticklepinch will be here jumping around like a wild Mexican jumping bean.

Mate has been obsessed with buying a home in Payson, Arizona.  Being at the only home we do have Kadizzle realizes what a big yard we have after seeing houses placed on postage stamps in Arizona.  Space around a home is nice.  Our view back in Arizona is unbeatable.  We look out over the lake and mountains, and if one was a little inventive you could see the cliff dwellings behind us.  Now we see a white sheet of snow in every direction.  In about an hour Kadizzle will have his first taste of the winter blast.

What could possibly go Wrong? A Trump voter finds out.

The window was open all night and it went down to a terrible 39 degrees.  Sleeping in cold air is great.  Tomorrow we can sleep at the insane temperatures in North Dakota if we please.  Mate is in the midst of purchasing a gift for the holiday season.

Now a thought has trickled into the brain of Kadizzle.  What happens when you set out to do something and get a result you never dreamed of?   Today we are all awake in a country that elected Donald Trump.  This video will make you pee your pants laughing, but it illustrates so well what Trump voters have done. Things go terribly wrong for a Trump voter

Just an Update

Wind rarely blows here, but it is currently going nuts. The salvation is the temperature is in the fifties.  The Forest Service Christmas party was yesterday, a lot of good food, and the big boss was following his tradition of playing Christmas carols on the violin.  Also the strange gift exchange took place.  Each person picks a gift from under the tree, one person at a time.  The exchange system allows anyone to steal the gift from the person.  A gift can be stolen three times, then it is out of play.  If someone steals your gift, you take theirs, and on it goes.  The Kadizzles got a very nice gift, but it was stolen, and we ended up with maple syrup.  The process is complicated, but you get the idea.  What a tradition stealing at Christmas time.

The Christmas party is a chance to meet all the people who work for the Forest Service in the Tonto Basin. People range from fire fighters to volunteers.  People from every background are involved. We even have a Canadian volunteer.

On Monday the Kadizzles will return to the frozen north.  It will be shocking to say the least. Natives of this area have no clue what real cold is.  The rain and perhaps some snow on the mountains may get the streams running.  One of the great sights here is running water falls, etc.

Mate and Cliff will go to Globe.  Mate wants to buy some gifts from the Pickle Barrel.  Yesterday Cliff came over and we had a dominoes tournament.  Cliff turned out to be the champ.  We need to revive the Mexican Train domino game that is traditional among RV people. `

A few things I believe

Maybe you don't want to read this blog anymore.  Posted below is something Kadizzle ran across on Facebook.  It pretty well sums up a lot of Kadizzle's belief's.  Anyone who wants is welcome to oppose or try to change my beliefs.  There is one requirement, you must present me with scientific data, mathematical proof, or a compelling logical argument.  Otherwise Kadizzle intends to stick to the beliefs listed below.  Click on the picture to make it larger and more readable.

Deep in the Mazatal Mountains

Yesterday the trail crew got up early.  Driving into the Mazatal mountains is an undertaking.  The Forest Service provides us with a 3/4 ton Dodge Ram Truck.  The road into the Mazatal trail heads we wanted to reach is not much wider than the truck and a great deal of the road hangs on a cliff.  As Kadizzle drove the 20 miles into the mountian on the treachous road he thought " What in the hell happens if someone comes the ?".   Someone would have to back up. Going backwards on a cliff edge in a truck too large would not be good.  No one came, so we made it without incident.  The scenery was staggering.  It has taken Kadizzle years to realize just how rugged the Arizona mountains really are.  Kadizzle has traveled just about all of the U.S. including parts of Alaska.  There are many large mountains, but the ones in Arizona are vast and like saw teeth.  Last year when our crew tried to go back into the Mazatals the head of the fire crew quickly put an end to it.  Kadizzle understood why when we made the trip yesterday.  Yesterday the road was dry and the gate was open. Last year the gate was locked and we had to get the combination to go in.  Water or snow on that road would mean suicide.  So yesterday's lesson was never go there unless you have perfect conditions.

When we got to the trail head after a long scenic ride we found where someone cached water for the Arizona trail.  Back in this wilderness you quickly realize how brave and determined hikers on the Arizona trail are.  The people that hike that trail are by themselves miles and impossible miles from any kind of help. You cannot even land a helicopter in there.  At the trail head a flyer was posted about a man that disappeared in 2010.  The man's car was found, but the man has never been found. The flyer asked people to look for any remains of the man or his equipment.

Cliff and Kadizzle undertook the task of clearing some logs from the trail.  The first log was easy.  The second log required every kind of inventiveness we could muster.  Using only natural materials to make a lever, rocks and fallen trees were used to move the large tree that was over one hundred feet long.  After about an hour and a half we finally moved the tree from the trail.

One more time

Five A.M. once more.   One of the first things done in the Earth Module is the heat puff.  The Earth Module crew sleeps with the windows open, so the Earth Module is about 45 degrees when the crew awakes.  Heat from the furnace, the stove making coffee, and the electric heater all contribute to the heat pufff.  The Heat puff quickly gets the little Earth module up to 55 or 60.  Next Mate has to get the sandwiches made while Kadizzle get's his second update and gradually reaches an acceptable level of consciousnesses.

The Trail crew had dinner together last night.  Originally the plan was to have pizza, but the damn pizza place was closed so we had to go to the Butcher Hook to eat.  Cliff and Little Mike had liver and onions. Kadizzle took enough biology to know the liver is like an oil filter for an animal.  Kadizzle is not about to cut the oil filter out of an animal and fry it with onions.

Today it seems Cliff, wants to still get the Oak Flat trail done.  At this point that is the plan.  The plan may change when we are all in the truck.  This whole excursion takes about forty miles of rumbling on dirt roads.  Who in the hell made all the dirt roads all over the mountains of the southwest?  Making a road in the mountains is no easy task .   People must have been on a desperate search for lumber or minerals.  Only a jeep could have gone on most of the roads when they were at their best.

Little Mike has one of those breathing machines that pump air into him at night.  He is trying to run the thing on solar and his generator.  Hopefully he had a better night last night.  Yesterday he complained he had to get up in the middle of the night and start his generator.

On the motorcycle ride the other day Cliff and Kadizzle encountered a rancher.  Kadizzle inquired about the wildlife.  According to the rancher there are a lot of bear, and mountain lions around here.   Kadizzlle cannot figure why we never see any.  We have only seen one bear in six years.  Cliff and Little Mike said they saw a good mountain lion paw print up on Campaign Creek.  Shortly we will bust out the door, go over to the visitor center, trade the Toyota for the Government Truck, pick up Little Mike at his encampment, and be on our way up the mountain once again.  It will take us until 8:30 to get up there.  The Forest Service bunch all have the habit of starting work very early.  The big cheese will be in his office prior to our arrival and so will a few more.  They like to get to work in the early day to avoid the blasting heat.  This is essential in the summer, but in the winter it is just a carry over habit.  Hi, ho, ho, it is off to work we go.

Update on the Mountain.

Little Mike has never been in the mountains before and he was thrilled to ride to the top of the Four Peaks and hike down today on the trail crew.  Kadizzle went up from the bottom and worked on the footpath while Mate, Cliff, and Little Mike came down from the top.  It is a lot of hard work and the crew 63, 67,67, and 70 had to give in about 1:30.  Although Kadizzle thought he had the bases covered with the phone for communications, he forgot one critical connector.  So we tried the satellite communication system we carry. It worked, but all crew members need to practice.  It is not easy to type one letter at at time, and the navigation on the DeLorme could be better.

So now the crew will embark for pizza in Tonto Basin.  The pizza is good, but little Mike is finicky, Kadizzle will gobble it down with the help of Little Joey.  A pitcher of beer might be in order.  Cliff, and Mate claim they want to go back up to the top and do another day.   Tomorrow or tonight we will have to decide.

The weather here has been fantastic and it is hard to be homesick for North Dakota, but we will be back in the land of the protest, or the fight against the Black Snake as the warriors call it by Sunday.

A friend of Mrs. Kadizzle was killed today in a plane crash in Moab.  Sad to hear about.  The man was a professional pilot who sometimes hauled freight.  In the course of making an emergency landing he hit a power line.  Mate just recently went repelling with the Moab crew which included the pilot.  So life goes on and you never know what will happen next.

Assault on the Mountain.

We are up very early.  Sandwiches are being made, coffee is being consumed. The plan has not yet congealed.  The incomplete plan is to drive up to the top of Four Peaks as early as we can.  There we will discharge either two or three people.  Whomever gets assigned the task will hike from the top to the bottom of the Oak Flat trail. If God is willing the brushing on the trail will get done today.  Little Mike has never been up to the top and will surely be thrilled with the hike.  Big Mike more than likely will be the pickup man at the bottom.  The sun will not be up for another hour.  A goal of the trail crew has been to get the Oak Flat trail done. It may happen today.   Stay tuned for the outcome.

Old Man rides motorcycle to the top of Everest

Cliff and Kadizzle busted our way to the top of the mountain.  The good old Yamaha took Kadizzle to the top of about 7,000 foot mountain.  It was a nasty, nasty ride. An earlier attempt failed, but that was with the old tires. Jeff said the new tires would make a big difference and he was right.  At one point the cycle shot off the road, but the recovery was successful.  The blasted road was so steep it was just as bad going down.  The trouble going down on the loose gravel and loose big rocks is a disaster because in first gear the rear wheel locks up.  Second gear is too fast and the cycle tends to stall.

The view from up there is spectacular. Below is a crash picture from last year.

Things could get worse

The Day Unfolds

Normally we are up at 5 A.M.  Today the gang did not get out of bed until daylight.  Sunday is off to a start with two cups of coffee.  Kadizzle wandered over to Cliff's for the morning bullshit session.  Now the big problem, what to do?  Cliff wants to go for a ATV ride into the mountains.  Kadizzle would not mind doing the same.  The problem is how to provide transportation for the princess.  Cliff is returning from his morning foray to the work-site restroom.  Mate just popped out the door to consult with Cliff.

The real estate hunt in Payson never ends.  Yesterday we were going to purchase a lot for sure, today Mrs. Kadizzle is considering a condominium.  So it goes.

Spent a good part of yesterday sprucing up the "Yard".   Yard work in Arizona involves destroying weeds and grass trying to come up through the rock.  In our little Shangrala overlooking the lake we must keep up appearances for the neighbors.  Can't spell Shang gra la.  So just live with it.  The spell checker does not have a clue.  Mate has been talking about camping out on the ground as part of our trail work.  There has not been a lot of enthusiasm.

Everyday we work with hand tools, loppers, rakes, hand saws, and other trail tools.  Can you imagine Donald Trump working?  It would probably be a good bet that the Donald has not touched anything with a handle except a toilet in his life.

A path to Freedom

Roberto wanted the Trail Crew to put an abandoned overgrown path back into service.  So Kadizzle and Mate armed themselves with some serious tools and continued to blast and hack the salt cedar trees that were overtaking the path.  Paths are interesting, often they go somewhere, sometimes they go nowhere, and sometimes they take you back where you started.

Mate wants to launch on a new path.  She wants to buy a lot in Payson and build a house. Seems late in life to build a new home, but such is life.  The blizzards in North Dakota are making it unlivable.  Payson is at an elevation that makes the hot summers in Arizona more tolerable.  In theory one could live in Payson comfortably most of the year.  Payson is surrounded by national forest, so land is at a premium.  A lot about the size of the one we have in Hazen will go for twelve times what we paid for the lot in Hazen.  The house and lot in Hazen combined were less than what they want for a lot in Payson.  Inflation and the New World Order account for the increase.

The big question is what will happen to the economy?  Will it nose dive when the insanity starts full bore in Washington, or will it do OK as people figure we will just have to live through the insanity?   The Southwest is plagued with water shortages.  It will only get worse.  According to the Payson propaganda Payson will be OK.  Payson has access to a mountain reservoir which is supposed to insure plenty of water for the gulf courses.  In fact they have a plan to waste some water just to prove the point.  Water is one thing, fire is another.  You can stay in North Dakota and freeze to death or you can go to Arizona and burn to death with no water.  Of course our new regime says no problem.  There is no climate problem, the tree huggers just made it all up.  Tell that to the polar bears.

Cheer Up

Shanika called from North Dakota to complain that the Kadizzle Blog was too depressing yesterday, so perhaps today we need Cheer Up news.  Well we are snug as a bug in the rug in the Earth Module.  Up at five A.M.  Mate is making the coffee the heaters warmed the joint up quickly.  No doubt the sun will be out and it will warm up nicely.   The crew will gather and we will continue to restore the trail at the Vineyard Picnic Area.

Cheech is in her new home in Philadelphia and her company had the mother of all Christmas parties with acrobats swinging from the ceiling.  Sylvie hit the jackpot once again when Kadizzle's sister Patty sent Sylvie a package of artist supplies.  No one live the gifted life little Sylvie does.  As an only child with too many adoring relatives Sylvie need only snap her fingers and her desire is fulfilled.  On top of this her mom is a soft touch along with her dad.

So sadness or depression is only a state of mind.  Being healthy is a good starting point.  Awakening there was no pain, and all bodily functions seemed normal.  Being happy is always helped by something good to look forward to. Mate is making peanut butter and banana sandwiches which will be great for lunch. Next week we head home to celebrate Festivas the holiday for the rest of us.  The Festivas celebration will be held on the creek by the house as usual.  Everyone is invited.  As usual the Festivas celebration will involve a huge fire built on the ice.  Building a fire on ice seems counter productive, but the symbolism is important.  One would think the fire would melt the ice and put itself out.  This does not happen.  The fire burns for hours.  The lesson is you can never predict how things will turn out.  So here we go heading toward 2017.  Who knows how the new experiment with an insane man for president will turn out, but let us be optimistic.

Hard to be Motivated

Yesterday Mate and Kadizzle took on a task.  Roberto asked the trail crew to re-establish some trails by a roadside picnic area.  First we tried to find where the old trail went, then we proceeded to clear the brush and re-make the foot path.  Whacking away at nasty thorns and bramble bushes the mind began to churn.  Why was Kadizzle cutting his arms to shreds to clear a trail Donald Trump and the Republicans would do everything in their power to destroy?  How many people have fought and are still fighting for clean air, clean water,  decent neighborhoods, and all the things good only to have Trump destroy them?  Trump wants to get rid of public lands.  Public lands are what we work on every day so everyone can enjoy them, not just the rich.. Trump wants to destroy the EPA.  The EPA makes the rivers clean enough so you can swim in them, drink the water from them, and allow them to be used for fishing, irrigation, and recreation.  Trump wants to destroy HUD.   Making the poor live in misery does no one any good.  Creating poverty creates crime.

How are you going to motivate volunteers when you have a government that is only concerned about a select few?  How do you motivate people to do work when the government itself is trying to destroy what you seek to accomplish?  The amazing thing is the shear spectrum of what Trump wants to destroy.  Trump has appointed a woman who wants to destroy public education and replace it with charter schools.  Charter schools really mean crazy religious schools, don't kid yourself.  What parent will try to work to provide for the public schools while Trump's gang tries to destroy them?  What about teaching kids science, and about ecology?  When the president appoints people who simply do not believe in science to run the government, how do you teach kids scientific facts, and scientific research?   How do you teach Boy Scouts to be honorable people when you have a president that lies at every whim?  How do you accomplish anything when for a role model you have a greedy, self centered, narcissist running the country?  On and on it goes.  Everything that has gone forward will now be set back by years.  Very sad.

Writing Quickly

Kadizzle does not get paid for this BS.  The net result is some pretty quick typing, and mistake making.  This morning Kadazzle read what he wrote yesterday.  It was the first review.  The writing seemed like it had been done by someone who has English as a second language.  A little editing would not hurt.

Today it will only be Kadizzle and Mate on the crew. Cliff and Little Mike wore themselves out yesterday on Campaign Creek.  The plan today so far is to go up the Tule Trail and put up a Forest Service sign.  As the day goes on the plan may change.

Parachute operation a scuccess

Yesterday the trail crew of three headed up to Peter Bigfoot's and Campaign creek trail.   After a session with Mr. Bigfoot whereby we put in an order for vegetables we headed up the trail.  The mission had sent Cliff on the bypass trail.  Little Mike and Big Mike went the other way and made the stop at Bigfoot's.   The arrangement was to meet Cliff where the trails rejoined.  Time went on and Cliff did not show up.  With a little concern Little Mike was sent back down the bypass trail to find Cliff.  Big Mike went ahead clearing as he went.  Too much time went by and neither Cliff nor Little Mike caught up.  Big Mike began to be concerned something might have happened to Cliff.  While all this was doing on suddenly one then another well armed helicoptered came down the steep valley at treetop level.  It seemed to be a maneuver to keep from being detected.  In the valley the silence is so suddenly broken by low flying aircraft.

Well our crew finally got back together when Kadizzle hiked back and found Cliff and Little Mike.   Cliff said the bypass was heavily overgrown and he got slowed down way more than we had expected.  After clearing about to miles of trail we headed back to Bigfoots.   Bigfoot has a nice orchard with an incredible variety of fruit trees.   Kadizzle had no idea pomegranates would grown in Arizona, but there was a whole tree of ripe pomegranates.  Little Mike had never seen or eaten one, so we picked a ripe one for him.  Bigfoot harvested some nice lettuce, Kohlrabi carrots, and beets.  Later Cliff made a nice salad. Kadizzle dipped some carrots in peanut butter.  So that was the health food extravaganza.

Now back to the helicopters.   As we drove back to the Earth module we could see the C 130 flying around in circles.   This meant there was a parachute drop in the lake.  This is right outside the window of the Earth Module.  So Kadizzle got to eat his carrots while he watched the two helicopters that had sneaked down the valley earlier extract the soldiers from the lake.   It would seem one would just go down with the helicopter and pick up the guys in the raft, but that is not the case.  There is endless buzzing and swirling, and false passes.  The C 130 stays above and burns up tax dollars.  In the end the helicopters plucked the guys out.  Sometimes these exercises go on for a week or so.   Sometimes they are all done in the dark so you can hear the air machines, but not see them.

Cliff and Little Mike already have headed up to Campaign Creek to clear more trail this morning.  Kadizzle has to go get the supreme leader at the airport in Phoenix.  So that is the way it is at Lake Roosevelt.  A little cloudy, but no blizzard or snow like North Dakota.  Praise be unto Jeeeeus.

New Tires

Jeff promised it would be a different world with new tires on the cycle beast.  Off over the mountain Cliff and Kadizzle headed to test the theory.  Now, two things are possible, the tires did make a big difference, or the road is better than it has been.  Anyway Cliff and Kadizzle made it up and over the mountain through some fantastic country few get to see.  One thing Kadizzle is sure of is that you can only make the trip one way on a motorcycle.  The road is so steep going down on the backside that there is no way you could go up.  You go down in a controlled slide.  Cliff was nervous with his four wheeler going down.

So back at the encampment Kadizzle sits in solitude.  Cliff has come over for some long involved conversations ranging from the mundane to the spiritual. Cliff took off to see Kenny in Globe. Kenny is in the final stages of cancer and may not be on this planet in another week or two.  Sad to see people struck down with cancer.  Our insane country spends trillions on the military when the real enemy is cancer.

So far it looks like a wonderful sunny day is going to emerge.  Maybe another jaunt through the wilderness on the cycle.  OK, for your special buzz click on the link below.  This brought joy to the trail crews hearts.
https://gearjunkie.com/national-forest-system-trails-stewardship-act?utm_source=Gear+Junkie+Weekly+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b02628fd3c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4761d8db2c-b02628fd3c-4846257

The Truth disappeared

A new age has emerged.  The Truth along with ice sheets has melted.  Donald Trump told a screaming crowd of his idiots he won by a landslide.  They believed him even though Clinton had 2.5 million more votes than The Donald.  On it goes, the man lies constantly and every day, yet his followers act as if the lying doesn't matter or is not happening.  As a society we have reached a new dangerous point.  We are now in a society where truth is determined by polls.  Is there gravity?  Of course not, if a lot of people think there is not gravity, then there is no gravity. That is the new world.  This all seems so strange until you remember religion. Religion is one giant fantasy.  However, people chose to believe any nonsense imaginable in the name of religion. Once you leave the factual world all things are possible.  You can kill someone because they do not believe like you do. You can hate someone because their facts are different from yours.  On it goes and chaos ensues.  So here we are 2016 with a man who will lead us that has absolutely no respect for the truth.  At any moment the truth is what he wants it to be.  This is the man who lied about Obama being born in Kenya.  Trump even admitted he lied about Obama.  Does this matter? No.  When you lie and tell people what they want to hear so you can bilk them you are a cheap stump preacher.  No one has mastered the role of cheap stump preacher like Trump.  Look at all the crooked preachers making millions and you will see Trump.  The art of telling people the lie they want to hear is Trump's greatest talent.  As our country goes down the drain the first thing into the sewer is the truth.  We do not want to know the truth about the poverty rate in our country.  We don't want to know the truth about our health care system, our educational system, and on it goes.  Just tell us you will make us great again as you shovel favors to your friends.  No lie is too big, too obvious, to mean, for Donald Trump.  We have walked through a door that may slam shut behind us and leave us in a new world we have never been in before, a world of fantasy and magic and we voted for the magician because his tricks are so much fun to believe.

A bun in the Oven

To the delight of the family Cheech is with child and the bun in the oven will be baked by February.  Men do not partake in baby showers so Kadizzle is enjoying the solitude of the Earth Module. The ruler of the universe is in New York for the Baby Shower.  Cliff will come by shortly to escort us to the fish fry at Ma's.  Jeff generously put Kadizzle's new tires on the wild steed motorcycle so it is now ready to take on the wild.

Back from the fish fry.  Very good fish, slaw, and baked potato for $8.85.  Little Mike of the trail crew went with us.  Little Mike is learning the art of hiking and Kadizzle just gave him the run down on what he should wear and have in his pack.  If some decent weather pops up the plan is for Cliff, Jeff, and Big Mike to go on an expedition over the mountain on a very bad road.  The new he man tires will be put to the test. Jeff swears up and down with the new tires all things will be possible.  Jeff is a very good rider and may enter some local races.  So as the evening winds down Kadizzle will be left to his own vices and will enjoy the solitude perhaps with a glass of his favorite wine.  Goodnight from Lake Wobegon, or I mean Lake Roosevelt.

If the Devil invented a plant.

The Arizona trail goes from the Border with Mexico to the Utah border.  Our trail crew works on part of the trail, and trails that provide access to the Arizona trail.  Yesterday we worked on a segment of the AZ trail.  There is something joyful about busting down a big mean cactus in the name of making the trail better. The worst cactus is the jumping Choi.  No cactus is more evil or nasty.  The cactus grows little barbs on the end of it's very sharp needles.  The cactus grows special little bulbs on the end of each protuberance.  The little ball seems to jump onto you with the slightest touch.  For cattle, horses, or dogs, nothing is worse.

Mate will go to Megan's baby shower in New York today.  Poor old Kadizzle will be left behind to walk in circles with no instructions.  Cliff will still be here across the way and perhaps Cliff and Kadizzle will go to the fish fry, or have breakfast out.

It looks like a fairly warm, hopefully sunny day.  The people in North Dakota are having fun with the cold and the water protectors are protecting frozen water.

The Bud Light Brain

As we picked up trash yesterday along the Salt River it became evident the worst offenders were Bud Light drinkers. About 80% of the trash was Bud Light.  It was the Bud Light drinkers who elected Trump.  Trump wants to make American great again.  His drinking buddies could " Make America Great" simply by putting their beer cans in the trash can.  America will not embrace returnable cans and bottles so people have to go out and manually pick up the trash of the degenerates.  The tobacco industry was forced to put warnings on their packages.  Why not make beer companies put a large orange label about littering on their product.  Strangely most of the fishermen along the river are blue collar Bud Light people.  Why do they pollute the very area they enjoy?  In Arizona when the simple dingers throw their beer cans beside the highway it means someone has to wade through thorns to pick the cans out.  Of course it is also a good opportunity to encounter a snake.  The beer companies could run adds during football games making some strong statements about the Bud Light rodents.

Another Trail Day

Up very early in the Earth Module the crew as usual is getting up to date on the Google.  The coffee is made and the second cup will be coming up soon. NPR is in the background trying to explain how lying makes no difference to Donald Trump.  The radio says it is 45 degrees.  Cliff by text says he was also up early.  Little Mike will not be with us today he has to get his fifth wheel to the point he can move it for repairs.  The big task today it deciding what to do.  Our Canadian friends were cleaning up the United States yesterday. They picked up eight bags of trash, left by white trash.

Yesterday Kadizzle rebuilt a lot of cairns.  Cairns are used to mark trails and are simply a pile of rocks. There are some purist who think cairns should not exist, so they kick them over.  Many times we have relied on cairns to help us navigate and get out of the wilderness. In fact there are times when they could be a life or death deal.  If you are hurt, or darkness is descending, and you need to get off the trail quickly, the cairn may be of great help.  Cairns go back a long way.  The pioneers used them and even to this day you can see a cairn on butts in the west.  In Ireland rock cairns are often considered art.  The cairn kickers think the outdoor experience should be devoid of man made influence.  The simple fact you are on a trail means you have violated that rule.  Take your shoes off it you want nature. Some people do.  No matter what you do you cannot escape the noise of jets overhead.  As we worked yesterday the moisture in the air and the clouds made the jet noise extra loud.  At any given time there are six thousand jets in the air.  During certian times of day an aircraft goes over about every five minutes.  We are in the area where planes are either climbing out of Phoenix or descending into Phoenix.  Either way it is noisy at times.  You can almost tell the time of day by the jet noise.  In the morning you know around six the first planes will go over.  About 7 there will be a string of plane lights in the air landing.   Many times right over us the planes down shift, or cut back the engines.  The effect is this giant whoosing noise.  So here we go sunny, but cool.

Mother of all Trail Crews.

The Forest Service truck will have four occupants as we head toward the trail.  Two more people, Barb, and Jeff will join us on the way.  We will attack the trail with six people, a new record. Barb and Jeff are good Canadian friends who just want to help the struggling U.S. today.  Like so many they are dazed by the insanity that has gripped our country.  The crew is still up against the same problem.  We have most of the trails under control at the lower elevations, but the upper end of the trails near the Arizona Trail take so long to get to.  Now winter is starting to set in and it will be even more difficult to get to the top.  Snow will soon be at the upper elevations. Snow should get the streams running when the snow melts in the sunshine.

Back home in Hazen it is apparently snowing and blowing. Happy not to be there.  The house may get eight to twelve inches of snow.  The Lake Roosevelt area is desperate for moisture.  The lake is extremely low, and is a reminder of when Lake Sakakawea had such low levels.

NPR radio is playing in the background and they are talking about how Trump is upset about voter fraud that let Hillary wind the popular vote.  For four years we will deal with that insane man.  The truth has no relevance to Trump.  Trump just makes up anything and shoots it out.  The simple minded soak it up.  One day he claims the sky is blue, the next day he says it is brown. All Trump's idiots forget that yesterday he said it was blue.  There has never been a more insane or blatant liar elected president.

Sitting around the fire

The propane had to be put back in the Earth Module after the bottles were refilled, then Kadizzle had to finish cleaning the battery terminals.  As the little tasked ended Kadizzle saw flames over at Cliff's.  Cliff had a nice fire going and was burning the wood from his landscaping clean up.  Kadizzle wandered over  and on a cloudy overcast day the bullshit flew.  It was actually a little venting, bullshit, and just good conversation.  Mate did not appear until late in the game, so there was plenty of time for gold old man talk.  Finally Mate came over and we discussed tomorrows trail plan.  At some point we called little Mike to see if he was up for the trail game tomorrow.  Now the plan is to go to Tule Trail and get done what we can.  And that is the way it is at Lake Roosevelt.

Grandpa has no one to play with

After inspecting houses in Payson Kadizzle glided back to the Earth Module which sad lonely waiting for us by the lake.  Waking this morning without Sylvie's gleaming blue eyes was sad.  Grandpa had so much fun with his little girl.  Meanwhile Grandma is putting up all the art Sylvie made for us in the Earth Module.  Just seeing the little bug brimming with energy is a delight.  Sylvie inherited the energy gene from Grandma.  Sylvie cannot sit still for any moment.  Constantly she is working on her gymnastics abilities.  She spins across the room and ends up with her feet pointing at the ceiling while she is braced upside down standing on her hands. Sylvie's constant workout has resulted in a little bundle of solid muscle.  The girl is going to be a natural athlete. Grandpa had to sit with Sylvie and review Simon Bile videos on youtube. Simon won the gymnastic Olympics.  So here Granpa sits in the Earth module with NPR in the background and forced to entertain himself.  Well Kadizzle will wander over and see what Cliff is up to.

Mini reunion

The little energy bunny is in the car headed to the Phoenix airport.  A sudden silence has descended on the place.  Sylvie cannot stay upright. She has her granny's energy.  Constantly she is doing handstands, or some sort of gymnastics routine.  Every morning grandpa awoke to a balance beam demonstration on the end of the bed.

Last night at sister Patty's house Kadizzle's oldest sister Melissa and her husband Bob were there with Sylvie's second cousin Savannah.  The two were born within months of each other and it was their first meeting.  Patty who is wonderful with children kept them busy with a massive crafts project.  So Kadizzle had the two bookends in the family, Patty the youngest, and Melissa the oldest.  A family fact was brought up. Our mother had 9 children in 12 years.  Now that is some serious reproduction.  Of the nine seven are still on planet Earth. Louise and Colin departed early into the universe of the unknown.  We all learned a lesson from being in a big family. No one had more than two children.

Today we will head back to Lake Roosevelt to resume our lives as trail maintenance people.  Massive amounts of leftovers will be accompanying us. The latest advice for living is to invest in experiences, not things.  Seems like good advice we had a great Turkey experience with more than enough hiking.  After yesterdays hike the total mileage just for the week was over ten miles through some very nice country.

The now motorcycle tires came and now have to be installed. The tires may attempt Kadizzle to go places he should not at a speed he should not.  Kadizzle is in the phase of life where you buy your last set of toys.  The temptation to buy an adventure motorcycle and take some longer road trips is knocking on the door.

Heads stuck in computer screens.

Here we sit one day after Turkey day starring at the computer screens.  At one time it seemed like computers would emerge as great time savers.  Nope, computers and phones now are time wasters beyond the imagination.

Meeting people and relatives Kadizzle is still hearing tales of stunned humans wondering how we went off the deep end with Trump.  The number of people depressed or actually sick is amazing.  It seemed like our country had made some progress, be it ever so little, and ever so slowly, but now we have fallen backwards in an unbelievable way.

As expected Trump is appointed the worst, most unqualified people possible.  Fundamentalist, and science deniers are among his favorites.  Trump appointing fundamentalist really takes the cake.  This foul man pretending to be religious. l

Kadizzle is taking a wait and see approach.  According to the silly Bible thumpers god often uses evil men for good purposes.  That is the best we can hope for. 

Blasting down the trail

Well here we sit waiting for the magic turkey moment. The gang just completed a six mile hike in the Sedona area.  The little Sylvie is the best hiking 7 year old this old grandpa ever saw. Old gramps could not keep up with her and she was still going strong after six tough miles.  Little Chicken legs has endurance.  The weather here is just about perfect.  Soreness will surely set in.  Hope everyone is having a good Thanksgiving.  Great for Grandpa to be able to spend the holiday with Erin, Sylvie, and Fran.  Old Cheech just moved into their new house in Philadelphia.  Cheech will pop with the next grandchild in February.  Granpa loves little trouble makers and cannot wait. It looks like Sylvie wants to play waitress again today, so that means good wine service.

Crazy Club Thanksgiving

Kadizzle called in yesterday for a report from the crazy club.  Shiny and Stroupini are going to have Thanksgiving dinner together at Shiny's abode.  Kadizzle suggest all the dues collected this year should go to the feast.  Stroupini said it looks like the Crazy Club headquarters may be shut down for the winter, and perhaps longer.  This is a sad state of affairs.  The climate at the Brooks House is perfect, comfortable chairs, and great decor. This could be a crisis if a new meeting hall has to be procured.  Maybe it could be moved to the sewing shop Rita has.  Rita is like a magnet for crazy people.

Losing things on the trail.

If you read yesterday's story you might recall the bet Kadizzle made with his granddaughter Sylvie.  In the course of the bet Kadizzle actually put $80 into Sylvie's possession.  Kadizzle won the bet and demanded the money back.  Awakening yesterday morning Kadizzle realized his wallet was gone.  After a very intense search of the house the only conclusion was the wallet never made it home on the day of the hike.  The most likely location for the wallet was where the bet was finalized. Sadly that was as far up the trail as we went. This meant the whole hike of three miles or more had to be done over.  The wallet had credit cards, social security card, medicare card, drivers license and much more including eighty dollars. So off we went to rehike the hike. Good luck prevailed and Fran found the wallet in our bed.  Several miles into the drive we got the good news by phone and turned back.

The whole incident was like the time in Alaska where the car keys actually were lost at the top of a mountain and indeed the hike had to be repeated.  When you sit on the trail, fall on the trail, or do anything out of the ordinary look around. Once high on a mountain in Texas the GPS was left when we sat for lunch.  Back we had to go.

Indian Rock Art

The clan set out yesterday to see where the ancient people of the Sedona area lived.  After visiting the regular sites the natives built for the tourist we decided to go off on our own.  At the petroglyph panel at Palitki the lecturer had given Mate some clues about the location of a panel few get to see.  Down the rugged road and back to a trail we had hiked years ago we went.  With a keen eye Mate found the obscure trail that led up a side branch of the main creek.  Soon we discovered the panel.  Sadly the panel had been badly vandalized and it was hard to tell which pictographs were real and which were not.  However,  there were some very interesting depictions we had never seen before.  The most notable were the giant snake drawings.  The snakes appeared to have a strange rattle on the end.

After thoroughly checking the art it was time to head back. Sylvie was very nervous that we were lost. Grandpa told Sylvie she could have the four twenty dollar bills in his wallet if he could not find the trail.  Luckily grandpa found the trail.  On the way back hiking navigation skills were the days lesson for Sylvie.  For the test Sylvie was put in front of the group and successfully led us back.  At one questionable point Sylvie was correct, and her mom was wrong.

Looking out the window the hot air balloons just took off and headed south.  Soon today's adventure will begin.

Up in the Morning

About to fill the second cup of coffee. Mate is making sandwiches for today's adventure. The old body will have to chug up the red rock with the little Sylvie in tow.  Last night Sylvie got the bee in her bonnet that she wanted to play waitress. She did an excellent job.  First she instructed us to " Just sit there and enjoy yourself".  Next she brought drinks.  She set the table, made name tags for the plates, cleared the table, and even helped with the dishes.  When Kadizzles kids were little he liked to give them random rewards for doing good deeds.  Sometimes when the kids would bring home a good report card Kadizzle would just say great and give them a hug. Other times they might get five or ten bucks.  It was the old random reward psychology trick.  Kadizzle called the little blond waitress over and gave her a twenty dollar tip.  Her eyes beamed and she continued about her duties.  Perhaps Sylvie will invest the tip in a nice Christmas present for Grandpa.

Being an Old Guy

67 years are taking their toll, but Kadizzle can still walk, hike, and ride a motorbike.  Kadizzle has been contemplating buying another adventure bike.  The little Yamaha 250 is adequate to kill yourself in a rocky crash on a mountain road, but if you want to get killed at 70mph going off a cliff on a nice windy road you need more cc.  Old goats get enamored with toys and it is not long before they sober up and abandon their latest bucket list toy.  Phoenix is the perfect place to shop for the toys abandoned by old goats. Since most of the goats have money they often are willing to take a beating when they sell their toys. Kadizzle has been thinking about a Yamaha Super Tenere or maybe a Triumph Tiger 800.  Another possibility is to go back to the KLR 650 Kadizzle had last summer.

Now there are a couple of problems.  How would Kadizzle get the damn thing back to North Dakota?  Ride it is the obvious answer.  That is a long ride.  Leave it here an only use it in the winter?  That is too much cash to stash.  So on goes the thinking.

An adventure bike will go down the road all day at 80mph and get 50 mpg.  You can pack enough to tent, and you can get up some pretty bad roads to find a place to tent.  Crashing on a heavier bike on a bad road is not good. Just getting the thing upright is a challenge for an old man. With Stoupini Kadizzle made the trip on the KLR to Port Townsend from Hazen last summer.  On some days we did five hundred miles.  Two or three hundred a day on a cycle is plenty.  Well the wheels keep spinning.  One possibility is just to own the machine for the winter.  Ride the roads of the Arizona wilderness, then sell the beast in the spring.  Pondering.

Sacred Mountain

Rain fell on the desert last night, and the smell in the desert permeated the world.  Nothing compares to the smell of the desert when rain hits.  It is a good refreshing smell.  Yesterday we went to the rock art site at the Double V Bar Ranch.  The rock art is the native version of a sun dial.  For six minutes every year a shaft of sun light points to a specific spot on the rock art.  Imagine the Earth in such alignment as to move in the entire orbit in space and return to precisely the same spot a year later.  Very accurate and delicate clock indeed.

Next we went up Sacred Mountain and fund such an abundance of pot shards.  Erin had great fun discovering all the pot parts thrown from the top of the mountain six hundred years ago.  One can wonder in amazement at the sheer number of people who inherited this area so long ago.

Awaking each day in this new world of Trumpism seems odd.  The world seems on hold as we wait for the insane man to light the fuse of his administration.  What kind of explosion will it be? As the Trump rocket climbs into the air will it explode in a harmless fashion like so many fireworks do or will it rain down destruction on everyone.  Trump is a con man who will do what it takes to enrich himself.  Kadizzle read an interesting article by Paul Krugman in The New York Times today about how Trump will try to set up a system to enrich his buddies as the country tries to rebuild the roads and bridges.  When Republicans privatize prisons, roads, bridges, and schools some crook always makes a bundle.  Right here in Arizona the school system has been turned into a bucket of fraud by dreaming up these charter schools.  You take an abandoned store front and turn it into a school.  You can see it everywhere here.  Some clever hacks siphon off funds meant for the education of our children and you call it progress.  Trump will find hundreds of ways to redirect money to scammers.  That is his specialty.  America will be great again, great for fraud, great for cronyism, great for bribes, and great for kickbacks.  So here we sit the fuse has been lit.  The bomb will not go off until the worst man ever elected president in our lifetime is sworn in.  Trump has not an once of dignity. The scheming has already begun.  The foxes that will guard the nations chicken houses have been chosen.  Racist, war mongers, and cheerleaders for his majesty are all being rewarded for stirring up the Hoopleheads the brought the king to power.  What a glorious time we have to look forward to.

Bragging.

Old Kadizzle is ensconced in the enclave with his grand daughter Sylvie.  Now for the bragging.  Sylvie is an amazing writer. Kadizzle just read her illustrated story about finding a dog in the back yard. As a second grader she writes better than her grandpa, illustrates better than grandpa, and her talents go on.  She is an incredible artist.  All of this and Sylvie is in second grade.  Do genetics matter? Both of Sylvies great grandmothers went to prestigious art schools.  Aunt Cheech is a professional designer.  Both parents of the little prize are professional writers.  So grandpa hopes, and the evidence indicates the little bumpkin has inherited a wealth of talent.  Now, the talent has been fertilized at great expense, but the payoff has been well worth it.

Pretending

Here we sit in someone else's house in Sedona.  A nice house with an expensive view. For a week we can pretend like we are the well to do.  We can only afford to be rich for a week, after that back to the Earth Module and working for free.  For a week we will have luxury showers, and all the accouterments of the rich and famous.  In a  vast kitchen mate is unpacking the groceries including my two bottles of heart medicine from the vineyards in Australia.

7:55 is on the clock and the daughter and her gang will not even land in Phoenix until 9.  With the expansive nighttime view of Sedona here sits Kadizzle on the side of the hill pecking on the keyboard.  People come here and think they experience the place.  Maybe they do, but the real experience is out away from the fribble shops and the yuppie beer joints.  All things considered Kadizzle would rather be about five miles south of town out in the desert in the Earth Module where we usually stay.  Out there the stars are blinding, no noise, and lots of quite.  Here in McMansionville it is the hustle bustle of a mini New York or something.  Unbelievable traffic.  It is a lot like the Grand Canyon.  Most people come peer over the edge and leave thinking they experienced the Grand Canyon.  Shanika took a helicopter over the Canyon last year and had a good buzz, but you cannot get the feel until you put one foot in front of the other and walk to the bottom.  Kadizzle is probably being a bit of an ecological elitist, but I am doing the typing so that give me liberties.  Maybe it is time to do a nice turkey cook in the shower.  This old plump turkey can jump in and baste himself with soap and shampoo.

Now this did stir a strange thought.  Humans have intervened in the breeding of animals and modified them to suit our needs.  The net results Kadizzle discovered the other day is that male turkeys have been turned into such big breasted animals they can no longer breed the females.  The solution to this problem is something you will have to read and figure out for yourself, but it has created a new job description.  So that is it from the land of the pink jeep.  Pink jeeps if you have ever been to this part of Arizona are the most obscene slap in the face to the remarkable scenic wonders of this place.  Somehow it is just like having whores working in front of the White House. It just aint right.

Turkey Day in Sedona.

Packing and removing each item we will need from the Earth Module.  The crew of two is moving to Sedona to meet the little Sylvie, and her parents. Together we will celebrate Turkey day.  Kadizzle has been reading The History of White Trash in America.  A lot of our history is terribly misportrayed.  Turkey day is full of false history, but that does not make the dressing taste any less delicious.

Yesterday Kadizzle took a motorcycle ride with Jeff.  Kadizzle picked a bad line up the steep mountain road and quickly paid for it.  Kadizzle did what he called a "Walkaway" .  As the motorcycle crashed Kadizzle deftly stepped off and walked away as the cycle went down.  Normally one ends up under the motorcycle.  The next challenge was to go up a very steep road full of baby head boulders.  Jeff waited at the bottom to see how Kadizzle did.  Kadizzle boomed up the road.  The back tire spun, Kadizzle lost traction,  and then the pirouette happened.  In a deft manipulation Kadizzle managed to turn the cycle around and head back down the steep road.  Kadizzle himself was amazed he was able to stay on the cycle.  Jeff thought the move was a well planned well executed turn.  Nope, it was just pure good luck.  Jeff had been telling Kadizzle how bad his tires were.  This little incident convinced Kadizzle that indeed the tires were shot.  The hard part of the road was cancelled and good judgement prevailed. Normally good judgement never interferes with attempts to get hurt, but age ultimately teaches you something.

The Hoopleheads and the Dingers

In about an hour we will be at a potluck meeting and 95 percent of the people there probably voted for Trump. So what?  All of these Hoopleheads, and dingers are working for The Forest Service.  Trump and Republicans would like nothing better than to sell of public lands and destroy the Forest Service.  The same dingers and Hoopleheads are living on the edge.  All that gets them by is medicare, and social security.  Trump and his gang want to destroy both medicare and social security.  The mind of a dinger is special.  You need a gun, you need a wall, and you need to make America great again.  The people who will get hurt the most by Trump and his gang are the ones who wanted him the most.  All the Hoopleheads know is things are not going well for them.  Their trailers are leaking, they don't have the money to replace their rat wagon, and things just are not right.  The dingers have no clue what caused this mess, but they think simply picking someone else to rob them is the answer.  Trump has appointed some mean rotten people already.  In no time at all Trump will be funneling tax breaks to the rich.  It will take the dingers and Hoopleheads a while to realize you cannot build a wall, give tax breaks to your buddies and destroy the spending power of the simple minded all at once.  So lets all get together and watch America become great.  Sure hope old Kadizzle is mixed up and wrong, but there is nothing on the horizon.  To really top it off the old Trumpster will push on global warming gas pedal.  Here we are frying ourselves on planet Earth and the old Trumpster is appointing people left and right that say global warming is a hoax.  Wow, and the most amazing thing in all of this is the silly fundamentalist.  Now, they will see how the old grabber of women's genitals pushes their agenda.  We are going into a new world at least it will be exciting to see the fox in charge of the chicken coop.  Good luck chickens.

Redneck fire ring.

The trail crew with one new volunteer headed up the Chilicot Trail.  As Little Mike the new member, Mate, and Cliff went up the trial Kadizzle stayed back to work on the parking area .   Redneck dingers love to build a fire pit right in the middle of the parking area.  This seems to be almost an essential religious thing for rednecks.  Kadizzle had to remove all the rocks, and there were a lot of them.  Also the white trash people have to leave trash.  So that had to be cleaned up.  Every good redneck has to improve his shooting skills so the rednecks had to leave a shot up propane cylinder,  and some shot up beer cans.  Naturally this resulted in shell casings all over the place.  Then there is the pee paper.  Women are the culprits here.  So the pee paper had to be picked up.  After cleaning the parking area Kadizzle headed down the trail to join the rest of the crew.  We did a six mile hike in some steep country.  Worn out we finally got home to watch a few episodes of Fargo on the TV.

This morning everyone who is a volunteer will have a potluck with lectures on not to even think about shooting people, safety, and being a good volunteer.

Don't get conned

Kadizzle is now qualified to work with prisoners in an effort to make America Great again.  As we gathered to wait for the class to begin it was story time.  One of the people there had already been working with prisoners at the landfill.  Landfill launched into a story about how a prisoner found some sort of fish head in the garbage. The inmate knew he would get strip searched every day when he returned to prison.  Part of the strip search is the old bend over and spread your cheeks.  The prisoner placed the fish head in a strategic place.  Back at the prison when he pulled down his pants, bent over, and spread his cheeks you can imagine where the fish head appeared to pop out.  Well you got to have some fun in prison.  The guy told the guard " How did that get there?"

So all morning we learned about prison culture, gangs, and watching prisoners.  One rule, you can only address them by their last name.  According to the class they all want to con you into doing something for them you should not.  Kadizzle is used to being conned by his wife who tries to con him into doing something he should do.

Becoming a prison gaurd

The Forest Service in our area relies on the modern version of the old fashioned chain gang.  Today Kadizzle will  head to Globe to become certified to work with inmates.  Low grade inmates do so much around here that the place could hardly function without them.  Inmates do the garbage cut the weeds, dig the ditches and fix many things.

So today Kadizzle will learn all the rules for working with people who made a mistake and got caught. The class should be over by noon, so perhaps an update will be in order.  Yesterday Kadizzle was talking with the guard who comes from the jail with these guys.  The guard is a very big guy who used to be a professional cage fighter.  He looks like he could give anyone who needed it an adjustment.  The guard looks like he may be of Mexican heritage, he is about six five and 325, and in good shape. He said one of the prisoners called him a taco eater. This did not go well with him and he had to restrain himself from adjusting the guy, but he took the high ground and is going to recommend the offended stay home and not come out to play. Home in this instance will be the cooler. Sad North Dakota does not have a program like this.  The offenders actually like to get out and work. They work hard. They get paid fifty cents and hour and do a lot to make these parks function.

Watch this

When Kadizzle was a nubie driver stupidity reined supreme.  Everyone learned to drive by stealing my grandfathers car.  Once my grandfather went to bed it was customary for just about anyone to steal one of his two cars.  It was bound to happen someone would wreck a car.  Sure enough Charlie wrecked my grandfathers car on a nightly ride in the country.  Also one more than one occasion Benny stole his grandfather's car.

It was customary to get a car one way or the other and spin the car around in a huge parking lot when it snowed.  So one day with Kadizzle's cousin we were out spinning his mother's station wagon around in the empty parking lot somewhere.  It was probably at Wheeling Park which had a huge parking lot.  When the spinning adventure was over cousin Mark had to take Kadizzle home.  Now Mark though he was an expert spinner, so he said to Kadizzle as he drove down the street toward Kadizzle's house " Watch this".  At this point he put the car in a spin, went up over sidewalk and hit a tree.  It was a fairly gentle crash and no one was hurt,  but Kadizzle about pissed his pants laughing.

So here we are, it is 2016 and we just elected Donald Trump.  Kadizzle is getting that " Watch this feeling".  One thing Kadizzle has learned since Mark wrecked the car so many years ago is be careful when someone says watch this.  A motorcyclist told his friends " Watch this".  So his friends started the video on their phones and stood on the bridge about a mile from here. Mr. Watch This got the cycle up over one hundred miles per hour and crossed the bridge.  As Mr. Watch this finished impressing his friends he found he could not make the curve, hit the barrier on the bridge, flew off the bridge into a ravine and was seriously killed.

It'll Eat

Yesterday ended with a conversation with a 100% certified Bubba.  Kadizzle returned from Globe with a Forest Service truck that had been in for repair.  After locking up the truck Kadizzle noticed the gate on the road was unlocked and decided to lock it.  Bubba was out emptying the garbage from his Forest Service apartment.  Since he was new to the local game Kadizzle thought he would strike up a little conversation. Bubba was from Mississippi.  However, his last post for the Department of Defense was in Detroit.  Bubba was used to southern black people, but he was in a wild zoo in Detroit.  Moving to AZ seemed like salvation.

Kadizzle asked Bubba if he liked Mexican food.  Kadizzle had just stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Globe. Both Kadizzle and his mate like to hear a good southern Buzz Cackler.  What is a buzz cackler?  A buzz cackler has the deepest of deep south accents.  Bubba had the touch.  Bubba said he had eaten Mexican food, but did not have much use for it.  Bubba said he preferred gumbo, corn bread, and greens.  Then he launched into why he did not like Mexican food.  " You know it is like the slop you feed the pigs, it is some slop mixed with corn."  Bubba went on to say he did not really like Mexican food, but "It'll Eat".  It'll eat, that is Kadizzle's problem there is a lot of food he should not eat, but when hungry he adopts Bubba's phrase "It'll eat".

So earlier in the day Kadizzle went for a motorcycle ride up on the mountain across from the visitor center.  On the way up the rugged mountain road Kadizzle went past the highway department's outpost.  Kadizzle noticed two large fuel tanks.  On the return trip down the mountain Kadizzle saw a truck turning into the depot and followed him in.  Kadizzle was curious if one of the tanks held gasoline.  The man in the truck said indeed it did.  Now this was a strange turn of events.  Here was a ten thousand gallon tank of gasoline owned by the state government, but the Forest Service had no access to it. Instead the Forest Service spends a small fortune driving Forest Service trucks to retail gasoline outlets. The state employee assured Kadizzle Forest Service trucks could fuel there if they wanted.  Something just did not add up. Later in the day Kadizzle checked out the strange politics of that situation.  In the meantime it occurred to Kadizzle that this man worked with the small number of people who maintained the roads around here.  Kadizzle, Cliff, and mate were returning from the Jug the other day and a state truck came flying around the road at a high speed and just barely got out of our lane.  At the time of the incident our entire crew was pissed at the carelessness.  Kadizzle debated at the time if action should be taken.  Kadizzle and mate ( The term The Commander can no longer be used do to censorship and politically correct requirements) had a little discussion about figuring out exactly who was driving the truck.  Kadizzle said it was easily discoverable .Mate said it was not.  Kadizzle proceeded to recount the incident to the man at the depot.  It turned out he was the boss of the two guys driving like NASCAR drivers toward Young.  So today the boss is going to have a little pow wow with the drivers.  If Kadizzle had not been in the right place at the exact right moment this encounter would never have taken place.  The strangeness of how the world works and the way probability works never fails to amuse.

Yup

Day after perfect day beside the lake we sit. The humming birds have found the treasure set out for them.  Although the winds are light by Lake Sakakawea standards a couple sail boats often ply the waters.  The desert is hurting for water. The streams are exstreamly streams, extremely dry.  In so many places where water always runs there is not water or it is stagnant.  The days of worry are over, we are in a world where you just ignore reality.  The world is melting down, but who cares the peaches will grow farther north and the polar bears will have to buy refrigeration.

So what do you do?  Enjoy what you can, while you can.  What about the children, the grand children?  Well they are on their own.  Are we guilty? Yes, we burnt the hell out of the oil, the coal, the natural gas as if you could do that and expect nothing to happen. Yes there are 6,000 jets in the sky at any given moment over the United States. Yes, most cars weigh about 5,000 pounds and have one occupant.  Sure the lake in front of us only has 30% of the normal amount of water.  So what I will have a good breakfast, I am fat, I am warm, I have gas for the car, the truck, and the cycle. What me worry?

Who makes that hat I will put on today?  It might be someone in China or India.  They make the chair I will sit in a little while.  Nice of them to do that, but how long will they be willing to serve my every need at slave labor wages?  Who knows, who cares?  If I go to town I need to buy some more wine.  Thank god for the people willing to pick those grapes.  Of course it will take some water to grow my grapes and vegetables for salads.  The Colorado is running dry, but maybe it will make it until I drop dead.  The trick to make this all work is just don't worry about it. Just pretend like it is not happening. Just pretend like a lot of liberals are stirring up a lot of lies.  Don't worry about other people.  I got mine and I got a gun so I can keep mine.  Now turn on the TV, turn up the air conditioner get a drink, sit back and watch America become great again. Quit being such a whiner and baby.

Who are you?

You don't have to tell me who you are, but it would be interesting to know.  Just now I checked the statistics for this blog site.  583,000 pages have been viewed.  Often Kadizzle has wondered who reads this crap?  I know of perhaps five people who might look at this nonsense on a regular basis, but when I look at the statistics it seem there are a lot more people out there than I think.  I know of one woman in Florida I happened to find out about, by the the Hello.  Honest Omar told me you read this sometimes.  I know of a plant worker that at one time read this stuff.  Well I will come to the point.  If you on occassion read this and you want to let me know you can email me.  My email is dakotaquinn@gmail.com.  One thing I realize a lot of people accidentally stumble across this mess.  The statistical system can tell where views come from in general.  Presumably the people in Russia and France are people who accidentally came across this.  Well if you get the notion let me know who you are.  Also I have a thick skin, if you don't like some of the thing on here tell me.  Over and out.