The lumber mill

 After traveling through endless forest on the motorcycle Kadizzle came out of the woods near the little town on Nutrioso. The only business in that town is a small saw mill. Kadizzle has been educating himself on the lumber industry and wanted to see the mill in action. As Kadizzle puttered around the perimeter of the sawmill looking at the stacks of logs and cut lumber he saw and old beat up suburban pull into the lumber yard.  Kadizzle went to what looked like the office for the place, but it was not. Kadizzle was directed to a ramshackle office. The two guys in the suburban got out of their beater at the office before Kadizzle. One guy was just a beer bellied old fart like Kadizzle. The other guy had a narrow beard half way down his skinny frame. He  had on some sort of hat that looked like an engineers hat without the stripes. He looked grizzled and shot up. Quickly we struck up a conversation.  He said " What's up".  Kadizzle said " I am kinda confused, I brains in my head ain't never been used"  He indicated he had the same problem. It turned out these two were trying to buy lumber to rebuild the one fellow's cabin that burnt down. Into the lumber office we wandered. Ted was on the phone so we all sat down. It was a strange office. Behind Ted's desk was was seemed like an old living room full of living room furniture.  When Ted got off the phone the cabin guys started asking him about lumber and prices. The conversation started and it was half stories, and half business. It ended up Ted did not sell the kind of lumber these guys wanted, and the price of lumber was high. We had a good time telling stories and bullshitting. Kadizzle finally asked about some lumber prices. The place sold large lumber 6x6 and so on.  It seemed like the session would go on for ever.  Kadizzle asked Ted if he could go watch the sawmill work. Ted said sure.  Kadizzle went over and peered in the mill.  The machinery was old but automated.  A huge band saw cut through logs like they were not even there.  A fellow that looked native American was running the saw. He seemed very skilled. The logs rode on a large carriage that zipped through the saw at incredible speed. The logs on the carriage could be flipped automatically and the entire process was operated from a small cage where the operator just pushed buttons and pulled levers.  In a matter of minutes a large tree became usable lumber. ll

The Forest has reopened.

 On the way back from Payson it became apparent the closed signs were gone. The forest has been reopened. The rain diminished the fire hazard. Today Kadizzle hauls the bike to the bike shop to get the new derailleur put on. Kadizzle has cooked up a scheme for the bike shop owner.  The shop owner has sold his property and needs to invest a half million dollars. Kadizzle watched an interesting video on gambling. The speaker was very intelligent and a good mathematician. Kadizzle will present the bike shop owner with a variation of the math the speaker reported on. It goes something like this. If I bet you a coin will land on heads and I win, you have to pay me a dollar, but if you win I have to pay you two dollars. The math says that if you bet one quarter of your money on each bet you will win over the long haul. The general trend of the stock market is in your favor. So in theory it means that if you invest one quarter of your cash at a time you will win. My proposal is the shopkeep will invest one quarter each time there is a stock market fall of 400 points or more. It will be great to experiment with someone else's money. 

Wandering to the Big House

Awoke very early to go to Payson. The rain fell from Heaven last night and the morning was blessed with a wonderful sunrise.  Kadizzle wandered to the big house to fire the cannon. Sunshine on the mountains and cliffs made some great pictures. Hopefully the forest will be opened and the hikes, bike rides, and adventures can be resumed. 

OK, that was the good news. As Kadizzle awoke this morning he lay in bed thinking about the incredible waste in this country. Many times driving down the highway a train could be seen moving along the tracks. On that train were a couple hundred tanks.  Each of those military tanks cost well over a million dollars.  So that was a trainload of schools, houses, and other things that could have improved life for humans. The amount we have wasted is in the trillions. Now if you want to pop your eyes out of your head visit the plane grave yard near Tucson, Arizona.  There you will see 54 billion dollars worth of tax money rusting in the desert. What could you do with 54 billion dollars?

History is replete with human insanity.  First the pyramids, then the cathedrals, what next?  We are going to Mars while people on Earth starve.  

The People you meet

One thing leads to another, and another. The other day we met two guys selling lumber in Alpine. Winky became enthralled with their products and now we have purchased several raw planks that will eventually be shelves and tables.  After our hike and 22 mile ebike ride yesterday deep in the mountains of New Mexico we went to visit the saw mill where the huge slabs of wood are created. Sam was the owner of a sawmill he built. The sawmill was specially built to saw slabs that could be four feet across and as long as ten feet. The Kadizzles got to see his stockpile of unique wood that he would turn into interesting products.  Sam had to go into the forest with an old Toyota Tacoma and haul out logs bigger than the Tacoma. A log Sam bought from the forest service for a dollar could yield several thousand dollars worth of furniture quality slabs. 

One thing that has always been a great pleasure in our travels are the unique artist we meet. The other day we met one of the best metal artist ever in the small town of Springerville.  As we travel we usually see some unusual piece of art.  Next you ask Willy or Joe who made that, and you are off on an adventure.  Many artist thrive on solitude and remoteness.  Years ago out in the middle of nowhere we met a person who carved furniture from wood.  We have met weavers, potters, and just about every kind of artist imaginable. Many times the art is the house itself. Creative people are fun to talk to, and fun to find. 

Flood of the insane

Ok more 4th of July BS.  Yesterday was the day, the day idiocy was on parade. When Winky and Kadizzle sat at the intersection in Springerville the flavor of the day was obvious. A moron in a jacked up diesel pickup truck went by. The goof was flying a big Trump flag and another one that proclaimed f**k Biden.  The truck was set up to deliberately spew the most obnoxious black cloud of diesel fumes one could imaging. Apparently it was meant to be an insult to the environment.  A little prior to that we had been in Alpine Arizona for the parade. Parking our vehicle we could see the stupid and proud of it signs again. The gate to an idiots ranchero was festooned with a big Trump Pence poster, a Russian flag with Biden on it, and a sign warning the little puddle of ignorance was a redneck paradise. There seems to be a direct relationship between the number of churches and Trump flags. What an insane mixture. The other day Kadizzle rode through Eager, a Mormon stronghold, but with plenty of other octanes of Jesus.  Some young guys were prancing about with signs that read Honk for Jesus.  Praying is strange enough, but honking a horn for the delight of Jesus is stranger yet.  Mentally the country is going backwards at the speed of light.  Maybe wars did have a purpose. Wars used to kill off massive numbers of fools.  Wars were darwinism on steroids. War has now become so automated that it just does not do the job anymore. 

OK, how about some more upbeat reporting. In Alpine Kadizzle noticed a vendor selling big slabs of trees. The slabs were on display to show off the wonderful patterns exposed when a tree is sawn the right way.  Big mistake. Kadizzle got Winky interested.  The forest dwellers that were selling the slabs were interesting and fun to talk to.  Winky started examining the wood and next thing you know we were the owners of a very nice piece of wood that would make a great table. This was stage one. In the course of checking each dead tree Winky was accompanied by Tony.  Tony was a woodworker and he gave Winky a quick education on what pieces were the best. In no time we contracted with Tony to make the table. Tony was enthusiastic and later in the same day emailed a picture of his progress. What started as casual browsing is now up to $180 worth of table with no legs. 

Today we are up early, five in the morning local time. The plan is to charge the ebikes and ride out to a mountain overlook in New Mexico. 

Among the delusional

Parade day in the heart of Mormon country is today. Looks like it will rain on the parade. An actual ground penetrating rain fell last night. Patriotism seems to be high around here. Various displays of the flag and red, white, and blue are abundant. Strangely the people who are being beat down the most by capitalism out of control are the ones giving it the most praise. Trump who supports no one but the rich, and loves to set up tax schemes to stomp on the poor is their hero. The people on the bottom know one thing. They know someone is screwing them. Problem is they are clueless who that someone is. This sets them up for abuse. Someone like Trump invents a culprit and sells the down trodden on the idea. Works just like a magician uses diversion. Look over there while I steal your wallet. Look quick it's Mexicans taking your jobs. Really, maybe you took my job and shipped it to China. The blatant nonsense of the Republicans is what amazes. Voter suppression is a classic. How do you hide the intent?

A hard climb

 The sun is fighting the clouds to come out and cook the Earth. It has been struggling to rain every day in this dry parched land. The bike is fixed, but there are two low gears missing. Seems like the story of Kadizzles life. For the times they are a changin. People don't want to work for nothing. The New York Times says a lot of older people just gave up and quit. People will not work for poverty wages, and businesses cannot get people to work.  CEO's of course get their same old 350 times what the line worker does. Life is good if you are where life is good, but if you are not feed the chickens and cash the welfare payment. 

Winky and Kadizzle wanted to do a little traveling this summer, but we seem to be stuck in the White Mountains.  This is not bad we could be stuck in Death Valley.  In the time we have been here we have covered a lot of ground by foot, ebike, and motorcycle.  It is a big world with people hidden in the woods all over the place.  The number of elk is astounding. You see them everywhere. This is a strange new lifestyle. We are camped, parked, whatever you want to call it beside Cliff's home. Cliff hit the jackpot when they built a cell tower on his property. The extra income has added a new dimension  to his economy. For many of our conveniences we zip into Cliffs house. The house has two porches with two entirely different views. Contemplating on the porch is frequently a pass time. 

Kadizzle is not a reader, but Winky convinced him to take up a book she says is one of the greatest. The book is Barkskins, a three hundred year history of lumbering. For a guy that does not read much in the hardbound sector this is a thick book. No matter where you are in history the theme is always the same, the have's robbing the have not's.  A lot of the story is how the Indians and settlers meshed, or did not. The simplest way to deal with the natives was to kill them and steal their land. In those days you did not have to work on voter suppression to rob the poor. The book is filled with French phrases and words. Now what is Kadizzle supposed to do look up all this French? You just guess. The Indians could be cruel, but the English were no better. One story was about a white man captured. The Indian women sewed up every orifice he had, and cut off his legs. Would be a nice solution to Trump. 

Shot up, busted, and broke

 Just picked up the bike from the bike shop. Decided to ride the bike around Eager, Arizona to try out the fix. The poverty, and people living in junky, shot up, junk piled, messy homes was all over town.  The illusion that " We are number one" is hard to sustain when you see some of the messes in the small towns in Arizona. Kadizzle will have to concede that North Dakota over all is one of the cleanest and best kept states in the country, even if the Trump flags defile the landscape. We have a poverty problem in this country, that stems from an education problem.  If you sit in one nice secluded place you might feel things are just fine, but if you travel about as much as we do into the small reaches of nowhere you would see the embarrassment this country has become. A European visiting our mess would be amazed about the promised land.  Entering most of the Indian reservations you will find the ditches strewn with whiskey bottles. The hoarded junk all over town in these little poverty stricken bergs is beyond comprehension. So many of the yards in Eager had a horse, a cow, or some other livestock. Junk seems to be the new status symbol.  Somehow we have failed big time. Seeing children living the way they do in this country is sad.  Kadizzle could have taken ten pictures today of children living in slum conditions that you could use in an add. We had the war on poverty. We lost. The rich won big time. The prosperous walked off with the cheese and left the ordinary man holding onto his pile of junk  in his run down mobile home. Of course God sent a savior to fix this, Donald Trump. 

Powdered Water

 Another hike. Finding the trail head meant driving into New Mexico deep into Mormon Country, and Trump country.  The first town was Luna. They could have named it Lunatic.  Some person insane with Trump fever put a full sized tractor trailer truck on a pole. It was an expensive truck to put on a pole thirty feet in the air. Of course the truck was flying a Trump flag.  Farther down the road the guy who probably put up the truck was walking his dog with a handgun strapped to his side.  We drove deep into the woods and parked the car. This was the middle of nowhere and we needed to descend down a very steep trail for 3/4 of a mile. If you go down you will have to come up.  After a very nice hike along a mountain stream we made the death hike back up the steep portion of the trail. The decision was to drive into the town of Reserve, New Mexico.  It was an old shot up little town where we had lunch. After lunch Kadizzle sat outside the eating place on a bench.  Out of the luncheria came a tall very skinny old lady. She held the door open for her husband.  He looked like a huge whiskey barrel dressed in an old grey T shirt, and bright red sweat pants cut off into shorts.  He was large in the horizontal not the vertical. His skinny wife held the door open for him.  He stopped in the middle of the door to catch his breath. Kadizzle expected the barrel man to die any moment as he hobbled out on his cane. We engaged in conversation about the possibility of rain.  It was dry around this part of the world with a record drought in progress. Kadizzle told the skinny lady he was bringing a truckload of powdered water to the area. Kadizzle told the lady how he once planned to take a barge load of powdered water up the Missouri to Lake Sakakawea. The Corp of Engineers would not permit it because if the barge sank it could cause a flood. Later when Kadizzle met the lady again she said at first she believed the powdered water story.  Then she realized it was a joke. Remember we were deep in Trump country where reality is flexible. Driving around and hiking the southwest the mind realizes how vast the wilderness is.  No matter how big the country is you can hike twenty miles into the forest and find a beer can. Out hiking the other day in a remote place Kadizzle found a golf ball. What was it doing there?  We were at the base of a cliff. Someone could not resist the temptation to drive a golf ball off the cliff above. 

Fire Ass Walking

 Kadizzle, Cliff, and Winky set of on about a five mile hike up the San Francisco River. It actually was a creek with very little water. We left Arizona and drove about two miles into New Mexico.  Kadizzle does not like to walk fast, but Cliff and Winky like to do the Fire Ass style walking. They walk like their butt is on fire. Kadizzle does what he calls mumble walking. You walk like an old man and mumble to yourself. You enjoy the forest more.  However, on the way back, like a horse going back to the barn, Kadizzle walked as fast as he could and left Cissie and Cliff in the dust. They did hike farther than old Kadizzle. The legs performed better than usual, and so did the entire old body. Who knows why.  The quick walking may be payed for with sore legs. Arizona has shut down the forest in Arizona.  New Mexico is still allowing people into their forest.  

On the way back we drove through parts of Alpine.  Alpine is a second home area in the White Mountains of Arizona.  There are a lot of people living back in the woods.  Once you start exploring you realize how many people are camouflaged by the forest. The encampments range from the bums just getting by on social security or what they can steal, and it goes the whole gamut up to the forest estates of the wealthy. The lack of order in the forest communities is a bit distressing. Live and let live in Arizona means nothing is zoned or regulated. 

We are doomed

Kadizzle is in a home decorating business in Payson, AZ.  While Winky burns up the day unable to make up here mind if she wants white, white, or whiter white Kadizzle engaged the owner in conversation. The owner revealed he home schooled his children. The fellow seems fairly intelligent, but of course he also has a dose of religion. The shocking thing the owner said was just about everyone in Payson is home schooling their kids. Deep inside Kadizzle shuddered. We are raising a generation of idiots. Indoctrinated fools.  What a shame. Take a young child rob them of the potential to think. Fill their brain with your own idea of reality.  Scary, scary.  How did we end up with Trump voters? Kadizzle will bet a disproportional number of Republicans were home schooled. Schooled is a misnomer. They were fed a bunch of nonsense at home. They were indoctrinated. It is only getting worse. Our country will be lucky to recover from this self induced stupidity.  

The Elks Club

Gold fell from heaven, but not enough. The ground was wet only a quarter inch down, but Kadizzle sat on the porch in the fresh mountain air.  Out in the fields in the valley the Elk were sharing supper with the seven horses.  A mamma Elk and junior were browsing. As Kadizzle swung the binoculars around he could see another cow calf pair over on the side of the mountain. 

The closed the millions of acres of National Forest.  Every road, every path, has a closed sign. We tried to go out for a hike yesterday, but were stymied by the signs. 

The ebike is giving Kadizzle fits.  The front tire was improperly repaired by a bike outfit in Bismarck and it had a leak.  Now the gear shifting mechanism has gone bonkers.  Slowly the bike is eating our lunch. Kadizzle must admit he has given the poor bike a lot of abuse. 

Not a cloud in the sky, the temperature is even a bit cool. With moisture in the air the day looks perfect, if they would just open up the forest. 

I am a man you don't meet every day

Old Kadizzle had to have a tire repaired yesterday.  Into the ramshackle old gas station he went. This story is dedicated to Honest Omar.  As Kadizzle wasted time waiting for the hole to be repaired he noticed how many people had tattoos. A random thought jumped into his mind.  Here he was in the heart of a Mormon infestation and everyone had tattoos. Were Mormon's allowed to have tattoos? Kadizzle decided to go ahead and pay for the repair before it was done. He asked a huge hulking guy with some bad teeth who to pay. The humphfalump said you can pay me. It appeared as though meth had taken a bit of a toll on some of his front teeth. However, he seemed like a nice enough guy. Since the behemoth's arms were covered with inked sketches Kadizzile decided to ask him if he was a Mormon. " No" he answered, " I am a heathen".   Then a conversation ensued about religion.  Kadizzle mentioned the town was full of churches. Tire man said all these people are only good on Sunday. Kadizzle liked the comment. Tire man said at one point. " Think of religion like a fish in a fishbowl in the ocean, that is religion".  Next tire man said "Think of another fish in the ocean outside that fish bowl, that is spirituality". The big fellow had some philosophy in him. Somewhere in this conversation Kadizzle told the story about Ray.  Ray once said he was an orthodox atheist.  Now the little town here is about as beat up and run down as you can get, yet it is full of churches. There is every flavor of church here. You got the Bible Church, you got a church with a great big sing that says Jeeesus.  Of course there are enough Mormons to make a fortune selling sacred underwear.  All this religion and what did it get them? It got them lots of guns, Donald Trump, a mess of run down beat up mobile homes, and a hard scrabble existence. What went wrong?What if all that money burnt up in the churches went to pay better teachers?  What if the kids were taught to learn a little science, and math?  No, no, lets just put up a Trump flag, and go down to the drugstore that sells more guns than pills. This reminds old Kadizzle of an old song " We need more Jesus and less rock-n-roll".  Really? We need less Jesus, more brains, less guns, more education, less Fox News. 

The Forest is Closed

 Seems strange to find out the forest is closed. Maybe tomorrow they will close the sky. Apparently Republicans can close the brains of 74 million people.  The fires in Arizona have prompted closing the forest. That in essence has stopped the Kadizzles from going to the playground.  Every little road and path has a closure sign. 

As the planet burns we will divert ourselves with Critical Race Theory. It is the most recent Republican game. Remember when liberals outlawed Merry Christmas and it was a crises?  Republicans love to invent wild things and then get excited about them. ANTIFA is a classic case. It is merely a figment of some Republicans imagination. There is no such group, but they are hiding everywhere.  Creek Pigs, what in the hell are Creek Pigs.  We used to tell the neighborhood kids there were mean Creek Pigs. We made up the story so the kids would stay away from the creek when they were little. It worked. Apparently little kids will stay away from the Democratic party if you make up stories about Critical Race Theory.  No one ever saw a Creek Pig, and no one knows what the hell Critical Race Theory is, but all we do know is it is bad for education.  In fact there are a whole lot of facts that best be ignored.  Children should not know white people took black enslaved people's teeth to make false teeth, that would make us look like we were mean.  White people never did anything mean, except for vote for Joe Biden. White people are damn near perfect and the school system needs to make sure young children understand that. If it seemed white people were mean to black people it was because the good white people were just trying to help the confused black people.  It is sort of like the Indian children in the Indian schools that somehow disappeared. Nice white Catholics were just trying to help the poor Indian children become white. What else could you do with the ones who would not cooperate, but kill them.  Any school system that promotes the idea that Americans make mistakes must be corrected. 

We are not number one

 The New York Times has a great article this morning by Nicolos Kristoff.  Probably misspelled his name, but you get the idea. He makes a very interesting case about how our country has fallen behind. If you have a problem the first thing is to acknowledge it. If you are fat admit it to yourself, if you drink too much admit it to yourself, if you eat too much sugar admit it. Of course Kadizzle can admit his failures, but he never can overcome them. Now look at the country. We are losing, the rich have raped the country and we are behind. However, Republicans are selling the old delusion " Were number one". It just ain't so.  The United States has some serious problems, gun violence, child healthcare, illiteracy, on, and on. Yet we refuse to address these problems while we spend ten times more than any other country on defense.  We are in decline. Recognize it, or elect some more Trumps to lie to you. 

Mental Illness

Yesterday Kadizzle took a very long motorcycle ride through some amazing country. On the trip he lost the cover for the little pack on the cycle. Today Kadizzle set out to find the cover. To his amazement he found it twenty miles into the ride on the road. On the trip home Kadizzle was riding past the skeleton of an old lumber mill. Kadizzle let his curiosity get the best of him and drove into the humongous abandoned building. As Kadizzle approached the inside of the huge building which now is mostly hollowed our he saw a man sitting on a chair in front of a big fifth wheel RV.  Kadizzle drove up to the man and said hello.  Something seemed strange about this fellow sitting on a chair with a mason jar beside him and a pair of overalls with only one strap.  In no time a conversation insued. It did seem like a great place to park an RV. There was almost a football field of concrete covered with a roof that must have been five or six stories above. Bulletin, bulletin, it is raining here.  Anyway his eyes were strange. He was just a wee bit cross eyed.  After a little back and forth the story of the man began to unfold. Because of the forest fires he was forced out of the forest. Apparently he was fasting deep in the wilderness in his RV and became incoherent. Someone must have rescued and relocated him. The fellow seemed a bit overweight. At first his conversation seemed to make sense. He said he had two properties he was developing, and he was working on a helicopter design to spray almond trees. The conversation about his helicopter enterprise was interesting. He was going to develop a helicopter that had a jet stream of air that came from the tip of the blades. His lifestyle made it appear he was broke. He said his friend shuffled him from Springerville to Idaho, and New Mexico in a small aircraft. As Kadizzle and the gentleman got deeper into the conversation his science became more and more strange. He explained to Kadizzle how he could grow plants without any light.  He came up with a device that he said allowed plants to harvest energy from the earth so they did not need light. He claimed trees get energy from the ground, and also had a strange theory that energy could be harvested from the air. According to Mr. Bizarre science for every three feet up you went you got another 100 watts. The conversation got more and more insane. Somewhere during the insanity the wife of they guy who owned the place showed up. Apparently she had something to do with rescuing this guy from the forest. She jumped into the conversation and came up with some crazy stuff herself about wind power.  Kadizzle got more and more amazed about the abundance of crazy people. This is in the heart of Trump country.  Mr Overalls got into a crazy thing about farming.  He said cow farts were being taxed and had a bizarre theory on wheat. He claimed the wheat market was manipulated by banks. He had videos of ships dumping wheat in the ocean. 

Kadizzle has met a lot of lunatics, but this guy had his own special mix on science and insanity.  He clearly proved " Education just confuses people" .  He knew enough to get thoroughly confused. He even admitted he mixed pseudo science with regular science. The clincher was he was assured Kadizzle the Earth was only 8 thousand years old. The day turned out to have some very interesting conversations. Rest assured there are plenty of insane, partially insane, or just plain stupid people for the Republicans to recruit.  It is scary.  

After thinking a bit more Kadizzle realized more of the crazy stuff the mad scientist told him. The mad scientist developed a way to pre-digest food. Apparently it involved fermentation, which is a bit questionable. The scientist put his magic device that made trees grow without light under his bed. Since his body no longer had to work to digest food, it must have caused problems. Perhaps that explained why he had to be rescued from the forest. In retrospect Kadizzle wishes he could have videoed or recorded this jaunt into a different reality. 

Stop

Up ahead the lights were flashing. Maybe some poor bastard was pulled over for speeding. Nope, we are being stopped and told to turn around because a forest fire has closed the road from Srpingerville to Payson.  On our way to inspect the home we are having built in Payson the trip was canceled. The only way to get to Payson would be to go through Globe, a mere three hour drive of 213 miles. It would add over one hundred miles to the journey.  Arizona is on fire, and people seem to accept it as part of life.  All the people who just moved here from California must have steam coming from their ears. They jumped from one frying pan to the next.  The Kadizzles feel a bit like dolts with a move to Arizona. You cannot escape rednecks in North Dakota or Arizona, but North Dakota burns differently. Prairie fires are easier to control. You cannot just plow a forest. Humans are amazing in their ability to ignore. Reality and science have gone down the tube.  How many cigars can you smoke in one room before you choke? Don't try to calculate. Instead keep adding cigar smokers until one drops over dead. That is Republican science and climate change. There is no climate change, and if there is it is God's will. God is a strange character, he chose Trump, and now God doesn't want everyone voting.  God sure is strange.  You have to ask God to do the right thing. God will not make it rain, or put out forest fires unless enough people pray.  It is like an election. If enough people pray God will end starvation, forest fires, and war. On the other hand if God does not get enough Christian prayers he will be pissed off and all hell will break lose.  Judging from the town of Springerville there are about twenty flavors of Christian prayers.  Think of all the off brand prayers flooding heaven. It is like bamboo ballots in Arizona. God has to figure out which prayers are real and which are fake news.  What a mess, it is any wonder we have forest fires. 

The Fog that does not lift

Smoke has rolled in and it is thick as fog. Trump flags in Arizona are in danger of burning.  As the people infested with right wing insanity sit in their home and watch their Trump signs and flags burn they still wallow in the idiocy of no climate change.  Arizona is on fire and while the state burns the Republicans are auditing the ballots to see if they can find help for Trump. Trump did everything in his power to reverse the progress made in fighting man made climate change. The gun nuts can be seen at the grocery store here with their armament strapped to their side. Can they shoot the forest fires? A lot of the people around here rely on the lumber industry.  Instead of 2x4s they may be selling charcoal. What does it take to rinse the stupidity out of a Fox News viewer? There may be some hope, after all Arizona did vote for Biden.  

Now for the next right wing insanity.  Business cannot find people to work.  Of course the businesses only want to pay slave wages.  As Kadizzle have a new home constructed it is obvious how critical immigrants are. Mexicans built the footing, Mexicans did the framing, and Mexicans put on the roof.  Why not let the Mexicans do the work that so many businesses need done? Economist say migrants will be a boon to the economy.  Why not let them work and pay taxes? Only if they agree to vote Republican.  If that were a requirement the borders would be open. Already too many working people in Arizona have voted for Biden. 

Pole Knoll

Do you need a pole? Well if you do in the old days they would send you to Poll Knoll. Winky and Kadizzle did not need a pole, but we hiked five miles at Pole Knoll. It was a hot day and frequent stops to sit on a stump were needed. There are a myriad of trails there suitable for bikes, and we should have taken our ebikes. 

Now for a report on the political front. The Fargo Forum has started to feature opinion pieces by Scott Hennen. Hennen is a pathological liar, and a disciple of Trump. Hennen has taken hypocrisy to a new level. Hennen has lied on air about good old Kadizzle on his radio show. Kadizzle has had a Jihad against Hennen for years.  When Kadizzle had to have 45 radiation treatments he had to drive to Bismarck 45 times.  To entertain himself Kadizzle would call in and challenge Hennen's lies. After Kadizzle read Hennen's opinion in the Fargo Forum yesterday he fired off a response to the editor. To Kadizzle's delight his letter to the editor appeared withing hours in the Forum. This morning it will be interesting to see if Hennen responds on his propaganda program KFYR broadcast.

Back to the Earth Module. The morning started with logging trucks chugging down the hill. Those wood pellets burning in so many peoples fireplaces are starting their journey from the woods to the hardware store.  

Another Day Another Indian Site

Yesterday the car took us into Springerville.  Springerville has a school they converted into a nice little museum. From the museum a guide took us to the Casa Malpais pueblo.  Centuries ago the site was occupied by ancient people. The data seems to indicate these people were forced by drought from the southern part of Arizona into the mountains to find water.  A major feature of this site is a sun clock that precisely measures the summer solstice. It is accurate withing four minutes. Ancient people were very good at picking sites. This site was on the edge of a lava flow, and according to the guide there were many tunnels under the area.  Ancient people believed humans emerged from the Earth, so they may have found the underground tunnels to be very much a religious thing.  Wandering around these sites speculating on what is what is a good way to spend a day. 

For part two of the days excitement we went to the Irish Pub.  Musicians from the blues festival in town would show up about eight in the evening to entertain. Now this created a strange aura.  A car of black musicians from California pulled up in front of this rustic building.  The Kadizzles were sitting on the porch enjoying a gin and tonic.  As they unloaded their musical instruments Kadizzle thought how strange in the heart of redneck country to have these black guys playing the blues. They were very good, and very professional.  A strange mix of people filled the bar to hear the music.  One guy caught the attention of Kadizzle.  A tall old guy with a big white cowboy hat stood in the door with his arms crossed.  He looked grumpy, but maybe that was just how his face was painted.  It was hard to tell if he liked the music or was pissed off. Other strange people mingled about. Kadizzle went into the bar to get some popcorn.  The popcorn apparently had been popped sometime during the Civil War, it was terrible.  Out on the porch we had some of the featured cheesecake that had just been made. It was very good.  It is nice having a place down the road to visit for food, drink, and music.  

Today Winky is urging Kadizzle to get going. We are to hike up a trail with some people and try to do some improvements.  No so anxious to get moving on a Sunday morning. 

Hidden Artist

Roberto told us about an artist in steel in the little town of Springerville.  Winky decided to find the guy. His creations were fantastic. From railroad spikes, used gears, and even a transmission he had a field full of creations in the space in front of his house. As he saw us looking over his creations he came out and the next thing you new we were deep in conversation. The artist at one time took on sailing. Kadizzle suggested an art project for him. The project would be a human face that you could see gears inside.  Next thing you knew we were in his studio and he was showing us a full sized Hippo that was a version of what Kadizzle had just mentioned. The Hippo from one side looked like a Hippo, but on the other side it was full of gears, and other interesting things.  One of the great pleasures over the years has been visiting the artist in small towns few know of. 

Prison is no big deal

 Yesterday while changing the oil on the motorcycle Kadizzle got another call from his scammer friend in India. One more time Kadizzle was about to get news he won five million dollars and a new car.  Readers Digest is so good to Kadizzle.  In the last year scammer has told Kadizzle he had winnings approaching 100 million. Kadizzle told Sanji about the New York Times article on scammers from India. Somehow there is an American who was able to hack the computers of the scammers. A New York Times reporter actually went to India and forced one of the scammers to have an interview. It seems now possible these scammers might be caught. Kadizzle told Sanji he was in jeopardy and might end up in prison. After Kadizzle told Sanji he should find another line of work Sanji said " I am not afraid of prison, I have been in prison many times" .   Strange how Readers Digest hires such reputable people to disperse the money.  Why he keeps calling me is a mystery .  Once Sanji called with the scam and Kadizzle was playing him along.  In the background Kadizzle heard a rooter crow. Apparently Readers Digest has roosters in their offices.  If you are bored find the NYT article.  The story is interesting about how these scams work and how much money they take in. The average scammer working for a crooked organization gets a percentage of what he steals. According to the article the daily take is usually about five hundred dollars. The guy scamming you gets a small percentage.  Think about Trump and his scam. How many people did he fool?  There are a lot of people just waiting to be scammed. Republicans know this.

Part Two:  Kadizzle took off on the Motorcycle on a mystery ride. After leaving the compound up the gravel road he headed. Randomly he chose to follow the first Forest Service road he found. Forest Service Road 688.  It is fun to just head into the mountains with no clue where you are going. On and on the road went. Kadizzle began to realize if anything went wrong he was withing shouting distance of the middle of nowhere.  Thinking what if there is a flat tire or a mechanical failure, no one would ever find him.  Kadizzle called Winky just to let here know where the search party might look.  After many miles Kadizzle became amazed at the vastness of the wilderness. Going back would not be fun. Kadizzle surmised the road must lead somewhere. Finally Kadizzle's brain had a moment of function. Kadizzle consulted the map on the phone.  It appeared the road would eventually come out near New Mexico.  At last the road did meet up with a paved road.  Again Kadizzle had to consult the map to figure out where he was.  On the way back Kadizzle kept thinking how big the country really is. There is still a massive amount of wilderness in the United States. These old mining roads, and logging roads form a web that will take you deep into nowhere. 

Slow fry

 It cooled down last night, but in no time the heat will return. Kadizzle just finished reading an article in the NYT about the effect of climate change on the West.  Here we sit frying in Arizona. Even at 7,500 ft the heat is a problem. Back near our winter camp the world is on fire. People are amazing. This problem has been building for years, and yet we ignored it. Republicans are still in their fantasy that it is not happening. 

All this makes Kadizzle think about global greed. It works the same way. Gradually people are hammered by the greed of the one percent. The fact that it is gradual makes it hard to notice. Just like the slow creep of climate change. 

Kadizzle is fat, it did not happen in one day.  Those enemies that attack you slowly are the ones that ultimately win. Then you have the Hoopleheads they don't notice much. The Hoopleheads are so easily fooled by the Republicans. Don't worry there is no problem, just keep building, just keep making more cars, flying more planes, and carry on.  It's not my problem. The Hooplehead flys down the road in his goofy truck flying a Trump flag, living in oblivion. 

Pickup The Earth Module

Rain came to the White Mountains, it was wonderful. The elk came down to Cliff's front yard, six of them.  Today we head to Show Low to pick up the Earth Module. They will charge use 142 dollars for telling us there was nothing wrong with the refrigerator. Steam will shoot from Kadizzle's ears if we get the home on Earth back and the thing still does not work. What a wonderful warranty.  The warranty says it will not pay for diagnosis. Never buy anything from Norcold. Call for help and find out you are number 46 in line. If the line always has forty or fifty people waiting, then you know they have a problem. 

How does Trump attract a following? It is a worldwide problem. Kadizzle read a good article addressing this in the NYT.  People feel they are being cheated. Worldwide people like Trump blame it on another tribe. The idea sells, and the Trumpers multiply.  Poor people with the help of the Democrats are stealing everything from the rich who earned it.  The cost of ignorance is high. 

Back on a different Planet

After another ten hour drive from Denver to Springerville, Az we are on another planet which has no water, very few people, scattered mountains, and abundant peace and quiet. No traffic, no fribble stores, no insane prices, no aggressive drivers, none of the hustle bustle insanity of Denver. Now what? Tomorrow we have to go get the Earth Module.  For a mere $142 they told us there is nothing wrong with our refrigerator. Guess how this will turn out. We will haul the thing back to Springerville over a hundred miles and the refrigerator will not work again. The mysteries of the universe. We tried everything to get it to work before we took it to Showlow.  The RV place plugged it in over night and told us it works fine.  We are worn out from driving.  

Kadizzle understands road rage.  The people who pull in front of you while you are pulling a large trailer should be shot. This is gun violence Kadizzle approves of. Hard to imagine the poor guy with a tractor trailer and these idiots weaving in and out of traffic like it is a game. The get people killed. They are actually committing murder with their actions and are no different from drunk drivers. OK, maybe not kill them, just a severe beating. 

 

Grandpa syndrome

What happens when your little, not so little, 12 year old grand daughter takes you to the local mini mall?  Your wallet bleeds.  Grandpa lets get some ice cream. Gramps lets get this and that. Of course everything is priced five hundred percent higher than it should be.  We were supposed to be on a bike ride, but the ride ends up at the fribble shops. It could have been worse. Sylvie suggested we buy jewelry for grandma and her mom. Grandpa was ready to give in, but fate stepped in. The ladies credit card machine would not work and Gramps had no cash. 

Another trip was to the pool. Grandpa bet Sylvie he could do a back flip.  The fat old Grandpa managed it an won the five bucks.  Now, another fat guy decided to do a back flip. This guy made Kadizzle look tiny.  The guy weighed an easy 450lbs.  The diving board seemed like it would break as he walked to the end.  Surely the board would break if he bounced.  Now with a little jump the planet spun and to the crowds amazement he did it.  Grandpa bet Sylvie ten bucks she could not do a 1 1/2  .  She almost made it so the prize was hers. 

Another day with the Denver gang and tomorrow a long, long drive back to Arizona. Hopefully some progress will be found on the new home. 

Two Worlds

When two worlds collide. Kadizzle sits about a block from the control tower for the original Denver airport.  Erin's house is about where the parking lot would have been.  Imagine the size of the old Stapleton airport. It would have been miles wide and long. When the new airport was built miles out of town the old airport was turned into prosperity village. Not exactly, but now there exist for miles in every direction housing that was very carefully planned and laid out. In many ways it is a great place to live.  Every home is immaculately landscaped. If you live here you have a decent job. The kids are all spit shinned and have no clue of the word suffer.  

Many blocks away is the old fashioned area where reality still exist. There is a distinct line between the new and the old. A lot of the old is being bought up and transformed into better housing. 

Kadizzle buzzes about on his bike and it is a world of no problems. A few times a year visiting our children we go into these oasis of nirvana.  Of course when we leave we drive through the real world with the mess it involves.  Why can't everyone have a decent house? There is enough wood, steel, grass, and all that is needed for everyone to live the good life, but it seems impossible to solve the distribution problem.  It is very simple math. When Willy takes six, and Mary takes four, maybe Rastus will not get any.  That is how the world works and the Trumpsters love it. 

800 miles one day

 Old Kadizzle awoke early and installed a light fixture on Dina's kitchen ceiling. Nothing went right so a one hour job turned into a two hour job. With a late start Kadizzle headed fro Denver a mere 800 miles away.  The radio played tunes from the phone all day and it was nice to drive through green country that we usually see as brown.  Now at Snoocher Bears house having coffee in the morning. The sleep refreshed the old man, and a bike ride around Denver will be on the list shortly. May put the bike on the train and go down town, or may just ride the bike to town and take the train back. Kadizzle may just leave his road bike in Denver with Erin so he has a decent bike when he visits.  Urban sprawl is something that never ceases to amaze.  Bismarck has splattered like spilled coffee in every direction.  What if you could know how many people were in cars at any moment. There are 40 million cars in this country and if even a third of them were on the road that would be a lot of people. The add the people up in the air. At any given moment there are six thousand planes in the air.  Do the math. 150 times six thousand.  The reality is a very small portion of the population actually does anything.  Most people under 18 do nothing, most old farts over 65 do nothing, and a whole bunch of people between 18 and 65 do nothing. That means a very small portion of the population has to do the real work.  Isn't it wonderful? 

North Dakota's Pulitzer Prize Winner

 Today Kadizzle will travel to Bismarck to meet Dina.  Dina is one of the Bad Ass Grandmas who took on the corrupt Republicans in North Dakota and won. Dina has been a friend from way back and Kadizzle had many happy moments of joy with Dina and Bill in the sailing past. Now for the icing on the cake. Dina arrange for Tony Bender to be at here home to meet Kadizzle.  Kadizzle has admired Bender for his wonderful writing and political satire in the Fargo Forum.  Bender is an amazing writer and should get the Pulitzer prize.  The Trumpsters don't like Tony, which is the best endorsement anyone could have. Bender is a supreme humorist. Humor is one thing you will never find in a Republican with a stick up their backside.  So today will shape up to be a great day. 

The Truth is nothing more than a state of mind

Your world is not my world. Each of us lives in our own world. We each look out a different window. We are not seeing the same thing. Our minds invent our reality. It is impossible to see things for what they are.  We are artist. We paint the world to resemble what our mind wants to see. We don't see ourselves, we imagine ourselves. The reality we live in is one we manufacture. We live in the illusion that we are all in the same world.  We are not. If two people are in a room, there are two worlds. Time does not pass the same for any two people. The rain doesn't smell the same, the flowers don't provide the same thrill. Understanding that that person next to you is in a different world or maybe a different planet is crucial. What seems irrelevant and insignificant to you is the sun in their universe. We invent the world we want.  We will see evil where someone else sees virtue. We will see difficulty where someone else sees a challenge. Life is an illusion. You cannot escape your  imagination, nor can you separate it from the world. 

Our lives are ruled by probability.  How likely is it you will get cancer, hit by a car, live to be one hundred.  No one knows, but each of us perceives the probabilities differently.  Our perception of probability shapes our existence. Every move we make we base on the likelihood of the outcome. Most of the time we are wrong, but that never changes our view of the world. 

Who are your friends?

Your friends accept you for what you are, who you are, how you are, where you are, when you are whatever you are. Friends can and will be honest with you. Friends return the favor. Friends understand how to disagree with you. Friends forgive you. Friends stick with you. As the old saying goes the proof is in the pudding.

Hillbillies make good friends. With some strong hillbilly genes, and jeans, Kadizzle feels he can speak for the mountain people. When you meet a person from the hills they size you up.  Don't show up in a shiny suit. The people in the hills may seem backward, but one thing they learned is to beware of strangers. Now for the good news.  If you treat a mountain man right, and he sees your soul, and finds it good, you are in. If they give you something, it is a token of friendship. It might be some potatoes, some plants, a sack of apples or a knife, but it means you have been accepted. You have made a friend for life. There is one rule, don't ever cross him. Don't steal his pig, always invite him in to the table, and help him when you can. 

Kadizzle once was a professional safety trainer.  He did his work in West Virginia, north and south, Ohio, and North Dakota. In the course of his career he taught first aid, and many other things to coal miners. Over the years it was thousands of classes. Kadizzle can tell you one thing for sure the most grateful people were the coal miners deep in the mountains of West Virginia.  The memory is still there of ending a class of safety for coal miners deep in Appalachia. A miner was designated to give Kadizzle a nice new pocket knife. It was a token of their appreciation for the fact that someone cared about them.  At another rundown remote mine Kadizzle showed up an had no lunch. The old coal miners noticed and offered to share their lunch.  That was way back when Kadizzle was about 23.  Since then after hundreds and hundreds of coal miners Kadizzle has never met any kinder than the ones in the toughest coal fields in the country.  If you crossed these people they would shoot you, but if you respected them they would die for you. 

 

The Rain Came

Sound asleep the thunder shattered the pleasant dreamy state Kadizzle was in. The magic from the sky fell to the ground and provided some relief from the heat and the dust. It seems hard to believe that so many are still in denial about our changing climate. Many years ago we moved to North Dakota.  Our first years we experienced some extremely cold weather, and an entirely different climate than what is now found in the Dakotas. The temperatures have been warmer every year. The question is why? Kadizzle spent his career in the coal industry. The Earth took millions of years to sequester the carbon tied up in coal and oil. Does any rational human think you can release all that carbon in a couple hundred years, and not have a problem. Some of the coal seams in Wyoming are 160ft thick. Kadizzle visited one of those mines where a 100 car train is loaded every 15 minutes. The coal is burnt as fast as it is mined.  Imagine in your home if you threw the garbage on the floor every day.  How long would it be before your house filled with garbage?  Who cares the TV works, the lights come on and we can air condition our way out of this mess.  Just ignore reality and it will go away. 

Planet Prairie

Awakening on the prairie is entirely different from the other planet we were on.  The green is the best aspect of the morning. The desert was having such a hard time turning green. Even though there is a severe drought in the Dakotas the grass has managed to produce some color. 

We are ensconced at our old friend Ray's house.  Ray was unique and so is his home.  One part of the home was a manufactured home. At the time he needed a home in a hurry and did not have time to customize it, but when there was time he added a marvelous addition. Ray was an artist so he let light pour in everywhere, which is a blessing. 

So we are tasked with loading all our possessions into a utility trailer and heading south to Arizona. The economy here in the Hazen area is in flux. Hopes are up that the gas plant can be converted to produce hydrogen. On the other hand the Luddites are still trying to turn straw into gold. The local Luddites think they can make coal burn clean by stopping the construction of wind power. Yesterday had a conversation with our old neighbor who is an engineer for a power company. He realizes the silliness of trying to burn clean coal. The process if it could work would be so inefficient that most of the energy would go to the cleanup process and not into the power lines.  One must keep in mind this is the heart of Trump country where you can believe anything. 

Scaring the simple Minded

Yup, they are coming for our guns. Just my notification from the NRA, Biden will be confiscating guns. Once you take the pledge of allegiance to the Trump Cult you enter a world of make believe that welcomes you every goofy theory on Earth. In Arizona you have bamboo ballots shipped here from China.  Of course you get to divorce yourself from logic, science and any of those other nuisances that involve facts. 

The real beauty of the simple minded is how they can be tapped for cash. The NRA is in big trouble since they have been charged with fraud. The NRA needs money.  Well, simply send out a gun letter to the simple minded and ask for money and new members. TV preachers have always known how easy it is to rape the simple minded with Jesus at their side. Know one knows better than the Republicans what a gold mine the stupid can open up.  Just scare the simple minded and harvest their money. You need nothing new, just use the good old guns, gays, god, and a few conspiracy theories.  How many dingers are there? Just look for the bumper stickers and the flags. Now if you extrapolate you figure for every Trump flag flying there are a few more in the bushes. However, it is simpler than that, just look how many idiots voted for Trump twice.  74 certified idiots is a lot of idiots, and the country is infested with them. 

A Long Drive

Praise Jesus for out friends that are providing us with a home back in North Dakota. With a nice guest house on their farmstead near Stanton they graciously let us move in. Ten hours of driving from Denver to Stanton is a long haul. The greeness of North Dakota compared to the dryness of Arizona is very nice.  So much of the time when we drive north and south everything is brown.  Good to see it with some color. The task of moving our junk to AZ are before us. 

There is no poverty

Its morning in America. Kadizzle is in an upscale neighborhood where his daughter lives. There is a landscaping war going on. The yards are wonderful, and beautiful. First world countries do live well. Wandering around it occurred to Kadizzle that the rich spend more on dogs and landscaping than most of the world spends on just trying to get by.  Once upon a time Kadizzle learned that the average person in India used 2 gallons of gasoline a year. On this little street where my daughter lives there are 13 dogs.  Have you noticed the dog food selection in the grocery store, or anywhere you go? We spend enough on pets to save millions of children all over the world from hunger, starving, and so many diseases, but who cares we are special, and after all we brought the world cell phones and TVs.  It never ceases to amaze Kadizzle that poverty is a human invention. You simply give some people way to much, and make sure the people you enslaved don't have enough.  OK, it is now time for someone to say " Why don't you sell everything and give you money to the poor".  Well how about this, the old Ben and Jerry's idea, the boss can only make 40 times what the janitor gets.  How about no one gets a three million dollar home until everyone gets a 200,000 dollar home.  How many billions does Jeff Bezos need before he is happy?  How much do you have to pay someone to invent diet Coke?  Trump showed us one thing, there is no shortage of stupid greedy people packing guns.  Why not wake up?  Poverty is man made.  When apples fall from the tree and no one picks them up, it is not the trees fault. 

Donut Wagon Arrived

 Erin just came back with the donuts. Ah, a bear claw to believe in. Sugars will be coursing through the veins.  The Kadizzles are ensconced with Erin, Fran, and Sylvie enjoying the status of grandparents. Sylvie is now taller than grandma. Their dog Danny is a Wolly Brumpus, a walking ball of fur that insist on attention. The future of a teenage granddaughter is like walking into a war zone.  Shopping is mandatory when one visits the big city, so we already got the REI store done.  Only dropped $25 there a massive success. May have to take a long urban train ride to Ikea to get ideas for  the new home.  Rain in Denver is such a foreign experience. It has not rained in Arizona sine the early 1800's. The huge white cargo trailer sits out on the street waiting to haul our load of belongings from North Dakota.  Gravity waves are always dangerous. Eating donuts can bring on a gravity wave. Sadly a wave worse than that is a stupidity wave. North Dakota has been hit hard as the Trump Cultist suffer in the fog.  The three stooges, Kevin Cramer, Kelly Armstrong, and John Hoeven are still loyal to the Big Lie gang.  Going from Arizona to North Dakota is a trip from one redneck stronghold to another. However, one must give Arizona credit for at least voting against Trump.  North Dakota is still stuck in the fog and the muck. 

Aggressive Drivers

Aggressive drivers should be pulled over, severely beaten, and shot. If you ever pulled a large trailer and dealt with the idiots that see driving as a carnival game, you would agree with Kadizzle.  Yesterday we drove 636 miles from Arizona to Denver.  The dolts that love to weave in and out of traffic make the trip miserable. One of their favorite stunts is to pass you on the right while you are slowly trying to pass a tractor trailer truck.  They shoot between you and the bigger truck with inches to spare. Instantly you understand road rage.  Then you get in a line of traffic and since you are pulling a heavy load you leave plenty of stopping space between you and the car in front. The simple minded cannot stand to see that empty space and they pull in.  

In this modern day of technology computers could catch the mentally impaired driving.  In Arizona they had computers that automatically ticked goofs.  Accidents went down, but the right wing idiots saw this as an invasion of their right to kill people, just like the gun nuts have a right to make sure school children get killed. 

Prayer Meeting at the Credit Union

 The Kadizzles are establishing a new residence in Payson, Arizona. To do so requires a new banking set up. Kadizzle went to the credit union yesterday to open an account.  The young fellow at the credit union said Kadizzle had to establish residency in Arizona. After going in circles for a little bit it seemed Kadizzle did not have an Arizona drivers license, he did not yet have a mailing address in Payson, and it seemed like he could not join the credit union.  Kadizzle asked the young clerk to tell him all the things he could use to qualify.  The fellow read off a list of things that would make Kadizzle eligible. You could join the credit union according to their requirements if you worshiped in Arizona.  Kadizzle laughed when he was told this and said to the young man " Lets start praying".   Kadizzle bowed his head and prayed that there would be lots of money in his new checking account. The young fellow was confused and said he needed to check with his boss.  The big cheese was in an adjacent room.  Kadizzle walked in on them and asked them if they would like to pray with him.  It all worked, Kadizzle is now a member of the Copper State Credit Union.  However, prayer does not seem to work.  There is only five dollars in the checking account.  Honest Omar, if you are reading this it proves " The lord works in strange ways", and apparently uses credit unions.  Of course Republican Jesus uses a good old capitalistic bank.  All of this resulted from Jesus chasing the money lenders out of the temple.  No doubt he joined a credit union after that little kerfuffle. 

To Build a Home

Up at five A.M. and off to Payson, AZ.  Meet the plumber.  Tell the plumber you want water and sewage.  The trip from Springerville to Payson will be over one hundred miles.  So here we go. The coffee is just about gone, the brain awakened. 

How does the brain work? Kadizzle could not remember the name of someone he used to sail with.  For two days he searched his brain.  A picture of the man was clear in his brain. This morning Kadizzle searched his brain backwards and first came up with the name of his ex wife.  At last the last name of the man. From there it was fairly simple.  As an old person Kadizzle is digging though his mind. For some reason memories are popping up everywhere. It seems like reviewing a book, or a movie. Towards the end of life is that what your mind does, a review?

Arizona is in a severe drought.  The mountain disappeared in the smoke from the fires. The planet is burning up, and no one notices. We are like the wild animals that become used to humans.  The deer in parks will just walk right up to you.  They seem to have forgotten humans are deadly.  Stupidity is deadly, the Republicans seem to have forgotten. 

Found the Loggers

 After a fruitless day yesterday trying to find where those logging trucks come from Kadizzle found their hiding place today.  The motorcycle took Kadizzle about fifteen miles into the forest. There the machinery was operating. A guy with a prize winning belly was running the stacker that loaded the trucks. Since no truck was there to be loaded the belly fellow came over and we had a good chat. Turned out he was the owner of the outfit.  His belly hung down a good four or five inches over his belt. Kadizzle told him that must be his store of cash from the pulp outfit he owned.  The owner had to jump back on the loader when a truck came.  However, the crew was starting to break for lunch.  Kadizzle had a good chat with to young guys, that seemed very well educated, and enthusiastic.  One machine had fifteen controls. The machine on tracks picked up the logs the skidder brought to him.  The machine could hoist the log, and skin the limbs off in a very proficient fashion, and then cut the log to length.  This was not old fashioned logging. Everything was done by machine.  The skidder operator and Kadizzle had a nice lunch on the tailgate of his truck.  Soon the guy who ran the feller buncher pulled up for lunch.  Kadizzle was shocked when out of the machine popped a kid who looked ten.  Kadizzle turned to the guy on the tailgate and said " You got to be kidding me that kid is hardly ten".   A moment later his dad got out of the machine.  Apparently the kid was along for the ride.  It did appear the way it happened the kid was the operator.  The machine did not cut trees with a saw as Kadizzle had presumed.  Two hydraulic blades could cut down a 16 inch tree like scissors.  This crew was selectively cutting trees and the forest looked vastly improved when they finished.  It was a pleasant way to learn about how pulpwood is made into pellets for the new fangled wood stoves people are using to heat their homes. 

A Note

 If for some strange reason you read this blog and would like to see the videos, that may accompany it, You can see them on Facebook. Kadizzle is too lazy to add videos most of the time to these musings. However, it is very easy to put videos on Facebook. If you are not a friend on Facebook it would be easy to make you one.  You can email me at dakotaquinn@gmail.com and let me know who you are, then request that you become a friend.  Recently a few videos of our travels have been put there.  Perhaps if the laziness is cured and the technical things learned they can be posted here. 

he Water Froze

At three in the morning Winky tested the water.  No water. The temp outside was 25 degrees.  The panic ensued. Kadizzle went to Cliff's house and got a bucket of hot water which he poured over the standpipe. The water came on.  So here sits Kadizzle at 4:30 A.M. 

Let's review yesterday.  After two days cooped up in the Earth Module due to high winds on the planet Earth, we had to get out.  Off to the third highest peak in Arizona we went.  It was a three mile hike to the top and the trip up and back wore old Kadizzle out.  A remarkable thing on our recent journeys in that area are the number of downed trees.  To believe it you have to see it.  Apparently in 2008 there was a terrible forest fire around here.  The fire killed and weakened an incredible amount of trees.  The landscape looks like someone spilled a giant box of matches everywhere.  The amount of lumber that went to waste is beyond imagination.  Once the trees are dead they can easily be blown over.  However, even the live trees have a hard time against the strong winds.  Some gust hit sixty the other day.  Winky decided to count how many trees fell across the trail.  In our three mile hike we had to cross over 90 trees that fell across the trail. In some cases these trees were three or four feet in diameter.  Up and back that meant we climbed over 180 trees.  When we reached the top the fire tower was in pretty bad shape.  Kadizzle was a bit surprised how much work the vandals went to in order to inflict damage. Most vandals do not do difficult hikes to do their work, but every window was busted out and some dolts went to great effort to damage the solar panels. 

Hopefully this is the last cold spell we have to fight.  Today's great feat will be dealing with out refrigerator.  The damn thing is less than a year old and has given up the ghost.  We may to haul the Earth Module sixty some miles to have it repaired.  First we will have to go around in circles with the manufacturer.  Never, ever, buy a Norcold refrigerator. The old Dometic in the other Earth Module worked fine for over ten years. 

The Wind Blew our Brains out

 Winky and Kadizzle rarely watch television, but winds with gust of up to sixty have pinned us to the Earth Module for two days.  We binge watched a Danish TV show RITA.  Have to admit it was very well done. Now we started another one. Marvelous Mrs Maisel is our next one to conquer.  Winky has an old playmate acting a major part in this series.  Hopefully the wind will die down tomorrow and we can get outside.  The eibke and the motorcycle now have new back tires so some adventures are in store.  Being confined to the Earth Module for two days in this wind disaster has been taxing.  Kadizzle opened the door and about blew it off it's hinges. 

The Curse of The Rusty One

 Kadizzle has sailed a lot of boats, but none have been cursed like the Rusty 1.  Remember the little yellow sailboat Stroupini brought to Arizona for Kadizzle? It seemed like it would be a lot of fun.  Not so. Fist the Rusty 1 fell of the trailer. Ok it was stupidity of Kadizzle.  So that was $550 dollars down the drain to repair.  Then the Rusty 1 threw Bill and Kadizzle in the water.  Fortunately we were near the dock. The last straw was when the Rusty 1 pitched Kadizzle in the drink. It was time for that boat to live with someone else. Well, the new owner is under the curse. The new owner lives in New Mexico.  No state has more bizzare rules for ownership.  New Mexico requires the boat and trailer to be licensed and titled.  Since the boat came from North Dakota which requires basically nothing, there is no good way to get the boat legal in New Mexico. A notarized bill of sale will not do it. 

The new owner is a nice young guy stuck with a useless boat in his driveway. Kadizzle wants to help him.  How can we prove to New Mexico he owns the boat. Kadizzle had one idea.  Kadizzle will call the local sheriff in New Mexico and say the boat was stolen.  Perhaps the sheriff will ask Kadizzle to prove it was his boat.  Using the New Mexico rules the sheriff will not be able to affirm it was Kadizzle's boat.  Now the fun begins.  The new owner has a stolen boat, but the sheriff cannot do anything, because there is no way in New Mexico to determine who owns the boat.  If the sheriff asks Kadizzle to prove he owns the boat Kadizzle will not be able to do it to New Mexico standards, but if they do accept Kadizzles ownership, then they will have to accept the new owners paperwork, because it is the same. Kadizzle gave the new owner a bill of sale.  It may come to a strang end.  Kadizzle will claim the new owner stole the boat.  The sheriff will agree and give the boat to Kadizzle. Kadizzle will tell the sheriff he is giving the boat to the new owner.  Now no one can deny the new owner owns the boat.  Kadizzle will then insist no charges are pressed against the new owner.  Only in America do we have such an insane bureaucracy. 

The Gold is falling

Gold is falling from the sky. Rain at last has come. Rarely has rain seemed like such a blessing.  Maybe the streams will run. Yesterday we rode six miles in a giant circle up on the second highest mountain in Arizona at 9,500ft. Was a nice ride. It was striking to see the damage from forest fires.  The amount of wasted lumber is saddening.  With the rain we will be confined to the Earth Module. 

Every time you think the Republicans can get no more absurd, or lie more blatantly, they do. The denial of the insurrection is an incredible erasure of history. 

We sit here with the electric fire place blazing.  At one time Winky and Kadizzle thought electric fireplaces were gaudy and silly. However, we have grown to love the imitation.  The ability of the fire to mimic a real fire is amazing. The blasted thing does put out heat and you can stand in front of it an get warm.  Winky said it will be great in our new home.  You can have a fire with no heat.  

About a year ago we went to the largest flower show in the world in Philadelphia. At  the exhibition there was a fake fire.  Kadizzle saw it from a distance and was amazed they would allow a fire to burn in the open with no protection for kids. The fire looked so real, he thought it was real. Kadizzle had to go see the fire.  Up close he realized it produced no heat.  The salesman was there and explained to Kadizzle the fire ran on water. It used about one or two gallons a day. With the magic of science the water was vaporized and a laser was played on the mist. It gave a very real impression of fire.  No there may have been a problem. You could put your hand in the flame and it would only get wet.  This could be very misleading for a young child unfamiliar with fire.  

It rains dirt

 Unable to sleep Kadizzle got up and perused the New York Times. An article on drought caught his eye.  It is dry here. The soil around here has a lot of volcanic ash. It is like flour when it is dry, and for it to get airborne is not problem. It did rain about thirty drops the other day. Not enough to even wet the ground, but the raid did do one thing, it deposited dirt on the windows. When the raindrops dry out the dirt is left behind.  You can smell dirt in the air all the time.  Sadly we lost four years fighting climate change when Trump was president dolt. Humans are amazing. If you fry them slowly they don't know they are being fried. We have be going to Arizona for the winter for the last ten years or more.  It has been burning up. Everywhere you go you see the scars from the forest fires, you see the dugouts for water empty.  It is a crises, but who cares we have a flat screen and a nice pickup truck.  That is the American standard. If your TV works there are no problems on the planet. Now if the guy who does  not have cable TV or anything to eat fires a rocket at your house that does create a problem. Thank god that is happening far away and it is not our problem. We are making kazillionaires like Bezos.  He is building a 500 million dollar yacht. There will be a smaller yacht that follows it around with fuel and sandwiches.  Jeff Bezos does not have a problem. Jeff has poor retired people filling boxes full of Chinesium at his labor camps. It is a wonderful world. 

A Little Lost

Boredom set in and the crew headed out to an unknown destination. We decided to hike to the top of what was called a knoll on the map. The knoll would 9,000 ft elevation.  The truck rumbled about five miles up a dirt road, then the ebikes took us another mile or so. Off the ebike we headed into the pine forest. Following elk trails and old logging paths we made it to the top for a great view.  The final part of the hike involved some scrambling over large rocks. On these uncharted hikes Kadizzle likes to make some mental landmarks, but he did not account for the fact that the rocks on the top of the ridge made a gentle U.  When the time came to head down the two bullheaded hikers decided to take different routes back to the bikes.  Kadizzle figured if he kept edging left he would make it back to where they came up. It soon became evident it was not working.  Now Winkie called him on the cell phone and asked where he was.  The simple answer was he did not know.  After taking a little time to orient himself with the gps he thought he had an idea of the right direction. The terrain was very confusing. The GPS was supposed to make a track Kadizzle could follow back, but somehow the Gps shut itself off.  Using the phone GPS Kadizzle again tried to electronically get back.  The GPS pointed the direct route, which was not possible because of the steep terrain.  After Kadizzle navigated for awhile he did come within hearing distance of Winkie.  In the end Kadizzle realized the importance of leaving GPS crumbs.  That would mean you mark a series of points that you can reference.  Normally we mark the car, which in this case Winky did and she had the GPS with an effective track. Kadizzle is going to tighten up the procedures, and use the more sophisticated GPS next time.

I've Been everywhere sir, cross the desert fair sir, traveling I've done my share sir.

 Yesterday the Blurtons pulled in with their Mercedes camping van. On and off we have met them in various places in the southwest. For hours we talked about different places and travels. Like so many they have moved about the Western United States from Mexico to Alaska for years.  When mobile lifestyle people get together it is always a massive exchange of travel information.  With traveling friends you will always find places that are not in the books or guides. If we have not been someplace we have met someone who has.  Discussing the trails, bike rides, hikes, repelling, and all that goes with exploring is fun.  

Winky is demanding activity today. Kadizzle want to go on a bike ride on an old railroad bed. Winky wants to hike up Bald Mountain.  The wind is terrible, so both seem miserable.  Stay tuned. 

Hike A Bike

Hike a bike is a technique for hiking and biking at the same time. Kadizzle has gotten into this mode. You ride where you can and you get off and push when you have to.  Kadizzle has invented a new game called Columbus. You take off  thinking you know where you are going, and sometimes you get there, but it isn't where you think you are.  You do this by making a circular route in your head you have not been on before, then you take off into the wilderness and hope you come out where you planned. Yesterday the hike a bike was up onto a plateau.  At first there appeared to be some Big Horned sheep, but they were antelope.  Antelope was the beast of the day. Kadizzle encountered them again farther down the trail.  After riding over some fairly rough ground on the ebike Kadizzle came to a dead end in the canyon he was riding.  Now it was time to push the bike up a steep rock strewn hill with the hope there would be an easy way back to the Earth Module.  Reaching the top things turned out as planned there it was the gravel road, right where it should be.  The question was how far North on the gravel road was the explorer?  Turned out just fine it was about a two mile downhill coast back to base.  Traveling this country one quickly finds out the animal tracks and droppings are everywhere.  Game trails provide clues to how to get from here to there.  

For dinner yesterday Winky wanted to go to the Irish Pub down the road. The pub is in the middle of nowhere, but a very nice little place where we ate on the porch.  Sitting on the porch we were able to watch the herd of elk on the other side of the road.  Very pleasant way to eat the corned beef and cabbage, with bread pudding for desert. 

The dinner wrapped up helping an old couple get back in their car.  The poor old guy had just come down with a bad case of Parkinson's disease.  His wife pulled the car around to the handicapped ramp and Kadizzle pushed the guy in his cart to the car.  Not to long before Kadizzle may be riding a cart instead of an ebike.  It felt good to give a hand to this old husband and wife trying to enjoy a meal on the porch with us. 

This gets to crumbling. The reality we are reaching the crumbling stage of life. Like and old building we will just slowly crumble into the ground. Building a new home we are keeping crumbling in mind. It all has to be on one floor and the doors have to be wide and the shower accessible. As you age you can always pretend you are in worse shape than you really are.  You can say in a shaky voice " Sonny can ya get me my slippers".  " Sonney can you pull my car up front, I am having a bad day?"   One strange thing about being older are senior discounts. Most of the old goats have money, it is the poor young kids who need the discounts.  Winky sat still yesterday so it means her batteries are recharged and we will have to do an adventure. 

Come Visit

The roof trusses went up on the new home.  An old friend asked if there was a guest room for golfers from the East. Yup, one of the great pleasures we anticipate from our new home will be the ability to host guest. Unless you are an extreme pain in the ass, you are invited. Over the years we have met so many wonderful people. The home will have two extra bedrooms. The reality of North Dakota was people just did not see it as a place to go.  On the other hand Az, does attract people. Arizona has downfalls.  Phoenix is a vast wasteland of concentration camps for old people. Contrary to most peoples perceptions Arizona is not all desert.  Sure it is dry in a lot of places, but if you go to the right places Arizona has a lot of forest and mountains. Kadizzle does not particularly like rank desert, but it can be entertaining in short spurts. Arizona is heavily infested with Republicans, and Trump cultist.  They can be tolerated. Of course you have a strong gun culture.  It does promote good manners.  Like so much of the western United States there is the attitude I am free to slum up my place as much as I want. This is reflected in the chain link fence culture.  You collect a bunch of junk and fence it in so no one will steal your old rusted car.  Fencing is something Republicans love to do. Republicans always like to make it clear this is mine and you ain't getten it.  The whole Republican world is based on the concept poor people want your stuff. Those poor people incidentally are who you stole the stuff from.  

Ok this inspired a rant.  Go to Phoenix and guess what you will find.  Every home has a cinder block wall surrounding the property five feet tall. Now think about this?  How many cinder blocks is that?  Well if you took all those cinder blocks or for that matter all the money spent on fencing and you built homes instead of walls the poor people would have homes.  Those walls are to protect you from poor people. If the poor people had stuff they would not need to steal your stuff. So do you build a wall or make sure the poor people have stuff. The answer seems obvious, give the poor people a job, a home, and an education. Republicans despise the concept of sharing.  Republicans cannot grasp the idea that they love exploitation. Slavery was exploration. Today we have Walmart slavery, and Amazon slavery.  The people who work for Walmart and in the Amazon warehouses are slaves.  The do not have homes with five foot walls.  Of course the Republicans will all say " If they just got off their ass and worked like I did they would not be in that mess" (They always leave out the part that their daddy gave them plenty of bucks in his tax free will).  More than anything prosperity comes from someone else giving you a good start.  Poor people do not have that someone else.  So back to the old theme.  Here we are in a world with plenty of everything, but the greedy have created poverty and starvation because they took way more than their share. Kadizzle quit that socialist crap.  Now we demonize goverment sanctioned sharing. Any goverment that taxes people is socialist. Taxes are forced sharing. If you tax someone and build a road you have forced them to share, but we voted on that.  Of course you did. That is what democratic socialism is.   You vote on how resources are going to be used, but that might mean I will not have enough for a five hundred million dollar yacht like Bezos.  Too bad, grow up and get along with a one or two million dollar yacht, but what if I never have enough? Well then vote Republican. 

They erased the road.

 Taking off on a cross country jaunt is always fun. Getting from point A to B when you don't know the way is a puzzle.  Yesterday Kadizzle explained to Winky fifteen times how he was going to make a circular trip.  To make the trip Kadizzle had to find a road.  Winky decided to go on the venture.  After ebiking for a while on a known road it seemed impossible to find the road which was on the map, but was not in reality where it was supposed to be.  Kadizzle figured it was an old abandoned road.  Kadizzle decided to take off down a drainage where the road should be.  Winky said the hell with that and went off on her own back toward the Earth Module.  As the ebike drifted downhill over trackless ground Kadizzle began to wonder about the wisdom of his adventure.  There did seem to be some small signs of an ancient road, but it also seemed like a major effort had been made to obliterate the road.  As Kadizzle went farther into the valley there were several stock dams so that meant there must have been a road at one time.  Kadizzle found himself in a narrow stream bed where it seemed there could never have been a road. It was decision time.  Consulting the map on the phone it appeared the nonexistent road was up out of the little canyon. Kadizzle pushed the ebike up the very steep slope and signs of an ancient road appeared.  All seemed well until Kadizzle got to a place where the supposed road hung to the side of a hill.  Someone, probably a government agency went to great lengths to destroy the road or make it unusable.  Whoever did it surely wanted no one using the old road.  There were steep piles of material heaped on the road.  Thankfully an ebike could be pushed over them, but nothing else could have made it past the obstacles.  Finally the road took Kadizzle down to the highway where he expected to come out. 

Winky wants to go hiking today up in the same general area. We will see what happens.  

Winky is insisting today Kadizzle read Heather Cox Richardson.  No doubt she is the most scholarly commentator on the nefarious tricks of the Republicans.  Highly suggest you read her recent remarks. 

Elk and Big Horned Sheep

Winky stayed back at the Earth Module while Kadizzle fired up the ebike.  Kadizzle took off into unknown wilderness.  The bike took the large lump up onto a plateau that seemed to go on forever. The ride went through some nice country, but ended in a dead end.  Again Kadizzle sought a different road.  This road also ended in a dead end. However, it was near a small peak that would reveal the location.  Climbing the peak Kadizzle saw a herd of Elk. Some small animal ran through the Elk, either a coyote or perhaps a Mexican wolf. The view was magnificent.  Kadizzle decided he could not find a road into the valley below.  On the way back a road was found and Kadizzle had a much closer encounter with the elk.  Now Kadizzle did get to the Sipes Wildlife area road.  Returning on that road Kadizzle looked diligently for the Big Horned Sheep.  When he just about gave up there they were right in front of him on the road.  One clearly had an electronic collar and they all had ear tags.  It turned out to be a great ride. Kadizzle may do another ebike exploration today. 

Second Post Today

 The song Mexican Daydream is playing in the background. Somehow the music brings back memories of all the incredible Indian sites we have visited in the southwest. Think about being a native American wandering about. You get first pick on any place you want.  Those people knew how to find the most amazing sites. Yesterday we visited the Sipes Wilderness area where there is an amazing site.  The pottery shards there were astounding.  Have never seen any collection displayed on the ground like it. Hundreds of pottery shards with designs to amaze.  The location of the little place that may have had eight to fifteen families was like so many others, damn near perfect. The scenery could not be surpassed, and of course the game and water were both at the doorstep.  The people who occupied these places could have had a very peaceful simple existence.  Used to think when we first discovered it Calf Creek Canyon in Utah was the ultimate. It was an incredible canyon with a trout stream running down the middle, a waterfall with a wonderful pool above and below.  Mule Canyon in Utah also has an unbeatable cliff dwelling with a natural swimming pool right out front.  The natural places these people found and settled make you have great respect for their ability to live in harmony with nature. 

The New Headquarters

Up very early we headed to Payson, AZ yesterday to take care of some details on the new home. Also had to go on to Phoenix to pick out some colors to match the new counter tops.  Going broke is hard work. Seeing the walls up was a good feeling. The goal is to have the family in the new home for Thanksgiving. 

Most exciting was seeing a huge Elk causally walk through the yard. What fun it will be to have Elk graze in the neighborhood. National Forest surrounds the new settlement and hiking will be across the street. 

The amazing Republicans.  You get thrown out of the party if you tell the truth.  Wow, did anyone ever think it would come to this?

A Day in the Life

Cissie and Cliff are out for a morning hike. When the boss gets back we will go for an ebike ride up to the Sipes Wildlife area. It may be a sixteen mile trip like Kadizzle took yesterday.  The bike came back on the paved road and hit 40mph going down the hill. Kadizzle could have hit 50mph, but thought it imprudent. Today may wear a helmet and give it a try. 

Cliff invited us over for coffee at his house about 200 ft away.  With the fire going we talked a lot of philosophy, politics, love life, and what ever came up. Good morning.  

Cliff is into spirituality.  Not sure what that means. Kadizzle is into confusion. Kadizzle does not know how this all started or what will happen when it ends.  Who or what made this conundrum is a mystery, and that is just fine.  The human tendency to just make up stuff is dangerous, leads to wars, crime, you name it. Simply admitting you don't know or are baffled has a lot of benefits. Most organizations that make up a good story explaining the unknown charge for it. The Mormons, and most religions get ten percent to sell you a complicated story.  From an investment standpoint it is very poor.  If you invested ten percent of you salary, then gave it to people in need directly without the church taking a cut, everyone would win, but you don't get promised eternal life or forgiveness for your sins.  Do the math it probably cost a million dollars to get forgiven for your sins.  If you invested ten percent from age 25 to 50 you would be farting through silk, and doing way more good than building some huge edifice with stained glass windows.  Here comes Cissie and Cliff time to go. 

Heavy Duty, and Hartbreaker

 Just finished a facetime chat with Cheech, my youngest daughter. Her two children have a wrestling match with their dad every day. Evie goes by the name Hartbreaker, and Quinnie goes by his wresting name Heavy Duty.  Both of them dress up in their intimidating wrestling outfits and take on their dad Sam.  So later today Kadizzle will be able to watch the match.  Maybe Kadizzle can get some pictures of the grandchildren in their costumes. 

A few purchases Kadizzle really enoyed.

 Yesterday the ebike hit almost 3,500 miles.  Kadizzle has peddled that bike across the country and about half way back. The old Yamaha xt250 has also been a pleasing purchase.  Last but not least was the S2 10,3 sailboat.  Kadizzle made a huge mistake selling that boat and he misses it like an old friend.  Would buy it back if he could. 

Back to the ebike.  Cannot recommend it enough.  If city people would use ebikes instead of cars so much would be accomplished. Even if you ride to the city then use the bike. Kadizzle has been trying to convince his children to get one.  Riding a bike in Denver is so much better than a car.  You can buzz downtown on the wonderful bike paths.  Winky just asked what I was writing.  I told her it was the three things I liked in my life.  She said did I include her. Kadizzle said no, it is just things I purchased.  Well I guess I have to include Winky.  She has cost me dearly, but been a good product.  I am sure it cost me well over a million to have Winky, but then there is the cooking, ect.  Winky has run very economically.  She buys few cloths, is a good shopper, cooks better than the best, and has been a great mom and grandma.  Last but not least she has the strength to endure a mean old overweight, unkempt lumpy, lazy husband. So Winky was well worth the purchase price. 

Sleeping well

Dream, dream, and then dream some more.  Kadizzle and Winky both slept well last night.  Cliff got up real early to go hiking with his group.  Winky did not want to go so early so she is going ebiking with old Kadizzle.  Should be fun on some new trails. 

Mornings are peaceful here. Kadizzle has been making his own sun clock. There is a pole in the yard. Kadizzle placed a rock on the shadow at 12:30, then another rock at 1:00.  Walking to the new executive suite at Cliff's house Kadizzle noticed how the shadow is cast so early.  That shadow has a lot of moving to do.  The Kadizzles have never lived this far south in May.  The sun seems to act strangely and we both are very confused about North, East, South, and West. 

Neither of us has ever lived consistently at such high altitude.  We are at 7500 ft.  The sun is much stronger.  The nights cool quickly.  The air is dry and you drink more water.  Overall it is probably healthier. You have to breath more and all work is just a little harder.