Glendale, Sun City, Phoenix, and other desert destinations

 

Desert, cactus and heat! That is Phoenix in August. But Air Conditioning and lakes made from used water. Also Phoenix in August. There was a big rainstorm in Arizona the week before I got there and that means - flowers on cactus! One of my childhood favorite foods was syrup made from prickly pear cactus, so I was happy to run across this prickly pear in Sun City, while visiting Lori and Bob, my step-family. Yummy memories.

My cousin Carla lives in Glendale, and we had a nice visit, too. 

Lori pulled out some old pictures of my dad, including one that is absolutely wonderful. My much younger daughter Deanna, saw that a license plate says 1946, without a magnifying glass. I love that my father is smoking a cigarette in front of the "DANGER Explosives" sign. A devil-may-care veteran, right?

Speaking of devil-may-care, a few of my high school friends got together in an actual restaurant. A first since COVID hit for some, it was a bit uncomfortable, but still, I was glad to catch up with everyone. 

Finishing off the Phoenix visit, I said hello to my dead relatives in the cemetery. My mother's grave is looking quite sad. The cemetery was looking very dry. Many trees had been taken down because of disease, hopefully to be replaced.

The whole week that I was in Phoenix, it was over 110 F (43 C) every day. What will cemeteries do next? Can't keep on keeping on, can they?