Life on the Vine

Life has changed the world over.  For more than two months I've been teleworking and leaving the house by car only once a week.  We haven't bought gasoline since early March and I still have over a half a tank of fuel in my vehicle.  I'm driving less -- this is not unique.  It's the same for millions across the globe.  The crisis response to COVID-19 has demonstrated that we -- the citizens of planet Earth -- are capable of drastically changing behavior when life is on the line. I thought about this as I finished reading Hope Jahren's new book The Story of More .  A book about climate change.  She explores the drive for 'more' and its contribution to increased climate change.  She highlights what's changed the past 50 years -- since 1969 -- the year of her birth. A scientist, Jahren has converted decades of research and data into a highly readable 200 page book on what is a complex topic.  In the appendix, she shares 11 pages of sources...

I'm sitting in my usual leather chair.  A gift my father gave Tom and I more than ten years ago when we still lived in Missouri.  Tom is out having coffee with a friend and took Colt with him.  Henry is upstairs laying in bed but just came downstairs and now sits in one of our loaner chairs.  My shoulders are tense and my upper back is sore.  This morning technology made me mad.  REALLY mad.  I frankly wanted to smash my computer against the wall.  Why is it that something that should be so easy is complicated?  The frustration over trying to transfer photos between devices ended in tears spilling down my face.  Why am I so angry?  Why isn't this working?  Why aren't the multiple "How To" sites I'm reading off the Internet providing any help? So here's what I set out to do.  Over the past year I've taken pictures at the more than 30 wineries we've visited.  Pictures of the vines, the fields, the grapes.  Pictur...

Around the Labor Day holiday Tom and I took some days off from work.  Our original weekend getaway plans had to be canceled due to some unavoidable circumstances but we decided to make a quick overnight trip up to the White Mountains.  I've heard a lot about the White Mountains but I've never been to that part of the state.  It's about a four/five hour drive from our house.  We took the scenic route and stopped several times along the way so it took us a bit longer.  So, Monday morning we packed up the car, grabbed Colt and away we went.    Tom's co-pilot keeping an eye on the road. The scenic route was a big loop taking us east into Willcox and then north to Safford.  Our overnight destination was the Pinetop/Lakeside area but we drove through Clifton, Morenci, Alpine, Nutrioso, and Eagar in order to get there.  This had us in Apache National Forest for a good chunk of the trip.  The National Forest is basically the border betwe...

To the north of the temp house is some vacant acreage that has some dirt paths crisscrossing it.  Bikes, dirt bikes and quads are out there sometimes, as well as horse riders and folks just out for a walk.  Colt and I walk on these trails almost every day.  It's a nice open area where I can let him run around without being on a lease.  He chases after quail, rabbits and lizards and we see the occasional hawk and deer.  I keep a close eye out for rattlesnakes and thankfully haven't seen one yet. Road to dirt trails - our property is in the foothills of the mountain On one of our walks A couple days ago I noticed a tent set up near one of the areas we normally walk through.  We skirted around the area.  Yesterday morning we passed by the area and found a mass of trash left behind.  Clearly the campers have never heard of the concept of leave no trace.  It made me really angry.  I don't understand how people can just leave their tr...