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Sunday, March 10, 2024

I asked Matt to go to Catalina State Park. Unusual, I am not the best hiker. We did three miles and I almost fell down once.

Catalina State Park.

Snowball is getting elderly. Losing weight, breathing harder, wanting to eat mostly milk and cheese. I also realized that Snowball is actually 14 or 15 instead of 13 like I thought.

Matt and Snowball.

Meanwhile, Clyde continues to be a handsome puss.

Clyde.

On Wednesday at work I was eating a piece of bread with cheese on it and the corner of the left mandibular second molar decided to break off. The next day I got it repaired.

The broken tooth.

My fifth article in American Ancestors magazine. I am already working on the next one.

American Ancestors article.


 


Sunday, March 03, 2024

I went to the Santa Cruz River with a group to pick up trash. First we had a meeting where we talked about the history of the river and the De Anza trail. There were about a dozen folks, young and older (I am one of the older).

Tucson Wastewater is putting treated water into the river at this location. The vegetation is lush in the riparian area.

Tree tobacco.

Unfortunately, when it rains water carries trash from the washes that empty into the river. Unhoused people live in those washes and under bridges. The trash they discard is carried downstream and the vegetation in the riparian area catches it. 

So much trash. I found:

- 4 syringes (luckily no needles)
- styrofoam, a lot of it from broken up Polar Cups
- cigarette butts
- food wrappers
- plastic bags
- three toys
- a coat
- lighters
- plastic silverware
- plastic bottles and aluminum cans

I filled up a big bag. I had brought a bucket and just sat on the ground and collected trash, then moved a few feet and collected more. It is important to do so because endangered fish and Sonoran mud turtles are in the riparian area and you don't want them ingesting plastic.

My collected trash.

In all, we recovered 17 huge bags worth of refuse.

17 bags.

I felt like a did some good today.

Garbage man Homer.

 


Thursday, February 29, 2024

Spring has arrived. It is warming up and raining a lot.

A couple of Saturdays ago I said let's go to Saguaro Park West Unit. We stopped at the visitor center and I gave the staff a bag of lemons. The woman was very happy.

We found a spot to hike and wandered along a trail. Matt is going on a big Grand Canyon hike and wants to get in better shape.


Saguaro Park West Unit.

Last weekend we went to the rodeo. People watched, rodeo watched. Rodeo bull and horse riders are insane. They had 4-year-old kids riding sheep.

Matt, Carver, and Homer.

Today we did a proposal presentation for a big project that has little actual in-the-ground archaeology. But lots of historical research. Will we get it? Stay tuned.


Thursday, February 15, 2024

I made sugar cookies using Martha Stewart's recipe. I added Meyer lemon zest for one batch and orange zest for the other, both picked off my and the neighbor's trees (you really couldn't taste the difference.

The frosting was just powdered sugar and Meyer lemon juice. The bags of frosting kept opening up, it made a terrible mess, but I got the decorating done.

Cookies.

Last night Matt came over and we had a Valentine's Day dinner and afterwards he ate a lot of the cookies. My co-workers got the rest and they quickly disappeared.

It was a nice evening after yet another day of exciting report comments from reviewers. 
 


Friday, February 09, 2024

 Archaeology used to be fun. I mostly did excavation projects on mostly historic period sites. I managed crews excavating interesting things (buildings, wells, outhouse pits, trash-filled pits, etc.). I would analyze the historic artifacts. Research the people and buildings. And write interesting reports. Often I would give public talks about the work (I still do, but for old projects or for solely historical research I have done).

Lately archaeology has been less fun. Much less fun. I walk along portions of Interstate highways. "Oh look another urine-filled bottle." I watch trenches being dug for utilities. And then I write boring reports.

And wait for the comments. You try to write a perfect report, and the people reviewing the reports find new things to comment about. Sometimes these are new policies that have been enacted since the report was written since it can take months for the review to take place. Or the reviewers have information about something that they didn't bother to tell you about. Or the "area of potential effect" changes. Or they want additional information that requires maps to be altered or more historical research.

Recently I was called unprofessional by a reviewer. In that case citing a city's historical website was deemed unprofessional. 

So anyways, archaeology isn't much fun anymore. I get more satisfaction doing genealogical research.


Friday, January 19, 2024

I spent nine days in the Phoenix metro area working on a dig. I have not spent much time up there since 1996, when I ran a dig for two months.

I attended Arizona State University in Tempe from 1988 to 1992. Fast forward and Tempe is unrecognizable. New, tall buildings everywhere. The river is dammed and is a big lake. A streetcar runs through it. I finally saw a few university buildings and two churches that I remembered. Tempe is surrounded by other cities, so the only option is to build up (but not too far up, since the Sky Harbor airport flight path passes overhead).

Traffic was crazy. Phoenix has turned into another Los Angeles.

Matt took care of Ruby, Snowball, and Clyde. They were all pleased to see me yesterday afternoon, I certainly missed them too. Hotel rooms- blech.

 


Sunday, December 31, 2023

Last day. So 2023 is almost over. Today Matt and I went shoe shopping and ended up purchasing matching sneakers. Will the trend continue? Afterward a gross meal at IHOP, where they no longer make grilled cheese sandwiches. Won't be going back.

Highlights of 2023:

- turning 60 in Pompeii
- getting engaged to Matt in Rome
- spending time with my Amish brother
- finishing a couple of books
- having an article accepted for American Ancestors magazine
- three successful parties
- healthier!

Lowlights of 2023:

- car being broken into (it truly is cursed)
- catching Covid
- work has been pretty dull
- Snowball's incessant meowing in the middle of the night 

End of the year selfie with Clyde

What will 2024 bring? Stay tuned...

 


Tuesday, December 19, 2023

Can you have too many holiday decorations?  Let's find out?

I had my annual Holiday Cookie Decorating Party on Sunday. I decorated the dining room, living room, and my bedroom. Click an image to make them larger.

Dining room:

Erzgebirge angel choir. 


Red tree with felt ornaments, made by my mother and sister Susan.

1940s Holiday cards

Giant Santa head that Mother gave me.

Living room:


Flocked tree with Shiny Brite ornaments.

Santa and his moose.

Ceramic and one beaded tree. The pink one doesn't light up, unfortunately.


The 1968 Nylint house trailer I got for my birthday from Ace Hardware.

The main tree with mostly modern vintage looking ornaments. 

The bedroom:


IKEA tree with home-made ornaments.


White tree with crocheted or tatted balls.

Creepy Santa.

Outside:

Homer-made luminarias.

I baked about 140 sugar and gingerbread cookies and made 4 pounds worth of powdered sugar and lemon icing, which I colored and put in bags. 

Ryan, Jeffrey, Shannon, and Amelia decorating.

Cookies.

Matt displaying more cookies. 

I served chili, corn casserole (popular!), chips with dips and salsa, a fruitcake, and a chocolate mayonnaise cake with cranberry filling and Nutella cream cheese frosting on top. Also Homer-made eggnog.

We all had a good time and it was nice to see people I don't often get to see. 91-year-old Ann was the highlight, she loves how I decorate.

 


Friday, November 24, 2023


Day 10. Every morning I tromp up the mountain. Sometimes it is still dark and the sun is just starting to rise. Sometimes, like this morning, it was light outside.

There is a steep, shorter way or a longer, less steep way. I've been doing the steep side. I huff and puff.

Near the top.

I sometimes see people walking their dogs. I always say hello to both.

I often see animals- little birds hopping about, cottontails, coyotes (twice), a javelina, and deer (twice). Today I saw three deer. One of them stopped to stare at me.


Deer.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, not one of my favorite holidays. I made carrot-raisin salad, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. Matt made vegetarian stuffing, green beans, and turkey (blech!). Sandy made deviled eggs. I also bought a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie, and made whipped cream. 

Doug, Sandy, Homer, and Carver (Matt took the picture).



 


Sunday, November 19, 2023

I went to an estate sale. The transferprint platters were already gone. But the painting wasn't. It was painted by a woman named Roberta Sharp from Texas. Other painting by her sell for between $350 and $1500. I paid $20.

Roberta Sharp Painting.

The doctor prescribed me the new wonder drug Ozempic to lower my blood sugar. In the three and a half weeks since my blood sugar is down from the 130s to 99. I have also lost nine pounds.

Matt has been urging me to get more exercise. So I have started going up to Sentinel Peak each morning. 3.4 miles round trip. 

At the top.

One day I saw a javelina. The poor thing was limping.

Javelina.

Yesterday morning I went very early.

Sunrise.

I have been challenged to do this 90 days in a row.

 


Sunday, November 12, 2023

Finally. I got to spend a day digging, although I found nothing real. Lesley dug most of a roasting pit. 813 fire-cracked rocks in the excavated portion. Will be interesting to see what the radiocarbon date is, we found no pottery.

Lesley digging. Fire-cracked rocks piled up on left.

I taught a floral crown class at the Presidio. The participants had a great time. Also gave a talk about saloons and two cemetery tours. Plus made an offrenda.

Floral crown participants.

It is that time of year. I made gingerbread and sugar cookies.

Cookies. All decorated by me.

The All Souls Procession Party was nice, people enjoyed themselves. I made chili, an enchilada casserole, chips and green chili salsa. And cookies. Sandy made cemetery cupcakes and Matt made cornbread. 

Homer, Offrenda, and Matt.

Allen doing John's makeup.

Ginger and Kate, I made the floral crowns.

Homer (untucked), Helen, and Jeff.

The Procession was a block from my house. Seemed shorter than usual. The best thing was the Hari Krishna human-pulled float with an enormous pagoda rising (and close to the power lines).
Pagoda.

On Tuesday morning Francisco, next-door-neighbor, came to the door to tell me the car window was broken. I went out. Yup. When I opened the door I saw the steering column torn open. They were trying to steal the car. Apparently there is a video floating around showing how easy it is to steal Hyundais. So I have an over-sized Nissan Altima rental and I have to park in my driveway and lock the gate,

What a mess.

Yesterday I went to an estate sale. The two transferprint platters were gone, but there was the fun painting. I purchased it for $20. Turns out it was painted by a woman named Roberta Sharp (d. 2013) from Texas. Other works of hers are for sale for from $350 to $1500. Pleased!

Roberta Sharp painting.

I made nine fruit cakes today, Robert helped. It smelled so good. Then I made air fryer eggplant mozzarella. I am eating it as I type this entry.

I am on Ozempic, which is supposed to lower my blood sugar levels. Also makes you lose weight. Down five pounds the first week. Will I be able to fit into those shirts and pants again?


Monday, October 16, 2023

There was a partial solar eclipse in Tucson on Saturday. At 9:30 I convinced Matt to come outside and see it. His neighbor had welder's glasses that he passed to me, and then I handed to Matt. After he put them on he was like, "Wow, it is an eclipse." He was not as excited as I was. 

You could see the eclipse better in the leaf shadows. This was 15 minutes later as we were walking to Matt's truck to go to the Gather market. 


Leafy eclipse.

October is my busy month at the Museum. A talk, two floral crown workshops, two tours. And then getting ready for the All Soul's Procession Party. I have finished the flowers for my arch, now need to make about 30 more for the Museum offrenda.



 


Friday, October 13, 2023

Back to work. I am mostly doing small surveys and monitoring projects. Generating a lot of reports. And then they get reviewed and I get comments back.

In the last two weeks one commenter said I was unprofessional. And then yesterday I get 204 comments on a 27-page-long no-find survey report. Also told that I used unappropriate references. Strange since previously these references were considered fine.

So these people got their degrees in anthropology/archaeology and don't do fieldwork. They sit in their offices and review things. And obviously enjoy making other people miserable.

This is not why I became an archaeologist.


Wednesday, October 11, 2023

 After two weeks the Covid went away.  I waited to test negative for three days before I got to see Matt, I really didn't want to give it to him.

I finished a book. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. I made a chili relleno casserole. I researched how to make enchilada sauce and on Monday night made some (it came out alright!).

Anyways, I am back to normal.


Monday, October 02, 2023

Well my nose started running in the middle of the night and a sore throat started. And then I tested positive. Paxvolid rebound- apparently quite common. 

And now I am waiting to see if I infected Matt. Miserable.


Sunday, October 01, 2023

 Covid 19 is a terrible nuisance. So the day after I returned from my adventure I started feeling weird. On Thursday I had to drive up to Gilbert to do a survey. When I finished I had the option of going to some antique stores that Matt and I had gone to in either 2018 or 2019. Instead I drove home and went to bed.

The next morning I tested positive. That day was the worst day. At one point I had a fever of 101.6. Plus body aches, a head ache, coughing up gunk. The next day (Saturday) was also pretty bad. But then I started feeling better. By Wednesday I felt fairly normal. I never lost my sense of taste and smell.

I was still testing positive, although the line was getting paler and paler. Finally yesterday (Sept 30) I did two tests that were negative.

Sandy is also recovering and is still positive, but I have immunity from Covid for a while.

Anyways it was so nice to see Matt and do normal things. We went to Gay Pride and I was amazed at how few people I knew there. Today we went to a couple of antique stores. I'm still taking naps, I guess I am not at 100 percent.



Wednesday, September 27, 2023

The Big Adventure.

September 9

We drove to Phoenix and stayed at the Aloft Airport hotel (fancy!). We went to a Chinese restaurant for supper and I enjoyed the meal.

September 10

Our first flight was from Phoenix to Montreal. Air Canada. The seat in front of me was so close, my legs were jammed into the back of the seat.

Cramped.

Matt and Homer about to get onto the next flight.

We then boarded a huge plane (400 people) heading to Rome. I could not sleep and Matt only nodded off a little. I watched a movie (65) and 1.5 episodes of The Last of Us. 

September 11

Finally we arrived and then had to wait until a bus took us into the terminal. Then some pricey money changing and then a train to Rome. After getting off it was maybe 20 minutes to walk to the place we were staying, an Airbnb close to the Vatican.

With lovely antique furniture.

I had a nap. Then we had supper, I think I had a marghuerita pizza that seemed to be mostly cheese. The street we were staying on had several stores selling religious items.

Matt considering vestments.

Afterward we walked over to the Vatican and admired the fountains and the Egyptian obelisk. We also walked around the San Angelo Castle, very pretty.

A Vatican kiss.

September 12

We woke up late (10:30 AM). Things ensued. We got dressed and headed out. Matt had a list of things to see so we started. First stop, the Trevi Fountain. A tourist hotspot- way too many people. Difficult to concentrate on seeing it because you were worried about pickpockets (I was perhaps too worried about this, but I nagged Matt to put things in his front pocket). 

Trevi Fountain.

A while later we came across the Pantheon (and obelisk number 2). Cash line was much quicker to get inside. The building is amazing. Strange to see that it is a church with side altars and people buried inside.

Oculus.

After more walking around. My feet hurt. 12 miles.

September 13

We got up early and went to an indoor market. I bought pastries, green grapes, and plums.


Beautiful produce.

We stopped first at a small outdoor antique kiosk. Nothing I wanted. A very long walk took place to the Borghese Gardens. We could not get inside the museum, it was closed. Then we started walking some more, Matt found directions to another antique store. 

My feet were hurting so bad. I have plantar fasciatis in the heel of my right foot. Finally I asked, how much longer? It was either 20 or 40 minutes. A minor temper tantrum. We had a discussion. Matt likes to walk a lot. Me, not so much. So we cut short that walk and started back.

And then we came across the Trajan Market Museum and I insisted we go inside. Lots of sculptures and ruins, somewhat a maze to get to where you wanted to go. Matt really enjoyed seeing this.

Trajan's market place.

Trajan's column.

Afterward we walked back to the apartment. 12.5 miles.

September 14

We walked towards the Capitoline Museum. A church was open on the way and we stopped to go inside. There are churches everywhere in Rome and the ones we went inside were beautifully decorated.

The Capitoline is up a steep hill! The museum is filled with famous statues and mosaics and was not particularly crowded, so you could enjoy looking at things.  

Marcus Aurelius.

Sandwiches at the cafeteria (mine was a disgusting eggplant one). We went outside onto a terrace afterward and looking down Matt spotted archaeologists at work. I was jealous.

Then a hurried walk to the Colloseum, where Matt had bought a tour package (well worth it). We walked through this enormous building and I learned how nasty Roman parents took their children to watch public executions as an educational activity.

Coloseum.

The took went to the top of Palatine Hill through the remnants of Domitian's palace, then down into the Forum, where we saw a number of buildings.

One of two arches.

We walked back and ate supper very close to the apartment. 9 miles

September 15

We walked to the train station and found it very confusing. We ended up waiting a couple of hours before catching the high-speed train (185 mph) to Naples. Then a taxi ride to the street where we walked to meet Genero, who let us into the next Airbnb.

That night pizza at a famous pizza place, where both locals and tourists eat. It was the best pizza of the trip. Afterward we walking along the sea shore. People were having a nice time strolling and stopping at the sidewalk cafes.

Pizza place.

September 16

60th birthday. We took the subway to the train station and the train station to Pompeii. There a taxi deliberately dropped us off at the wrong place and we missed the expensive tour that Matt had paid for. He was very angry.

We then headed into the city with a paper map. At the theater a woman tried to pickpocket Matt, who smashed her hand with his camera. I proceeded to play tour guide, based on the things I knew about the site from being obsessed every since I was a kid. We headed up the streets, often avoiding the crowds, stopping to go inside houses that were open. Beautiful frescoes and mosaics. Not many small things, the houses have been stripped of their furnishings which are in museums. 

At the amphitheater.

Chariot ruts.

Entrance mosaic featuring a guard dog.


Priapus weighing his enormous assets, I think this is in the House of the Vetiis.

I got to see a lot more of Pompeii than I would have with a tour. We ended at the House of Mysteries.

Then a fast standing-room-only train back to Naples.

We then went to the Naples Archaeological Museum. It is filled with the treasures from Pompeii, Herculaneum, neighboring towns. Again, so much but not crowded. The Villa of the Papyri room was closed, unfortunately.

Diana, from Pompeii.

Perseus freeing Andromeda.

Supper was a mistake- a horrible fettucine dish with a surly old lady waitress. But the birthday pastry was delicious.

Cream puff with whipped cream inside.

September 17

Subway to train station, and then to Herculaneum. It is obvious that there is less money being spent at this site. One house in particular- the graffiti was horrible, people scratching their names on 2000-year-old frescoes. Still remarkable to see things there.

Altar.

Only a small portion of the site has been excavated- it is buried up to 80 feet in ash that has turned into tufa, a type of stone. And then the modern town is built on top. You can see places at the edges with walls sticking out and tunnels from the old days. If only I was a billionaire...

Homer at Herculaneum.

We then took the train back to Naples and then another train back to Rome, where we walked to the third Airbnb, this one on the fourth floor.

After a nap we got ready for dinner and Matt said, "Put on a nice shirt," and I did. We walked down a street towards a spot where you could see Corinthian columns from Roman days that had been re-used for a Church, and then Matt got down on his knee and proposed. I cried a little (he expected more). It was a huge surprise.

I said yes.

The fiancee.

We had a nice supper- weird that I cannot remember what I ordered except I did have a glass of red wine.

September 18

We took the subway and then there was a mad dash to get to the meeting spot of the tour for the Vatican Museum. Crowded. So much art. Overwhelming. Some of the works are the ones you study in art history.

Laocoon and His Sons.

Many of the rooms were the former living places of Popes and were elaborately decorated.

Fancy frescoes.

My favorite rooms you could not go in, had many sculptures of animals. The tour guide made a big deal about being quiet in the Sistine Chapel, but it was very noisy and crowded and difficult to appreciate the Michelangelo frescoes.

By the time we were done, I was very hungry and demanded we eat in the Vatican cafeteria. It was the second best meal of the trip. I had pasta salad and fresh green beans, Matt had a mac N cheese with tomato sauce and the green beans. The bread was very good and there was a tiny Crossaint with nutella. 



Blessed.

We took the subway back. After a nap we wandered into another church and then had a last meal at a touristy restaurant. 

September 19

The next morning we were up at 2 AM, the taxi arrived at 3 AM and whisked up to the airport.

Waiting for the taxi.

They three flights- Rome to Zurich, Zurich to Chicago, and Chicago to Phoenix. Then Matt drove us home to Tucson and dropped me off. SO TIRED. 

The next day I slept in weird ways, waking at strange times, my body feeling strange. On Thursday I drove up to Gilbert to do a survey and felt weird, I thought maybe I had a cold. I took two Covid tests- negative.

But on Friday morning I felt horrible and took another test. SIGH. The next 24 hours were miserable- a fever of 101.6, body aches, coughs, etc. 


Positive.

I gave it to Sandy, who experienced worse symptoms. Somehow Matt escaped catching it. On one of the flights I took off my mask for a while. Or at the Chicago airport, packed with people. Who knows. I'm waiting for the tests to stop being positive.


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