Guest blog by Brother...

Hiding Places

So inside the cloud there are no hiding spots but if you are hiding from people who are not in the cloud, and you're in the cloud, you've come to the right place.

If you are down on the floor and you get in front of a giant white bin probably no one will see you but there are a lot of peep holes in the cloud.

So around the house, if you are playing hide and seek there are many hiding spots. Like if you go in the bathroom and climb in the shower and shut the shower curtain then someone could go in the bathroom and forget to look in the shower.

So there are many hiding spots around my house and I bet there are more hiding spots in yours.

April 20, 2018

Today has significance for a number of reasons.  First, today is my grandma's birthday!  She's turning 90! Her mother, my great-grandma, lived independently until she was 97.  I am thankful to have long-lived women in my family.  Grandma is doing well, she keeps up her house independently and her yard with help from my aunt and uncle.  I am really looking forward to spending time with her this summer.  This year her ten great-grandchildren each wrote out or drew pictures of their fond memories and my sister collected all of the stories and added pictures and is making a book as a gift.  I'm excited to take a look at that this summer - she's going to love it.

Today marks the first time in Arizona history that there has been a statewide teacher's strike!  The Governor had previously promised to increase their wages by 20% by 2020 but he proposed paying for that raise with overly rosy economic forecasts, projected savings in Medicaid, and sweeps from other funds.  Teachers considered the plan, but ultimately rejected it because it did not consider their other concerns which included raises for support staff, funds for facilities for textbooks which in many school districts are over a decade old.  Arizona has among the lowest paid teachers in the nation and our outcomes for students near the bottom.  Of course those in power condemn the teachers' actions stating it will hurt the kids and that teachers are being selfish.  This is to be expected...  In fact, on April 20, 1914 the Ludlow Massacre occurred.  I think it is worth remembering other worker struggles, especially when the anniversary of the event coincides with a historic contemporary strike.

On April 20, 1914 the Colorado National Guard attacked a tent colony of 1,200 coal miners and their families who had been protesting since September of 1913.  The miners wanted decent pay, improved safety and better living conditions (they were housed in shacks prior to the strike, but were evicted as soon as the strike began).  When they first saw the National Guard they thought that the Guard had been sent to protect them from the corporate gunman hired by the Rockefeller interests.  But alas, the Guard was sent by the state to end the standoff.  They lured the miner's leader away from camp and executed him then rained down machine gun fire on the tent colony killing 13 and wounding many more.  Women and children dug ditches in their tents to protect themselves from the gunfire, but the Guard set the tents on fire and the next day the charred bodies of 11 children and two women were found.....you can imagine that shit got real after that...you'll have to read it yourself.

Woody Guthrie wrote a song about it:

Song: Ludlow Massacre

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

It was early springtime when the strike was on,

They drove us miners out of doors,

Out from the houses that the Company owned,

We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.

I was worried bad about my children,

Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,

Every once in a while a bullet would fly,

Kick up gravel under my feet.

We were so afraid you would kill our children,

We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,

Carried our young ones and pregnant women

Down inside the cave to sleep.

That very night your soldiers waited,

Until all us miners were asleep,

You snuck around our little tent town,

Soaked our tents with your kerosene.

So, yeah...workers' struggles have been going on for a long while against the rich and powerful.

In other news 4/20 is the unofficial or official day stoners celebrate pot. Having worked in the criminal justice system and in correctional health I have seen firsthand how many people are arrested, put on probation, and jailed for weed. So, while countless lives have been affected by the drug war, while millions of Americans have lost their rights and have felony convictions for this harmless substance, the rich have realized that they can profit off of it and now there is a sea change. There is no proposal to let marijuana offenders out of jail, purge their criminal records or even pay reparations for the harm that has been done to their families - no. But the former Speaker of the House, John-effing-Boehner has joined a marijuana company and is supporting a change in the classification of the substance. This is a guy who said he was opposed to reclassifying the drug many times in the past. Another sign of the times is that Forbes is running pieces about marijuana legalization.

While I was working as a Graduate Student at the University of Arizona medical marijuana was passed by the voters in our great desert state. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) was put in charge of implementing the law, licensing dispensaries, and establishing rules. ADHS contracted U of A to develop an online class for physicians which would help them understand what the peer-reviewed literature said about the medicinal uses. Guess who helped developed the class? I did! There actually quite a few known medical uses - pain & nausea relief are well known/documented ones - but since it is classified as a schedule one drug researchers have to obtain special permission to study it. This has severely limited research in the US, but there are a couple of research centers that have permission to conduct studies. Interestingly in the past couple of days the FDA is recommending approval of the first cannabis-based drug for epilepsy. These are strange times.

Columbine happened 19 years ago today, I was 22. National School Walkouts took place today. US news covered it. Remember Bowling for Columbine? I do. The next year (2000) a 6-year-old in Flint shot a first-grade classmate at the public elementary school serving Husband's neighborhood. These are the first school shooting I remember watching on TV and hearing about. I know there were more before that, but that is when I started paying attention. Brother knows about Parkland and we participated in #MarchforOurLives in Phoenix. It's so unacceptable that our politicians work for the powerful instead of the people. I hate that I have to have these conversations with my kiddo. The Parkland students weren't even born when Columbine took place....we've had so many moments to prevent this shit....

My closing thoughts have to do with the environmental degradation recently noted by scientists around the globe as well as a couple very hopeful examples of what we could do if we took our heads our of our collective asses. First, half the coral in the great barrier reef has died since 2016. Wow. Let that sink in for a sec. Remember the fact that we are part of a global ecosystem. We just don't know what the long-term consequences of this tragedy are. Secondly the 100th meridian which has historically divided the climate of the east of the US from the west is shifting east due to climate change. It's moved about 140 miles since 1980.

In hopeful news, I have been following the Our Children's Trust lawsuit where 21 youth are suing the Federal Government for failing to take action on climate change arguing the failure to do so is violating the youths' right to life, liberty, and property as well as failing to protect essential public trust resources. They are having success in the Federal District courts. Finally, Portugal produced in excess of their country's electricity needs from 100% renewable energy in the month of March 2018. They are scheduling the closure of their coal powerplants and shifting their economy to a green one. We need to be part of the solution. We need to make different collective choices - and soon.

T minus one month!

We have reached a milestone!  One month more of school, AZ heat, planning, and edge-of-my-seat excitement before we set off!

As I wrap up my first academic year as Dr. I am excited about year two.  I have been offered an opportunity to develop a class that has never been taught on Public Mental Health.  I have a lot of experience working with and around people with mental health problems in the criminal justice system, in the jail, and in public health.  When I reflect back on the many experiences and stories I have and combine that with research on the topic I am excited.  Creating a class is a creative process and designing from scratch is fun because you can imagine providing students with a unique experience - there are so many possibilities for activities.  Anyhow, that is cool.  What is more cool is that though I was originally hired for a nine-month contract and I put away a portion of my check each payday to cover our trip over the summer, creating that class and teaching another online will provide some additional funds for our trip.  Summer contracts are optional, but a good way to supplement when on a nine-month salary.  So, I have two more weeks of regular classes, finals, and then graduation before we leave.

Regarding the trip and looking ahead, I told Brother that we are going to Universal Studios (specifically we are interested in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter)!  We are so excited...by "we" I mean Brother and I.  While in LA we will be staying in a beautiful RV resort in LA that has a playground and other wonderful amenities.  Husband and Sister are going to hang at the RV resort (they just aren't interested in that attraction).  But Brother and I have read the Harry Potter books together and we are so excited...I may be more excited than Brother, I read those book when they first came out and have been a huge fan - I've wanted to visit the Wizarding World ever since they first built it! It's a guilty pleasure...so excited.

We have some down time planned before we hit the road, during that time we are going to work on lightening our load, organizing, and cleaning.  We also have to take the trailer in to the dealership, again, for warranty stuff.

AZ had it's first triple digit day a few days ago...it is so crazy.  For the past two days it has been really windy and cooler (80s).  Whatever temp it is outside the trailer gets warmer than that and, to complicate matters, our exhaust vent fan died (located in the bathroom that keeps air moving) - the little motor has had a lot of action since last summer.  Husband tried to find a replacement online, but the one that arrived in the mail is not an exact fit so we have to either figure out how to mount the larger one that arrived or find the exact replacement...We've been running the A/C a fair bit, but we have not put up the reflectix yet - I just can't part with looking out the windows.  I am really hoping we find cooler places on our travels...I mean, we are virtually guaranteed to find places cooler than the desert...right?!?

Judgments

There are judgments enough to go around... I've seen a lot of ways of being & living - the social work professions give you a good idea of the trials and tribulations people and their children go though.  If you see enough you start to realize that there are infinite shades of gray to the good and bad you heard about during your black and white upbringing.  I realize that some people have lived in a bubble of privilege their whole lives with parents who were raging violent racists and that clearly has an effect.  Despite that, I really try to practice and preach a "live and let live" perspective.  But sometimes a supposed "friend" may call you "trailer trash" in a semi-joking but clearly serious critique of your choices and then the vicious judgment part of me comes out (in my head) and starts tearing them apart for their crappy choices.

I remember when I was trying to quit smoking many years ago.  After I had a couple of non-smoking weeks under my belt I would become really self-righteous and start to question how anybody could poison their body with such a filthy and harmful drug.  I would get on a soapbox and get all braggy about it, I'm not proud, but there it is.  I like to think that these days I am share my experience for those who are interested, but I am not trying to condemn anyone.  I certainly understand the pros and cons of the many choices we all make in this life.  With that said, I quit drinking alcohol three months ago and it's been a good choice for me and my health.  When I am around people who have not given up the habit I can see that it is taking a toll on their decision-making and other aspect of their health.  I would like to say "live and let live", but we all know that alcohol is extremely addictive and unhealthy and it makes smart and capable people act like fools.  It even makes people say things that they may not otherwise not say, like call someone "trailer trash."

The worst part about alcohol, drugs, overspending, overindulging in food/sugar is that these can be substitutes for working on oneself.  We turn to these things to numb us to our pain, our discontent, our unhappiness, and our failures.  We could work on figuring out how to overcome ourselves, but we don't.  Instead we get stuck in detrimental patterns of self destruction.  I'm speaking from experience.  Most recently I stuffed my concerns about my extreme "McMansion" lifestyle by overspending, overindulging in food, and drinking.  This is not the only time in my life I had turned to substitutes, it is a recent example.  Eventually the habits are just that, they persist despite change.  When I decided to look myself in the mirror and really conduct a self-evaluation I decided that these things were not working for me.  You can run from yourself, but it won't solve anything.  It takes being present in your own life to make conscious decisions about your choices.  Today I felt very confident in my choices and was feeling more than a little self-satisfied by my teetotaler lifestyle.

Do I have self doubt?  Sure.  I weight the pros and cons of my choices.  But at the end of the day I take responsibility for me and mine.  I am going to be 42 this year and I have been married for 21 years to my best friend.  I have two beautiful kids with whom I have the privilege of spending my time.  I am not just "surviving" parenthood, I am loving it.  Some people may find derogatory labels for my choices, but I am going to go on a 12-week vacation with the best people in this world.  I could go to a bar, but I could also just hang out at my trailer, watch my kids play outside, and be perfectly content in the moment.

Looking ahead: Joshua Tree National Park

I can barely contain my excitement!  I feel like a kid the night before Xmas, except I have a month to wait until we head out on our amazing family vacation.  So...in preparation I have been reading about the parks we will visit and I thought I would do a series about our destinations.  This will be helpful for me as I will summarize what I know, highlight some must-see places, consider what I don't know, as well as share my hopes and fears....

So here is my first edition about Joshua Tree National Park, the first park we will visit when we leave AZ. 

The drive is approximately 315 miles.  It's one of our longer drives for a day, but because we will be just starting our trip I thought we would be excited to get to our first destination and be willing to travel a bit longer.  I am really not sure how fast we will be able to travel, certainly not over 55-60 MPH for safety, but it is questionable how often we will have to stop for gas/breaks/food.  The good thing is that when we stop for gas we can use our own facilities to prepare food and take a break!  I can't imagine how convenient that will be, especially when traveling with kids. 

The Black Rock Canyon Campground is located at 4000 feet.  One of my concerns is whether we will be too hot.  We don't have a generator and will be relying on solar power and propane when in the National Parks.  Our solar power is insufficient for the air conditioner.  Because there is a range of elevations in Joshua Tree the weather varies.  From what I have read May is still a decent time to visit (highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s).  If it is too hot during the heat of the day, we can use that time to explore the indoor areas, museums, etc.

There are a number of short hikes/nature walks to take.  Hi-View is 1.3 miles and close to the Black Rock Campground.  The Oasis of Mara looks interesting and is only .5 miles.  Skull rock is 1.7 miles and might provide a fun outing, but if that one seems to long we could do the Discovery Trail which will also give us some of the same views. 

There are four visitor centers, three of them are in the north part of the park where we will be staying.  The Black Rock Nature Center is right by our campground, the Joshua Tree Visitor Center is slightly East of where we are staying and the Oasis Visitor Center is a bit further to the East.  Our stay at Joshua Tree is only three days (2 nights), which translates to one full day and two partial days.  From the research I have done I hope this is adequate to get a good view of the park. 

Of course the nature is the reason for the visit.  There are some stunning pictures on the National Park website.  Here are a couple of the campground we will be at.

One of the things I have to do is to make a list of our favorite snacks and lunches so that we can be prepared by having good food available while we are exploring.  Dried fruit, fresh fruit with peanut butter, nuts, trail mix, crackers, and hummus are some of the things that come to mind.  I'll have to be sure we are well stocked!

Cheap entertainment (East Valley)...

We've had some pretty inexpensive and fun outings lately...While there are many attractions in the Phoenix area that have admission costs, there are also lots of public spaces and other attractions that priced reasonably.

One of our favorite parks is the Riverview Park in Mesa.  We finally visited with the kids' swim suits so that they could have fun in the huge splash pad.  Even if you visit without the wet gear there is so much to do, you can fish, take a walk around the huge pond, visit the many playground climbers...it is a gem - a public park paid for by the taxpayer of Mesa for your enjoyment.  Also, this is not the only amazing park in Mesa - Pioneer Park is also pretty cool - and I am told there are others! 

The City of Tempe, like most municipalities, offers quite a few classes through their Parks and Recreation department.  Sister started a four week gymnastics class today.  I was pretty impressed with the gymnastics gym the city partnered with - they knew their business and how to get busy 3-year-olds coordinated, climbing, balancing, jumping, and tumbling!  The cost for the class was $49 for four sessions.  I felt it was reasonable for what they did during the first session - they are a well-oiled machine.  You do not have to be a resident of Tempe to sign up for classes. 

There is an awesome second-run movie theater in Tempe.  Pollack Tempe Cinema offers all movies for $3.50/seat and this, my friends, is the way to take a family to the movies!  I can't believe how expensive it is to go to a new release.  We've visited this theater twice, both times to see an amazing movie which I hope you have already heard of...

Yes, Coco - it is such a beautiful movie both visually and emotionally.  I am no expert on Mexican culture, but it seemed the story captured the beauty and sentiment of Dia de los Muertos in a very respectful and culturally sensitive way.  I was moved to tears both times, maybe worse the second time, but it is not a tragic tale.  I don't want to spoil it for you...if you haven't seen it you should check it out.  Also, even a three-year-old found it entertaining - twice.  There are few movies that will keep a whole family of four with diverse tastes entertained - twice.  Also it inspired Brother to make some music, which is always good - it is not a musical, but music is central to the story. 

Finally, I our final cheap family activity is so simple - a soccer ball and a basketball......we kick the soccer ball to the basketball court and then take turns kicking the soccer ball and making baskets.  It's simple and we do this in our "back yard" - the green space in our new community.  We also have been using the playground & pool at Seyenna Vistas.  This past year we have lived outdoors and I really enjoy it.  As the weather is turning to hell in this desert, I am very excited about leaving the heat and finding some new nature next month.

Seyenna Vistas Part II

We finally had a chance to make use of the amenities today!  I don't want to be too positive about this experience (knock on wood), but I'm pretty happy with this community.  I took the opportunity to take some pictures...  First the clubhouse:

There is a fitness center with nice restrooms and showers (always good when you are living in an RV to have a place to take a decent long, hot shower!).

The pool is beautiful and includes a nice outdoor shower for rinsing and a spa.

Finally, here is the wonderful laundry room....did I mention we paid $3050 for a year?  No monthly fees for HOA or anything like that...This is what I had hoped for, we are thankful.

Solar system

Guess who has power regardless of where we are parked?  We do!  Husband and Brother extended their home school lessons on electricity and magnetism to include how to hook up this simple, 200W, system last week.

We bought two flexible 100W panels from China for a cost of $200.  They are very lightweight, probably around 5 lbs each.  We are not going to mount them to the Hideout so that we can position them for maximum sun.

They lean against the Hideout well, but can lay on the ground or we can set them on the roof. There are grommets in the corners of the panels and we plan on purchasing a bike lock that we can use to secure them.

The panels are wired into a charge controller located in our underneath storage which regulates the charging of the battery and give us real-time data about the output of the panels and the charge of the battery.  Everything plugs together easily and can be unplugged and stored away quickly.  The Dongle (bright blue) allows us to Bluetooth our tablet or phone to the charge controller with an app that displays the information about the system.

The Hideout really shines when it comes to the alternate systems.  The exhaust fans, the motor for the awning, the water pump, and the furnace blower all run on solar.  Our fridge can run on propane or electricity, so when we are not connected to the shore (traditional electricity) the fridge switches to propane.  The two items we cannot use when on solar are the air conditioning and the microwave.  We can use our television and we can plug in devices to charge through our D/C plug & inverter (meaning we can keep our phones, tablets, and computers charged).  On a full sun day in AZ, we were using all of these things and our panels were producing 140 watts to keep the battery charged.

Currently we have one 12 volt battery, however before we leave for the summer we will have two 6 volt golf cart batteries (to increase the amp hours we have available).  The cords just hang out of the underneath storage when the system is hooked up for the time being.  This is the essence of a very simple, cheap, no fuss system.  We didn't want to drill holes into the RV or permanently alter any of the systems.  We want to play with this and see how it goes before we make longer-term decisions.  

It was so exciting to see this system working for the first time! We're almost ready to hit the road! Only three weeks left of the semester!

Empanadas?!?

How did I live 41 years on this planet, over half of those in the Southwest, and NOT know about empanadas?!?  We wanted to try a new restaurant near our new location and we found Republica Empanada which is amazing and serves these delicious little pocket pastries filled with delicious fresh ingredients including two vegan options!  You know it is a good restaurant when you are leaving with a full belly and planing your return trip!  These little pot pie-like pockets are a wonderful comfort food - a flaky crust filled with many options -  I had two varieties one filled with garbanzo beans, carrots, onions, mushrooms and a sort of savory gravy and another with an achiote potato, both were amazing with their fresh green salsa.  Brother had a Greek one with spinach, feta, olives and sun dried tomato.  He enjoyed it so much we had to order a second.  Sister had a black bean and cheese variety, and Husband had a jalapeno popper variety as well as one with chicken.  We also tried a couple of the dessert empanadas - the family loved them, but they all contained dairy in one form or another.  If you are visiting Mesa, you have to try it out.  I suggest just ordering the empanadas a la cart instead of as part of a plate - just so you can try a variety!

I haven't written for a bit because, well, we have been living a full life!  In addition to meeting up with friends and going to parks, we bought a basketball and have been shooting hoops each evening.  This has turned out to be really fun for the family.  There is a ball court in our new neighborhood and like most parks in AZ it seems to be underutilized. 

Time seems to be passing differently than when we were living our life in suburbia.  Friday we had been in our new community for one week, yet it seemed like SO much had happened in that week, I had a hard time accepting we had only moved a week before!  When things are new and changing, you have to be present - you can't sail through your life on autopilot. 

Because I don't have any other pictures to share, I will share a pen & ink drawing by Sister.  She says this is a spaceship. It was a labor of love over two days.