3/30/2011 Sixty for Dinner?

A couple of days ago Carol Richards stopped me and invited Bob and me to join them at Chris’ Diner for pizza night. A get together, she said, before they pulled out the next day for home. Besides, Carol’s kitchen was declared off limits. I readily accepted the invitation for us.

I don’t know what I was expecting as far as this dinner gathering went but I didn’t expect sixty for dinner! No, wait, let me retract that. I should not have been at all surprised at the size of this gathering. As I looked around and I saw who was seated around the table I realized that this group of people are the ones we hang out with. I guess I had never taken into consideration how large the group is until seeing them seated at one long, long table.

Can you pick out Kathy?

This is why we all return to Quail Run every year. Our friends.

This long table which had two more tables added to at the end, angled to the right, was serviced by one waitress. One.

We were the last ones to arrive, the last ones to give our pizza order and yet the first one to be served our dinner. Go figure!

Chris’ Diner has really, really good pizza! Tonight’s special? A large three topping pizza for $9.95. And thirty couples can make a lot of different combinations. Believe it.

Our waitress was fantastic! Sixty people, 60+ drinks, 30 pizzas, several salads and only her. All by herself.

As soon as everyone was done eating we had to leave. While it would have been fun to stay and reminisce about the past season certain members of our group had a prior commitment. Tonight is the last night for Jam Sessions. Of course the majority of us had plans to be in the audience too.

So we get back and the band……

….. is ready to play.

Dale…belting one out.

Wilf is a singer, songwriter and guitar player.

We found out that Lyle not only sings,,,he plays guitar too!

I could listen to Arlee sing everyday!

Carol keeps time with the tambourine and sings beautifully.

The band wouldn’t be he same with Don playing the harmonica.

The Turner’s….Bill and Pat

We had quite a crowd for this last jam session. Of course, some of us multi-task while at the jam.

I snapped this out in the hallway after the jam session. Bonnie & Steve.

So yet another of our activities closes down for the season. This is one we all look forward to for next year.

To the band: Thanks for the music, the songs, the hours spent in the sunshine listening to the weekly outdoor jams but most of all the friendships forged while listening to all of you play for us.

Altogether now….Happy Trails to you, until we meet again…………

3/26/2011 Everybody Sing!

Getting signatures for our letter to the owner’s of the park is winding down now. We have passed the two hundred mark. Considering how many are actually here right now the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Sure there are a few who don’t want to get involved, rock the boat so to speak but you can imagine what life would be like if we all just sat on the sidelines and settled for what will be, will be? ((((shudders))))

Our weather here in the desert has certainly turned to summer weather. Jackets are now a thing of the past and a dozen park residents in the pool in the afternoon is now the norm. Typing that reminds me of something. When I was a young twenty-something I went to Florida for a couple of weeks to visit my grandparents. On some afternoons we would go the mobile home park next door that had a pool, theirs didn’t but an agreement was made between the parks. I spent hours laying on the chaise lounges as I was more interested in getting a tan so that my friends would know I had been in Florida and that they were pasty white compared to my bronzed self. I remembered how I thought it was strange that everyone just stood in the pool. There was no calling out,,,, MARCO! And there was certainly no reply of POLO! No one swam laps from one end to the other. No one floated on a raft or otherwise. They just stood there and talked. I didn’t get it. Well, now, I do. I’m not sure if that makes me happy or not but I do in fact get it. Surely this must be some rite of passage!

Buds are set on the cacti all over the park and everyone is hoping that they are in full bloom before they leave. I, for once, would love to see the desert in full bloom! Some year,,,,some year.

Bob has been busy getting us road ready. He does a little bit each day so that he isn’t overwhelmed at the end. Of course we have a couple of more weeks here yet so he can’t do too much.

I have straightened out a few cupboards so far but that is the extent of my getting road ready. I’m more interested in getting this letter business out of the way and spending my afternoons standing in the pool. (smile)

This evening we had our last karaoke night. Larry and Elaine have been just great about providing this entertainment for us. Sadly, they won’t be returning next year. That is truly our loss. You two will truly be missed and we’re keeping our fingers crossed that you’ll change your minds.

Quail Run’s own singer/songwriter, Bill Turner entertaining us with a song.

Bill and Judy had a great time singing Sonny & Cher’s I Got You Babe.

This is Lyle. If this had been a competition he would have been our secret weapon. You see Lyle and his wife have been in the park but to tell you the truth I had seen him in passing but really didn’t know who he was. In fact, I hear quite a few couldn’t really say they knew Lyle. Has that changed now!

When he started singing his pick of songs you could see necks snapping, looking left to right as if to say, “Do you HEAR this??? This guy can sing!” We really cheered him on when he finished and were very happy when he took his next slips up for more songs to be sung.

A group song. Franny, Carol, Marlene and Al.

A fun night was had by all.

3/25/2011 Happy Birthday Darlene!

A couple of weeks ago we started seeing the posters around the park for the birthday party being given for Darlene Wilson at Bonnie Larson’s place. This was something we put on our calendar right away, we didn’t want to miss this one!

You may remember Darlene as being one of the hostesses for the Cancer Survivor Party.

Darlene is a sweet, kind lady and we knew that a bunch a people were going to show for this party. There had to be a hundred plus people at this gathering to help Darlene celebrate her birthday. I wasn’t a bit surprised at the turnout and it speaks volumes about how we care for this friend of ours.

Everyone was asked to bring a salad or a dessert so think about having at least fifty different things to choose from to eat. Surprisingly there were very few duplicates and that just always amazes me.

CL enjoying his meal.

The one thing everything everyone learns how to do in Quail Run is to eat a full course meal off you lap while balancing a drink a your feet.

This dove who made a nest on a ladder hanging on Bonnie’s shed didn’t mind us a bit.

While the party goers were finishing up their dinners I asked 18 of the women to meet me in the center of yard when everyone was done eating but didn’t tell them why. Oh yeah, I heard, “Oh no Snookie, you aren’t getting me out there unless you tell me why. I don’t trust you!” Can you imagine?

End of dinner came, I called the ladies to the center and told them we are going to play a game. I heard, “Oh no, I knew I shouldn’t have said yes.” It was too late, they were center circle. I had them split into two teams and when that was accomplished I brought out the game pieces. Some new right away what was going on and some had puzzled looks on their faces. (Actually, we played this the day before at our block party but I was so busy laughing I didn’t get one single picture)

I handed the two sides their game pieces and told them what they had to do. I’m sure the laughs could be heard all over Arizona City.

The game pieces?

A plunger placed firmly between the thighs -- to run to the other side of playing field without touching it with your hands after you have it placed.

A roll of toilet paper held by the teammate at the other end of the playing field firmly between her thighs!

The object? To get the plunger handle through the cardboard tube in the roll of toilet paper?

Sounds easy doesn’t it? Trust me, its not!

Uh-uh,,,no hands!

Darlene giving some much needed help!

SUCCESS!

Marilyn got hers!

Carol had this down pat!

The laughing that went on while this game was being played was so loud and I saw more than a few wiping away tears from laughing so hard.

If you want to bring out the laughs at your next party bring out the plungers and rolls of toilet paper!

3/19-3/24/2011 Our Neighborhood BBQ

This post will span five days.

It seems like I have done nothing but walk from one end of this park to the other catching up with people to get their signature on “the letter”. Of course they have to read it, we have to discuss it, we talk about the probable outcome and the two minute reading / signature turns into a half hour. I’m not complaining really, I do like visiting with everyone and this is one way to get to see inside everyone’s park model or rig.

I also get to see some very cool things in nature. I was asked to come to a backyard to see some very tiny hummingbirds in their nest.

The nest is so incredibly small I don’t know how these two little birds fit anymore.

I was glad I got to see them because it surely won’t be long before they are gone.

A couple of weeks ago we had our Art Show and I explained in my own very primitive way what negative painting is. You can read that again HERE. Well I finally got a picture of this negative painting.

Time is getting short for a lot of the winter residents now. In all likelihood those in RV’s will leave on the 30th or 31st of the month. Some Canadians will be leaving very soon because they have to get across that border and some are just ready to get home where its green and there are daffodils and tulips. In view of this, you can take it to the bank that there are parties and dinners and BBQ’s and gatherings going on all over the park nearly every day.

Our neighborhood or block is no exception. Everyone on our block was invited to bring meat to grill and a dish to share. This is another gathering we enjoy.

I really like this sweatshirt this fella was wearing.

Bob, aka The Tan One, manning one of the grills.

Even though Don and Billee bought a park model last year and aren’t on the street anymore they were invited because they will always “belong” to this block. The same with Kathy and Lyell, park model owners now but were part of this block for so long that they too just belong.

My buddy Don, aka The Peacock of the Park.

Once again, too much food and we all did our best to make sure there weren’t any leftovers. Will we never learn?