Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 11, 2109

Temperature 21 Degrees

Till We Meet Again – In Memory of Mom

Mom received her angel wing’s today.  She went quietly and peacefully.  She is now in that place promised and prepared for her by the Lord she served here in this life.  She is now freed from all pain, all suffering, even death itself.

We will miss her very much.  Yet, we are also so very thankful for the years that she lived among us.  She taught me how to dream, how to live life to the fullest, and to face life with courage and hope.

This is how I will remember her, I will remember the time, those precious moments we had with her this past summer.  This is the mom I will remember now and always.

Here’s to you mom.  You lived your life with class and dignity.  You made the most of every minute that God gave you to live.  You lived your faith and taught us to do the same.  I thank God that you were my mom and am ever grateful for the way that you raised me.  You will ever be in my heart.

In loving memory of Ellie.  Gone from this life but alive forever more in the presence of God.

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 6, 2109

Temperature 84 Degrees

Two Projects Down, Time to Start Anew

Time to Say Till We Meet Again

This might be the last blog for about a week.  Definitely none tomorrow night.  We’re leaving very early tomorrow morning for Wellsboro, PA.  My mom has continued to grow weaker and weaker and unfortunately there is no hope for a turn around.  It’s time for us to spend what time we can with her.  I refuse to say goodbye but I can and will say until we meet again.  Please continue to keep our family in your prayers.

Our work here continues and will continue even without us.  We’ll pick right up where we left off when we return.  Today we touched up the first several units and finished painting the doors and frames.

Denise mixing the red paint for the doors and frames.

Sandy getting a few more drops of paint out of the bucket.

Chris cutting in around the ceiling.

I even got in on the act – did some one say there was a screw loose?

Clean up of the paint room continued through the morning and was finished this afternoon.

Our one team leader, Jean, showing one and all the many empty paint cans already.

Who did you say was in there?  Santa Claus?  The Easter Bunny?

Nope, just Barbara gathering up the paint trays.

Here is how it goes and what they wanted us to do.  You take, for instance, every can of paint that looks like let’s say yellow and you just dump them all in one big bucket.  Same for brown, and gray, and so on.  Trust me we’ve come up with some very interesting paint colors!

Our next project are repairs to the outdoor shelters.  Like this one that someone put their foot through.  Through, by the way concrete backer board and a sheet of plywood.

Our other team leader, Steve, showing us what needs to be done.  Well, sort of.  Suffice to say he is not camera shy!

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  We are really enjoying our time here.  Yes, with the scrape yard behind it is noisy and dusty.  We even have a train that adds additional sound effects.  Not to mention the police sirens you here all so often.  Then throw in the planes taking off from Sky Harbor Airport.  Not a place for light sleepers.  Amazingly, we have already learned to tune it all out.  Being out in the country where all is quiet is going to sound – can I say it, a bit weird!  But back to what I was saying, it is great being here.  The work is rewarding.  The team is fantastic.  Our leaders are super people.  We hope sometime in the future to serve here again.

In closing I would ask again please keep our family in your prayers.  There is not going to be a happy ever after ending for my mom.  It’s hard for all of us to accept this.  We need prayers for what is to come.  In addition, my sister and her husband have been taking care of mom and it has not been easy.  They are exhausted and in need of some down time, and time for just the two of them.  Hopefully, Barbara and I can provide that if even for just several days.  Prayers please for all of us in the days to come.  Thanks.

Time to get some sleep.  We need to be up at 4 am for our flight out of here.  Thanks for coming along with us today.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.  Catch up with you some time soon.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 6, 2109

Temperature 82 Degrees

We Continue To Roll On

San Xavier Mission

Just another day in paradise.  Yet, this morning was an unusual one, at least for the two of us.  Can you believe we woke up to thunder, lightening and rain.  It didn’t last long, it wasn’t a heavy rain, but in all the time we have been in Arizona this is the first time it has rained.  Ok, I know it happens, but usually during the Monsoon season.  Just saying.

Our team is down two.  We have had some emergency medical issues.  Thankfully, nothing really serious and all will recover in due time.  Thank you Lord.

The rest of us continue to roll on applying paint here and there.  The offices now Sunday School rooms have been finished.  One apartment has been refurbished.  We’re making good progress.

Time to take a tour of a fascinating and beautiful Mission Church that is located just south of Tucson.  It is the

A National Historic Landmark, San Xavier Mission was founded as a Catholic mission by Father Eusebio Kino in 1692.

The current church dates from the late 1700’s, when Southern Arizona was part of New Spain. In 1783, Franciscan missionary Fr. Juan Bautista Velderrain was able to begin construction on the present structure using money borrowed from a Sonoran rancher. He hired an architect, Ignacio Gaona, and a large workforce of O’odham (The Tohono Oʼodham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the Mexican state of Sonora) to create the present church.  Widely considered to be the finest example of Spanish Colonial architecture in the United States, the Mission hosts some 200,000 visitors each year.

The shell, a symbol of pilgrimage after the patron saint of Spain, Santiago or James the Greater, is replicated all through the structure in window treatments, the sanctuary, the facade and other details within the interior.

Outside above the entrance doors.

Inside in the Choir Loft

The oldest intact European structure in Arizona, the church’s interior is filled with marvelous original statuary and mural paintings. It is a place where visitors can truly step back in time and enter an authentic 18th Century space.

More pictures of the interior of the church.

Pentecost.

The Last Supper.

A closer look, note the money bag in Judas hand and the Devil lurking off to the right side of the picture.

Mary taking care of baby Jesus.

The oldest statue in the church.

A statue of the first native American to become a saint.

Two gold lions guarding the front of the church.

That is just a small taste of the inside of this beautiful mission church.  You simply need to see it for yourself to truly appreciate it.

An interesting note, on the entrance door, on the outside of the door, on the handle there is a replica of a snake.  Why?  Symbolizing how one is to shed the old and put on the new.

 San Xavier is still actively run by Franciscans, and continues to serve the native community by which it was built.   If you are ever in this area make it a point to visit the mission church and you will not be disappointed.

Time now to get ready for a new day on The Road of Retirement.  I’m finishing this blog the day after, just could not keep my eyes open last night.  But now, well there is another bucket of paint calling my name.  So time to roll on!

Thanks for joining us again.  We always appreciate your company and your comments.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!

Places We Have Called Home In 2019

Home Is Where We Park It:   UMOM New Day Centers, Phoenix 

Nov 5, 2109

Temperature 85 Degrees

The UMOM Campus

Projects – What Else, Painting!

We woke up, which day I can’t remember now, either yesterday or today and Barbara said What in the world is that weird noise?  Listen, it sounds like something clicking, moving, it’s just something I’ve never heard before.

Outside I went to investigate.  The recycling center behind us?  Nope, they were not working yet.  The transfer switch?  Nothing funny in that compartment.  I came back in, stood in the bedroom and listened, and then began to laugh like crazy.  We both had forgotten that we had put Gertrude on the roof over our bedroom.  She was going through her motions looking for a signal!

I want to share the UMOM Campus with you tonight.  This campus is huge, larger than TMM in Phoenix.  There are facilities here in this location as well as in other areas in Phoenix.  Walk with me and let me show you what is here where we are working.

This is the Camus map.  Looking at it all the rigs are parked in the top left portion of the picture.  There are eight FHU sites.

This is the Chapel where we gather for devotions each morning.

The front intake desk

A place of rest in the inner courtyard.

A garden in the inner courtyard.

The new basketball court.

A picnic area.

One of the playgrounds for the children here.

An inspiring sign in the lobby.

One of the day care rooms in the Center.

The children’s playground within the Center.

This is the cafeteria, meals are served here three times a day.  It is also where we go for break.

This is the maintenance and wood working shop.

This is the Wishy Washy area, where I’m sitting and typing this tonight.  We have free laundry.

Now for our projects.  Painting office space and apartments is top of the list.  Thankfully, the paint this time is top of the line and so we only have to put one coat on.  It speeds things up and allows us to get more apartments painted.

This is our paint storage room.  That’s Keith front and center.

Left to right, Anton, Steve, and Barbara hiding in the shadows.  They were tasked with sorting through all the paint, consolidating it and labeling it.

This former office space is being refurbished and well be use in the future for Sunday School.  Sandra on the roller, Denise cutting in the baseboard.

Keith doing some cutting in.

Kris wielding the brush on some trim.

Looking good!

Me?  I got to remove all the old caulking around the one tub and then later I re-caulked it.

Now for most people this is an elevator.  But for us it’s the magic portal door to a floor full of rooms to be painted!

That was our day on The Road of Retirement.  Once again we’re knee deep in paint and just rolling along.  At the end of December I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are going to need some R and R.  Till then we’ll push on and along with the rest of the team finish what we came here to do.  Now and always we continue to believe life is good and we give thanks each day to the good Lord for the days we’re given to live.

Thanks for joining us today.  We’re glad to have your along and we always appreciate your comments.  Catch you tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before

See you on down the road!