March '02 Newsletter
March '02 Newsletter |
|
Our March newsletter is running a little late as you may have noticed. We wanted to hold it up a few days so we could share some fabulous news. Radical changes have taken place in our lives in the past few months! April 5th, we closed escrow on the apartments Bob has owned for so long. We're free from the tyranny of being landlords!! No more removing roots from the sewer line as we are packing for a Grand Canyon raft trip, no more listening to sniveling excuses for why the rent is late, no more climbing on the roof in 115 degree sunshine to slave over a dead air conditioner. There are probably a few things we will miss about it but right now we can't seem to think of any.
Most of you are aware that we found the house of our dreams in Black Canyon City early this year. We began moving in mid-February and are still unpacking, doing maintenance, and furnishing. The house is nothing short of wonderful. It is well built, much larger than what we had been looking for, and has fantastic views from both the back and front decks. We hadn't been finding what we wanted in Wickenburg and on a lark took a drive up to Black Canyon City (BCC) to visit the historical Jack Swilling cabin, an old stage stop for the Prescott to Phoenix route. Now we own his cabin as well as a house, so come on up to visit and we'll give you the tour.
We're located at the confluence of the Agua Fria River and the Black Canyon. There is little or no water above the confluence but even with the drought Arizona is experiencing, there are large swimming holes below it. We've done a substantial amount of exploring back there on foot and have been familiarizing ourselves with BCC (population less than 2000) by biking around town. Between the seemingly constant wind and the many hills, the biking is a lot more rigorous than our customary Phoenix canal bank route. We are also keeping our knees in shape by lugging loads up and down the stairs here.
A few weeks ago the local herd of javelina (wild pigs), around 30, paid us a late night visit and ate the roots off of some of our flowers and cacti. Susan is now putting her plants on the decks, as we don't think the little buggers do stairs but only time will tell. 2002 is predicted to be a rough year for wildlife because of the drought. She has been putting vegetables down in the dry riverbed to help the javelina out and to lure them away from her plants. We heard that they are particularly fond of pumpkin, so she left them one. She may have to get a job to keep her bird population in seed. We have quite an array of cardinals, hummers, quail, doves, jays, woodpeckers, etc. at the feeder. When BCC's winter visitors head home for the summer, we may be mobbed by the hungry little devils. They have gone from needing a feeder fill every five to seven days to every 24 hours.
| Our page URL: http://www.kwagunt.net/ |
Updated on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 @ 4:30 MST © 1995-2002 by Robert R. Marley |
Email address: themarleys@kwagunt.net |
