GRITTY THINGS LIKE VALVES

We were hoping for another gorgeous sunrise, but the clouds wouldn’t cooperate. We packed up to leave the park by 11:00 and repaired to a nearby concrete slab that was once a gas station. The buildings have been torn down. The purpose was to change the black water and grey water valves. Jim had noticed a small leak and wanted to fix it where it was convenient to do so. But, the valves wouldn’t budge. We decided this was a job for a professional

Everyday I sketch something and worked on this statue in the park. It was too far away to be a credible drawing, so I’ll sketch from this picture during repair time.
A return to Mexico at 9:00 for my dentist appointment.  Then rush to another location for a wash and wax of  the motor home and Bronco. We should be ready to hit the road for Organ Pipe National Monument and Painted Rock Petroglyphs. Stay tuned.
Speaking of tunes, yesterday, we heard the song “I’ve Been Everywhere.”  That is Jim’s song. When we meet someone new, they ask, “Where ya from?” Jim always smiles at that question. He has a Murphys mailing address, his cell phone is from Connecticut, his license and registration from Washington State.  He can sing, “I’ve been everywhere, man, I’ve been everywhere…”

LUNCH IN ALGODONES, MEXICO

This is a sign you can understand in any language and not one we see much. Algodones, Mexico, about five miles West of Yuma  is reputed to have the highest density of dentists, pharmacies, doctors and opticians in a four block area,  than any similar four block area  in the world.

Hawkers reach out and offer to guide you to a dentist, doctor, etc.  every step of the way. Not that you need guidance, every other sign is for one or the other.  For most of them you don't need an appointment. We arrived at 9:00 a.m. to be first in the door to Denny Salinas' office, except, he was no longer at the same address as our last visit in 2009.  A young woman named Bettina walked us several blocks away to his fancy new digs. We learned you now need an appointment. But, as a former  customer,  he took a look at a problem I was having with an implant he did and fitted me in for ex-rays and a diagnosis.

We walked around town to look around. People, many recognizable "snowbirds", were sitting in a busy square sunning themselves and  listening to a very good musician play several types of flute. Hauntingly beautiful sounds I recognized from Peruvian culture.

His partner was selling  his very popular CD's. I could have stayed an listened for an hour.

The spray can artists were also working the square. They can do amazing things with spray paint and a piece of paper, rubbing the paint on then quickly drying it with a hair dryer. Jim cautioned this guy waving  a cigarette near the painters  but he laughed and defied the notion that a cigarette around all of those chemicals was in danger of exploding or starting a fire.  Popular pieces are the television dishes snowbirds have on their RV's. In fact, Algodones depends so much on Canadian and American tourists they have a closed-street block party in December welcoming snowbirds  back to Algodones.

In our motor home we don't have room to buy "stuff" but I like to look, anyway. People buy cheap drugs and liquor here as well. I got a bottle of vodka.

We like an open restaurant, hole-in-the wall type, that starts you off with three  kinds of salsa  a red, a green, both hot and home-made. Then avocado salsa,  sour cream, limes,  and chips.  A plate with tomatoes, onion, cilantro and shredded cabbage.  They cook their meats on a charcoal grill in front of their place. I tell you that because I haven't a clue what the name of the place is if you go.

The food is always good and cheap, $5 for a whole chicken with rice and beans. Jim took a small portion. I ordered four tacos forgetting that they fill them really full of meat. Our two meals with Tecates cost us $13.00. The Tecate is good with a squeeze of lime in it. I never have this much fun when I go to my dentist in Murphys, doncha know!

Jim likes to go early so we get back across the border before the crowds line up. We didn't make it. I didn't mind at all talking to other folks in line. It was about a twenty-minute wait before we went through the friendly immigration inspection.

Something new since our last visit, for $5 you can be driven over in the yellow cart  and skip the line. The drug sniffing dog sniffs the cart and all the cars, too.

I SHALL WEAR PURPLE AND HAVE FUN AT THE DENTIST

  It struck me as funny when I saw one of the gals at my dentist, Dr. Paul Berger's office, walking around with a handful of teeth. I meant to get her name and didn't, but she smiled and let me take her picture.

Then one of the dental techs stepped into the room, and clowned around as well. This was my first visit to Dr. Berger, so his staff members are still strangers to me, and obviously fun to be around. The proof is in the pictures. These two beautiful women with a sense of humor made getting a filling a lot less stressful. 

It was late in the day, and with mouth still slightly swollen, I dashed home, changed and headed for a party at the Murphys Hotel for the Calaveras Arts Council.  I walked in and there were the Red Hats enjoying a party of their own at the bar.

My good friend, Joellyn Gano was the first person I saw, outfitted in her gorgeous red hat and purple dress.

Several years ago,  I expected when I had "time", as though I could simply catch some, I would join the Red Hats because they have a lot of fun. I can always sit home and quilt when I'm old, which somehow is ten or more years beyond  my curent age.

I know nothing about the Red Hats organization, but I do know what inspired it, the poem: When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.
I expect everyone has heard of, or read the poem, but just on the off chance, I copied it from the poem's author's book by the same name. She is Jenny Joseph.

 WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.