CHANGING GEARS AGAIN.

Arriving in Yuma yesterday was exciting because it’s  the start of a new adventure. We spent a lazy kind of morning, reading and staying warm. The desert gets cold at night and nips in the early morning. The time change was only an hour but I’m disoriented in my second kitchen and it takes a day to change gears.
In the afternoon, it was shorts and T-shirt weather. Jim moved the bikes down, put air in the tires, oiled the chains and painted out the name of my “new” bike. It belonged to my son-in-law and I couldn’t wait to ride it. I did six laps of the park and remembered I shouldn’t over-do things, as is my habit. Decided to cut it short and ride a bit farther each day.
It was like an old friend. I also reminded myself it was in Yuma where  my bike was stolen in 2011.  We affixed a brand new kryptonite lock and cable on it as well.
After dinner we set out for a  walk just in time to see the sun setting behind a  bush.

As we walked the park,  the colors deepen and become more luscious.

We turned a corner. The power poles could not diminish the beauty though I wished they were not there.

I’m back to using a Cannon which I think has truer colors than the Sonys we purchased. So part of this picture scene is a curiosity to see the difference between Jim’s colors and mine. But, HE is the better photographer and takes more time with his shots.

Even with the sun setting, turning East, Pilot Knob was distinctive in the Eastern sky.

We chuckled at the campers boondocking on BLM land just across the fence from the park.  They are parking free while inside the fence it costs $40 a night. Normally we would be boondocking but we got a special deal- free! The fence seems confining in the wide open spaces of the desert.

Near the pool was a lone palm tree saying goodnight to the sun and…

…reflected in the pool.

A candy striped sky just as the sun dipped below the horizon.

DAUGHTER OF A BARBARIAN

Barbarian, Bill W.K. Mollett collected 8,000 pieces of barbed wire in his lifetime. Bill always had a story to tell and loved the West. He recognized that barbed wire signified the end of the "Old" West, its open range, itinerant wranglers. These remnants are a reminder of the cowpunchers who fenced their land. Much barbed wire was home made and each rancher's fence was identifiable like their brand. Old timers say, "bob wire" and there is a "bobbed" wire bible identifying different types of wire and the men who patented them.
Bill's daughter Chrys and I walked her garden and talked "bob wire" for an hour or two and in the photos you will see wire that looks like rick-rack, crochet, strands of yard, twisted hooks and barbs of every imaginable angle. And the names, can you identify the piece called Brinkerhof Belt Buckle Splicer? It was patented by J. Brinkerhoff, May 17, 1881? Below it is Glidden Hog Wire, Extra Long Barbs, patented by J.F. Glidden, Nov. 24, 1874. Yes, that is Glidden, the man who went on to open paint stores that still carry his name today. On one board, Chrys points to a space that mounts a stone.
In collecting, you had to have a piece 18 inches long for it to qualify for showing. Bill mounted the strands on boards and recorded the type and patent, if one existed, on the back of the board.
Chrys and I enjoyed reminiscing about her dad who wore a wide brimmed hat with a band of barbed wire for a hat band. He was known as the Barbarian of Calaveras County.