The Week In Review ...

Last Sunday, we went to a Community Hymm Fest at this picturesque Catholic Church in Sierra Vista. Our church bulletin a couple of weeks back told us of this event and I immediately put it on the calendar. Choirs from 14 different churches in the area participated and there were between 400 and 500 people in attendance. And all of us were singing... at least most of the time. It was an hour and a half of powerful praise. The Sierra Vista Symphony joined a distinguished organist from Tucson in making the walls shake. Many hymms were ones we were familiar with and then there were a few that neither of us had ever heard. Representatives from several churches did brief readings. Overall, it was a joyous community celebration of shared belief in Jesus; it was a real treat!

Sunday night I got my ironing done for the last three weeks!

Monday, I discovered a new website - http://www.golfnow.com/ is a great place to find cheap golf. There is a course right across the street from the Valley Vista RV Park where we are staying and on golfnow I found a deal where we can golf 18 holes for $15 with a cart. So, on Sunday, after watching the weather news for the week, I booked Tee Times for Tuesday and Friday. We have been out on Turquoise Hills Golf Course several times since being in the area, but we were only doing 9 holes as Mike gave his neck time to completely heal.

Tuesday was a great day to be out and about and the course was beautiful.

The ball retriever is now used in sage brush through barbed wire fences rather than in water or deep grass. We both managed a few pars and bogies (Mike had a birdie) and overall, we were satisfied. When we left, we were already looking forward to Friday's game.

Wednesday starts with Water Aerobics; actually it is held three times each week and I try to attend each time. In the afternoon, we headed to a section of the San Pedro River to do a little hiking. There was actually water in the river basin; it was the first time we have seen it flowing as it is usually dry this time of the year.

We were only a short ways along the river when the path switched to the other side; Mike had no problem crossing .... but you know I would never have the balance or confidence to walk across that log.

Eventually, I found a path that didn't require crossing the river and the views were worth the effort.

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours, and, of course, we found a few unique rocks to haul home. Later on Wednesday, I tried out a recipe for cinnamon rolls from my new Amish cookbook I got in PA Dutch country. They came out of the oven at 9:30 pm and of course, we had to sample and then sample again... good thing we exercise once in a while!

On Thursday, we decided to take a drive down towards the border and check out the mountain passes.

After a brief stop at the visitor center
and a quick check to be sure all was well with the Jeep, we take off for Montezuma Pass with plans to end up over by Sonoita. It was only a mile or two before we hit gravel and started checking out the yucca plants to see if there was a new walking stick to be had. On Monday we had attached six medalions to my stick and realized I was running out of room.
These are what the live yucca plants look like.

And this is what a dead one looks like. When cut and sanded, they make very nice walking sticks. So, Mike stopped the car, grabbed the saw and stepped towards the plant...

The bank was loose gravel and it gave away, Mike lost his footing and grabbed for the plant to hold him. It broke loose; the whole thing came out of the ground and Mike fought to stay upright as he was moving, almost running, farther and farther down the hill. All I could do was watch; there was nothing that could be done. At about 20 - 25 feet, Mike lost the battle to stand up and fell forward. He had momemtum and rolled and scrapped farther down the bank eventually stopping about 50 to 60 feet down from the road. I yelled, "Are You OK?" and there was no answer. "Is Anything Broke?" "Mike, Can You Move?" After what seemed like an eternity, he started to get up. He looked around - kinda dazed. And then started to climb back up! It was only in the last four feet that I could help him by extending his walking stick and still he slipped on the steep hill; the gravel just seemed to roll away under his feet. Finally, he was on solid ground and sat down in the car.

Mike was bleeding from both elbows, had many many scrapes and scratches and his thumb was starting to swell, but he was safe. Since then, we have thanked God so many times; for the first few hours we seemed to think of a new "what if" ever couple of minutes. The steep bank down which Mike plummeted was full of rocks, and cactus and horribly rough desert mountain terrain. It could have been so much worse! After I retrieved the minimal first aide supplies from our backpack, washed off and bandaged the worst of the scrapes and cuts, we headed back down the road to the hospital in Sierra Vista.

As soon as the triage nurse heard that Mike had had neck surgery 3 months ago, she put a neck brace on him and it wasn't long before a CAT Scan and Xrays were scheduled. Samuel was Mike's nurse and he told us right off that if the park patrol had been around and witnessed a 50 foot fall, Mike would have been air lifted out to the hospital in Tucson. That sobering thought brought more "what ifs" and more Thanksgiving to God. Looking back, I think the only way Mike made it out of there with minimal bodily damage was because God carried him part of the way.

After a three hour hospital visit, we were on our way home. Mike's neck was not hurt and there were no broken bones. His thumb was in a brace because it had been severely jammed; we will have to monitor that in the coming days. But, Mike is safe and he is well... considering!

Today, Mike woke up stiff and sore. But, we had a Tee Time at 2:10 and since it was booked online at a reduced rate, there was no refund. So I went golfing and Mike coached, and caddied and drove the cart. I learned a few things and it was nice having someone clean the equipment.

But mainly, Mike looked for lost golf balls. (You know, Doug, how he loves to do that!) Here he is showing off his cache for the day; 21 balls, I think. That scratch on his leg is a new one he got today climbing through that barbed wire fence for ball retrieval... Ah, what the heck, what is one more bandage.

That was our week. We plan to have a quiet, at home, weekend.