Chasing the Sunrise

It has been a particularly busy fall semester. I’m teaching a new class in an area I only have a minimal background. I haven’t felt this far out of my depth since I taught an introduction to natural resources class my first semester at Kansas State University in 1974. I was younger, more full of myself, and at the same time unsure. I have few of those feelings now. At age 66 I find teaching a new course invigorating, challenging, and just a little daunting. But it has been far more rewarding than I anticipated and just as challenging. I’ve put other projects on the back burner to try to stay what I call “15 minutes ahead of my class!” And I think I’ve been successful.

That all leads up to Veteran’s Day Weekend when I got to Friday I sensed I had a full Saturday where I didn’t have anything to do. Saturday morning came and I was still thinking teaching and writing. In fact, as I have found so often this semester, I was up early and today was no exception. At 4 AM my mind was whirling and so I was up and anticipating several hours of quiet with just me and the cat writing. Whisper, the cat, really enjoys laying across the top of my desk in front of the computer either relaxing or watching the cursor on the computer with great interest. I’m anticipating some day she will attack that poor cursor.

By 6:30 am I was busy writing and I knew we were having some cool (cold for Las Vegas) weather so I turned to my iPad and checked the weather. Of course the kids think my favorite TV channel is the weather channel - but not so much since we moved to Las Vegas. Anyway, I noted on my weather app that it had snowed out at Red Rock Conservation Area overnight. There is nothing more beautiful than watching the sunrise at Red Rock as the sun marches down the western Spring Mountains. And to have the potential for snow in the peaks was a bonus! I was a smidgen late getting out of the house and could see the sun rising over the east side of the Las Vegas valley and knew I had probably missed the march, but not the intensity of the new sun on the western mountains. Off I drove out towards Red Rock and was greatly rewarded for my efforts.

Watching the new sunrise, or in this case, the full effect of the early morning sun on the mountains is like watching a rebirth of beauty and brings great joy to my soul. If I watched it every day I might tire of it, but I only go out a few times a year - which always makes it spectacular. I’ve shared a few of my photos below. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

This is a beautiful home out in Calico Basin and I love its colors and especially the Red Rocks directly behind it.

The Red Rocks along with the desert brush and more traditionally colored hills in the background are a favorite

I really thought the sun reflections and the break up with the texture of the rocks made this an interesting shot.
And then I played with it and added a little grunge.

Bonding in Las Vegas

Whether the teen and near-teen grandchildren want to admit it or not, Grandpa really looks forward to putting them to work for a couple of hours while they visit. They should be thankful we don't live in the country or have a farm. Of course if that was the case they probably wouldn't come to visit for fear of all the work expected of them.

The Allen's were in town last week and I invited Mac and Alyssa to help in the dreaded "tree" project. They have never done it before and didn't know what to expect. I was up early walking at 5:30 am, cuting down limbs at 6:30 am and we finally finished about 9:30 am. Mac has only used power tools in the past, so I had to teach him how to use a "hand" saw and he got very good.

Mac and Alyssa were a great help. Once we got Alyssa involved
the work went twice as fast. We just needed someone to stuff
the trash can - and she did great!

Once done with the hard work we had lunch and off shopping that afternoon. By the time we were all done I was exhausted, even if they were just getting started. It was a fun day with my grandkids, daughter, and spouse. It was a lot harder shopping then trimming the tree.

Not as many bags as usual, but that's because we are getting
into a rhythm of accomplishing the work. And bags are bags!

A day at the beach - Las Vegas Style

When you live in Las Vegas and you want a little water - beach style water - you can either go to Lake Mead, which doesn't have real sand on their beaches, or to the local splash park. When you have young children and you don't want to spend all-day in the car the splash park makes a perfect beach. Centennial Hills park is about 30 minutes from our house and there are 2 water playgrounds on site (only 1 of which is featured here) plus there are 2 great playgrounds - and lots of shade. It is the favorite playground of 2 of our families with young children. I'll let the photos tell the story.

The entrance to the playground is spectacular. It makes the kids want to come in. Our grandchildren could see if from a distance and were so excited. Once they got out of the car it was a straight line run to the playground. Note the variety of slides and other play devices. They are all fun and creative.

The playground also has lots of shade structures that are unique - representing flowers and butterflies.

This is all warmup stuff so that when you get hot you will run over to the water playground (or splash park). It is very inviting and the water rotates among the different devices with several being on at the same time.

Of course it's not really a beach unless you have a place to sit, shades (sun glasses), drinks, a shade hat, and a telephone. It looks good to me and now everyone can have fun.

That's right - she has everything the well prepared beach
grandma needs.

But the real fun is for the kids while they are playing in the water, even if they are a little reticent to get too wet - they are still young, but will learn.

Chas hard at work redirecting the water.

The frogs are just too cute not to climb on. Bonnie thinks so, at least.

Sally is trying to show Charlotte how to get wet without
getting wet herself. It almost worked.

And when it's all done we do what we do best - stop at Dairy Queen for a little light (okay, heavy) refreshment. It was sure fun and good and a great morning. The kids crashed all afternoon.

Seasonal Time

We have lived in Las Vegas for five years. There are many benefits to living in Las Vegas, not the least of which are mild winters and early springs. One of the downsides is the absence of a changing of seasons. We have color out our backdoor all winter long. Spring comes in early to mid-February and the Bradford Pears are good for about 10 days. We do have flowers that bloom for the next 3 months and many of them last all summer and well into the fall.

Cedar Rapids, IA - Donna and Sally

However, I have noticed over the last two springs and winters there has been a change in how I perceive time. After living in the Midwest for almost 40 years I became very acclimated to 4 seasons and constructed part of my feelings and expectations of time based on the expectation of 4 seasons. 


Those of us who have four seasons know they are considerably different. They each make contributions to our lives, both in perceptions, attitudes, and activities. Consciously or unconsciously we schedule ourselves within the context of our seasons. In many ways we consciously and unconsciously schedule ourselves around those seasons/ Just as sport is seasonally based, we too are seasonally based. Most of us are only indirectly aware of our linkage to seasons. When you lose the seasons you struggle to gain a new sense of seasonal time. 


For example, as we came to the end of the spring semester at the university, I have found myself thinking it can't possibly be the end of the academic year. We had missed fall and winter. I felt a sense of incompleteness, or emptiness, as we moved into our summer. Absent from my Las Vegas experiences are extended periods of fall, spring, and winter. We have all four seasons in Las Vegas, but to a much lesser degree. We have the colors year-round as well as similar weather, just varying degrees temperature with an occasional (and I use the term occassional loosely) rain shower or snow shower.

Fall in Terre Haute, IN - One of the prettiest places for fall
that we ever lived in.

What I'm feeling as we come to the end of the academic year is a lack of closure in my seasonal time. Intellectually I know that May signals the start of spring, the end of winter and the school year, but in the absence of easily definable seasons I feel incomplete. There is an absence that I stuggled to understand until I realized I'm still a product of midwestern seasonal time. It's unsettling, even after you understand it. I suspect that if I stay in Las Vegas long enough I will ultimately change my personal conception of seasonal time.

I always took seasonal time for granted. I suspect that if I had lived in Las Vegas my entire life I wouldn't be influenced by the lack of seasons. But since I have spent the bulk of my life living through the 4 seasons I find the absence of the seasons creating a dissonance of how I perceive closure. I am not even sure that "closure" is the proper term, but that's the feeling I get in the spring. "It can't be spring when we have missed fall and winter." But interesting side note is that these feelings didn't occur in the first three years that we were here. But this year I have noticed it more than ever. Even spending 2 1/2 weeks in cold in wintery Idaho didn't make up for a full winter season. Don't get me wrong, I'm not missing winter - just the seasonal time winter creates for me.

Denver, CO while we were visiting the Allen family

Seasonal time is as real as clock time. With a clock we can monitor the time of day. With the change in seasons we can monitor the change in temperature, daylight, color, clothing, and the like. When we change our seasonal time we lose a part of what has been ourselves. I don't think that is negative, but I've never seen anyone write about seasonal time - although I know they have. For those of you with 4 seasons, enjoy them. For those of us without 4 seasons we will just adapt.

Taken at a county park south of Terre Haute, IN. This represents the king
of summer and green that we miss in Las Vegas. It is also one of my
favorite photos.

Wordless Wednesday following Baggy Saturday

Two weeks ago the Hansen's showed up for Spring Break, which also means, Baggy Saturday - helping Grandpa prune the trees and shrubs. This year we set a record with 16 43-gallon trash bags. I'm not sure the boys will be looking for another year, but we are getting quicker each year. It only took about 3.5 hours to do this and it only represents 2 trees!

click on the photo to enlarge

3 Generation Photo - Part 2 (Wordless Wednesday)

This is our 2nd photo of three generations of McLean's. Tim should note that
I finally learned how to use my remove! Taken at Mesa Park in Las Vegas, NV
close to our home.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Can you believe it, we had a little rain yesterday. Yes, even in Las Vegas we get rain - less than 10% of what we got in the midwest, so when we get rain here it's like driving on ice for the locals. They all slow down - well most of them anyway. When we got up yesterday morning we looked out and there was only a low gray cloud cover to see. We thought, "Well that's not so bad. It's nice to have a little cloudy weather and some rain." However, by the time mid-afternoon rolled around the comment from the front room (the alternate quilting room) was, "Where's the sunshine?" It didn't help that we had this little drizzle (or what we like to call a Las Vegas downpour) going on all day and night.

This morning we got up to another day of predicted rain showers. Thank goodness the weather forecasters in Nevada aren't any better than the ones in the midwest. As it started to clear we went out to get the last of those Christmas packages mailed and the sunshine was peaking through. As we looked east to the strip it was shrouded in a low fog that made the hotels and casinos appear as more of a distant mirage. It was sort of cool. As we looked west the mountains behind our home had a light snow covering and those further away in the Red Rock Conservation Area had snow, clouds and the like. It is absolutely beautiful to see the sun, clouds, and snow on the mountains.

By the time I left for work at noon we had beautiful cumulus clouds with breaks of sunshine coming through. Yes, living in Las Vegas with its 300 plus days of sunshine is wonderful and we certainly enjoy it.

I took this a year ago, but this is the view we often see in the winter when we
look west.

Celebrating the 4th of July in Las Vegas

This evening JoAnn and I drove a little over a mile to an open gravel field and watched an arc of fireworks demonstrations covering 270 degrees of the compass. We live about 800 feet above the valley floor so we have a great view of most of the city and the strip. There are probably many cities where you can experience 270 degrees of fireworks, but from our perch we could see all of the Las Vegas strip and the many fireworks, plus those over in Henderson, almost 20 miles away, and many different casino and neighborhood fireworks. It seemed that in every direction we turned there were fireworks. They may not always be the most spectacular fireworks, but they were pretty darn good. There were probably 50 or more cars out in the gravel field with us. We don't worry about driving on the grass in Las Vegas. There isn't any!

And then it was home to catch the last few minutes of the Capitol Fourth PBS show (time delayed of course). What a spectacular fireworks show with the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington monuments framed by fireworks, along with the U.S. Capitol. And then, as a bonus, they replayed the whole show and we got to watch it start to finish. What a great way to spend the 4th - Fireworks, good music, the National Mall, great patriotic music - I love John Philip Sousa's marches. We were blown away by Steve Martin and his bluegrass band.

We were a little far away for photos in Las Vegas, but I captured a couple of photos from the National Mall concert and fireworks, in HD!

We hope everyone had a joyous 4th of July and remembered what the day means to us as our day of liberty and that we honor those who served and those who gave their lives to create sustain our liberty for the last 235 years. This is a great country and it is blessed of God.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday - Helping Grandpa

Good Morning Las Vegas! It must be January...

One thing consistent about Las Vegas is its weather: Sunny, warm, and dry. Well, that's usually the case, but this winter it has been wet and cloudy. We keep thinking we could live in Indiana and it would be no different - except of course for the snow. That was before this morning. I was out late (around 6 am) for my morning walk and as I left I noticed a skiff of snow on the roof of my car. By the time I got home it had started snowing and they were big wet drops.

The cat and I went out back to investigate and take a photo. I loved it, but the cat decided she had seen enough and couldn't wait to get back inside. To make it a real snowstorm, however, you need school closing, road closings and lots of accidents. Pharump, about 60 miles from here has closed their schools and the highway west out of Las Vegas is closed as well as a portion of the beltway near our home. And accidents - wholly cow - they are everywhere. You would think these folks had never seen snow before.

I finally thought it was time to get JoAnn up so she could see the snow and we took this photo from the kitchen window.

Now we realize for you northerners and easterners this doesn't hardly count, but come on, every 700 or so days we get one of these and we really don't know what to do with it. The TV announcer suggested everyone keep 5 to 8 car lengths apart. We looked at each other and asked, "What planet is he from?" When you are in a community that can barely handle rain, snow is a disaster of biblical proportions.

Oh yes, I'm working from my home desk today. I'm not venturing out on the roads with all of those fools ... at least not for a while.

Hawk Sighting...

It's not often I write 2 blogs in one day and these 2 are almost 8 hours apart, so it could be two days - dawn and dusk?

This morning Tim, Joshua, and I went out to Calico Basin in the Red Rock Conservation Area for a little walk. Calico Basin is about a mile before the main entrance to Red Rock and a smidgen off the beaten path. You walk up a ramp that cuts back on itself several time until you get to the plateau. The ramp links to a boardwalk that extends around the perimeter of Calico Basin and keeps people out of the spring and field that is downstream. It is up against the mountain and there are many rocks of large size. As I've said before, it is one of JoAnn and my favorite spots for an afternoon or morning walk.

We got to the top and were just starting to walk around. Joshua was absolutely excited, climbed down from his dad's shoulders and started to troop off. Just as that was happening we saw a disturbance on the far side of the meadow. It was a large bird extending its wings to get into the air. It flew a short distance landed, surveyed its area, and took off again landing on a larger rock close by.

I looked at it, could see it clearly, and quickly determined it was an eagle. Upon review of my photos I determined it was too small for an eagle, but certainly fit the hawk size. From afar it flew, but as we got closer it ignored us while it ate its breakfast. I cursed myself for leaving my telephoto lens in the car, but I wasn't going back for it. I didn't want to take a chance and have the hawk leave. I shouldn't have worried. When we left the hawk was still there and probably taunting us. As I said, were not sure what kind of hawk it was, but suspect it was either a Red Tail hawk or a Swainson's hawk. Bottom line - it was fun for Tim and I to see it. Joshua was a little busy running ahead to spend much time worrying about a hawk.

We were out early enough to catch the morning dew and frost, which we almost never have in southern Nevada. But, after 5 days of rain it was humid this morning. As you can see from the following photo, it made for a beautiful photo of Tim and Joshua as they worked their way down the west side of the boardwalk. Click on the photo to see the larger size.

The morning just confirmed how much fun it is to go for a walk on a beautiful Christmas Eve morning in Las Vegas and bond.

A Las Vegas Fall

This is our fourth fall in Las Vegas, and our most unusual. Of course as I write this most of the places where our family lives is in a deep freeze or has snow, but nonetheless, I find this fall, or what locals call winter, to be different. To begin with, over Thanksgiving we uncharacteristically had the coldest weather since we arrived, and that counts the snow we received during the first two years. We lost several plants outside during Thanksgiving week. It was more Idaho weather than Las Vegas weather.

Since then the weather has been great, yet now we find ourselves in the midst of a 5-day rainstorm. It has people all over the valley scratching their heads. It's more like an Indiana fall than a Las Vegas winter. People are scrambling to find those long lost umbrellas and discovering they can't find them.

The prettiest part of this winter is the leaves that are falling. It seems our Thanksgiving cold snap has caused the leaves to drop in numbers we haven't seen since we arrived. It does remind me of the Midwest. I even went out and took photos. Before the rain began I even enjoyed walking through the leaves and causing a rustle. One day as JoAnn and I were driving by our local park we saw a couple of small boys jumping up and down in a leaf pile their dad's had made. On the downside, no one has a clue how to remove leaves efficiently.

I took this photo at our local park on Saturday while
JoAnn and I were out for a walk. It was a dry moment.

Yes, we do get fall in Las Vegas! And yes, here we call that winter. It's not over and we may even get a little snow this year. However, that idea strikes fear into the heart of all of us.

Have a Merry Christmas you snow dwellers!

A Sunday Morning Walk

      I was going to title this "Desert Beauty," but as I thought about it I realized there is very little beautiful abut the desert in September. That is probably inaccurate, so suffie it to say, that as long as I'm restricted to walking in my neighborhood I am enjoying its man-made beauty. I try to get out for my first walk about 6 to 6:30 am, before the sun peaks over the eastern mountains. Usually I make it. Then I go out again about 8:30 am or 9 with JoAnn, again between 11:30 and 1:00, then about 4:30 and finally around 7 pm. I don't go far, but I'm increasing my distance a little every day.

I've come to appreciate the beauty of our neighborhood. For example, I didn't know we had Monarch butterflies. Nor did I know we had caterpillars. I've seen just a few butterflies and only one scrawny caterpillar, but still, those were new to me. We have desert finches which we enjoy, mourning doves, and a variety of desert birds, but we don't have near the variety of song birds we had in Iowa and Indiana.

What we do have are plants that bloom year round and a park near our home that is green 12 months out of the year. I don't want to know how much water they put on the grass, but it has to be a lot. I was struck by their beauty this morning as I walked and thought I would share that beauty.

This is close to our home, directly across from the park. I don't usually walk
on this side of the street, but this morning, with the sun striking the plants
it just took my breath away.

The sage blooms about every 6 weeks spring through fall and we never quit
enjoying its beauty.

The park, directly across the street is a small neighborhood park, and is also
a magnet from about 6:30 in the morning until will after dark. I've never seen
such a busy park. This is the north end.

Lantana on the corner of a neighborhood.

Lightning, Thunder, and Even a Little Rain

We are experiencing what we affectionately call a midwestern day. The kind of day that we frequently experienced in the Midwest and especially Indiana that would lead to multiple days of rain, dreary cloud cover, and feelings of depression.

In Las Vegas, however, days typically only last a few hours and find them exhilarating. As we prepared for our morning walk, we heard thunder, and then saw lightning, and the patter patter rain on our patio roof. It was a beautiful summer rain that just wet things down rather than flooding things out. In Las Vegas these light rains are infrequent and scattered throughout the valley. Today the summer rain has come in the form of two storms which allowed us to get a walk in between the storms. JoAnn has just reported to me that it is pouring once again.

We define a summer storm as any rain that brings thunder and lightning and does not flood our patio. We describe a downpour is anything that does let our patio. We enjoy both kinds of storms, but summer storm allows us to sit outside and watch the rain.

That’s the weather news from Las Vegas today. We hope you are having a gorgeous, sunny, and pleasant day.

We don't see this weather map very often!

A Busy Birthday Girl

JoAnn had a busy birthday today. Actually, the celebration started last Thursday when Krissie arrived. Among the first things they did was to get a pedicure. I'm not sure, but I think that makes any daughter visit "official."

 I went in to work for a little while this morning and stopped for a few things on the way home. It included a Snickers bar for JoAnn, cause she loves them and since it is her birthday it has to be "fat free." When I got home I gave her the Snickers bar and shot the following photo. Krissie and I were laughing as JoAnn was working towards a zero impact candy bar. Somehow I don't think she spent though time on the bicycle to make it happen.

However, a little later we went down to the strip to the Bellagio to see their atrium, which is always beautiful. I think we walked and perspired more than enough to make up for the candy bar. I shot the following photo of JoAnn and Krissie in front of a sculpted olive tree. The second one Krissie shot of the two of us. It came out pretty good. About 4 pm we dropped Krissie off at the airport and then we went home and crashed.

I love the butterfly in the olive tree.

It is still good to spend time with my favorite best friend and the love of my life.

Krissie is gone and we are home relaxing before we begin packing for our Idaho trip tomorrow. We are sure looking forward to getting out of town. We haven't traveled at all this summer which is unheard of for us. Of course, the birthday party continues once we arrive in Boise. I love thee non-stop birthday parties. My body doesn't, but I do.

A walk around the Temple

Usually when JoAnn and I go to a new temple we walk all around it. Usually after we have accomplished our purposes for being at the temple. However, we've been in Las Vegas for almost 3 years and had yet to walk around the temple's exterior. I took care of that on Thursday evening. I had done some initiatories and was taking a break for dinner before I went back for a session.

It seemed like a perfect evening to take a walk around the temple and see what it looked like other than from the front. It was worth the time. The temple sits on a hill just below an east mountain. The front faces a parking lot and I have seen it many times, but as I walked south down the sidewalk I found myself in the trees looking east at the temple. As I looked up the spires.


It didn't hurt that the clouds were uncommonly beautiful. When you live in Las Vegas you become accustom to lots of sunshine and few clouds. This spring has been different and Thursday evening was a perfect time to take some photos. As is becoming more common when I'm just out and don't have my Nikon with me I've got my "Brownie Box Camera" or rather my iPhone.


Just to the east from where I was taking photos was a beautiful fountain.


JoAnn says this photo looking at the easr side of the temple up towards the celestial room is her favorite.


We may live in the desert, but the temple is an oasis, in many ways. These photos helped to prove it is a place where you can experience peace on the outside as well as on the inside.

Reflections on a Family Week

This past week we were fortunate to have one of our Idaho families in town, all 7 of them with the grandchildren ranging in age from 5 months to 11 years. And what a fun time we had, from playing kickball in the garage, to exhausting themselves at what they call the dinosaur playground. The meals were noisy, the nights were short (or long depending on how you define a short night). In the end it was all fun. JoAnn and the girls made caterpillars and she can talk about that in her blog. This I do know, that the girls were so proud of themselves. They worked all week to create those caterpillars. Grandma let them pilfer her extensive fabric collection, she taught them how to make a circle pattern, how to hand sew (she has taught this before) the body and the helped them put it all together. Grandma always has a project for the girls.

Swinging is always at the top of the of fun and it's even better when Dad give you a big shove.

Of course, playground equipment is also at the top of the list along with swings, especially when you get to play by yourself.

And a friendly wave is a great "love ya gramps"!

And all too soon the week is over, the grandchildren and parents are off and back to work and school. We miss them, but we had so much fun that we know the memories are good.