More happenings at Esperantza Estates Feb 12-15

Valentine's Day Dessert Social
The Association hosted a dessert night at the Ramada ( lovely outdoor covered meeting area with cushioned metal lawn chairs and tables, swimming pool off to the side.)  Of course, I made jello hearts, palm trees and cacti.  I attached a sign in case people could not figure out what they were.  We had a great time, met a couple from Green Bay, WI, shared the jello recipe, and got a few more tips on favorite Mexican restaurants and golf courses.  Now we have 2 bags of jello scraps and no grandchildren to eat them up. We'll just have to suffer through.

About 2pm everyday, a very strong gust of wind kicks up and rattles the palm tree fonds in the neighborhood.  I tease that it is our part of the Pineapple Express sinking down from California. ( that is the weather front from Hawaii that brings rain to California.)  We usually have a nice breeze that makes sitting outside very comfortable.  We rotate around the patio to find the sunny and shaded spots.

We've had some wonderful reading days here( lest you think we are hard at work hiking all over Arizona).  I've finished Maeve Binchey's last novel, "A Week in Winter." which was a complete joy to appreciate how she weaves diverse character studies into the plot.  I also finished up "A Winter Garden," by Kristin Hannah which dealt with a Russian refugee's buried memories of WWII.  We found the next to latest mystery from Louise Penny, "How the Light Gets In." That one kept Jim reading non stop to see how it turned out.  The local library also had the latest Masie Dobbs mystery by Jacqueline Winspear, "Leaving Everything Most Loved."  I try to keep up with Winspear and  Penny, but I was behind.  This is my time to catch up.
The EE book club will meet this Thursday.  I managed to finish "Devil's Highway,"  Luis Urrea  and "The Death of Jossilene, Immigration Tales, buy Margaret Regan in time.  We Midwesterners hear about the Border wall and the attempts to prevent illegal crossing.  These 2 books detail the horror of failed attempts, our governments misguided solutions which trashed the environment, and funneled illegal crossings into the worst parts of the desert.  Drug trafficking aside,(they deserve the severe military approach) the dishonest guides who abandon desperately poor people in the desert have resulted in many volunteers who place gallon jugs of water on the trails and assist in rescues.    It will be interesting to hear what the EE residents have to say about this.  A local opinion may defend the current approach.  It will be a very interesting discussion.  I plan to begin ordering Free trade Coffee ( Cafe Justo) which was set up to keep Mexican coffee growers on their own land giving them a market to sell coffee online.  That means they can make a living without trying to cross over the border; an example of solving the problem of finding work to support a family.    

Santa Rita Mountains at sunset.

Wish this picture could show the beautiful shades of rose pink and dusty purple that happen at sunset.  You'll all just have to come and see for yourselves.