Saturday, August 31, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Whoa! It's Christmas in the Valley
We did a little shopping at the At Home Store today and found this! I believe that's the earliest I've seen Christmas decorations. Four months before Christmas day!!!!
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
Angel's Landing - My Most Impressive Hike
Zoom in on this picture to see the trail heading to the top. Wow! I guess I was too busy holding on to appreciate the horror! Great view from the top!
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Friday, August 23, 2019
Recycling News for The Valley
From this morning's newspaper.
We can’t afford to kick can on recycling
The recent decision to suspend trash recycling in Surprise is unfortunate and part of a growing trend across the country and Arizona.
For now, Surprise is putting recyclables in its landfill. It is hoping to find a solution and asking residents to continue to separate their trash so that when a solution is found people will still be in the habit of recycling.
This is not an isolated incident. It’s a growing crisis.
The market for recyclables has been upended since China announced it would no longer be accepting most recyclables from the United States.
That’s not just unfortunate. It has created a recycling crisis as a number of cities across the country and in Arizona are scaling back or suspending recycling programs.
This year, recycling has been reduced in some way in cities all over Arizona. Flagstaff no longer accepts certain types of plastics. Sedona Recycles has closed drop-off sites in neighboring communities. Sierra Vista has ended curbside recycling. Nogales is sending most recyclables to the landfill.
Cities and towns across America are also walking back recycling programs. At one point, Philadelphia was incinerating recyclables until public outcry forced them to stop.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Other cities such as Tucson and Chandler have managed to avoid this crisis. Phoenix is looking at options.
Hopefully, other cities bear in mind that the public wants recycling. The goal should be to deal with this problem the right way.
As president of Keep Phoenix Beautiful, one of our many goals is to keep recyclables out of landfills.
Cities across the state need to secure resources and infrastructure to makerecycling possible now and years from now.
Simply put, the best way to protect recycling in Arizona is to make sure cities and towns have reliable supply chains to transport and process paper, plastics, food cans and glass. If we cannot ship the recyclables abroad, we must find local solutions on reuse.
This is not only the responsible thing to do, it is also popular. A recent survey found that 86% of Phoenix voters regularly recycle; 87% feel it is the responsibility of the city to provide
a recycling program; 77% have a favorable view of the recycling program.
Kicking this can down the road is not the answer.
Phoenix and the larger metro area have been recycling for a very long time, and now is not the time to go backward.
We, as citizens and consumers, need to do our part to recycle right by putting the correct things in our curbside bins, which makes the whole process more successful. There is more information on our website, keepphxbeautiful.org.
For those hard-to-recycle items like electronics, clothing, batteries and even golf clubs, Keep Phoenix Beautiful will be starting our new season of “I Recycle Phoenix” event on Oct. 26 at Desert Ridge Shopping Center. This is a free service we provide; no water bill is necessary and you don’t have to be a Phoenix resident.
There have been trends in recycling for years. Keep Phoenix Beautiful will do our part by educating thousands of kids as well as adults every year about recycling and providing recycling services at many of our special events in the Valley of the Sun.
Let’s just keep moving in a positive direction!
Tom Waldeck is president of Keep Phoenix Beautiful, which educates youth on recycling and provides recycling support for large (and small) events like the Rock ’N’ Roll Marathon, Phoenix 10K, Pride Run and many Local First events. Reach him at tom@keepphxbeautiful.org; or on Twitter, @Tom_KPBAZ.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Birds and Shed
Throughout the summer we find small triangles of styrofoam after wind storms. These are foam cutouts placed between the walls of a shed and the roof to keep birds out of the shed. I'm guessing the inside of a shed is the PERFECT place to build a nest. During Ti-Build's reconstruction (destruction?) of our park model, these same triangles of foam were placed under our shed roof as well. The builders promised these pieces of foam would remain in place no matter the wind, because they "know how to install them with glue". After the first heavy breeze, we found some around our shed. We knew they couldn't be ours since the builder promised they would be glued in place! Would you be surprised to know they were from our shed because they did not install them as promised? We've seen them throughout the park. Since they are so lightweight, it's impossible to know from whence they came. We think we have solved the problem at our place. Maybe you could use this technique if you discover you have the same problem.
This morning we placed the last side of our shed with what you see below. It's a roll of wire mesh that can be trimmed to size - it should be noted that for some reason, what we cut out as a pattern could not be use for each opening! The sizes vary - at lease in our case. So after some trimming for each piece, we came up with the solution. After all the pieces were stapled in place, we placed "trim" over the rough edges. We hope that a good coat of paint will cause the screen to disappear. Stay tuned.
This morning we placed the last side of our shed with what you see below. It's a roll of wire mesh that can be trimmed to size - it should be noted that for some reason, what we cut out as a pattern could not be use for each opening! The sizes vary - at lease in our case. So after some trimming for each piece, we came up with the solution. After all the pieces were stapled in place, we placed "trim" over the rough edges. We hope that a good coat of paint will cause the screen to disappear. Stay tuned.
Friday, August 16, 2019
Wednesday, August 14, 2019
Tuesday, August 13, 2019
Monday, August 12, 2019
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Edge of Stability
I've posted this in the past, but it's so beautiful it's worth seeing again. Link to it here - https://tinyurl.com/y32dh2c8
Another Thing about Dry Heat
This article was referenced in this morning's Morning Brew. Use this link to read a different perspective on Climate Change. Read the entire article for maximum value.
From the article -
From the article -
Saturday, August 10, 2019
The Mess has Started - Trimming of the Palms
This should be a holiday - the Trimming of the Palms. Once finished, we'll be able to clean up with little fear of the futility of it all. It's too bad that many of you don't get to experience this event!
Monday, August 5, 2019
Saturday, August 3, 2019
Great Pix on the Res
Found this on reddit yesterday. The monsoon is gearing up on the Navajo reservation.
Friday, August 2, 2019
Welcome to the new blog. Comments about content are always welcome.
Some pictures of what I guess is the new dog park at the SE corner of the Park.
Here's what the "old" dog park looks like today.
A new installation on Oregon Trail.
Here's what the "old" dog park looks like today.
A new installation on Oregon Trail.
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