Prior to her cancer treatment, we donated both whole blood and platelets as often as possible and I imagine we will be getting back into the habit as we are now, once again, on the Red Cross blood donor’s list.  My bride is a “universal” donor whose blood can be used by most folks while my less common varietal, a rather sublime concoction of B positive delicately laced with Jameson’s Irish Whiskey, is most commonly put to use after friendly “football” disagreements in any of the several billion Irish Pubs operating in both the civilized world and Australia...

Why we flock to such places belies all reason…

We’re lookin’ a little pale nowadays but still hangin’ in there!  See y’all next time!  Hugs, Chuck and Kalyn

Next time I‘m taking my own pistola!

Not far from Tombstone you can visit the Whitewater Draw bird sanctuary.  Here you can find several hundred assorted varieties of our feathered friends if you are patient and willing to brave the thousands of other “Birders” who are similarly engaged…

I tell ya, this damn man-made global warming is really getting annoying!  If the temperature gets much warmer we’re all gonna freeze to death.

Having learned over the years to adapt, improvise and overcome both weather and situation, we headed off in a more refined direction and spent the evening at the University of Arizona Centennial Hall enjoying their production of “Wicked."   Although this production fell short of the Broadway version in a few areas, the costuming, music and enthusiasm of the players were first rate.  And the really BIG plus for me is that, having seen it, my bride will no longer be dropping hints, subtle and otherwise, that she would “reeeaaalllly” like to see it.  Of course, our friend, Queen Bee, has seen 7 performances and her service dog, Johann, has seen 5 so I don’t know that I’m really out of the woods just yet.

But the real stars of the show, the Sandhill Cranes, are far too numerous to simply blend into the background…

All of the various conveyances are still operating and the OK Corral continues to host a gunfight every afternoon around 2pm, but most of the tourists can be found in the warmer surrounds provided by any of the local saloons, like Big Nose Kate’s, for example…

With all these “goings-on” and so much attention being paid to their daily routine, a few of the local inhabitants simply attempt to “hide in plain sight”…

Though best remembered for the Earps and Clantons and their infamous shootout at the OK Corral, Tombstone was originally founded in 1879 as a silver mining camp by Ed Schieffelin, who set out from Fort Huachuca in search of silver and was told by a friend that the only thing he would find in that desert was his tombstone, thus the name.

Summer days find the town bustling with tourists but during the winter months the place bears a slight resemblance to an old west ghost town…

Here in Tucson, this winter has certainly been one of extremes.  We awake in the morning to temperatures hovering in the teens and by noon we find ourselves in shorts and sandals, sipping a cold Margarita and looking for shade with temperatures climbing into the 70s.   And on the day when 49 of 50 states were experiencing snow, we had to cancel a day of 4-wheeling in the mountains due to high snow and frigid temperatures…

On a sadder note…soon after our arrival back in Tucson, a crazed gunman shot 19 people outside a local Safeway, killing six, including nine year old Christina Green.  Many Tucson groups, including the Red Cross, sponsored blood drives to supplement local hospital supplies.  My bride, now permitted to donate blood after being disallowed during the last 5 years due to her treatment for breast cancer, headed for the Red Cross donation center with whining husband in tow (I reeeaaalllly HATE needles!)…

We decided that we were due for a road trip, so we headed out in the Jeep to “Crazy Annie’s Bordello, Bed & Breakfast and Saloon” in historic Tombstone, “The town too tough to die”…

   Arizona Territory                                                       January 23, 2011