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Some months ago we experienced a partial solar eclipse. I told her it wouldn't work, but Barbara pointed her camera at the sun and snapped a photo anyway. It turned out that I was wrong. You can see a hint of a flat spot on the sun itself, and then reflected in the sky (an artifact of the camera lens) a mirror image of the sun clearly showing the arc of the moon.

We also used a pinhole camera (a sheet of paper with a pinhole in it) to project this image. Getting a good photo of this image was a bit of a struggle. I sure miss the split image focus system of my now antique Canon...

Dave Elliott visited, and was stung by a scorpion. That was his first experience, and he hopes it will be his last. This six-inch centipede also showed up, and our humble home was subjected to a substantial amount of squealing before he was finally subdued.

Barbara has been trying to get me to the light show at the Mesa Temple for the last 20 years or so... This year, she enlisted Ameilias help, and the rest, as they say, is history.

We met at a park in Mesa and had a picnic. People came from across the state, and I was surprised that the arrival times were so close.

The main course consisted of pizza, bread sticks, and sodas. This was followed by dessert of mini-eclairs and cream puffs. I enjoyed all of it, especially the cream puffs.

It was fun watching grandkids open presents. It is hard to imagine that I was ever that excited about getting things.

My Grandkids seem to be certain about what they like and dislike, as well as what they want and don't want. I don't know if it is part of a normal progression, but as I age I become less certain about the things I want to have and do. I'm not yet paralyzed by self-doubt, but it might be coming...

Jon is on terminal leave from the Army (his discharge date is sometime in the latter part of February), and he is staying with a friend in Mesa. She is a native of this area, and grew up only a couple of blocks from the park where we ate. Somehow she managed to evade the camera...

Symantha also came, and I was happy to see her. When I read of her quilting adventures, I offered her my closet full of old shirts to use in future quilts. But, upon reflection, I calculated that those articles of clothing were probably more than forty years old, and reasoned that fabric of that vintage had probably deteriorated to the point that it might not even survive the quilt manufacturing process. So, I reneged...

At the temple, the light show was a bit overwhelming. Trying to take it all in and keep track of children who were active, excited, and stimulated by each others presence as a bit more than overwhelming. But (as I learned from being a Scout Master) any trip that ends without a fatality was a good one...

This was those of us that Barbara could find and herd long enough to capture an image. I'm pretty sure there were a couple more, but the "wide angle" function must not have worked. What a motley crew...

Barbara's dishwasher does a horrible job at cleaning dishes. Apparently it overheard me make a disparaging remark to that effect, and decided to clean the floor instead.

I snowed today, and I was able to drive my car to work without sweeping snow or scraping ice. It was a lot of work building that silly carport but, at least in my humble opinion, it was worth it.

This is a tumbler/rock polisher that I made for my mother (at her request) circa thirtyfive years ago. To the best of my knowledge, she never attempted to use it. That was probably a good thing, because I have spent several days, over the past few months, tweaking it in an attempt to make it function. The problem is that the drive roller turns, but the tumbler barrels do not--at least not reliably. My latest attempt involved linking the drive roller to the idler roller using an abbreviated bicycle chain and sprockets salvaged from two old bicycle gear clusters. I have used various methods to cobbled it together and it is presently functional, but to actually do it right, I need a lathe...

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