Living in Portal Arizona is a dream come true for Bud and me.  In all my adult life I have never developed such a close relationship with so many people in the community where I lived. The closest I got was when I volunteered at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and felt like part of a family with the other volunteers I worked with, both as a Docent and as a Raptor Free Flight volunteer.  

The Portal/Rodeo community is made up of people I proudly count as true friends from many different circles and backgrounds. Though we don't agree on some topics, we do love and respect this beautiful community and the mountains.  

The Chiricahua/Peloncillo historical society sponsors field trips each month to learn the history of ranches and mines in the area.

On Labor day a group of co-workers got together for a picnic and swim at the Grills ranch.  They have a nice new beautiful pond to swim in.  It was great!
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There are lots of community activities that bring us together in different venues.   We had a 99th birthday party for Bob Addison in September.  His 100th birthday party is already being planned!

Portal Irish Week is an Irish music workshop held in downtown Portal each year and the instructors treat the community to a concert on the Saturday afternoon.  Susan and Burt, the Gypsy Carpenters, are the organizers.  

Oktoberfest is a fund raising event for our Portal Rescue EMTs and Firefighters. The Banjo Blasters came to Portal and played a benefit concert for the Sew What? Club's Scholarship Fund after the Oktoberfest activities.  

At Christmas I once again taught a wreath making class at the library and next Christmas we may have to move it from the library to the Portal Rescue Classroom so everyone has room to work on their projects.  

Of course birding is a big thing here and even those who aren't birders are interested in new or unusual sightings. This winter there has been a Streak-backed Oriole in the Rodrigues yard since November and apparently will be here until Spring.  Beautiful bird from Mexico.  We've seen Sandhill Cranes and a few Snow Geese and wintering owls in the Cienega north of Portal.  

This year was the first time we attended the community Christmas Dinner in the Rodeo Community Center.  A great dinner provided by local business owners and served by volunteers. Christmas Caroling followed afterward.  It was really nice. 

Our population increases in the winter and on Fridays a couple times a month we have forums hosted by the Sew What? woman's organization.  The speakers range from scientists talking about their studies to travelogues of adventures around the world, to authors talking about their books.  Always interesting.  Snacks served afterward are provided by local ladies and donations benefit the Scholarship Fund.

We've been burning up firewood in our woodstove instead of using our furnace and this week, the temperatures have reached the high 60s during the day, and above freezing overnight.  Spring is coming!

I'm sure we'll have another cold spell before winter is over, but the longer days are sure nice!

It's February 4, 2017 and we have been enjoying our Portal Community, but not spending much time blogging about it.  We had a warm fall and early winter and now in February it's beginning to feel like spring after some really cold nights and days in January.

I'm working 3 days a week now in the Portal Clinic and still go to the Circuit Writers Group on Wednesdays.  My book was rejected from Simon and Schuster, but I've submitted it to an educational publisher in hopes that they will see the value in my natural history of Harris' Hawks.

​We go to Tucson once a month to see the grandkids.  Greg just turned 3 and Wesley is 5.  They are sweet little boys and growing too quickly, but we have fun when they visit us or we visit them.  We aren't playing with the Banjo Blasters too often since I'm working 3 days a week now, but we have a couple of good gigs in April that we'll be going to Tucson for.  When we do play with the Blasters we have lots of fun, but it's a long way to go for an hour of fun. :)

We've had some good snowfall in the mountains and rain in the valleys, so it may be a good spring for wildflowers.  The creek has been running since new years and the last two weeks were rather cold, so the snow is remaining on the mountains.

We bought a 2017 Jeep Wrangler in December and have designated Mondays as Jeep Day.  We've been exploring many of the dirt roads in the Peloncillos and Chiricahua Mountains.  Seeing wildlife and old mining and historic sites.  Southeast Arizona and the boot heel of New Mexico are rich in history and we're enjoying learning about the early settlers, Indian wars and mining booms and busts.  Seems that nothing has really changed much when you look at history.  Mining is not sustainable and the damage to the natural environment seems rather costly for the amount of ore that is produced.  Don't worry, I'm not going to get on my soapbox.  I'm working through phone calls and letters to make my voice heard, but will not talk politics otherwise.

I hope that this year is good for everyone and that our beautiful blue skies and clear water can survive the overhauls of the organizations that protect them.

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