St. George, Utah

Hope you all had as good a weekend as Rose and I did. We drove down to St. George and spent some time with great friends. My friend Gary and I met when we were around 13. He was a little older then but he is a lot older than me now. HA HA. His wife Kathi was the wonderful lady who many years ago introduced Rose and I. We have been married for 36 years and I am deeply in Kathi's debt. I do believe Rose and I knew each other in another life and would have met anyway but I am glad Kathi stepped up. Some relationships were made in heaven and ours was one of those. We had a great kick back kind of weekend.

It was a bummer that as we were driving a rock was kicked up by a big construction truck and it went through the middle seat window on the passenger side. I have never had a window explode like that. We had some old duct tape and repaired it enough to get to town and fix it with cardboard. We called and the contractor said they will repair the window but it will take up my time. I am just thankful that it didn't go through the passenger window and hurt Rose. It was a blessing.

The weather couldn't have been better for this time of year. We watched some old movies and ate some incredible goulash and French toast. There was too much to relay it all but we ate well. We went looking at some great houses. I am sold on style not big. We sold our big house and it is amazing how much it simplified our lives having a home suited more for two. We have visitors for a while but there is still plenty of room.

We dropped in on my Aunt Jo and Uncle Roger. After living all over the West they finally settled in St. George. It is a fact that they didn't settle for their home. It's awesome. It has a view that looks out over a country club but it is so high up the cliff it would really take a shank to put a ball through their window. The great part is the cliff is a right of way they don't have to own but no one can build on. They have this incredible view of Green Valley and the Santa Clara River and the Bluff airport and red rocks of St. George and you can almost see the Toucan Theater. It's no wonder that building is going so wild in this great town. It is beautiful.

I was watching a History Channel show the other day and saw footage of when the Santa Clara River flooded and washed away a bunch of homes. It turns out the place Gary and Kathi have was in that same subdivision. I love the southwest look of all the architecture. Stucco and Red Bar Tile roofs in every imaginable configuration. I love the Palms and the desert landscaping. I love the warm winters and very little snow to shovel. I really love the friendship of the people we have met and enjoyed over the years. It is a very friendly town. Gary was telling me how great the people are and I told him a story I like. It seems there was a shop keeper at the gate of Damascus. He had been there for years and occasionally he would have a traveler ask about the people of Jerusalem. He would always ask how the people were where the traveler came from. Some would say they were horrible and nasty. They were ignorant and mean and he was so happy to be moving somewhere that had different people. The shop keeper would say "You ask how the people are around here and I am sorry to have to say I have found them to be just as rude and nasty as the town you came from. Many times the traveler would stop on his way out of town and tell the shop keeper how right he was about these horrible people. Sometimes the traveler would say that the people where he came from were wonderful and that he had hated so much having to leave his many good friends. The shop keeper would smile and tell the traveler that the people of Jerusalem were every bit as worthy of being called good friends and that he would love them. Very seldom did he ever see them leaving because the people were so great there they would have to stay forever.

My folks had multiple time shares in Green Valley for years. they finally ended up buying a home in Willow Run. Those were some great times. We spent a lot of time with the rest of the family sharing time in their home. It has been five or six years since they sold it. We've really missed it, our times in old St. George. It was so great to be back.

See you tomorrow. Wes