It's been a while.

The new year has come and I have failed to update followers of events in my life. I'm retired - I don't have to. Besides, I spend more time on facebook now.

Some changes large enough to note have occurred and I thought I should at least mention them here. I no longer live in a motorhome. After the first year, I no longer used it the way I thought I would. I haven't traveled outside the corridor required to travel from Thorp to Apache Junction. The incident with the trailer scared me. The cost to repair the motorcycle and trailer, the time spent waiting for the Harley dealer in Durango to do something, took the fun out of it.

I enjoy life here in AJ. The people that call this home during the "season" have become good friends. The number of months I reside here has extended each year. I may even try to endure a summer here soon.

To that end, I purchased what is referred to as a "park model" - a small, one bedroom, single wide manufactured home that is anchored to the desert. They are limited to 400 square feet, so you can imagine how small it is, but it feels huge in comparison to the motorhome. I now have a full queen sized mattress and a recliner. Wow.

You can see that it has a carport and a shed. The shed affords the luxury of a washer and dryer, ending trips to the community laundromat. For now, the trailer sits in the carport and the bike stays locked up inside. A future expansion of the shed will include the installation of a garage door to allow storage of the Harley in the shed and let me park the truck under the shade of the awning. Speaking of trucks, the 98 Ranger was not an adequate tow vehicle for the trailer, so I found a 97 Chevy Silverado for that purpose. It was one of those finds that make me smile. It has been in the same family since new - father and daughter. Every piece of paper generated during maintenance on the truck was included in the purchase - even the original window stickers. It cost just over $24,000 when it was new. The canopy has never been off the truck. Like all cars that have never left Arizona, there is absolutely no rust.

I miss the spot I had in the park along the back fence. I don't get to watch the birds and bunnies, squirrels and coyotes anymore. There is more road noise here at the front of the park, but I think it will work out fine. Besides, my old neighbor Lois says I can buy her park model when she decides to stop coming down here for the season.

I guess I'll never change - I enjoy horse trading too much. I've never kept vehicles for very long, or lived in one place for more than seven years at a time.