Phoenix – Page 66

Chile Acres on a Goaty Day

February 28, 2010 JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise bottle feeding a baby goat at Chile Acres in Tonopah, Arizona

Nature’s design can prove cruel at times, today was one of those days. Within an hour of this happy photo being taken of Caroline bottle-feeding a cast-off baby goat, something in the formula wasn’t compatible with this poor little kid. It pains me to even write this sad eulogy as the goat being fed was to die shortly after this peaceful moment. Something about the formula caused two of the goats to suffer from rumen bloat that despite Celia’s valiant efforts, caused these barely one-week-old goats to pass on. We buried the two departed goats and Celia said a small silent prayer on their behalf. Fortunately, it was only a couple whose mothers had rejected and the rest of the babies went happily about their day nursing on their momma goats.

After checking out the horses and Priscilla the Pig we moved over to corral the goats in our best effort to move the herd to a nice fresh green pasture. With six of us out trying to convince the goats that they wanted to cross the road, it was of course the babies who ended up giving us the hardest time. We’d run one way, they the other. And while the rest of the herd was busy chomping succulent greens, we frantically chased through the dusty overeaten side of the pasture until each and every little kid was cajoled into performing that old chicken joke, why did the (insert animal of choice) cross the road?

Now in their new home, these little guys vied for who would be alpha baby and stand tall on the highest log. These goats’ sense of play is already well established and they know that a good head butting is the second best thing next to feeding off mom. In between Celia had made lunch for the six of us and we once again joined the Petersens out here at Chile Acres around their dining table for an all too infrequent visit.

My Valentine

February 14, 2010 JWise Photo of the Day

Caroline Wise playing house frau on Valentines Day in Phoenix, Arizona February 2010

Domestic bliss is the wife pretending to be the perfect house frau. What you are witnessing is a once-a-decade event where my wife, Caroline Wise gets into costume to tackle a chore she hasn’t performed during the previous ten years and gives it her all to see if she still has mastery over the mundane, such as ironing clothes. I’m not sure, but I believe this year should have been the “Clean The Toilet” event, come to think of it, I’d bet she hasn’t done that – ever. Oh yeah, Happy Valentines Day.

Ren Fest

February 13, 2010 JWise Photo of the Day

Performer blowing bubbles at the Arizona Renaissance Festival February 2010

Couldn’t make the opening weekend of the Renaissance Festival this year but we were sure to make time the following Saturday. We left early as is usual as once we decide to go we can’t wait to be there. With only a small handful of costumed and adorned visitors already waiting shortly past 8:00 am, we were right up front waiting for the King and Queen to welcome us to a day of medieval merriment before the gates opened at 9:00. After more than a dozen visits to this 12-stage, 30-acre festival we are still always entertained and this Saturday was no different. Strangely enough, this was the first time ever I skipped having the obligatory roasted turkey leg. All of our favorite entertainers were back including Dextre Tripp, Hey Nunnie Nunnie, The Wyldmen, and this year we sat, listened, and laughed out loud to Zilch The Torysteller. New act Barely Balanced was awesome – if we were to need a reason for returning next year for the 23rd annual Arizona Renaissance Festival, Barely Balanced would definitely figure into that equation.

First Day of the Year

January 1, 2010 JWise Photo of the Day

Falooda - an ice cream, custard, boba, agar jelly noodle, and rose syrup milk dessert treat from Little Rangoon restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona

Happy Falooda Day, Happy New Falooda Year, and may all your Faloodas be filled with rose syrup to shine brightly and happily as long as the sun shines pink like a Falooda on a perfect day of Faloodadelic pleasures. Five years ago, I started my blog with a photo of a banana split, and for these past five years, my days have been as perfect as three scoops of ice cream embraced by bananas covered in chocolate, strawberry, and pineapple delight topped with whipped cream and nuts. And so it is that I offer the next five years a Falooda – only two scoops of ice cream, but they are lovingly embraced by scrumptious homemade egg custard with pink agar jelly noodles riding high upon that vanilla ice cream while tapioca pearls float, dance, and sing as they decorate the pink milk stained with the sweet syrup of rose essence. With that kind of total perfection, how can the next five years be anything but Faloodaliciously Faloodatastic and Faloodarrific? Happy, Happy, Happy.

Last Day of the Year

December 31, 2009 JWise Photo of the Day

John Wise holding a package from friends in Berlin, Germany

What a great way to bring an end to 2009 – a giant surprise delivered to us from Berlin, Germany. Taner and Verena, the friends who visited back in October sent us a wonderful box full of delightful gifts. For Caroline, the highlight was a scarf Verena was wearing during her visit that Caroline was admiring. She immediately slung it around her neck, wore it for tonight’s dinner, and just couldn’t be happier – Caroline sends all the gratitude in the world to Verena for her generosity. As for me, the highlight is a stone, a simple small river stone that has been captured in a little soldered steel exoskeleton fashioned into a bird with bright orange and yellow steel tail feathers. The bird is balanced on a stand made to look like bird legs that allows for it to rock back and forth – it now sits on the left of my monitor with a couple of other personal mementos to remind me of a brief but spectacular visit with an old friend and a new friend. The third gift is a beautiful large gecko made of porcelain, painted with a lovely blue pattern.

Happy Birthday Kushbu

December 26, 2009 JWise Photo of the Day

Kushbu, Hemu, and Sonal Patel having a sweet to celebrate Kushbu's birthday at Cheese Cake Factory in Phoenix, Arizona

On the left is Kushbu, today she turned 17, she was only 9 years old when we met her back in 2002. Her sister Hemu is in the middle, she’s visiting from Tucson where she is studying nursing, and is only a year and a half away from finishing that. On the right is our friend Sonal, mom to Hemu and Kushbu. It is the recognition of young people’s life milestones that really gives the appearance of time flying by. While us older people go about our routines the wrinkles may become more pronounced, we might put on some weight, and many of us add some grey, but as children go from grade school to high school to getting drivers licenses and then contemplating college it becomes brutally apparent that some serious amounts of time are passing so we must be getting older. The five of us went out for dinner and afterward went over to the Cheese Cake Factory for some dessert and a good old-fashioned out-of-tune rendition of the birthday song. The only person missing from the picture is Ba, their grandmother, who is in India right now on vacation – I can’t wait for her to return as she is the best cook of Gujarati food, ever. Anyway, we had a great time out with the Patels only wishing this happened more often.