(NOTE: View a larger picture by clicking on the photo(s) above.)
This is it, the final week in Gila Bend. All in all, I can say that it has been a good time, or perhaps I should say, good rest. We have done very little but relax, which included a lot or reading and walking for exercise. We started out our time here walking three miles a day, two rounds in the morning and one in the evening. Now we are doing four rounds. By rounds I mean times around the perimeter of the RV Park, which comprises 42 acres. In actuality, as measured by our truck, each round is 1.125 miles. This makes our three rounds equal 3.375 miles and four rounds equal 4.5 miles. We calculate that we have walked around 400 miles since we stopped for the Winter. I don’t know where that would have taken us in a straight line, but it would have been a “fer piece.”
There is nothing unusual in my reading. Everyone who knows me knows that I seldom sit down without a book in my hand, if I’m not on the computer or otherwise engaged. Since the beginning of January, I have read 25 books. Carolyn has read something like 18 books. I am a mystery reader and partial to James Patterson, among others. Carolyn has read a lot of Nicholas Sparks novels during this time.
This week, we decided that it was time to really clean our RV in preparation for our upcoming trip. We worked on the inside, getting rid of all the dust, and perhaps sand, that had accumulated during our stay in the desert. Then, it was time to tackle the outside. So yesterday was the day. The park has an area especially for washing one’s RV which is equipped with hose, brush, etc., but we were not interested in unhooking, moving and re-hooking the RV just for the wash. Instead, we did the “bucket and rag” routine on the ladder. It took us some four hours to complete the job, but now it shines like a jewel….well, almost. Anyway, it is much cleaner.
We were talking last night, that is Carolyn and I, about our time here as relaxing. The question came up as to what the word “relax” meant. Being the reader that I am, and word connoisseur, I was ready with the answer. The word “lax” comes from the Latin “laxus” meaning loose. The prefix “re,” of course, means “again” or to “go back.” So, we are getting loose. The word is also related to “slack” and “slacks” a type of pants. It is also the base of the word “laxative.” I’m sure you can figure that out.
Language is a funny thing, and you sure can get messed up with it. As many of you know, we spent a year in Costa Rica doing our best to learn the Spanish language. The teachers at the school refused to use English in the learning experience, so we were forced to get it or else. The classes were eight hours a day, five days a week, for twelve months. We tried to learn all the local idioms (called “modismos” in Spanish) so that we would not sound so much like a dictionary when we spoke.
One such expression in Costa Rica was, “El tiene mucha pipa“. “Pipa” is either a pipe one smokes or a green coconut. Literally translated it means “He has much pipe, or green coconut.” Which makes no sense at all. The expression meant, “he is very intelligent.” That is the way it is in most every language. We say, “It’s not my cup of tea,” which has nothing to do with cups or tea, but we know what it means.
I tried to learn all these little expressions to make the language flow and not seem so much a foreigner or tourist. The trouble was, we moved on from Costa Rica to Ecuador, South America. The occasion arose in conversation when the expression, “El tiene mucha pipa” seemed appropriate, so I used it. That is when I received a lot of strange looks on the faces of those to whom I was speaking. Astute as I am, I perceived that something was wrong. I asked, “Don’t you use that expression here?”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t it mean that he is very intelligent?”
“Noooo,” I was told. “It means, ‘He has a big gut.’” So much for trying to appear “with it.”
I have spent a good part of my life studying language and particularly words and their meaning. There are some very interesting websites that have to do with word and phrase meaning that I think any of you reading this would find interesting. One special website is called The Word Detective, written by Evan Morris, who writes a newspaper column of the same name, read throughout the U.S., Mexico and Japan. Since 1995 he has been putting his column on the internet, a new one every month. You will find Evan Morris’ column here: http://word-detective.com. Give it a look. You will find Evan to be a very humorous writer.
I am still working on the project to install a second satellite-dish receiver in the bedroom. I am almost there. I have figured out how I am now going to do it. That is, how to run the cable into the RV, which is going to involve drilling holes and installing connectors. I have the parts, but not the screws to attach the outside connector. This means that I will have to make a trip to the local hardware store today and get on with the job. I have put it off too long, so I must get to it.
The picture above is the last you will see of yours truly in the desert of Arizona, at least for a time. I have included the “after” picture on the truck tire fire which I showed you last week.
So, that is it for now. We will be leaving next Friday for points North, West and East. We don’t know what the internet availability will be on the road, but we will try to keep you updated as best we can.
There is nothing unusual in my reading. Everyone who knows me knows that I seldom sit down without a book in my hand, if I’m not on the computer or otherwise engaged. Since the beginning of January, I have read 25 books. Carolyn has read something like 18 books. I am a mystery reader and partial to James Patterson, among others. Carolyn has read a lot of Nicholas Sparks novels during this time.
This week, we decided that it was time to really clean our RV in preparation for our upcoming trip. We worked on the inside, getting rid of all the dust, and perhaps sand, that had accumulated during our stay in the desert. Then, it was time to tackle the outside. So yesterday was the day. The park has an area especially for washing one’s RV which is equipped with hose, brush, etc., but we were not interested in unhooking, moving and re-hooking the RV just for the wash. Instead, we did the “bucket and rag” routine on the ladder. It took us some four hours to complete the job, but now it shines like a jewel….well, almost. Anyway, it is much cleaner.
We were talking last night, that is Carolyn and I, about our time here as relaxing. The question came up as to what the word “relax” meant. Being the reader that I am, and word connoisseur, I was ready with the answer. The word “lax” comes from the Latin “laxus” meaning loose. The prefix “re,” of course, means “again” or to “go back.” So, we are getting loose. The word is also related to “slack” and “slacks” a type of pants. It is also the base of the word “laxative.” I’m sure you can figure that out.
Language is a funny thing, and you sure can get messed up with it. As many of you know, we spent a year in Costa Rica doing our best to learn the Spanish language. The teachers at the school refused to use English in the learning experience, so we were forced to get it or else. The classes were eight hours a day, five days a week, for twelve months. We tried to learn all the local idioms (called “modismos” in Spanish) so that we would not sound so much like a dictionary when we spoke.
One such expression in Costa Rica was, “El tiene mucha pipa“. “Pipa” is either a pipe one smokes or a green coconut. Literally translated it means “He has much pipe, or green coconut.” Which makes no sense at all. The expression meant, “he is very intelligent.” That is the way it is in most every language. We say, “It’s not my cup of tea,” which has nothing to do with cups or tea, but we know what it means.
I tried to learn all these little expressions to make the language flow and not seem so much a foreigner or tourist. The trouble was, we moved on from Costa Rica to Ecuador, South America. The occasion arose in conversation when the expression, “El tiene mucha pipa” seemed appropriate, so I used it. That is when I received a lot of strange looks on the faces of those to whom I was speaking. Astute as I am, I perceived that something was wrong. I asked, “Don’t you use that expression here?”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t it mean that he is very intelligent?”
“Noooo,” I was told. “It means, ‘He has a big gut.’” So much for trying to appear “with it.”
I have spent a good part of my life studying language and particularly words and their meaning. There are some very interesting websites that have to do with word and phrase meaning that I think any of you reading this would find interesting. One special website is called The Word Detective, written by Evan Morris, who writes a newspaper column of the same name, read throughout the U.S., Mexico and Japan. Since 1995 he has been putting his column on the internet, a new one every month. You will find Evan Morris’ column here: http://word-detective.com. Give it a look. You will find Evan to be a very humorous writer.
I am still working on the project to install a second satellite-dish receiver in the bedroom. I am almost there. I have figured out how I am now going to do it. That is, how to run the cable into the RV, which is going to involve drilling holes and installing connectors. I have the parts, but not the screws to attach the outside connector. This means that I will have to make a trip to the local hardware store today and get on with the job. I have put it off too long, so I must get to it.
The picture above is the last you will see of yours truly in the desert of Arizona, at least for a time. I have included the “after” picture on the truck tire fire which I showed you last week.
So, that is it for now. We will be leaving next Friday for points North, West and East. We don’t know what the internet availability will be on the road, but we will try to keep you updated as best we can.
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