Time Travel Tuesdays~Winter in Arizona

Superbowl Sunday is coming up! In this house we like the San Francisco 49'rs even though our beloved Steve Young has not played for them in many years. The Master grew up in the bay area and has always rooted for them anyway.

Let us travel back in time to those legendary 1960's. Legendary because the very first Superbowl was played in January of 1967 and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. (The Master swayed in his loyalty a bit during these years and was a Packer fan.)

In the photo below we see an awesome pick up game in the side yard of the little house on the dairy. At center we have the smashing blonde Keeber Loco herself, Gena Ellsworth! Look at her fantastic snapping stance! (Be envious, Blake Ellsworth!) Always a smile for the press! At Right Guard we have the ever cheesey Marianne Ellsworth. A hand on the hip makes any football player cuter, right? At left guard is the Ellsworth sister's niece Jalyn Black, who would rather be a spectator and let the sun bounce off of both her smile and her strawberry blonde-ness! I do not know who the quarter back is, but he seems to be able to complete his duties while holding a camera. Does anyone know who this talented athlete could be?

Now for some nostalgic observations. I know this is a winter photo because the leaves are just beginning to fall. You see a pile of them in front of our line-up and on the ground behind the QB. Winter in Arizona is really like autumn. One day in late December/early January you wake up and all of the leaves on your Mulberry trees have turned brown. Within days they are all over the ground. Children rake them for their parents while sweating in the mild temperatures, then jump in the dry, crunchy piles and watch the leaves disintegrate into crusty crumbles of dust!  I can also tell it is winter in Mesa because we are all wearing long sleeves and shoes. No coats needed!

Now in my grown-up years when outside of my kitchen window looks like this, and the thermometer says 7 degrees, I remember those mild, sunny winters of my childhood and sigh. You Zonies don't know how good you have it! Plus, winter in Arizona means citrus, right in your own back yard! It comes off of the trees fresh, juicy and sweet.

A few weeks ago The Master traveled to Tempe, AZ with the swim team for the BYU vs. ASU swim meet. He tweeted pictures of himself coaching poolside in the open air while we were at -3 degrees here at home. We tried to be tolerant of his enthusiasm. His flight back to Salt Lake landed very late at night and by the time he got home we were all fast asleep. When I woke up in the morning there was a wonderful treat on my nightstand...

 

The Allen family in northeast Mesa hosted the BYU team for dinner the night before. Their oranges were ripe for the picking and they generously let anyone who wanted one grab it right off of the tree. There it was for me, an orange ball of sweet freshness! Nothing tastes more like home to me than an Arizona Sweet!

Thanks Master Dee!

You now me very well!

P.S. I am related to practically everyone in Mesa in some way or another. Turns out the Allens are the cousins of MY cousins, Matt, Cory, Dorne, Keller, Marta, & Beryl Ellsworth. Their Mom, my Aunt Carrie is also Brother Allen's aunt. Small world!