Up, up the long delirious burning blue...

This is my third post regarding Mike and Donna. Words simply cannot express my sorrow. I wish I could have one more moment for a photograph, share some more kind words and laughter, a hug, one more flight, one more motorcycle ride. Maybe one more breakfast together where Donna orders a "little co-pilot", a kids meal where the pancakes come in a fun shape and we all smile. Our new-found friendship was just a tiny blossom yet to fully bloom. When I think of Mike and Donna, I see them walking hand in hand in heaven. Are there helicopters in heaven?

High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air,
Up, up the long delirious burning blue.
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew;
And while with silent uplifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God!

-"High Flight", a poem by John Gillespie Magee Jr.
======
Michael Gauchat

Michael Allen Gauchat, 41, of Peoria, passed away on May 22, 2009. He was born Nov. 12, 1967 in Crestwood, Missouri to parents C. Robert and Carol Gauchat. Mike was a Police Officer with the Peoria Police Department for 19 years. He is preceded in death by his mother, Carol Gauchat. Michael is survived by his daughter, Kristina Gauchat; father, C. Robert Gauchat; and brother, Jeffry Gauchat. A funeral service will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, May 30 at Christ Church of the Valley, 7007 W. Happy Valley Rd., Peoria, with interment to follow at Sunland Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers donations may be made at any Chase bank in honor of Michael Gauchat.

Published in The Arizona Republic on 5/29/2009
======
Donna Cullum

Donna Marie Cullum, at age 45 passed away on May 22, 2009. She is survived by her son, Justin David Cullum, her daughter Nichole Marie Cullum, and her dog Kiley Cullum. She is a wonderful mother and an amazing friend to us kids. She was a daughter, a sister, a niece, a cousin, and a friend. Donna loved being outdoors and flying. She was very independent, strong-willed, and very much in love to a great guy (Mike Gauchat). She will always be missed. There will be a Celebration of Life on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 10:00am at Christ Church of the Valley, 7007 W. Happy Valley Rd. Peoria. In lieu of flowers; donations can be made to Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, where an account is being established in her honor. Arrangements entrusted to Heritage Funeral Chapel.

Published in The Arizona Republic from 5/28 to 5/29/2009

My Dad's New Friend

My dad photographed this collared lizard recently while hiking. They are beautiful lizards.

Helicopter N147MD, Our Love and Prayers For The Families of Mike and Donna

We received public confirmation today, our friends Mike Gauchat and Donna Cullum passed away in a helicopter accident Friday May 22, 2009. We are deeply saddened by this loss.

We last saw Mike and Donna on a full moon night ride to Lake Pleasant on Friday May 8th.

Our newly-found friendship with Mike and Donna was brief, drawn together by a love of Alaska, flying, helicopters, Harley's and more. We will truly miss them.

Mike and Donna, in flight.


Donna


Mike

Something of Heaven

He reminded us
of a truth too oft’ forgotten
faith can afford, offers
a glimpse, a foreshadowing
a foretaste

Something of heaven
can be here with us
out of the dialogue
the hearing of the message
the voice of God
a relationship, a way of life
emboldening us, lifting us
within the realities of earth;
something of heaven here

by Raymond A. Foss

It's Good To Be Loved

I've known my friend Jan for 21 years. She holds the number one place for the longest running friendship I have ever shared. We have a few things in common, like our October birthdays. This Fall she will turn 70 years old and she looks just as good now as she did when I met her 21 years ago. She has fantastic patience for needlepoint and sewing. She is a great cook and baker... she makes delicious breads, pies and pasta. Aside from my mom, Jan is the most amazing woman I have ever known.

From the goodness of her heart, she made a quilt for me. When she asked me about colors, I suggested "earth tones", and let her pick the colors. She is a bit of a perfectionist, so I knew that anything she created would be perfect. I picked up my quilt today and when we opened it up I had tears in my eyes.

Jan doesn't like to have her picture taken, but I got away with a few photos today. I am so grateful for this quilt, words cannot express how much.

Thank you Jan, I love you.

Memorial Day Hike at Lake Pleasant

First stop: the Agua Fria river for a nearby geocache.


Next stop: Lake Pleasant
Little green things in the water :o)


See the turtle?


Cattails galore :o) I like cattails.


Eek! Spider! (Just kidding).


Same spider after I touched it. Some people's children.


The stream and the cattails.


Holey.


Curly leaf.


Same curly leaf with a skeeter.


Baby versions of the curly leaf. I think these are giant weeds growing along side my favored cattails.


More cattails.


Lucky shot, butterfly.


This is for John.


I leaned my arm on a tree branch to steady my camera to get these spider shots. As I did that, another spider crawled on my arm. I took my pictures and the spider walked off my arm. While the spider was on my arm I had a mental picture of watching myself jump up and down, shrieking like a manic because a spider was touching me, but everything turned out ok. I don't even think my hiking buddy knew I was on the verge of an "insect is touching me meltdown".


Lake Pleasant hiking scenery, this is why I come here.


I *heart* you

Memorial Day

Hot Temperatures. Wet Dog = Happy Dog

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth...Put out my hand and touched the face of God...

"2 killed in helicopter crash near Black Canyon City.
The small, experimental aircraft crashed about 1:30 p.m. Friday. The victims' names were not immediately available."

We may have lost newly-found friends today. Please pray for the friends and families of the pilot and passenger of the helicopter.

High Flight

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings.
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hovering there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air,
Up, up the long delirious burning blue.
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew;
And while with silent uplifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God!

-"High Flight", a poem by John Gillespie Magee Jr.

Shepherds, Border Collies and Cows - OH MY!

The cow whisperer using reverse psychology on the bovine.


Say Hi to P-Dog. This is P-Dog's mean face. P-Dog needs to learn some manners.


P-Dog can make a nice face too.


P-Dog.


P-Dog and Cierra playing fence tag.


This is D-Dog.
P-Dog and D-Dog are both rescue Shepherds.
PJ and the rescue coordinator are working on the details to see if one of them will come stay with us for some dog training from the cow whisperer.


PJ and a Border Collie. The Border Collie's were there for agility practice.


Cierra at rest while the Border Collie's did their work.

Well, that's not really whats happening here. She's really in a "platz" position, on the other side of the field, for 30 minutes, like a long term, far away, down-stay, I don't know what they call that in German, but she's doing a good job.


Cierra playing in the agility course.


Cierra had no problems trying out these new things.


A tunnel, a fun thing.


Lots of things to sniff, sniff, sniff out here.


"Ohhhhhh, what's thaaaaaatttt?"


"Mom, it said 'moo!'"


"Look Mom, it's a friendly!"

My Dragonfly Cache Is In The News!

I'm so excited!

Mr. Bosseh-Pants and I placed a cache at one of my favorite hiking spots in Cave Creek, along the Dragonfly Trail, we named the cache "Dragonfly".

Or, maybe I named it Dragonfly because I'm simple-minded like that.

I've copied Mr. Burke's news article below, I hope the copyright police don't come knocking.

If you're in to geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com and search for GC1Q0T5.

Geocaching, an affordable adventure for Valley families

Reported by: Kyle Burke
Email: kburke@abc15.com
Last Update: 5/16 7:14 pm

If you're looking for something the whole family can enjoy, then here's one you maybe haven't heard of.

It's called geocaching and basically it's a treasure hunt.

Geocaching has been around since 2000, when an Oregon man came up with the idea.

The first one in Arizona came later that same year.

Geocaching is where someone takes a “treasure” and places it somewhere out in the world. They will then put the coordinates of where it is hidden onto a geocaching website.

Then anyone can go and look for it.

The websites are free to anyone who is interested.

You will need a GPS receiver, which can run anywhere from $100 to $600 or so.

After that, all you need is gas money and a sense of adventure.

Log onto a geocaching website, find a cache that you want to search for, enter the coordinates into your GPS receiver, and you’re off.

The cache can be hidden anywhere, from the wilderness areas, to the middle of downtown, even underwater.

The “treasure” is usually something kid-friendly, such as a matchbox car, a deck of cards, or maybe a state quarter.

“The basic rules for geocaching are sign the log, if you take something, leave something of relatively comparable value, so that the cache doesn’t die or go away, and there’s something there for the next person to find,” said Bob Renner, a geocaching enthusiast.

Renner has been geocaching since 2000. In fact he is the person who found the very first one hidden here in Arizona.

“To me, the treasure is not so much what’s in the box, it’s where the box is,” said Renner.

There are several geocaching sites on the internet for you to go to, in order to find out more information and history about geocaching, such as geocaching.com or navicache.com.

Copyright 2009 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

^ We'll just pretend I didn't see that last sentence :o)

(Hit the pause button on the MUSIC, on the right --> Then enjoy the video).

TV Repair Shepherd

"Howdy Ma'am, I'm here to fix your TV."
With her pink ball and her nylabone, she can fix anything.


"Here is the offender, the widget has come loose from the gadget, causing your discombobulation."


"Otherwise, it looks good inside."


"All fixed, ma'am."