Days of Long Ago, Never the Same

In October we decided to go back to San Manuel, AZ where we spent the years 2-12 of our marriage.  Curtis worked for Magma Copper back then. That was his first job out of the University. We had four children that were born (in Tucson hospital) and we had lots of memories from that era. The town is nearly a ghost town of the days of long ago!



This was our very first house in San Manuel. We moved in here expecting our first child. It was a quaint two bedroom, 1 bathroom, kitchen and living room.  It had a large olive tree in the front yard. A carport for one car to park (but you can see they have closed it up and made it part of the house now.)  It doesn't look grand like it did when we took care of the yard!!

This was house number two. When our 2nd child came along, we were able to move into a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room, with a huge backyard. We had room in this home to have a very large garden that we canned from every year.  We had a fabulous apricot tree out back. When we lived here the house was painted a light green with white trim. A carport for one car - they apparently have extended it to be part of the living room. We even wired this house with ceiling fans and for a dryer in the shed. We had children 3 and 4 here. This is the house where our oldest son found a rattlesnake sunning on the patio. He stepped over it and realized what he did! Curtis came to rescue and killed it with a shovel. We had all kinds of impromtu parties at this house. Kids started piano, ballet, cub scouts, and Sandi even took Belly Dance lessons.

 This was our last home in San Manuel. It was all brick and NOT painted like it is here. It was a four bedroom, two bathroom, laundry room (novel idea!), formal dining room, kitchen, and living room. This was a two car carport and wooden fenced back yard. There was one day a wind funnel (not quite a tornado - but close) that ripped the entire fence down! What a shock to have to rebuild it. Here we actually had room for all 4 children to grow. We weren't here very long when the townsite decided to sell these fabulous rentals at Tucson prices! Where did we go, Tucson of course! For a more modern home at reasonable prices. But what terrific memories we have of our dear friends and our activities there. We also grew very close to our saviour in those beginning years of marriage, family and finding out who we were. Fun to remember, but one really can never go back, just isn't the same.



St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery visit



DeLoris & Verne Fischer



Last October we took a couple of days and went to spend time with some friends. We met Verne and DeLoris Fischer (of San Manuel, AZ) at St. Anthony's Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, AZ. This place was very interesting. There are no real guided tours unless you have 10 or more people. Females have to wear long skirts, long sleeves, scarves on their heads, and socks. No bare anything showing. There were no rules for men. They actually had skirts there with elastic waistebands to put on over your pants. Because if you wore a dress, it had to come to your ankles and regular nylons they could see through! So the pictures are of us ready for the sightseeing.



This is an entrance to the monastery. They also have a little gift shop where you can try their baked goods, buy books, religious items, etc.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

These two emblems are the Star of Melchezidek. We were surprised to see them in the flooring and decor.



This a sample of the grounds. They were absolutely beautiful, quiet, serene, reverent. We enjoyed this very much. They had several gardens for meditating. Very well done.

Curtis and Sandi



Here is one of the many buildings we saw at the monastery. You could go inside the all the buildings that were not dormitories or private living areas for the monks.  It was fun to go and see this place. Everything was purchased in Greece and then brought to the desert of Arizona and installed or built.