Tuesday, October 11, 2005

I'm Baaaaack!

Old Adobe Mission in Old Scottsdale

an injured saguaro cactusWow, my trip to Arizona absolutely stunned me. My world has been turned upside down. I went there innocently enough. I was tagging along on DH's business trip - a conference at a spa in Scottsdale. I went with images of me lounging in the spa the whole weekend. I was not prepared to fall in love.

I'm the one who hates summer, can't wait for the crisp days of fall and is associated with the term "sweater weather". All these forty years I thought I was a cool weather person. It turns out that it's not the heat that I hate, it's the humidity. I know, it's such a cliché.

The view out the Jeep window on the Desert TourDH and I spent two days walking around Scottsdale, outside for the most part. Several local merchants told us that at 105° it was about 10° hotter than usual for the end of September. On the third day we went for a Wild West Jeep tour of the desert. It was glorious! I loved the feeling of the hot sun on my skin. The littlest breeze felt wonderful. I could BREATH! I was very careful to stay hydrated (much more careful than I am at home.)

The mountains pop out of nowhereApproaching from the air did not impress me. I saw a lot of brown earth. I tend to prefer the lushness of the northeast. Even that changed. As we walked around Scottsdale I grew quite fond of the sparseness of the vegetation. When we went on the desert tour and I learned more about the various plantlife and history of the area I developed a deep respect for the area. Life is really in the details there. I learned that the spikes on the saguaro cactus actually provide about 25% shade for the plant. Who would have thought to figure that out. Having spent my entire life living in the northeast USA, I find it amazing that 25% shade would matter so much!

Silly me forgot to pack my bathing suit (for a trip to a spa!!!) So DH and I spent the better part of our first day there shopping for a new one (a suit in my size is not an easy thing to find.) The people that we dealt with in various stores were so helpful - giving us lots of suggestions, direction and even making phone calls to other shops on our behalf.

The wonderful sculpture in the hotel courtyard Even the art in the hotel made me feel good.

I've got news about my sock pal's socks, my current (new!) knitting project, and one or two finished projects. I'll post about that tomorrow.

6 comments:

Diane said...

It sounds like you had a lovely and relaxing trip. I have never been to that area of the country and would love to see it. I too hate the humid summers we have--I guess the dry heat is better. Maybe it would help my allergies! I like the photo of the sculpture from your hotel, too. Thanks for sharing!

Jan said...

I'm so glad you had a good trip! Glad you are back..can't wait to hear the sock news.

Kimberly said...

Oh that sounds like a fabulous trip. Good to see you're back. I'm from the Northeast US like you, but spent 5 years in Utah studying and also like you, I fell in love with that part of the country.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! Lovely pictures of a truly lovely part of the world. Isn't it fun to discover how entrancing different worlds can be?

Anonymous said...

Oh, I can relate. I went to New Mexico (from PA) for the first time last winter and fell madly in love with the place.

Tipper said...

You haven't posted in awhile; I hope you're okay!