Summer Morning in Phoenix

I've forgotten how much I like the early mornings in our pool. Last summer slipped away as I was in Napa, and I didn't even inflate my easy chair.

At 5:30, the back yard is still shaded as the sun is low behind my neighbor's property. They have lovely palm trees just beyond the fence. Bird condos. I can see them hopping in their hallways, noisily awakening their spouses, and kids, chirping, " If you have work to do, get going. It will be a hot day!"

I set up the sprinkler to take care of the small plots of grass, get the Sunday paper, my sun hat, and reading glasses and shoved off. I feel like a light weight. Just use one foot to paddle away from the pool cleaner hose. It's all shade and very, very peaceful. Bill is still sleeping.

When Bill wakes up, he gets in the pool, too. Larry, our cat, comes along. He is such a good cat, he is almost a dog. I entice him to within arm's reach. He lays on the cool deck and revels in being scratched by mom and dad with wet hands. Crazy cat!

The lawn is all watered and I have nothing that must be done just now. I think how I can do this any day, every day, if I please. Monday is the same as Sunday. Whoa!

Soon I have finished the front page and I'm getting a little chilly. Bill stays in awhile, I move a padded chaise to a shady spot as the sun is rising and starting to spread rays. Who knows how much time passes, who cares. Not us. Finally Bill gets out and heads for the house.

He needs a hair cut, and I offer. Got him all trimmed up, and he doesn't even have to tip me.

Then it's off to First Watch for breakfast. I eat a wheat germ pancake and bacon. Lots of syrup. I'm slowly but deliciously killing myself.

I realize I must be driven to the store as my car is in the repair shop. Getting out on the black asphalt l am aware it is very hot and will get much hotter.

And so it goes...


Have you noticed when you travel out of state and people learn you are from Phoenix, they wonder where you tan is. I avoid the desert sun, but I must tell you, I had a truck driver tan after being in California last summer. Good, good.

At my age there aren't that many firsts

Yes, I am pretty sure this is the first time I watched the Presidential Inauguration and speech all the way through. I am also pretty sure watching the Cardinals and Eagles game all the way through was a first. Both were touching but not enough to make me start trusting politicians or football players.

My husband

Special Hi to Bill.

The phone rang at 5 this morning

I am lost at Nona's house and a weird thing is happening with Clem, then AWAKE. Neighbor Joyce is ready to walk. I stagger out of bed, she's fast and can be at my door in moments. Sweat pants, sweat shirt, neck scarf, fleece hat, gloves, that should do it. She rings the bell as I am zipping up. We step off the curb in the still, cold Arizona air. Wonder what it's like to take a walk in the winter in Alaska, I say, we look at each other, all bundled up, and chuckle. It's 27 below in Montreal, or some such northy place, she say. They would be walking here in tank tops and shorts. I am pulling on my gloves.

I just checked the local temperature on the PC. It's 52 folks.

Ode to Rik and other junk thoughts I wrote this weeks ago and forgot to post

Rik at work said I need to make a new BLOG entry, maybe he's right. I don't find as much inspiring in Phoenix as I did in Napa.

Since returning, I have figured out a great deal about my life and home. I have learned that clutter makes me shut down and probably does make my butt bigger. (There is a book about that Rik, in case you haven't heard.) I have trouble sewing as much as I love to because there is too much stuff in the room where I sew.

About Rik, he does not have a noticably big butt, I'm not implying that he does. He has a wicked sense of humor. Once during a office reconfiguration they moved me into a temporary work space. Rik was my neighbor. He had me in stitches. Everyday was like Saturday Nite Live. He also comes by once in awhile an makes hoochy momma eyes at me. Rik, I don't believe you for a minute!



Another thing about life in Phoenix vs Napa. The heat is oppressive, depressive and awful in Phoenix. Mornings in Napa were cool, refreshing, and promising. Mornings here until mid October are hot, damn hot! Now it's cooled off some, the days are short and the holidays are almost here. Summer in Napa was like my fantasy summer, opening up the windows and doors and letting the breeze blow through the house. It was intoxicating.



Okay, I will give this to Phoenix. I was relaxing and crocheting in my recliner by an open window last week-end. I called Carolyn in Wyoming and said (after several months' silence) what'cha doing? She says sitting here watchin in snow. Ouch!



I must also admit that I missed people at work. Sitting alone at the computer is handy to the bathroom, toaster, and printer, but it is a bit lonely. It took me a week or so after returning to a normal schedule to get talked out. Maybe that's why I don't have the same urge to Blog. Hum.



I think by the time I figure out what I need to know about myself I'll be too old to remember what to do with the information.



Very important about Phoenix is this is where Bill is. It was nice to feel the freedom of my own place, but I am so happy to be back in the smoochiness and companionship of my spouse. Having someone to love that loves you too is one of life's greatest treasures. I am still comtemplating how to move forward my desire to be with all my family in Napa. It will happen when the time is right.

There is a life in Phoenix, too

Okay, at 110 degrees (if anyone knows how to type a symbol for degrees, please let me know) it's too hot for most stuff and drains my energy.

I have been home since August 30.

Although we dreaded driving on labor day weekend, the traffic was not too bad. It was a bit dreadful when we hit the outskirts of LA at about 5:15 on Friday afternoon. So many interchanges that back everything up. I was so glad Bill was driving. He has been driving about 35 miles to work for several years and has an instinct about where he should be and where the hell the rest of them are going to and coming from. I would have had to pull over and wait until the next day, but he patiently plodded on until we arrived in Cerritos at my friend's house where we spent the night. She was not home so we had no one to visit with. We got take out from California Pizza Kitchen which was a nice supper and went to bed about 9 PM. I drove leaving and it was not too bad. The road between Phoenix and LA is desolate and long but there was not much traffic. I am only good for about an hour of driving, then start getting sleepy.

Napa was such an unusual adventure, it was fun to write. Guess I see my regular life without any sense of awe. I am thinking more about what makes it special.

Hazel Bunton turned 91 and I went to a little family gathering for her. They are the closet things we have to cousins as they lived in Cody, and then Tucson and Phoenix. Their family is much larger than ours. Nancy, the oldest of their family is a great grandmother at about 65. The generations are kinda of jumbled in my mind as I don't see them that often. Our real cousins were either in another state and we barely knew them, or Uncle Arden's kids in Cody who were high school students when I was a little kid. So upon reflection, we spent much more time with the Buntons.

I made it through my first week (4 days only) at work. I felt a little tired of it everyday about 2:00, but I pushed on. Since there is a total change of venue, it seems normal to be in the office working 40 hours. I was happy to see the people I work with, some of them are pretty special to me. I did have a bit of trouble sitting down as everything (coffee, bathroom, printer) is a long walk and there are a lot of people I needed to check in with. I think everyone wastes a lot of time doing these things, plus smoking. I don't have that disctraction, thank God.

Guest Post, from Annie

Sometimes life can be difficult. That’s when it’s good to have a mom. –Kevin Morehouse, Age 10

I haven’t seen my mom since Thursday night, and I don’t like that much. For years, I have envied my local friends who have parents in town to pinch hit when things get a little crazy. They go for long weekends with their spouse, and leave the kids with their parents. Thanksgiving doesn’t require a plane ticket, and there is always someone crying sweet tears with them at school plays and ceremonies.

This summer, I was lucky enough to have my mom here—lending a hand, tearing up at kindergarten “graduation”, and helping with projects. One of the first nights that she was here, after she had cooked dinner for my girls and I, my Tiny Child very sweetly said as we were backing out of the driveway “it’s fun to have family it town”. Indeed.

If you know my mom, and you’ve been reading this blog, you likely know that a little over a year ago, I left my marriage. It’s been one of the most difficult things I have ever done in my life—and difficult from many more angles than I ever imagined. Working outside my home is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. There is no one else to stop for milk on the way home if I forget it, help with hair washing, take kids to swim lessons, or help with the laundry. This summer however, I had help with all of those things and much more.

Thank you mom, for rearranging your life to come and help us out with ours. Thank you for taking such sweet care of my girls and of me. Thank you for trips to the bookstore, library, toystore, swimming pool, and playground. Thank you for dinners, and coffee, and your company. Thank you for helping with the GIANT project for First Grade, and lots of dog sitting too (Syd will never forget the Shredded Wheat and Chicken Stock supper you made her). Thank you for offering help that I never knew I needed, never would have asked for, and won’t soon forget. I love you. We miss you.

Could you come back now please?