There are many things to love about living in Tucson. Beautiful sunsets, amicable weather all year long, plenty to do when it comes to exploring the outdoors, the list goes on. But one of the things not on my list is the sprawl. Tucson has strip mall after strip mall, usually accompanied by mid 20th century housing developments in many directions.
I’ve known a little behind the history of American suburbia; it was a conscious effort to get more people driving. Phil Edwards, formerly of Vox, shares a fantastic video on the subject.
I wasn’t even 10 minutes through the first meeting of the day when I realized that I was starting to feel way too stressed on a Monday morning. Since my meetings start at 07:00, this was not a good precedent for the work day, let alone the work week.
I stepped away from my office desk for a few moments, hugged my husband, and gave Truman some nice pets. He wanted treats. This improved my mood.
A few more things happened at work and I decided it was time to take a few moments and just let my brain reset. Enter my daily dose of Solitaire.
After getting through a couple of goals, I’m feeling better.
Sometimes I have to step back to improve my mental state instead of just trying to plow through the situation. I’m sure the afternoon will be quite productive and ultimately I will have a productive work week.
Monsoon season has continued on and I’m enjoying it very much. The afternoons and evenings have been showing promise of some good, albeit slow moving, storms on a regular basis. The pattern looks like it’s going to kick up a bit in the beginning of August as the eastern Pacific Ocean starts doing its typhoon things.
Weather is so interesting, especially with all the change going on.
While I’m always interested in capturing moments of life via video captures and photos, I’ve been trying to take some time each day with my phone in my pocket and enjoying the world around me, just for me. I went for my morning walk, leaving the iPhone behind for 35 minutes and I feel like it was a great way to start the day. This is something I used to do all the time before the smartphone era. Some of my best memories are of me alone in the woods behind my parents’ house just walking, exploring, and lost in my own thoughts. It’s a practice I need to get back to on a regular basis.
I’ve never understood how so many folks, especially those of the younger generations, walk around with earbuds or headphones on all the time. But then again, I don’t understand how private pilots can fly around listening to music in much the same fashion, especially since an airplane engine is a world of music of its own.
I will always be thankful that I am solidly part of Gen X, in that I’ve seen the world without 90% of this technology and I’ve seen all the wonderful things current technology can do. Couple my generational placement with my higher than average memory and I can keep all this loud technology around us in perspective.
The sunrise was beautiful this morning. As hues of pink and orange appeared over the Santa Rita Mountains to the east, I stopped my walk for a few seconds to watch the rays of the new day peek over the ridge. I smiled. I said “thank you” to whatever forces in the universe listen to that sort of thing. There was no impulse to catch the moment digitally, it was impossible with my iPhone back home.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
