Desert Life.

My husband and I decided to go for a ride. We headed to the northwest and once firmly outside of Tucson, we exited Interstate 10 and started driving west. There were some pretty mountains in that direction so we pointed the car that way and started playing a game we used to play back in Illinois. Find our location on the car GPS and start following the “yellow” roads. (Our GPS shows main roads as yellow, back roads as white). Soon we were out in the middle of nowhere along a road that followed an irrigation ditch through a lot of desert land. The road quickly turned to dirt and there were no longer signs of any towns close by. We continued our trek. We had plenty of water, we were feeling good, and having fun.

Luckily, we are two resourceful men and through solid teamwork, we had the tire off and the donut in place in about 20 minutes.

The directions accompanying the jack and “convenience tire” indicated we should not exceed 35 MPH. So we made our way through the desert at this speed and finally gained cell service. The closest service station was 20 miles away but guess what! Service stations don’t really do the service station anymore. We finally made our way to the closest Walmart. They squeezed us in, and 2 1/2 hours and $15 hours later, we were on our way home from Casa Grande back to Tucson.

We still really enjoyed our day.

As we venture out more and more in this kind of post-pandemic world, I still have a hard time believing that we see mountains, cacti, and palm trees when we’re driving home from the city. I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around the fact that we live in the desert southwest now. I love it and I fully embrace it, but it’s still feels a little startling to me that we live one mile from a National Park near the mountains.

Folks back East ask, “but isn’t it hot”? It is. We apparently picked the best season ever to move here as we’ve just been through a record-breaking heat wave. And from what I can ascertain from the National Weather Service, we’re going to see the beginning of this year’s monsoon all next week. Excitement! It’s hot, but it’s not sweltering. It really isn’t. I’m more concerned about the intensity of the sun than the heat. Sitting on the patio or in the gazebo when it’s 105ºF is not a big deal, as long as we’re in the shade. We still drive around with our windows down, though we’ve been closing them a little more often with dust blowing around and the like.

We live in the desert. I’m getting used to that. But I know I already love it.

As a road geek I’ve noticed ADOT has installed these reminder signs advising motorists not to drive into flooded washes, gullies, and other low lying areas of the desert. Apparently they’re a reminder of the “Arizona Stupid Driver Law” or something of that nature. I guess there’s video of a Volkswagen being swept away as the driver tried to navigate through six feet of water or something.

It would never occur to me to drive through water rushing across a roadway. The road approaching our house has some pretty impressive dips passing through washes. I can’t wait to see what this year’s Monsoon brings.

I do not have a green thumb. I’ve never really had a green thumb, though I am quite appreciative when people make things grow. Grandma City had us plant some radishes and cucumbers in her little garden when I was in elementary school. I don’t know whatever became of the vegetables. We probably ate them. Grandma City was good at growing things.

Chris has planted a fresh herbs garden on our back patio. He bought the setup pictured above; it keeps things up and out of reach from the wildlife that makes its way to the area on a daily basis. Things are sprouting up quickly. Apparently we’ll have some fresh herbs on salads soon.

I’m appreciative of anyone that grow things, especially when it’s part of my meal plan.

Every week we do a little more to make the new home feel like our home. We’ve settled in quite well, but the little touches help move things along.

I’m actually surprised at how much this new location has felt like home; it feels like we’ve been here much longer than two months. Ironically, there’s still a part of me that can’t believe we live in the desert. Now that we’re all fully vaccinated and getting out to explore more, it’s feeling even more like home.

Our master suite has a front room identified as the “Activity Room” on the original blueprints for the house. We have about 20 different sets of blueprints that neatly orchestrate the evolution of the house, including when they decided to flip the floor plan and build a mirror image of the original version. Our Activity Room is enjoyable for when we want to get away from the noise of the family room or cooking frivolity in the kitchen. Truman likes to park himself on his favorite blanket on the couch we moved from Chicago. He is seemingly so much happier here with all this space to run around in.

Overall I am quite pleased and happy.

I love the weather here in the Sonoran Desert. We have an abundance of sunshine, I have absolutely no breathing issues from stuffy air, and I find the warm wind, especially in the evening, particularly enjoyable. Granted, I’m not one for being in the sun, but I find my way to enjoy the outdoors and the sunshine safely and without sunburn at the end of the day.

A few folks have spoke about the upcoming monsoon season, and how spectacularly beautiful it is here in Tucson. I’m looking forward to experiencing this. In the meanwhile, he’s a video I found on YouTube, showing the Arizona Monsoon of 2019, in 4K HDR.

Enjoy.

I’m always saying how awesome and beautiful Mother Nature can be. Her mood here in the desert is much different than what I’ve experience all my life up north. I still find her moods completely spectacular.

I liked the way the sunset, powerlines, and trees came together for this shot. Taken on Irvington Rd. on the east side of Tucson.