Ponderings and Musings

Video: Fantastic Views to Maverick Springs.

There are plenty of fantastic views along the Green Mountain Trail in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Mount Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. Join me on my hike as I explore the Green Mountain and Maverick Springs Trails, and take in the wonderful sights of this beautiful area of the American Southwest.

Sunrise.

On Tuesday mornings I get up a little earlier than usual so I can take the garbage can to the street curb. Every other week I take the recycling bin as well. I don’t do this the night before because we have feisty javelinas in the neighborhood that like to snoop through our garbage.

The neighbors are not spared by the javelinas, either.

Getting up early at this time of year affords me the beauty of the first glimpses of the sunrise. It’s a good way to start the day.

Outside.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve had the opportunity to go hiking. Getting outside to enjoy Mother Nature resets all the relays in my brain. Not only is there a lot going on in the country, there’s a lot going on in my personal world, and taking a few moments to process it all makes it all that much more manageable.

Today’s hike was strenuous. It was good to see my husband waiting for me when I got back to the trailhead. We both had big smiles on our faces.

Empty.

We walked through Neshaminy Mall today. It’s been cold this weekend and we’ve been doing mall walks to get some steps.

When I first visited this area in the late 1990s this mall was thriving with busy anchor stores, a recent addition, and more. Today the mall seemed about 60% empty. And it wasn’t heated.

I’m happy we wore our coats.

UA 5531

Earl and I are on United flight 5531, en route to O’Hare in Chicago. From there we will fly to Philadelphia. This is so we can attend the memorial service of my (step)mother-in-law.

While the reason for our trip is rather somber, I am looking forward to the trip simply because it’s a change of pace. Our master bathroom has been under reconstruction since the beginning of the year, the news has been overwhelming, and I feel like I’m in my post holiday rut. I’m actively trying to get out of that rut and avoid it as much as possible but I’m also a realist.

Clouds.

I was excited to see the promise of some storms. It ended up being a little wind and a bit of rain, which we desperately need. We’re behind on desert rain levels.

Lucky and Jinx enjoyed the storm clouds with me.

Retro.

I’m looking at old blog posts, because that’s something I do once in a while. This has prompted me to revisit one of my favorite songs of all time. From 1996, here’s BT with “Remember”. The video version doesn’t do the entire track justice, look it up from the album “ESCM” as well.

As I peruse through my old blog entries, this selfie that I had completely forgotten about popped up. This is me 10 years ago, and honestly, it’s when I probably felt the best about myself.

It’s interesting to be able to read my own musings from a decade or two ago and then realize that it’s all right here, in the blog, and other people can read it as well. My thoughts are so much the same in most ways but different in other ways.

It’s a shame that most of the musings from the vast majority of people on the Internet will be lost to corporate greediness faster than you can say “but her emails”. And all in less than 280 characters, no less.

Starbucks.

Picture of a smiling middle aged man sitting behind his laptop. He's looking at the camera. The laptop takes up most of the photo. It has a black cover with a Linux Tux sticker over the Microsoft logo. There's a Starbucks cup to the side.

I’m sitting in the local Starbucks enjoying a pour over coffee while doing some writing. There are several people working on their computers here in Starbucks. This location is fairly new and is our favorite Starbucks in the area.

I always find it interesting that folks come to Starbucks to sit and work on their computer while wearing headphones or earbuds. Unsurprisingly, I’m exactly the opposite in this regard and I find that Starbucks (or something similar) is one of the few places I can write or work without either being in complete silence or wearing my earbuds playing lyric-free music and/or binaural beats.

I’m here to enjoy people watching just as much as writing in an environment outside the home.

I could be sitting outside, as there’s a covered patio area adjacent to the parking lot and drive thru lane. It was added after this Starbucks was built and it really feels like an afterthought, but they’ve made it work. There’s a bike rack and everything.

Not a lot of people walk around this part of Tucson. After all, for much of Tucson, if it’s not in a strip mall or similarly fashioned shopping center, it’s not in Tucson.

Earl frequents this Starbucks much more than I do, what with him being retired and all. He tells me they have completed rotated the staff at this location from another location and the folks here don’t have the same vibe as the original gang when the store opened. I get that. They seem a bit more harried than the folks that opened this spot.

Still, I’m enjoying the experience.