‘Ol McDowell watched her farm’

It all happened in the blink of an eye.  I was sitting alone in my, let’s call it a living room, when I received a text from my friend and former boss.  She was inquiring about what my next move was; Was I planning to stay or go (from Tucson)?  I was as honest as I could be and simply stated that it was still very much in the air.  Moments later she called me and pitched me ‘the proposal.’  The next thing I knew, I found myself moving out of my apartment and moving in to her mom’s, whom would be staying in their family cabin in the northern woods of Wisconsin for the summer.  Essentially, she needed someone to watch her house and care for her animals.  Given my very recent hand surgery and knowing I would have to sit around for the summer attending rehab twice a week, I thought it was a dream scenario.  I could save rent, rehab and sit around a nice house with superior air conditioning while I focus on my hand recovery.  I ask, what more could a man want!?

Well, suffice to say, there are no free lunches in this world and I could’ve never foreseen the trouble three dogs, six goats and three tortoises could drum up.  Naive?  Perhaps.  I really didn’t think it would be as much of an ordeal as it turned out to be.  I’ve talked enough about it to friends and family to not want to go through it all here, but one thing I can say is that, despite the stress, of which there was plenty, I am both thankful and grateful for the experience.  I learned a helluva lot about animals, but even more so about myself.  And the best part of it all is that I added a great new friend to the mix.  I don’t imagine that you’ll read this, Ms. B., but thank you for your generosity, kindness and patience throughout!

*Well, it appears I’ve reached 100% of my storage for this site, so I’ll have to figure something out.

‘Summering in Salone: Part II’

Today marks the halfway point, which leaves a mere 6 more weeks to soak up this experience (& and leave with some semblance of a finished project for school).  Month two brought with it a few highs, as well as a few…lulls.  As is often the case in these types of situations, the ambiguity of it all can occasionally make the time drag a bit.  Still, the there is much to be done & not a whole lot of time to do it, so I anticipate the remaining weeks to be busy ones.  Fortunately, the laughs keep things entertaining!

Here are a few more photos from the journey so far… *lovely song is compliments of my boy John S.’s church choir.  I’m not much of a church man, but loved some of the music!

 

 

‘The random summer collection’

Any moment now it will begin to pour again.  This pleases me.  For one, a good rain always seems to remind me of Florida, which in turn reminds me of my family and the other people I miss and care for there.  It also provides me an excuse to sit still and collect my thoughts, of which there are many.  Moment’s ago I put some rice on, snatched a beer from the fridge and got the tunes going.

*this is the one that’s playing as I type this.  Cherokee turned me on to it many moons ago.  I recommend putting it on in the background.  It’s a nice one!

While I wait for my rice to finish, I thought it would be a good opportunity to throw up a few more photos from my last couple of months here.

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

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‘Alive and, well, in Tucson’

*This one goes out to Camm H. Gibson. **This is also a month late. :oP

The date is July 13th, 2016. I’m listening to the ‘Summer’s Gone‘ album by Odesza as I type this, but make no mistake, summer is in full swing here. Temperatures have been in the triple digits for weeks, hovering around 106-114 mark. Fortunately, ‘Monsoon Season‘ is just around the bend, and without a pool at my disposal, the rain offers the best chance to cool down; I’m looking forward to it.

‘It’s decided then!’ – an oldie from when Camm and I lived in Osakako.

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, for a good while, I’ve been mulling over the decision of whether to stay in Arizona or head back to Florida, but the last week or so has been the worst of it. I’ve finally made a decision however. Since my friend/landlord/neighbor was generous enough to offer me a short lease again, I decided to stay until December and re-evaluate things then. Plenty more questions await, but for now, it’ll be good to know where I’ll be living in near future.

‘Desert Rat: an Update’

I know I’ve said this before, but a lot has happened since I last wrote. Because it’s a long tale with many side plots, I’ll leave out the particulars, but the short of it is that when I left California, I was fully intending to go back to Florida. Along the way I stopped off in Tucson, AZ, liked what I saw, and then left. I made it as far as San Antonio, TX before turning the truck around an hoofing it back to the desert.

Since then, I’ve been working at a non-profit, living a quiet, simple life. Whatever happens from here, with the benefit of hindsight, I absolutely made the right choice leaving the Bay.  I still think about it from time to time and all that implies, but I know it wouldn’t have been healthy for me to stay there.

I haven’t explored the desert a ton, but it’s quite beautiful in a way I’m unfamiliar with. The dusk and early mornings are my favorite times of the day in many places, but especially here. The middle of the day, well, to quote the great Skip Stewart after a trip to London, England…’you can keep that sh*t!’ If you’re a sun worshiper however, I can say without hesitation that Southern Arizona is your kind of place.  Yesterday, I (half) jokingly told a friend of mine that I fear getting skin cancer every time I walk to the truck. And god forbid you forget your sunglasses before you leave the house!

One of the biggest draws about this place was the University of Arizona, as there are a lot of ‘Corps’ supported Masters programs to explore.  I wound up applying to one of them on a whim, along with the Fellowship scholarship, which is what would’ve funded the education.  When the dust settled, I was accepted to the Master’s program, but did not get the scholarship, and since ‘out of state tuition’ is absurdly expensive, I’m going to give it a miss for now. It was a bit of a disappointment to be sure, but not nearly as much as I expected.

Time will tell what’s next, but a common theme of late is the notion of having a place of my own to call home. I have been floating around this planet for a while now and while it’s been fun, I feel I’m still missing something important…a few things actually, that simply aren’t available with the life I’ve been living.

Here are some of the photos I’ve taken over the last few months…

‘An inside look’

My porch critter

‘Sun kissing clouds’

One of my many works locales.

Playing host in the desert.

The Great Arizona Safari!

Sabino Canyon

Mi Casita

‘Cyclovia’

Saguaro National Park

Tucson Tug of War

‘Batter up!: First Diamondback’s game’

One of my neighbors

‘Saladito’ – orange with super salty , died plum in it….no bueno!

The Desert Museum vista

‘Andrew goes 0 for…?’

‘Grass’

Cool idea for a lamp.

‘Cacti and blue sky’

‘All Ears’

Michelle and Deborah

Bobo’s Diner’s sloppy pancake.