Since I’ve been working pretty hard lately, I’m taking a mini-vacation here in Scottsdale, Arizona (next to Phoenix), visiting my friend Jean for a few days. The idea is to make my own little self more sustainable, and sure enough, my spirit is going “Ahhhhhhhhh” in response to the rugged desert beauty, the brilliant sky, the hot dry air practically holding my body in space like a dancer lifted by her partner.
And I do feel uplifted. I LOVE the Southwest. If I weren’t over-the-falls in love with Portland Oregon, where I live, I would surely have to be a denizen of Arizona or New Mexico.
I went running at 7:15 this morning in the dazzling sunshine, my body free and relaxed. After awhile I asked a walker, a nice older gentleman, if there was trail access to Camelback Mountain, which was on our direct left. “There is,” he said. “Up at Cholla, just turn left and you’ll find the Cholla Trail.”
His directions panned out beautifully and soon I was hiking up the rocky, medium-steep trail, able to see for miles over the desert floor. I didn’t get all the way to the top. For that, I need to start out earlier and bring some water.
The temperature will shoot above 100 degrees today. Like human beings in all times and places, Jean and I have to cope with the weather. Our choice is to conserve energy, both our own and the earth’s, by using almost no air conditioning, and being easygoing rather than fast-paced. Vacation doesn’t mean that the urgent need to reduce emissions goes away.
Next post: about water in the West and golf courses.
Photo courtesy of phxpma
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