road trip!

I just started plotting a course across the country. As usual, it looks like the first night out is the only hotel night.

I need someone to get a job in Albuquerque, mm'kay? That'd be super.

Beyond that, tentative plans to hit Springfield, Louisville, Phili, then home in Maine. Had hoped to get up to Chicago on this journey, but it doesn't seem like that will happen, as my brother's family will also be in Maine at the beginning of July.

It does change my plan of a nice leisurely road trip that direction...but hey, plans change. And it very well be that my journey back to Tucson in August is a perimeter trip around the US: I'm thinking about taking my dad on a road trip down the East Coast, visiting my step-mother's sibs along the way to see my grandfather in Florida. His birthday is at the beginning of August, so I thought that might be nice. Then I could put my dad on a plane home (get him used to flying solo again), and hit I-10. I've heard that it's not as bad to do I-10 through TX. I hope not; my last journey, which took me through West Texas, left a bad taste in my mouth. Literally. I felt like I had sucked on an oil rag. Ew.

Anyway....that's the news from here. Time to start the rest of my day.

Moonbathing

Tonight is a blue moon. It seems to me there usually is one at the beginning of planting season, at least in the Northern climes of my childhood.

Blue moons in the desert are different: more sky, less bugs, more temperate. Great for moonbathing.

I haven't been moonbathing in a long time--certainly not since I moved back here (and as an aside, I can't believe I've been back in the desert for as long as I have--perhaps because it still had the tinge of temporary to it).

Sadly, most of the places I used to like to go moonbathing are out of bounds now. The best place is just too close to a little airfield north of Tucson, that is now one of the major training grounds for desert helicopter ops. Last time i went up there to catch an unimpaired view of the milky way, I was nicely asked to find another viewing spot--by two gentlemen in full military gear, down to the AK-47s.

And that kind of weaponry is not conducive to basking in the light of the moon.

So part of today's goal: find a good moonbathing opportunity for tonight. I prefer open fields, but who knows? I may have to settle for a moonlit walk instead of spreading a blanket for this one. But that's okay. As long as I get to spend a little time in some moonbeams!

Coffee and contemplation

So the ice is supposed to break on the river tomorrow.

That's a quaint way to say that it'll finally hit 100 degrees in the Old Pueblo.

Spring will be gone for another year--and the heat will stay probably through September, with erstwhile relief during Monsoon Season. The afternoon rains in July and August will keep the temperature in the nineties, but the added humidity can be problematic--particularly since I cool my home without air conditioning. See, in arid climes, you can get away with a swamp cooler most of the year--it's much cheaper, and because it adds a bit of moisture to the air, it has benefits as well. However, during monsoon season, it doesn't work as well. You get out of the shower, and stay damp all day.

The worst part, in my opinion, is what it does to your sheets. I like nice crisp bedsheets, thank you very much. I'm usually a morning shower person, but sometimes, as a special treat, I'll take a quick shower just before getting into my newly-made bed. Simple pleasures. Simple pleasures that are impossible during Monsoon Season.

However, I get to miss a fair chunk of the monsoons this summer. I'll be on the road for about six weeks--and I'm so looking forward to it. Some think I'm crazy, what with gas prizes; but my little '99 Sentra, which needs a couple of new tires and a tune-up, still gets 30 mpg. When he's purring, he gets closer to 40. And I love long drives.

Nobody in my family understands that part of me that is perfectly content to be on the road for ten, twelve hours in a day. But I love it. And I think "content" is the most apropos word. I get in my car and go--and that's all I have to worry about. None of the craziness of multitasking that we do in our lives so much. It's just me, my car, and my thoughts. And I prefer it that way.

Now, there's still a chance that a friend will be doing part of the road trip with me this summer, but I'm not really counting on it. My parents are, but I'm not.

And now that my brother and his family have a Boston arrival date, my window of leisurely driving is a bit narrower. That's all good, though....I just have to be in Maine by the 4th of July, so I can pick them up at the airport.

Hm. seems that my mind is still flitting; it's been doing that for a few days, now. And I have no nice clean end to this post. No button; no tag line. And that's okay.

You are here.

Yes, this is the place to find me now.