Sanctuary

I thought about going for months before I finally went. I decided to take a friend from out of town. Hopefully, Sabino Canyon would be an awesome sight for someone that had never been to the Southwest. We arrived later in the day, an hour before the last tram left for the top. A blister on my foot prevented me from hiking and I worried the trip, solely on the tram, would not be entertaining enough. However, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the canyon lived up to its reputation.

As we started up on a wide, paved path, I wondered if I had chosen poorly. There was little difference between this area and some of the foothills we had driven through earlier. A little further, though, the walls began to close in and a stream appeared. Water is scarce in the Sonoran desert - a delightful surprise after months of dry riverbeds. The tram wove back and forth over the stream, allowing glimpses of small pools and rocky beaches. I wanted to jump out and splash around, but contained my excitement, keeping mental notes of the best place to stop on the way back down.

At the top, the tram paused for a few minutes to allow for picture taking. I obliged by snapping a few shots, but was eager to set off again. I had spied a small waterfall near stop seven that I wanted to explore. I knew my friend would be happy to follow along. After a few more pictures and short ride down, we were there. Despite my complaining blister, I forged ahead on the trail, quickly scrambling over rocks and passing slower hikers to get to our destination. Around each corner I caught sight of the waterfall and pools, encouraging me to walk faster.

At last, we were up close with the waterfall. A large shelf of banded gneiss, striped black and white, blocked the downward progress of the stream. Defiantly, the water gouged out a groove in the smooth surface before falling into a peaceful, shallow pool. Behind the rippling curtain, a dark hollow beckoned with the lure of unexplored depths. A smoothed boulder waited in the middle of the pool. It was a tempting area to use as a waypoint to pierce the veil of water. Giving in to my injury, I asked my adventurous friend to climb out and get a better look. I gave him my camera and hoped he did not fall in.

The smooth rocks and spray from the fall could prove to be his downfall. I watched on, faithful he was up to the task. As I stood by, he carefully climbed around to the top and then down onto the bank. He took a moment to assess his surroundings. Bending his knees for balance, in the same way he teaches his Kung Fu students to lower their center of gravity, he sprang up and effortlessly hopped to the rock, sticking the landing. His reward is one that I can only guess at; he took some pictures for me and then paused, sitting on the boulder and meditating in the serenity before turning back.

Wanting to get a taste of what he had seen, I braved the smooth boulders and climbed above. There, the water slipped over the marbleized surface before sluicing over the edge. Climbing to the brink, I lay down and peered past the cascade. The rock had been polished smooth and eroded away to form a tiny gully for the water to fall through. If not for the narrowness of the groove, it would have been a perfect waterslide. Just before the precipice, a small, deep pool beckoned. I took off a shoe and sock, unable to resist the temptation. The melt water from the mountain above shocked my skin, a jolt of cold in the 70 degree heat.

To preserve the experience, I crawled around on the slick surface, taking lizard-level shots. I captured the lazy flow of the water and the liquid ribbons of the stream falling to the pool below. The cool rock radiated the chill of the water and invited me to stay. The slipping and sliding of the water filled my ears with serenity and calm. The only way I could justify leaving was to promise myself that I would come back, foot healed and swimsuit in hand.

Later, after my friend left to go back East, I finally peeked at the pictures he had taken for me. They revealed a small hollow behind the waterfall. It looked to be the perfect size for someone to hide in. They would be protected from the outside by the crashing of the water and the privacy of its curtain. I dream, now, of crawling into that small nook and hiding away from the world. To be surrounded by the cool stone and buffeted by the sounds of water, I can imagine peace. Tranquility. Stillness and solace. Nourishment of the soul. I want to go back. I long to go back. I must go back.

Writing Is...

Writing, for me, is the slow release of a fire within my soul. It starts as a tiny, glowing ember that can easily die out if not nurtured. When I start caring for it, blowing life into it by putting words to the page, it grows and radiates out from just below my heart. As I keep tending to the small fire, it burns brighter and brighter, sending a tingling warmth through my chest and down my arms. The pages of prose are the fuel and my breath fans the flames, bringing the fire into my belly and my brain. The heat radiates out of my fingers as I feverishly write, my mind buzzing with the crackling roar of the fire. When the final words leave my fingertips, the blaze extinguishes, doused by a giant cascade of water released from my brain, an act of self-preservation. Steam radiates as the water cools my body, the heat of the fire still strong enough to evaporate water. Slowly, I return to a normal temperature as I put the final touches on the piece, filling in the gaps where my fingers could not keep up with my burning mind. Within, the small ember still glows, waiting for the next time it will grow to engulf me again.

Who Can Blog When You're in School?!

School Work Has Got Me Busy!

As I may have mentioned, I've been in school since October. I'm taking enough classes that I'm considered part time. These classes are 8 weeks and I'm taking two at a time. This past 8 weeks I took a writing class and figured that I should share some of what I wrote! Hope you enjoy this interlude!

Dogs - Give an Inch, They'll Take the Bed

Zoe. I had a hard time naming her. I wanted to give her the name of a goddess. After all, a Great Dane should have a great name – Athena, Hera, Persephone. Thankfully, I was convinced by a friend to give her an earthlier name. I say thankfully because she never would have lived up to any of those legendary names. Zoe is a big dog, with a big heart, but not a very big brain. To be fair, she is intelligent. It’s just a very slow sort of intelligence. Looking at her, you can almost see the cogs turning behind her eyes. Tell her to sit and it takes about ten seconds for the signal to go from her brain to her hind legs, and then another ten seconds for her bum to hit the floor.

It took forever to house train her. Partially, this was due to the breeder’s complete ignorance of the subject. Zoe and her litter mates lived for their first three months in a room where they could do their business anywhere, anytime. Attempting to teach her to alert me, I attached bells to the door. I rang them every time I took her out. A couple of months passed and she made no moves to ring them on her own. There were times that she hit them with her tail, but I couldn’t be sure that it was intentional. The tail-ringing graduated to body-checking, and then finally to nose-nudging followed by an expectant look. Only then did I know she had gotten it.

However, what I hadn’t anticipated was how she would decide to use the bells. She started ringing them to go outside, but not just to do her business. Every five minutes, she would ring and look at me, ring and look, ring and look. Occasionally, I would ignore her. She had just gone out. There’s no way she had to again. But, accidents happened and I was forced to let her out whenever she rang. There was also a bell on my bedroom door, for middle of the night urges. I would awaken countless times to take her out, grumbling the whole way.

Then, Zoe took things to a whole new level with the bells. She started ringing them for her meals. She would ring the bell, look at me and then at the bowl. If I failed to understand, she would do it again, and again, and again. After a while, it seemed as if she could tell time, too, because she would do it at exactly the same time, every night. She also started ringing the bells in the bedroom if she wasn’t happy with her sleeping arrangement. There were nights that my girlfriend would be in bed with me, and her two dogs in the room with us. If another dog was on Zoe’s dog bed, she would ring the bells, pace to me and then back to the door. If she was upset at not being on the bed with me, she did the same. The ringing and pacing deprived me of hours of sleep.

Looking back, I probably should have taken my girlfriend’s advice. She told me that anything I let Zoe do as a puppy would continue once she was fully grown. I loved letting her sleep beside me on the nights I was alone. She would curl up on one half of the bed, back towards me, the fuzzy little spoon. If I didn’t pet her, or stopped petting her, she would raise her head and nudge at me, begging for more. She would nudge more persistently and let out rumbling sighs if I didn’t comply. Now that she’s one hundred pounds and over three feet tall, she tries to take up even more of the bed. As soon as I start to lie down, she flops down next to me, and stretches out her long legs. If I don’t lie precisely in the middle of the bed, she will gladly take up all the space that is available, as well as all the covers.

Thankfully, Zoe has also learned, very slowly, what my limits are. “Wait” means that it’s too early for her to eat. “No” means that the revolving door is closed for the evening. She has even learned my physical cues – when my arm goes under the blankets, petting time has stopped and it’s time to sleep. When I pull at the blankets, she move and give me some room. She even knows that it’s not breakfast time until after I’m showered and dressed. I love her very dearly and she does have my heart. However, I’m very thankful that she has finally learned that she does not run my house, nor own my bed.

November Excitement

Grand Canyon Trip

Grand Canyon

On Veteran's Day weekend, I took a trip up to the Grand Canyon. Susan had to stay back with Gladys, because she was still on cage-rest for her neck injury, so I packed Zoe and myself into the car and headed North. We stayed in a KOA cabin in Williams, Arizona, about an hour south of the Grand Canyon. It was freezing that night, around 20°, and the "heater" in the cabin was a tiny space heater. Zoe and I were curled up together under the comforter, trying to keep warm. We made it through the night, though, and headed up to the Grand Canyon the next day. We went in the South Entrance and walked along the rim for about 1.5 miles. I can't tell you how many times I heard comments about how big Zoe was and "I didn't know they allowed horses!"

October Update

Honestly, this month was mostly my typical routine of working during the days and lazing around on the evenings and weekends. I didn't go to any local attractions. I did have some cool jobs, but my confidentiality keeps me from spilling the beans! I did get the chance to go to Texas, though, and we had some developments with the pets, so read on!

San Antonio

I went to San Antonio for a week in early October to interpret for someone that was helping run a conference. I didn't have a lot of time to myself, but I did get up to a few cool things while I was there. As usual, I hit up the Hard Rock to buy some pins. I got the annual Breast Cancer month pin as well as a San Antonio pin.

While I was there I also had a chance to explore the Riverwalk, which is basically a nice walkway along the river with lots of trees and some small waterfalls, and it takes you into the heart of San Antonio where there are lots of shops and restaurants along the river. The Hard Rock cafe is actually right on the Riverwalk. I was excited that they had water taxis, however whenever I needed one, there was never one to be found. Lots of tour boats, but not enough taxis.

I decided that I couldn't leave San Antonio without seeing the Alamo, even though I wasn't really interested in it. Mostly it was a gift shop and some small buildings. It was much smaller than I thought it would be. There is a very cool tree in the back, huge and serpentine, and they also had a nice little stream with huge koi in it. Honestly, the pretty grounds were more memorable than the building itself. I'm just not that much of a history fan! Oh, and there was a candy shop across the street with a mirror maze. Now that was a trip!

Pets, Pets, Pets

 The later portion of the month was focused on pets, namely Gladys. We spent what seemed like an entire Saturday with her at the emergency clinic. It appears that the discs in her spine are degenerating and causing her a lot of pain. Thankfully, we caught it in the early stages and it looks like surgery isn't needed. She's recovering with steroids, pain pills and cold-laser treatments (to help reduce the inflammation.) Fingers crossed that she makes a full recovery!

Baxter, on the other hand, is getting snarky again. When he's not playing with his kitten (yes, he acts like he is the only one that can play with Mr. Leonardo DiCatrio), he alternates between wanting attention and wanting to bite us. We had to muzzle the poor guy just to clip his nails and give him a bath. Its not that he doesn't love us. He just gets scared all of a sudden, for no reason that we can see, and his first reaction is to growl and bite. We recently took him to the vet and we hope to put him on a doggy anti-anxiety medication. Fingers crossed that it works!

Fall in Tucson

It hasn't really felt like fall around here. I feel like the trees in our complex are looking a little more yellow, but it's positively green compared to the yellow leaves we see in the East. Some leaves have fallen, but the ones that are still up are only slightly brown around the edges. The temperature has come down, but it's still in the 70s and 80s by the afternoon. The only thing I can really see is that many of the plants and grasses are starting to turn brown now that the wet season is over.


 There are certain hills, like Tumamoc Hill, that I didn't realize had been fairly grassy until I noticed how yellow they became this month. The Ocotillo plants are losing their color and the colorful fruit have fallen off the prickly pear cactus. Mostly, it's just dry here. My lips have become chapped, so I must not be drinking enough water. Otherwise, it's still gorgeous here. Blue skies every day and lots of palm trees (which I assume have been imported.) If you're not ready for winter, I have a guest bedroom!

Pin Collection

Promise to post about the trip to San Antonio, but for now, my Pin Collection!

Pins, Pins and More Pins!

I've been collecting Hard Rock Cafe pins for a long time. Over the past year, between my cross-country trip to San Francisco and then my move to Arizona, my collection has grown by leaps and bounds, so I decided to show them off and share the stories of where they came from.

Cayman Islands, approx 2002 - My first ever Hard Rock pin. This is from approximately 2002. I had the opportunity to go to the Cayman Islands because my fiance at the time had an Aunt who lived there. We spent Christmas there with his Aunt, Uncle, parents, brother and brother's girlfriend. I got to scuba dive for the first time. It was also the first time I went outside of the country, except for Canada. Got a passport and everything!

End of September

Pets for Pets

Waiting for the vet to check his sniffles.

Earlier this month, in an effort to get our cat Joon to come out of hiding, we decided to get him a friend. Meet DaVinci, aka Leo. He's 4 months old and we got him at an adoption event for the humane society. They were having an event at a local car dealership. They paid for all the adoptions that day! His mom was a stray but he has no fear of humans and loves to cuddle. A few days after we got him, he did develop the sniffles, so we had to put him on antibiotics. Typical animal shelter upper respiratory infection.