A Wealth of Friends

I just returned from a whirlwind trip to Arizona. Mostly to see my dear friend and blogger, Marlene, but since I know so many others in that state, I managed to fit in visit after visit. How fortunate I am to have people who love me enough to want me to show up and to stay in their homes. Bonus: they all feed me delicious food, too!

I flew into and out of Phoenix, because I could get the best prices for flights and the rental car from there. But this required a lot of strategy and a lot of driving. That’s ok! I do love a road trip. I’ve started classes at Portland Community College, and I had to load up my Jeep for the trip early in the morning before school. I left directly from campus to the airport.

In Phoenix I picked up my rental car at the airport (super easy at Phoenix, as one can walk/take the shuttle to everything), then drove twenty minutes to the home of Bill and Miki.

Bill was my supervisor at the National Weather Service office in Burlington, Vermont, when we lived there. He knew me before I was pregnant, and was like a proud grandfather to baby Kellen, when they were born. He was into woodworking, and built a beautiful hobby horse for my new baby. Miki painted it. What a marvelous, thoughtful gift for us. ❤ Our two families were friends and visited each other often, and of course I saw Bill at work every day. They recently found the photos above, and had them out on the dining table when I arrived. As you can see, Kellen hated hats then and now.

I forgot to get photos with everyone except Marlene, so I’ll just show photos of stuff along the way instead. I am always delighted with the birds at this suburban oasis in the desert. Bill pointed out the different species I was looking at:

The Rosy-faced Lovebirds are common across Scottsdale, but as their exotic looks will suggest, they are not native to Arizona. They are native to Namibia, and are believed to be descendants of a couple of large accidental African parrot releases in the past. The current colonies love to roost in Phoenix palm trees and are thriving.

I was a guest in their home for the night, where they fed me and entertained me. We shared news with each other of people we know in common that we worked with in meteorology before we all retired. It’s always a wonderful visit to see these two, who make me feel loved and cared for. In the morning, they insisted that I take homemade coffee cake, fresh fruit, and bottled water before I bid farewell and hit the highway to Show Low.

If you know Arizona, you will know that the weather was different than back home in Oregon. The week I was here, it was unseasonably warm with unexpectedly perfectly sunny skies. I planned to spend a lot of time in the mountains where it would be cold, so I packed warm clothes, but the interim highway hours in the valleys I was too warm in my long pants and long sleeves. I didn’t mind at all. Dry and hot as hell is my preference, to the shock and horror of most people I know. heh heh.

In the interest of time, I had my left hand on the wheel and my right hand aiming the camera out the window as I drove. Luckily I can use my photo editing software to straighten up the wonky images shot through the windshield.

Above 6,000 feet (1828 m), I was in the ice and snow, and had to roll up the windows to stay warm.

I hope you have been lucky enough to read Marlene’s blog, that she calls In Search Of It All. She is wise, and brave, and spiritual, and generous beyond measure. Marlene believes it is her calling to care for others, and now in her 70s, she doesn’t seem to ever slow down or take the long rest that she has earned. Rather, she has been frustrated with fatigue, and memory sluggishness, and is dismayed about it. I worried about her. That is why I had to make this trip.

She has recently moved in to a better home (only 100 yards from her last place – we could see it out the windows), and is still settling in. Moving is exhausting, and a house in a jumble is not restorative, so she wasn’t feeling top notch. But even still, she was doing great with mobility and alertness, which put my heart at ease. We could barely keep from jabbering a blue streak. We took a break to go check into my Airbnb, then went back to Marlene’s bright, beautiful home surrounded by windows. She fed me matzo ball soup that she made herself – the first I have ever tried. Finally, after seven hours of nonstop talking, I begged for her forgiveness. I had to leave and sleep. Marlene had outlasted me!

I slept so well on a great mattress and had the cozy little apartment to myself. I used to think it was weird that people stayed in other people’s homes with AirBnb. Now I love it! I packed up early and went to see Marlene again. We went over to visit her son, that she calls Tech Support, who lives very close by. I know TS from when I lived out in Rainier. Then we went to breakfast where Marlene insisted on buying (don’t fight with a strong woman!). And finally, I remembered to get a photo.

Interesting, it came up over and over on this journey: the challenge of aging. It is especially hard for people who get their joy specifically from activity and endurance, like Marlene and me. I confessed that I am having a hard time making peace with my declining physical body, and I guess that this plagues my friend as well. The time spent with her, bathed in her sparkling wit and vigor and resistance against the world’s meanness, salved my worries. I promised to return again in a year or two for more hugs.

Off I went, down the mountain, through the canyon, into the warm desert again. I’ll do a future post with some of the magnificent shots of the extraordinary Salt River Canyon at the Fort Apache Indian reservation.

After climbing out of the canyon, I made good time on the wide, flat Arizona highways, even though I kept stopping for highway sites of interest, like this one:

I couldn’t look to the side because I was driving. Now that I can look at the shiny thing safely, I see it’s the topper for a church. This really makes me think Mormon, as the golden angel Moroni was always at the top of our churches when I was a kid. This figure is in the same position: blowing a horn. But I can’t say for certain.

How surprised I was when I pulled over to try and find the historical marker at the above location, and instead realized this big old monument was what I was looking for. It marks the birthplace of Melvin Jones, founder of the Lions Club, the world’s largest non-profit service organization. And nearby is a small Lions Club, that I hope is in use.

I stopped to take so many photos, that it grew dark before I reached my cousin’s house far to the south.

I was growing weary of highways, and did not stop anymore, but held my camera in front of me, and to the side, hoping for a lovely sunset shot or two. I am pleased that some turned out.

I laughed with my cousin David when I arrived at his house, that the only thing that stops me from taking photos is the nighttime. And even then, I am still tempted. He is a skilled photographer. Though he calls it a “hobby,” he takes some of the best photos I have ever seen in my life, of remote Arizona barns and adobe missions and graveyards, of lightning storms, of landscapes, but mostly of birds. His bird photography is out of this world. So he completely understood that I turned a 5 hour drive into an 8 hour drive because I stopped so many times.

We went for a hike the next day to a bird sanctuary, and my camera battery ran out immediately. He insisted I use one of his spare cameras. The lens was three times the size of my camera. I was so intimidated, but he set me all up for success and said he had confidence in me. I’ll do a post of all those amazing photos later, but here is one:

David fed and housed me for two nights, and the visit, like mine with Marlene, was too short. But I had to get back home before classes began again! Sunday morning I hugged him (and all the dogs!) goodbye, and drove north to Tucson, where I met – yes! – another friend.

My friend Sandy usually lives here in Portland with me, but has been staying with her sister in Tucson while her sister recovers from foot surgery. We thought it would be a kick to meet up, and she was directly on my way back to the Phoenix airport. I found a Cuban restaurant next to I-10 and we met there. The Cuban Corner was an excellent choice! The food was amazing and the environment and convenience were a bonus. I reminded myself, and her, a couple of times, to remember to get a photo of us together, but I predictably forgot. All I have is a photo of the food.

I made the mistake of leaving the table to use the restroom, and when I returned, Sandy had paid for my meal as a birthday gift. (Never argue with a strong woman. Have I mentioned that before?) As an additional gift, she gave me corn and flour tortillas from her favourite Tucson source. A perfect gift for Pedro and me.

I found the car rental return easily and was quickly at my gate in Phoenix, and had time for a beer and a breath while I waited for my flight. In hours I was home.

Along the journey somewhere, I realized that Monday was a holiday, to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. I checked, and discovered that school was closed on Monday. Yay! Instead of an early wake-up and rush off to class unprepared, I have two full days to practice my Spanish before I need to speak it Wednesday morning.