Life in The Desert of Arizona
Last night I woke from a nap, it was dark and I
stumbled outside to give my brood of cats more chow, picked up their
dish in the dark and didn't see all the ants on it. must of been about
a million ants, and they bite too!
One ant was in my bra, one in my pants. yes, alysia has ants in her pants!
I screamed and up the plate flew on the counter whereupon I spent
an hour vacuuming ants..just ants...and washing them down the sink, I
would clean and then think I was done, but then there would be more,
seemingly materializing from out of nowhere.
Today I sold a boat propeller. Lots of boats on the Colo. river here. I am maintaining weekly garage sales
and neighbors are supplying to me the stuff to sell, as well I like the
uncluttered look of my home now, makes it easier to find stuff!
Some dear friends donated the most intriguing clown doll collection
and too good to sit in a garage sale, so they will go on ebay. Or maybe Craigslist.
Let me know if you know anyone collects clowns. none of the clowns look scary! they are all cute.
Will snap a photo here soon.
As I gaze out the window towards evening the mountains are a
pinkish and blue color looking surreal and giving the feeling of
protection of valley occupants. It stays 80 degrees outside all night long in the summer. Great for sleeping on the patio.
Sometime during the heat of the day during the sale, I am inside
cooking up some lunch under the swamp cooler which is still
working great since I am so great that I learned how to fix it!
A young snip of a girl taps on the window to get the proprietor's
attention and I dawn my floppy hat and thongs and venture out into the
oven of the desert. She has ridden up on her bike and her face is red.
She apologetically asks me for a cold drink, water, anything she says is ok.
She looks to be maybe 15 to me, and I discover she has a car in the shop.
Just like me last month, when my car was in the shop, I too had been
riding my bike to do errands and what not and discovering a person
could die of heat stroke if they got too too ambitious in that regard.
I am fixing egg salad sandwiches and I offer her an open face sandwich
with the ice water. She feels strange taking it, but does and comments
how good it is.
We talk about 3 speeds and one speed bikes and how hot it is, and
how old I am and how silly I am, for I had to jump into the river one
day while riding my own bike and I must say I felt like a kid at 63.
Revived somewhat she leaves without buying any of my fine junk. Surely all those xmas items would come in handy?
I relax in the arm chair recliner a good friend donated to me and
think about stringing up xmas lights in July...the mini ones would look
charming in my living room I think!
I mosey out to get some fresh water. The tap water is nasty tasting
here, full of god knows what as evidenced by the crystalized mineral
deposits in my cooler, my tub, and my toilet.
A young man is refilling the water tanks as I pull up and inquires
of my well being. He makes a comment that he has done a 12 hour day and
we discuss that he has a great new air conditioner in his new truck so
he doesn't mind the work load.
None of us here mind the heat, as long as we have a means to cool down.
After the ant fiasco I sat outside a bit in the warm still dark air
and let out a hoot; to my surprise I discovered there was an echo!
I made a little bark, yip yip sound, there it was again bouncing
off somewhere, somehow, I liked the yip coming back to me and had fun
with it for a bit before deciding the neighbors might wonder if I'd
lost it.
It's a little strange, the accoustics around here; you can hear
sounds and run all over looking for the source; the sounds bounce here
and there; maybe it's the tin of the mobile homes reflecting sound just
like sun spots, we can have sound spots perhaps.