Weather has improved, it is much more livable now. It even rained! The temperature was in the 70's today and a very windy day. Winds were gusting to 40, for the most part it was steady in the 20's.
It is hard to make out South Mountain in the picture but that's what happens when the wind kicks up the sand. You get a gritty feeling in your mouth and nose. Not the most pleasant, kind of builds that Arizona character.

In Arizona we dream on windy days like today that we are close to the ocean. At least I can deceive myself to turn the dust swirled by the wind into mist slowly carried from the ocean to our shore. I try to make out a distant ship on the waters and imagine what it would be like on the sea. I like this poem:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,And a grey mist on the sea's face and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tideIs a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,And quite sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

By John Masefield (1878-1967)

Time to get back to work John....

Spring

It has been very hot this spring, it is only March and has gone over 95. It seems so different than the midwest, no blankets of snow, no bone chilling winds, no aches in my chest from the cold air rushing into my lungs. The heat has it's own challenges. The sun is so powerful and the rays quickly heat your skin. It is like this ball of fire scorching your soul. We do not talk about it much, at least not directly. We say things like thank goodness it's only spring... 95 degrees and we are thankful it is only spring. So different than Chicago or to the northwest of Chicago where I grew up. Lately there has been a lot of conversation about the lights we've seen in the night sky over Phoenix.
They have had a lot of coverage in the press and on tv. The lights are in horizontal line on a straight axis about 15-20,000 feet up. It is even more of a subject of discussion due to them appearing about 10 years to the day that similar lights appeared in the southwestern Phoenix skies. There seems to be a polarization in the views in what is causing this phenomena. There are some who believe it is aliens and others that they are caused by military top secret weapons.
The UFers (believe it is UFOs) are certain it is the ten year return of the aliens to collect another sample of humans for examination and analysis. Most of them believe this has really gone on for some time and have a kind of abduction family tree that traces the alien visits coinciding with some acquantance or family member meeting an uncertain fate. Some also have matrices that show a deeper correlation to world events or catastrophes.
One told me of an Aunt Edith who dissappeared to never be heard from again. A beautiful, free spirited young woman. So alive so full of life in her prime, just gone and then the lights. It seemed so sad, but they preferred to think the best, that she was in a happier place. Some thought she had gone to Los Angeles or New York to find her place in the world. But she knew her Aunt Edith would never leave her and not return, no she was certain that the lights had something to do with it all. Even with the military taking credit, she seemed unmistakably sure.
The military claimed that the lights were simply flares dropped from aircraft for night excercises being conducted outside of town. Night excercises indeed thought the UFers, it only boldened their confidence. It also fed the belief of those who knew the truth that the lights were top secret military experiments. I don't know who is right, I look at the lights and try to make out what they are. They don't seem to move and I tire quickly from it. I have seemed to be very tired this spring due to the heat. I look for ways to take my mind from it, maybe the lights help me. I remember the summers in the midwest.
I remember my grandfather and how we'd share a love of ice cream after a long hot summer day. My grandfather was a kind gentle man, and we would spend the summers with him at his cottage. It was on an island in Pistakee lake in McHenry. I have so many fond memories of my time there and life there. At the end of the day we'd gather on the screened porch and he would tell us stories as we would rock in cane Kennedy rockers and watch beautiful sunsets over the lake. There were funny stories and dramatic stories and stories of the Chicago gangsters. It never seemed scary, always more important to get lost in the way he'd tell them. More important to lick the ice cream dripping from the cone.
I saw Vice President Gore's movie on global warming, it was scary. He seem like a nice man, and I think he does care about us. I will try to help to... I like to walk, and ride my bike, and run, and do yoga. Those things do not seem to hurt the earth too much. I hope we can fix this warming, the earth is really a pretty place. At the cottage I did not fear global warming or carbon poisoning the air. I always thought the best for the future, kind of like how my friend hoped the best for his Aunt Edith. Maybe the lights are from aliens, I hope that they like us. Do you think they prefer Americans? I know in the movies and on tv the aliens always seem to prefer Americans. I hope it's not because they have good taste. I really do not know what to think about them. I know they help me take my mind off the heat. It has been very hot here this spring.