Hello From Sunny Arizona!

Hi! My younger sister (she-who-declines-to-be-named-in-my-blog) and her significant other very generously invited me to spend a couple weeks recovery time with them in Arizona. They had all sorts of sky miles saved up , so my tickets were free, and my sister had other business in New England so she came up and flew back with me. The difference in weather and terrain is so great as to make the initial experience seem a little surreal, but Arizona with its variety of succulents and flowers, mesquites and Palo Verdes, is rapidly becoming familiar as we drive around and I am able to take in the sights and sounds (and sometimes odors!) of this desert that is coming alive with its unfamiliar infestation of humanity. The above reference to odor is due to the moment I opened the car door and was hit full in the face with the scents of one (or many) of the stockyards that surround the Phoenix area. It smelled as though the desert had been both biologically and socially indiscreet, although that is not the way I initially phrased it to my traveling companions. So far that has been the only real negative to the experience, which has been very enjoyable thus far.

It is interesting to see the differences in approach to highway construction/landscaping/decoration here as opposed to the New England area. While in New England there is landscaping and areas set aside for fields of wild flowers, in Arizona there are entire areas of walls and embankment that have been decorated after the fashion of Native American-style art works. As you drive through the area there are the most intriguing pictographs of dragonflies and Gila monsters; geometric designs abound and designs clearly Native American in inspiration are placed so as to be visible from the air as well as from the ground, as I was able to tell upon my initial arrival at the Phoenix Airport.

I have so much enjoyed seeing all the different types of cactus that grow in the area, most of which appear to be native. The saguaros are really interesting and, as my sister explained that they do not branch until they reach an advanced age of fifty, or so, I have developed an increased appreciation and respect for the "branchier" members of this group of cacti. Many of the other cacti species are getting ready to bloom, there are buds everywhere, and I am hoping some of them will blossom while I am here. If not, I will ask my sister to email me some pictures of the coming events as they unfold. I have lost count of the number of varieties of cacti and other types of succulents that grow so readily here, but there are many of great beauty that I wish I could somehow safely transport back home with me to create a little oasis of desert in the middle of the austere New England winter as a souvenir of my visit here.

My sister and her boyfriend have a lovely home with a small pool out back, which I got to soak in yesterday. I don't think I have felt that relaxed in ages, floating under the Arizona sky with the gentle sun on my face, which did not scorch one inch of my pale and pasty New England complexion! It was wonderful just floating there and wishing I could go on floating there for a much longer time than I had to float in yesterday, so I may take some time to do so today although my sister will scold if I do so while no one else is home. (Sigh, sigh, sigh!)

In the meantime, I very much miss my boyfriend and kitties all suffering October in less temperate climes and will be glad to fly home, but will sigh for this weather for awhile after getting back. It really is lovely here.

Last night we went to a free concert at Phoenix College given by the Phoenix College Community Orchestra. It was in celebration of Halloween and all of the members of the orchestra were dressed in various costumes of their own choosing. The music, commentary, and some really bad jokes were all in keeping with the theme and it was a very enjoyable experience. The music was well played with few glitches (not that I am qualified to note an orchestral glitch should one occur) and the evening thoroughly fun with punch and cookies afterward.

This is my visit so far, aside from a visit to one of the local establishments to purchase replacement breasts (temporary) which my sister and a large number of others have been encouraging me to do since the initial surgeries last spring. I'll admit it has not been on the top of my priority list but more due to the chemo steamrolling everything else than to my not wanting to deal with it. There have also been some difficulties insurance-wise but mostly I have just been too pooped from the chemo.

So I will return to New England a little more "whole" than I left it, or at least with the appearance of being so, and will resume my life there but not without a brief sigh (or many) for the lovely weather and vistas I leave behind me in Arizona.

Blessings and peace to all.

Izzlebug