Day Seven of my Arizona journey. Bittersweet, to say the least. What a wonderful week, and tomorrow I’ll be flying back to Florida, home for now, where so many I love live. If I could only bring them all with me, it would be perfect!
Day Seven: Almost Goodbye
This, my last full day here started out slow. I woke up sore and achy and feeling pretty punky. My cold was getting the best of me. But after a cup of green tea, some scripture reading, and a couple of ibuprofen, life began to look up again.
I was able to go for a nice walk/run about mid-morning when the sun was trying to peek out of the clouds, and I decided it was time, this being my last day here and all, to go to a restaurant for lunch. I sat outside with a book, re-reading one of my favorite gothic romance novels written some decades before, and while I waited for my meal, a little bird kept me company. He would hop close to me, then fly off up to the ledge, then back down to the floor, then back to the ledge. It was obvious he was used to getting his meals there. I left him some crumbled tortillas.
The mountains looked closer today. Maybe because it was cloudy? I’m not sure, but they looked extra awesome, and at my outside table at the restaurant I had a wonderful view of them and the famous fountain when it went off. I didn’t get a chance to drive through the Superstitions this time, but it’s on my list for my next visit. Did I say visit, or did I mean permanent move? Fountain Hills puts on a super cool art fair here every November and February with over 500 vendors over a four day weekend. There are some truly great artists who bring their works of art to sell. Paintings, sculptures, jewelry, art made from discarded metal, water fountains, and a whole lot more. It takes hours just to walk the fair and appreciate what each artist’s booth has to offer. Maybe I’ll come back in November. February isn’t warm enough.
I spent some time tweaking my latest book chapter today, and I’m really pleased at the amount of progress I’ve been able to make this week. My next step is to begin reviewing each chapter, expanding where it’s needed, editing, then organizing them so the order makes sense.
I guess I haven’t said what kind of book I’m writing, have I? It’s a type of memoir, but not entirely. I know my life story isn’t anything spectacular, but it’s mine and some of the lessons God has taught me might just be helpful to somebody else.
Being a writer for newspapers and a magazine, I’ve learned a lot about writing other people’s stories. I’ve learned how to conduct interviews and take that information to put together a factual, and, hopefully, interesting story that will pull in the reader and leave them happy to have read it. And maybe even changed for the better.
This, my first book, will be a huge learning experience I know. I’ve already written some of a second book, so what I learn from this process will help me in the next one.
This entire week has been such a wonderful gift from God, it’s hard for me to find the proper words to thank him, but I am so very thankful.
My flight leaves for Florida on Saturday. Back to work on Monday, and back into my routine. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about how this all started as I wrap up my phenomenal week in my favorite place ever.
On to the next chapter!
