Category: Stories

Day Eight.  And thus ends my Arizona journey.  I am thankful.  And I have a cold.

Day Eight: Home

It was going to be warmer today, and sunny, but, alas, I wouldn’t be enjoying much of it. It was time to finish packing and get myself to the airport for the flight home. Goodbye, Arizona! Florida, here I come!

Home. I can have more than one, can’t I?

It ended up being quite a long day, and my cold wasn’t helping. Because of the nasty weather plowing through the Dallas area, where my connecting flight was, my first flight from Phoenix was delayed by about an hour. No problem, because this time I had a 2-plus hour layover and I wasn’t worried about making the second flight.

We arrived in Dallas, then sat on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting to de-plane, 51^st in the queue for an empty gate. You’d think that everyone would be ready to get their butts off the plane quickly, but, no. It took an inordinate amount of time for the overhead bins to be emptied and the passengers to get their acts together and their stuff and walk down the aisle and out the door. It’s a good thing the weather also delayed my next flight by an hour, but by the time I had dis-embarked, I was out of time.

I ran to catch my connecting flight.

We arrived in Panama City an hour late, at 10:30pm, and I was ready to be home and in bed. With my cold, my ears had made me excruciatingly aware, on both flights when we descended to a lower altitude, that they were unhappy. I still can’t hear out of my right ear.

Then we all stood around waiting for our luggage to show up on the carousel. Mine didn’t. Neither did about 10 others’ bags. So, we trooped over to the American Airlines counter where only one person was there, and he was definitely not in a hurry to take care of our issues. I timed it. It was about 20 minutes per person. Seriously.   Anyway, my luggage will hopefully appear at some point later this evening (Sunday), since I’m clearly writing this the day after my arrival back in rainy Florida.

Yes, I typed rainy. A very rainy Florida. Where in the world is the sun?

But, enough of my whining. I am home safe and for that I am truly grateful.

I wanted to take a few minutes and re-cap my week in Arizona. My purpose in taking this vacation was two-fold. Since I’m an OCD person and a list-maker, I have a hard time just doing something only for fun. There has to be a purpose in it somewhere or I feel I’m not being the human I should be. Strange, I know.

I knew I needed some time off to just chill and get re-connected and grounded spiritually, and work on my book. And that needed time and space with no interruptions.

It worked perfectly.

The Holy Spirit helped me remember and then memorialize. Going back to the one place where I met God in an extra-special way after seven years of absence was like the reunion with a long-lost love. The years melted away as if they’d never been. The lessons I had learned in my desert wanderings came back to warm my heart.

When I said goodbye to Arizona in 2012, I begged God to let me someday return to live there. The separation has been long and, at times, heart-wrenching. But along the way, in all the towns and cities he has placed me since, I’ve been given grace upon grace, friends, and family, and plenty of peace.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire granted is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12.

Arizona, this past week, was a beautiful gift given to me by my Heavenly Father and I will forever be eternally grateful.

Onward and upward!

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!

Day Six of my Arizona journey.  Sunshine, hiking, and gorgeous views.  So thankful for all of it!

Day Six: Exploring

There was almost no wind when I got up at 6am-ish, so I knew it was going to be a great morning for a hike. This time I headed over to Adero Canyon, a new trailhead on the border of Fountain Hills and Scottsdale at the foot of the McDowell Mountains. It was a sunny day, cool-ish, and comfortable for walking around in the desert.

You had to snake your way back there about 2 ½ miles off Palisades Blvd and through a new upscale development going in.

I parked my car and headed to one of the trails. Adero Canyon is very nice with maps and shaded places to sit and even public restrooms. And safe. That was a plus.

I took tons of pictures and had a wonderful time! The trails were well marked and with varying degrees of difficulty. Overlook trail was just what its name implies – a fabulous overlook of Fountain Hills where you can see the Superstitions, The White Mountains, and Four Peaks and how they ring the town. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!

One of my favorite things is to find plants growing out of rock. The life lesson contained in that one simple picture, for me, is affirming. I not only located some, but also came across boulders where the roots of these plants had eventually worked their way through the rock, pushing their way out and into the open air. If that’s not a lesson in perseverance and strength I don’t know what is.

Desert life isn’t easy and only the tough survive. When I think of the flower gardens I used to have in Michigan, and the plants here in the desert, I can’t help but wonder how long Michigan plants would make it. Probably not even a month. But, to be honest, Michigan plants weren’t designed to live in the Arizona heat. And cactus plants weren’t designed to live in the heavy, damp soil of Michigan. They were designed to live in sand with scant moisture.

Which is a good lesson about how each of us is different and God-designed to serve him where he has placed us. He gives us what we need to accomplish his goals.

I love the tenacity of the desert where each plant and critter who lives there understands the daily struggles they face. I love their ability to take the worst and make it beautiful and lasting.

By the time I arrived back at my condo, I was exhausted, headachy, and sore. The desert isn’t for the faint of heart. But I’ll be back soon. I promise.

One last full day here and it’s back to Florida. It’s been a real blessing to be able to spend a week here in my favorite place on earth.

When can I come back?