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A Spectacularly Fine Day
14 years ago
Kyoo no tema wa kore desu....
I'm immediately following my last journal with this'un, because I like to balance out bad vibes with good.
Every now & then people ask my "Why stay in Tucson?" Indeed, I ask it myself from time to time. But after a day like yesterday, on the top of a mountain, surrounded by breath-taking sights, with some seriously fun & deranged & giving furries, you know why.
A whole day of being at an elevation of 9,000 feet, feeling cool breezes, looking down on the poor schlubs stuck in our sweltering city & being glad that for the moment you're not one of them. A whole day of peering at plants, poking at bugs, sitting on rocks, climbing rocks, trying to take pictures of camera-shy birds, and taking over 150 pictures of the view & the rocks & the before-mentioned fun & deranged furries (about 1/3 of which are blurred for no good reason, because my digital camera deserves to be shot).
I know my slow speed & lack of stamina slowed up the others' frolicking. They never once made me feel bad about it. I forgave their constant habit of charging & bellowing directly at the birds I was intently trying to photograph & identify (okay, only sort of), they forgave & even participated in my habit of finding interesting rocks to send back to my nieces & nephews (who are spoiled & probably won't appreciate them, but my brother & mother will). We got to watch what seemed to be an aerial battle; turns out it was just an adult hawk carrying prey & its noisy, hungry juvenile who wanted noms (species unknown). My deviant friends posed for pictures & ruined other shots & found interesting things to throw at me & each other. They convinced me to try riding on a ski lift (I'm scared of heights), only to be thwarted by rules (no round-trip journeys from the top of the mountain). Despite my companion's efforts to foil my birding, I even got to add some new species to my list (Steller's Jay, rock wren, and either a rufous or an Allen's hummingbird). We alternately laughed & abused each other & appreciated nature & otherwise had a hell of a good time.
A whole day spent enjoying the outdoors, doing marginal birding, with people who make me laugh, and who for some inexplicable reason enjoy being in my company. I'm exhausted, both my feet & my ankles hate me, it's currently 99f with 31% humidity, and I just can't stop grinning.
Why stay in Tucson? Why the hell leave?!
Every now & then people ask my "Why stay in Tucson?" Indeed, I ask it myself from time to time. But after a day like yesterday, on the top of a mountain, surrounded by breath-taking sights, with some seriously fun & deranged & giving furries, you know why.
A whole day of being at an elevation of 9,000 feet, feeling cool breezes, looking down on the poor schlubs stuck in our sweltering city & being glad that for the moment you're not one of them. A whole day of peering at plants, poking at bugs, sitting on rocks, climbing rocks, trying to take pictures of camera-shy birds, and taking over 150 pictures of the view & the rocks & the before-mentioned fun & deranged furries (about 1/3 of which are blurred for no good reason, because my digital camera deserves to be shot).
I know my slow speed & lack of stamina slowed up the others' frolicking. They never once made me feel bad about it. I forgave their constant habit of charging & bellowing directly at the birds I was intently trying to photograph & identify (okay, only sort of), they forgave & even participated in my habit of finding interesting rocks to send back to my nieces & nephews (who are spoiled & probably won't appreciate them, but my brother & mother will). We got to watch what seemed to be an aerial battle; turns out it was just an adult hawk carrying prey & its noisy, hungry juvenile who wanted noms (species unknown). My deviant friends posed for pictures & ruined other shots & found interesting things to throw at me & each other. They convinced me to try riding on a ski lift (I'm scared of heights), only to be thwarted by rules (no round-trip journeys from the top of the mountain). Despite my companion's efforts to foil my birding, I even got to add some new species to my list (Steller's Jay, rock wren, and either a rufous or an Allen's hummingbird). We alternately laughed & abused each other & appreciated nature & otherwise had a hell of a good time.
A whole day spent enjoying the outdoors, doing marginal birding, with people who make me laugh, and who for some inexplicable reason enjoy being in my company. I'm exhausted, both my feet & my ankles hate me, it's currently 99f with 31% humidity, and I just can't stop grinning.
Why stay in Tucson? Why the hell leave?!
But, eh, I grew up a little north of Phoenix, and for those 25 years it seemed like the only things to do were to look at mountains (impressive the first time you see them, not so much after the first decade) and, well, die, since a good chunk of the people in the 10 mile radius where I live were all retirees.
(apart from someone who was banned from the group making threats to show up anyways--it was a minor thing that was aptly nipped in the bud by a neutral party).
1/10 population Tucson
3 1/2 Tucson's elevation
1 Mt Lemon + 3,000ft
Shake well.
With a population of ~100,000 at 7,000ft at the base of Mt Humphrey (12,000ft).
...and we have a round-trip Flagstaff SkyRide.
Oh, and we have the highest point in Arizona. ^___^
>freezes<
>a full minute later<
*click*
"Thank you!"
>freezes<
>a full minute later<
*click*
"Thank you!"