Man! What a gorgeous day this is!
The wind started up yesterday and today the temp is dropping and the winds are blowing, seemingly from two different directions - down from Tucson to the north and up from Mexico to the south. I love windy weather. I love to stand with my face to the wind and let it blow all the cobwebs away. I have a postcard somewhere with the perfect sentiment and if it's in the first place I look I'll share it with you....
"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings; Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine into flowers; The winds will blow their freshness into you and the storms their energy, and cares will drop off like autumn leaves."
-John Muir
I've had this post card FOR EVER. It's a little worse for the wear. And now John Denver is singing on the radio "sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy, sunshine in my eyes can make me cry...sunshine almost always makes me high..." - making the way I'm feeling today complete. Can't describe it exactly. Sort of melancholy but not really..........just sweetly mellow.
I'm remembering the days when I really got to know my sister, Cindy. I'd moved to Tucson from Ft. Hood, TX and was in divorce recovery mode. Cindy and I are 12 years apart age-wise. She came along just before we moved to England. We lived "on the economy" in England, which just means that we weren't on a base (because Dad was babysitting a missile secreted in a country hillside in Lincolnshire). We eventually landed in half of a country manor called Wykeham Hall -- which I still visit via Google Earth from time to time.
We ccupied half of the Hall because the owners had lost their money somehow or other. Under the floor boards of the room where Cindy's looking for Easter Eggs are the remaims of monks who date from Cromwell's time. This part of the Hall had been a monastery - in fact our water came from the Monk's Pond just below the Hall. My brother, Rod, and I attended local schools - De Aston for him, Sheffield Manor for me. Uniforms and all - windsor knot for my tie, beret for my head. I hated it and I was a bit of a disturbance. The Head Mistress eventually asked my parents to remove me (!!!!!!!!!!). After failing the entrance interview at the only other local school ( : P ) I was sent to boarding school at the American High School at Bushy Park near London. (!!!!) Tho I had to test-in midyear I made it and cleaned up my act. History buffs may recognize the name Bushy Park - Eisenhower was there during WWII. Tho I sometimes traveled into London and caught a train up to Louth to spend the weekend at home I really didn't know my baby sister. When we rotated to the states I was a junior in high school and always busy with school and work and boyfriend. Then I was off to college. Then I got married. Many years later I moved to Tucson. Cindy was in high school and I soon discovered she liked exploring as much as I do. We drove and hiked all over the place and we both volunteered with the Tucson Theatre Company.
I often remember one trip as especially magical. We drove down to Texas Canyon, left my car, and hiked into the granite formations - huge rounded boulders stacked upside down and crosswise all over the place. We spent a cold night in a cleft that was just barely large enough to shelter us and eventually made our way back to my car - which now had a broken windshield. Don't know what that was about. The previous day had been warm and the night cold. The car was completely sealed - nowhere for air to escape. Seems a stretch to think the change in temp caused the crack but there was nobody else poking around where we were. On the other hand, the car wasn't always within sight. It's a puzzlement........ Anyway, on our way back we stopped at Saguaro Ntl Monument East, climbed to an outcrop, and watched the sun set in a cloud streaked sky. Below us we could see a pack of coyotes moving gracefully thru the silent desert. It was magical and is still clear as crystal in my mind.
In the time it's taken for me to write this the sky has been covered with a solid mass of gray and I think I can smell rain -- the day just couldn't get any better :)))
I'm remembering the days when I really got to know my sister, Cindy. I'd moved to Tucson from Ft. Hood, TX and was in divorce recovery mode. Cindy and I are 12 years apart age-wise. She came along just before we moved to England. We lived "on the economy" in England, which just means that we weren't on a base (because Dad was babysitting a missile secreted in a country hillside in Lincolnshire). We eventually landed in half of a country manor called Wykeham Hall -- which I still visit via Google Earth from time to time.
We ccupied half of the Hall because the owners had lost their money somehow or other. Under the floor boards of the room where Cindy's looking for Easter Eggs are the remaims of monks who date from Cromwell's time. This part of the Hall had been a monastery - in fact our water came from the Monk's Pond just below the Hall. My brother, Rod, and I attended local schools - De Aston for him, Sheffield Manor for me. Uniforms and all - windsor knot for my tie, beret for my head. I hated it and I was a bit of a disturbance. The Head Mistress eventually asked my parents to remove me (!!!!!!!!!!). After failing the entrance interview at the only other local school ( : P ) I was sent to boarding school at the American High School at Bushy Park near London. (!!!!) Tho I had to test-in midyear I made it and cleaned up my act. History buffs may recognize the name Bushy Park - Eisenhower was there during WWII. Tho I sometimes traveled into London and caught a train up to Louth to spend the weekend at home I really didn't know my baby sister. When we rotated to the states I was a junior in high school and always busy with school and work and boyfriend. Then I was off to college. Then I got married. Many years later I moved to Tucson. Cindy was in high school and I soon discovered she liked exploring as much as I do. We drove and hiked all over the place and we both volunteered with the Tucson Theatre Company.I often remember one trip as especially magical. We drove down to Texas Canyon, left my car, and hiked into the granite formations - huge rounded boulders stacked upside down and crosswise all over the place. We spent a cold night in a cleft that was just barely large enough to shelter us and eventually made our way back to my car - which now had a broken windshield. Don't know what that was about. The previous day had been warm and the night cold. The car was completely sealed - nowhere for air to escape. Seems a stretch to think the change in temp caused the crack but there was nobody else poking around where we were. On the other hand, the car wasn't always within sight. It's a puzzlement........ Anyway, on our way back we stopped at Saguaro Ntl Monument East, climbed to an outcrop, and watched the sun set in a cloud streaked sky. Below us we could see a pack of coyotes moving gracefully thru the silent desert. It was magical and is still clear as crystal in my mind.
In the time it's taken for me to write this the sky has been covered with a solid mass of gray and I think I can smell rain -- the day just couldn't get any better :)))
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