Last week daughter and I drove up to Flagstaff to help son pack-up his apartment and head back to Tucson after graduation.
Flagstaff is in the north and Tucson is in the southern part of Arizona.
On the drive back home you have to drive through Phoenix, what a hell hole of crap.
Can I say that on my blogs ? ? ?
It has become nothing more than an overcrowded extended neighborhood of Los Angles.
Too much concrete, asphalt, cars and extremely rude obnoxious self absorbed people.
I was taking mental notes on how many people of one group especially was at fault,
Then I realized that they probably never learned any common sense or manners from their mothers and fathers or family.
Some what frustrated I finally got through Phoenix thank goodness and started the lovely two hour drive to Tucson. And it is lovely drive once you get past Phoenix.
The sun was just starting to hang low in the western sky and after several days of wind the weather was calm. Dust was suspended in the air so it gave the evening a lovely sparkling golden glow and as I passed several miles of lush cool green fields
about halfway to Tucson,
I saw it....
Sitting on the open dirt verge between the highway, fence and the fields was the biggest raven/crow ? I have ever seen. As I was driving about 75 mph I only got a glimpse of this vinet but a week later I can still vividly remember it all.
The bird was sitting in the open looking west across the carpet of green fields towards the setting sun.
I got the feeling he was just sitting there enjoying the quiet after a busy day.
It seemed so very zen.
It felt like this bird was enjoying the late evening, early twilight as much as I do.
But...
Of course reality set in and I think that the bird was just waiting for the evening to start so that all the bugs and small critter that take refuge in the green fields from the hot afternoon heat would come out.
Dinner !
But I like to think and will think that this huge bird was really enjoying the beautiful setting sun and the coming twilight.
All I know is that one quick glimpse put me back into a much better mood than I had been in since Phoenix.
zen. . . parsnip
music. . . Silk, Ryuichi Sakamoto OST
i wish i wasn't afraid of birds. but i am. two were on my terrace drenched today and i felt bad but still shooed them away. now square doggies and rocks are quite another story! yert!
ReplyDeletesmiles, bee
oxoxo
The bird was so big but I knew it wasn't a hawk.
DeleteI have never been to Arizona. Is there a worthy place to visit in that State?
ReplyDeleteWorthy how ? It is one of the most lovely states I have visited or lived in. If you like LA or Chicago (minus the snow add the heat) you would like Phoenix.
DeleteFlagstaff is up in the Pinon and Ponderosa Pines high desert and is lovely small university town.
Tucson is just fun and everyone is represented here. Several fabulous art museums, National parks, lots of 60's hippies, new age, big biking community (up in the hill where I live you never know what team is training here on any given day) ranching, outdoor hiking and climbing and golf. Tucson is a huge foodie town and has fabulous places to eat. The city supports the art and we have some wonderful outdoor installations. In the winter the town is full of Canadians and boy are they ever a hoot. Plus The University Of Arizona has a beautiful campus and a great Basketball team. Go Wildcats !
Unlike what the very liberal part democrat party what you to believe Tucson and Arizona is very welcoming. And like NY with the stand and frisk law that has dropped crime, I am a 1070 supporter. And in the next week or so I will write about how ILLEGAL immigration has effected my family and friends. I have watched the pandering for votes and money and subversion of our laws for a grab for power.
But if you blue skies, big white fluffy clouds, open space room to breathe and people who actually smile and are very friendly you might like us but if your worried about us being worthy ... well maybe not so much. :)
I am mostly interested in going to new and unique kind of places. I have been everywhere on the East Coast and some spots in the Middle of the Country, but only Southern California and Las Vegas in the West. Thanks for describing it for me.
DeleteMy brother once saw this enormous black bird that he claimed had a wing span of something like ten feet in the West Texas desert. Strange, mysterious creatures.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what kind of bird it was bigger than a hawk but I just don't know ?
DeleteBut I know it was a lovely moment in time.
Flagstaff brings back memories Parsnip - we have stayed there twice on two different holidays - both times in lovely hotels. We also walked from the hotel to a wonderful bookstore where we could sit on settees and drink coffee and read the books. I remember it with pleasure. As for Pheonix - stayed right on the outskirts one very hot weekend and never went into the city itself - instead we rode on a bus which went round the area and each time we got off at Borders bookshop where we could buy books and have lunch. I can't remember the name of the suburb but golly I remember how hot it was.
ReplyDeleteFlagstaff is a beautiful little town and I love visiting. Plus it is very close to the Grand Canyon.
DeletePhoenix does get hot it is always at lest 10 to 20 degrees hotter than Tucson.
I wish Borders was still open. They had to close and it was my favorite bookstore. I too miss the quiet time spent qith books and coffee.
I am very lucky to live in Tucson.
I"ve only been to Arizona once (Scottsdale, Grand Canyon, sedona) on my honeymoon. I loved it and would move there in a minute although I think that I'd long for the beach. You are lucky to live in such a beautiful place
ReplyDeleteI have been up to The Grand Canyon several times and each time I visit I am amazed.
DeleteI use to live in Laguna Beach, California right by the ocean. Pelicans use to fly by my home. I miss the ocean so much but as I had to move after the divorce, I couldn't afford living there any more, I have found new and wonderful places and thing to love. But like you I still miss the ocean.
I love where Bee lives, close to you and so I can see why you would miss your beach too.
Awesome. I have a bird story. Yesterday, when I took the boys on their morning walk, I watched a raven pick something out of one of my neighbor's garbage. A carton, I think. Anyway, he flew to a rooftop with it. After, A big hawk swooped down and stole his prize, while down below a little cardinal happily pecked at the top of a garbage bag.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
hahahahahaha... what a silly or possible smart hawk, that carton must have had some tasty scraps in it for the hawk to take it. Good thing he went after the carton and not your peeps !
DeleteI would have loved to have seen that story play out.
We always have birds around. They know where the food comes from!
ReplyDeleteWe used to buy French fries for the crows at McDonalds. They'd sit outside and wait for us to bring them out.
I haven't live around crows very much but I think crows are very smart. Plus they trained you to bring them french fries. hahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely sky image, Parsnip! I haven't been to Flagstaff or Grand Canyon yet, but I'm sure they are beautiful. I have driven through Phoenix and it does remind me of Los Angeles. Congrats on your son's graduation. :)
ReplyDeleteDon't be so critical of Phoenix, if all of those idiots didn't live there they would be someplace else, like Tucson.
ReplyDeleteMy husband loved all the parts of Arizona he's visited on business trips, but I've never been there. Maybe some day. Not in the middle of summer, though. I don't care HOW "dry" you guys say the heat is there... 120 degrees is too darned hot for me. (After all, the heat inside my oven is "dry" too, but strangely enough, I've never felt the urge to climb in...) Georgia is PLENTY hot for me!
ReplyDeleteCould those birds have been some sort of buzzard? They're pretty big.
Lovely post Parsnip. I'm glad the raven was able to move you into a different space after Phoenix. You're right, it's a very different feeling place from Tucson.
ReplyDeleteI've got a cousin in Phoenix... works as an engineer. I haven't been to Arizona, but I'd love to go. Just not in the heat of summer!
ReplyDelete