To beat the heat I have started doing my morning walk after only my first cup of coffee by about 5:30 a.m. It is starting to get light at that time but not enough that the bats are entirely back to their caves in the mountain, so they swoop low over me chasing the last of their meals as they head en masse east before the first rays of sunlight hit. Due to the tropical monsoon dampness now present, the desert smells are sharper and assault my nose with varying degrees depending upon topography and land features. The vegetation of the low-lying washes always put forth more pungent flavors. It’s quiet out this time of morning and I am often the only one out walking, but not always. For the resolute, everyone now walks well before 7 a.m. or not at all.
Even though my days vary between clients and tasks, there has developed a flow to my weeks that has them quickly slipping past. That’s ok; it will be nice to be around the bend from Yuma’s oppressive summer heat so I already look forward to the fall and winter. Although I am now tied to the desert as surely as if I had shackles around my ankles, so far my business gives me enough pleasure that I have been able to temper my need and yearning for escape. At some point though (I can feel it building) I will need to see some trees and real mountains and terrain that isn’t all rock and sand.
Marc will return soon with our new cat and some quasi-plans to perhaps get the front of our lot gated off so we can hope to contain our cats on our lot and not have them wandering. Tucker, given the heat, has learned to stay close, hiding under the damp coolness the Pigmy palm affords but only for about an hour every morning then he too is ready to relax beneath the air conditioner, snoozing his day away. By that time, I am off as I am most mornings, to make my elderly lady her breakfast and chat with her to get her day started. She has even been asking me to come over on Saturdays, effectively making a six day work week for me but I still get enough breaks that it is not a problem. She says she misses me when I’m not there! Surely, that’s some sort of job security….
