Category: Life In The Desert

Scolded for sneaking not one but two gold-wrapped chocolates from the candy dish, he stomps to his room.  The windows are open to let the rain smell in and so I easily hear him–as do the neighbors, probably–wailing about the injustice of it all. Sister comes and sits close by, questioning if the offense will… Continue reading where the rainbow ends

All. week. long. one kid or another has been home with a fever.  My hands are raw and cracking from the constant scrub.  Just yesterday I mixed and drank the very last Emergen-C in the house.  I need to go out for more before whatever immunity I’ve built up subsides. I’m three weeks in to… Continue reading the rule of sevens

 When we moved here to the desert almost nine years ago, we were admittedly underwhelmed.  After having driven through Phoenix from California we had lofty expectations.  Phoenix, with its impressive shopping centers and upscale restaurants, left us hoping for more of the same down the dusty road in Tucson but those expectations went mostly unfulfilled. … Continue reading On knowing

Tired of the dust and the desert creatures we decided a couple of years ago that January 2013 would be the time to start searching for the next setting in which our story would unfold.  For two whole years we’ve pinned itty bitty maybes on cities in the map of our wildest dreams.  We had… Continue reading Waiting on pins

We haven’t run the AC steadily in over a week.  I refuse to be tricked, but this Arizona weather is trying.  Teasing with fresh breezes and crisp evenings.  Clouds overhead are a welcome respite from the scorch of the desert sun, beating down and wearing out.  We sat on the couch for a full hour… Continue reading Seeping through

My Gramps called me over the weekend and–among other things–he asked so when are you going to put up a new blog? And I told him hopefully this week and I fully intended to get down to business on Sunday but then we had to run to town for odds and ends and the day… Continue reading snapshots from a brain mostly scattered

You know how every so often, along comes a weekend that lives up to its rep?  Like, it relaxes and rejuvenates, while still ranking high on the productivity scale?  Yeah we had one of those.  And now here I am, just daring Monday to bring it.  I got this. It helps, of course, that we… Continue reading weekend in pictures

Just over a month ago I had a mini crisis in my kitchen.  Or–more accurately–in my pantry.  I came home one afternoon after grocery shopping and unloaded all of our purchases onto the counter.  I separated the cold items from the dry items, putting away meats and dairy and produce first.  And then I turned… Continue reading Practically Perfect Pantry Makeover

When we built and subsequently moved into this house just over six years ago I remember telling more than one person that the only way I’d ever move out of this place was if they dragged my stiff, lifeless body from it.  Drastic, much?  Who, me?  Now, here I am compiling a wish list of… Continue reading in my next house

Once each year, something magical takes place here in the desert. Whereas dust and cacti typically cover our barren desert valley, a seldom snowfall occasionally arrives, blanketing the landscape in shimmering ice. It gives leafless limbs a glittery coat. It drapes desert fauna in icy splendor. It {temporarily} softens the most prickly of limbs.  The… Continue reading Seldom Snowfall