Sunrise/Sunset

Nov. 23^rd, 2015

Watched a stunning sunrise.

Waited on hold 45 minutes on a call to State Farm about Dora’s “Situation”.

Hunted an hour for the Trailhead to Hellhole Canyon trail.

Met a nice Canadian couple that pointed us to the trail.

Moon and mountains.

We’re waking up to watch the sunrise these mornings. To do otherwise seems to be an insult to one of the great moments of the days here - a lost opportunity. Today the sun rose through clouds, and illuminated them in a way that reminded me of many sunsets I have seen.  One of the great losses of living in a city is the loss of a clear view of the horizons. Both of them. The morning horizon and the evening horizon. Here in the desert there is no such loss. We see both moments, the rising and the setting of the sun. Both are momentous. They mark the gain and then the loss of light and heat. The beginning and the end of the day’s activities.

I’m getting lots of rest here. I find myself retiring early, waking early with anticipation of the new day.  I spend evenings trying to make a better person out of myself. The last few have been spent working on the Ukulele. Not having internet means no Netflix. No Madame Secretary. A blessing, in a way.

Had to return a call to State Farm about Dora's hail damage. After spending way too much time on that, we set off to find our hike for the day. By the time we did get on the right path I had missed several turns and driven an hour longer than necessary. We started out across the desert headed toward HellHole Canyon, following coyote tracks, at the suggestion of the nice Canadian couple who did finally set us straight on just where to find the trail.

Mari following a coyote trail.

 Actually, they said, “Don’t follow the trail from here. It takes you way out of the way. Just follow the coyote tracks. That way you wont step in a hidden hole (from a rotted cactus root) and you also won’t step on any of the vegetation.  Problem was, we didn’t get started until 11:30. The sun was high in the sky and way too hot for this misadventure. After 30 minutes we turned back, with Mari suggesting we get an early start tomorrow on this project.

I spent the afternoon learning Uke chords in the key of D.

The sun is down. The moon is up.  All is well.

And I’m getting chilly sitting outside here. Time to go in.