It’s labour-day holiday in the US but I don’t notice any difference in Phoenix, except the buses are running on a sluggish Sunday timetable. All the shops seem open for business as usual, which is good for me. I find a desert nature park that is accessible by the buses. It’s three o’clock and 111 degrees F is belting down. What a nice time to go for a walk up a few hills. Phoenix is a huge sprawl on the flat, with hills all around and a few splattered throughout. This desert park is fairly central. Views from atop the hill I choose to climb are of a city landscape all around. In the distance you can see the high-rise buildings of downtown Phoenix.
At last I get to see some typical desert plants. Cactus trees are everywhere and while the city is obvious all around, you can easily imagine how tough life would have been back in the pioneering days and before. How did the Indians make a life here? The heat is oppressive and the plants, though beautiful, are very cranky looking. the birds don’t bother with flying. They just flutter or hop from one bit of shade to the next if disturbed.
Gardens and landscaping in the suburbs is either done with fake grass or gravel. There must be a huge business in quarrying and distributing gravel here. The clever homes have a variety of colored gravels payed in patterns – quite effective. And good old eucalypts are here in abundance. It’s good to be with them in this foreign place.
The moon is hazed tonight. I think we are getting some effect (or is that affect) from hurricanes hitting the south. There is lightning in the distance.
angusmccoll 