Assimilation Complete?

Our old house. It still looks exactly the same.

Before leaving the country, Michael & I lived in Arizona for 16 years. We spent a couple of them renting in Scottsdale, discovered Fountain Hills during one of its art festivals, and immediately bought a house up there. We worked two great jobs (Michael at a beautiful resort 5 minutes from our house), me at an environmental firm in an office run mostly of women (at the time), and where I could work from home when it suited me. But Michael & I were absolutely bored out of our ever lovin' minds. We were either working or spending time & money on the house. We met no one and did nothing fun. That led us to selling it all and sailing away from everything. Was there a simpler answer? Probably. But that's not how we do things.

Our Caribbean Sea view. Sigh.

Life in the Caribbean was not stress-free, but it wasn't a bad place to be stressed. We met a lot of boaters, a lot of expats, and a lot of islanders. We worked, and we played. And then the work dried up on our Caribbean island, and we found ourselves back in the U.S. We went through lots of stages - anger, grief, denial - and eventually reverse culture shock set in. It was not an easy transition. If 7 years could make us feel so foreign in our own land, can you imagine how actual foreigners feel arriving here for the first time?

Ok, so that's not so bad either.

What now? All we knew was that we wanted it to be different this time. We now knew how important friends were, how important fun was, and how important balance is. When we decided to head back to Fountain Hills, I was apprehensive. Would we end up back in the grind? Imagine my consternation (amongst the relief) when, within a week, Michael was back at the same resort, and I was contracting out with my former employer as well. Uh oh. We even bought another Mini Cooper. Can you say déjà vu? But then it occurred to me - these were the things we had liked. We were recreating the good parts. The trick was to not also replicate the bad.

First up. Work. Now, it's not like I haven't been working. I can assure you, cruising throughout the Caribbean on a sailboat is work - that was 3 years. I then wrote a book, ran a blog, and did marketing/accounting for a beach bar for 4 years. But this was my office,

this was my view,

and this was my boss.

Mr. X and some freshly caught mahi.

It's just not the same.

While licking our wounds in Key West, I edited two books and tried to make myself like Florida but couldn't do it. We made the most of it, but 12 months was about 11 months too many. And now we're back in Arizona. I've been doing some editing remotely for a Malibu magazine and for my former client, but I actually had to get dressed and go into the office last week. I can not tell you how weird that felt. Putting on "real" clothes, driving in traffic again, heading into an air conditioned office, getting water from the water cooler, talking to old(er) co-workers for the first time in 7 years. It was weird, I tell you! It was also kind of strange how naturally it came back. I don't really want it to though, so am glad I can work from home most of the time. Not only because I have more scroungy clothes than professional, but because that leaves me time for fun and friends.

We've been hiking a lot, and that is fun and cathartic - but we're not meeting people. So I'm volunteering. First up, the people at Fearless Kitties Rescue. Once signed up but before I'd cleaned one litterbox or had pet one kitty, I was invited to lunch. That was nice. The kitties are great too, most are very affectionate.




No this is not my fridge, but it could be... That's Paws inside.

It can't be all work and no play. That would be Kim in the doghouse and Paula looking on (laughing on the left) - the cofounders of the place.

Look who's getting sucked in?

Antelope squirrels in the wild.

Photo: National Geographic

I went through training at Liberty Wildlife last week too, terrified the whole time I'd accidentally squish one of these tiny creatures. For birds, you take warmed, wet cat food and tweezers and shove it down the gullets for some, or you take liquified cat food and put a tube down the throats of others (I've been too scared to try this). Eventually diets, some graduate to crickets, worms, seed, fruit, etc. The hummingbirds teach each other how to feed from syringes put throughout their cage (a few are about to be released). The whole process is rather complicated, but intriguing. On my 2nd day, someone brought in 6 baby antelope squirrels. A dog had dug them up and killed the mother. While we were spraying the little guys for fleas and putting them in a clean container, one curled up in a little ball, just like a possum. It was so cute. I really hope they make it.

I'm slowly getting to know the people behind the animal care and hopefully will be able to to make some human friends too. I'd like to think they're less fragile and temperamental - well, I'd like to.... 

Yep, It's That Day Again

Before we get to the hike you know is coming, I thought I'd just fill you in on last night - movie night at the Fountain. We debated going since it was just as cold as it was the last night we did a movie outside (at Biltmore Fashion Park), but we'd had fun before, despite the cool breeze, and decided to brave it again. We also went despite knowing there would be lots and lots of kids there (which is scary when you're not used to being around them). The movie was Frozen, a Disney film. And the title was apropos, because by the end of the film, Michael & I were frozen (the sofa throw we brought was not good enough). Anywho - there were lots of kids. It was a lot like Key West in the sense that you rarely see kids around, and yet when there's an event - wallah! - there they are.



The sponsors/organizers even had two princesses from the movie working the crowd and taking pictures with the munchkins.




This was a pretty good set up - there's a hill so it's easy to see, they was a little temporary stand that sold popcorn, snacks, and beverages, and it gets really dark so you could easily see the screen and the stars/moon. But as they warn you - don't lose your kids or your keys - I repeat, it gets really, really dark.



The movie (and popcorn) was good, I'm glad we went. I'm also glad we turned the heat on full blast once we got back in the car.

In the morning, I had to laugh as the kitties fought over the one sun ray we get all day. We still call our apartment "the dungeon." It's dark and chilly. If it stays this way through the summer, we'll probably appreciate it, but right now, we all fight for these early a.m. rays of light.

And then we headed for the Tom's Thumb trail again. We really enjoyed it last time, and the weather was the same as before (warmish, but with a cool breeze). We might get to 97 degrees on Wednesday, so it's now or never. The hike was just as spectacular this time around.

Despite the traffic (it comes in spurts).



Michael spotted this hummingbird hanging out, and it stayed on its perch so I could get a front and back shot of it. Not a bad view, eh?

See him at the bottom? I'm liking his view.

We did change it up a little though. Instead of heading right for the Tom Thumb's part, we headed left to the Overlook.

It added a mile to the whole thing, but it was so worth it. See the fountain?

Wow. Just wow.



At the top, the rocks were all kinds of weird colors.

On the way back, we followed the main trail, but we hadn't done that last time. Last time, we had taken a trail to nowhere, gotten lost, and then had to scramble and boulder back up to the main trail (no I hadn't mentioned that in the last post). So here's what we missed. This reminds me of Desolation Valley on the island of Dominica as you're making your way to Boiling Lake (okay, so Dominica was a little greener).



There isn't a part of this hike we don't like.



And if all that wasn't enough, we had lots and lots of wildflowers this time. People always think of the desert as barren, but it really isn't.



These were little berries.

No, we didn't try them, unsure if they were toxic. We need to attend Ranger Amy's Desert Grocery Store hike. Look at all these flowers!



Even off-trail, you see all these blossoming Palo Verde's. That second photo is the driveway to our apartment complex.



If you have allergies, this might not be the best place to be right now, but we sure are enjoying it! We actually ran out of time to do all the stuff we wanted to do but consider it another successful weekend.