Why my legs hurt today

Yesterday we at Casa Nacho joined some of the Mennonite volunteers and their friends and some of the Presbyterian volunteers on a seven-hour, 10.8 mile hike up to the top of Mt. Wrightson and back. I had an absolute blast, and it was definitely worth it even though it probably put me back a week on my knee recovery. I was having trouble loading images on to this blog for some reason, so instead of doing that I posted them to this link. I hope that works.

We're at the library right now, about to head to a wine & cheese event that we've been invited to put on for some other Catholic volunteers in Tucson, I believe. Free food and drinks means we're going for sure!

Jeff

Ben's Bells and Brian Lopez

If you visited our house and just listened to what we talked about, you might assume that there was a fifth Jesuit Volunteer living with us by the name of Brian Lopez. Not quite true. Though my housemates love to talk about him, and are facebook friends with him, Brian is actually a local musician that Jen, Kaitlyn, and Erin discovered two weeks ago. They came home from a concert in a trance. I don't think I'm exaggerating because I think one of them actually said, "I'm in a trance." They showed me some of his music, and it's pretty good. Kind of ethereal and mellow, with a hypnotic beat. Reminds me of both Radiohead and Coldplay a little. So, lucky for me, I will voluntarily go along with them when we - as I'm sure we will - see him in more concerts here in Tucson.

Brian in his band Mostly Bears

On a different note, yesterday was Erin's birthday! She turned 22, and as something fun to do, plus as our community event, we volunteered for a couple hours at Ben's Bells, a local nonprofit that specializes in the power of intentional kindness. Here's how it works. Volunteers spend hours creating colorfully decorated clay bells, and then employees hide thousands of them around the city a few times a year. The bells are not for sale. They can only be found, and if you find one you're supposed to take it home and it reminds you of the importance of being kind. Some might write this off as superficial, but I loved it, and it's obvious that lots of others in Tucson think so, too. As it says on the website, there is a "therapeutic effect of working with clay" and it just makes me feel good to know that a company devoted to nothing more than kindness can survive and flourish in today's world.

The finished bells. Volunteers shape and paint the clay parts on top.

Other volunteers (we didn't get to) form the clay beads

We finished half-painted clay beads. Here's Kaitlyn working on one.

And here's Jen. Someday someone will find these bells!

By the way, in case you're interested, here are links to Kaitlyn's and Jen's blogs. Happy Sunday!

Community

Home.

Casa Nacho!

Living room, decorated thanks to thrift stores.

There. Just thought you might want to see what our house looks like. Uff, it hasn't been an easy weekend for me. The week was great, but now it appears that I am in one of those "funks" I fall into ever so often. I feel tired and sluggish, wanting to do something with my day, but I just wander aimlessly around the house, cleaning the dishes, sweeping my room, looking at a book but thinking about something else. I'm also irritable. Of my housemates, Jen, Erin, and Kaitlyn, I can honestly say that they're considerate, not messy, helpful, reliable - in other words, great housemates. But just the very act of living with people means you have to, well, live with them. Day in and day out. Mornings, evenings, and weekends. Sometimes (like today) it's a challenge just to make peace with myself, so of course it will sometimes be difficult to also share space with three other individuals who have completely separate - though not always dissimilar - life experiences, values, and viewpoints on the world.

In fact, I'm a little surprised at how easily we have managed our house business so far. What seems to make sense to each one of us, separately, luckily seems to make sense for the other three. The bread has mold? Then it's no good. We should throw it out. Now, I'm sure there is a rational person somewhere who would argue that one should cut out the mold and save the rest of the bread. Then a disagreement might arise. But so far, not in our house. We have no moldy bread eaters. Yet we do have differences, and quirks, and individual tastes. I may not understand why it's a terrible idea to put dirty clothes belonging to two different people in the same load of wash, but then again I'm the one who spent $13 out of my stipend on a bag of coffee so that I could have it before work, even though it's provided, for free, at work. I have my reasons. And what might just be my golden rule for a peaceful year is if I assume that she, too, has hers.

The Outdoors Post

I figure it's time I talked a little bit about the great outdoors here in Tucson. Coming from the temperate Pacific Northwest, I was a little shocked to arrive in a place as dry and hot as Tucson. Erin and I landed in the airport after dark, when the mountains and the sky were equally black. Hard to believe from the airplane window that the air temperature was over 90 degrees. When we walked outside, it was hot, certainly, but it wasn't as unpleasant as I had imagined; especially (as I learned later) because the sun wasn't also burning our skin. It was kind of like a low-temperature sauna. As I felt the moisture leaving my skin, I was thrilled to see my first real desert plants. They were saguaros, the tall, straight, noble kind with upward pointing arms. And these cacti weren't here for the tourists, but were placed inconspicuously in the dirt between parking lot curbs where one might see shrubs or small maples in Oregon.

The heat has been constantly annoying over the past few weeks, but I've learned to live with it, or rather, to hide from it, in air-conditioned buildings and buses. The desert plants, on the other hand, have been much more pleasant. Last weekend our house decided to explore the Desert Museum just west of downtown.

Saguaro [suh-WAH-roh] in the distance

It was a nice change, for one, to just get away from the city, but it was also nice to learn a little about some of the flora and fauna here. Saguaro, for example, only grow an inch or two per year. So the saguaro in the picture is likely close to a hundred years old. And the purple growths on the cactus in the picture below are actually a fruit that is harvested and served in local cafes as prickly pear lemonade.

Prickly pears on a nopal cactus

We also gained a valuable lesson in the dangers of leaving the trail. Erin, hoping to get her picture taken by a giant saguaro, had not taken two steps off the path when she came up short, due to a spine lying on the ground that had punctured her sandal. Luckily, her foot was okay.

Wear thick boots!

The desert plants do have a certain beauty, but this weekend we explored another region of Tucson with a more temperate clime - the top of Mt. Lemmon. This mountain is just to the north of the city, and is accessible by car all the way to the top. Vista points near the summit are impressive.

Kaitlyn, Jen, and Erin on Mt. Lemmon

We stopped in Summerhaven, a little town at the top. It felt like I was back in the Pacific Northwest! Deciduous trees, quiet streams, and - best of all - a cool 70 degree temperature greeted us. We explored a gift shop and considered buying crepes, but eventually decided to take a short hike.

Tucson? Or Forest Park?

We got lost on the hike, so just went back the way we came after a mile or two. As we drove back down the mountain, the rich green trees gave way to pale green saguaros, and eventually we hit the dry basin where the city lies. But now I know that if I ever feel homesick or am just sick of the heat, an island oasis of green trees exists only a few thousand feet above my head.