Who said vacation was a good idea?

I return to work to find things in a bit of disarray. Projects I asked for assistance with went undone. Authors were not hired for this already late project. And at least two people from my list/s are leaving within two weeks time, one being a very close colleague which means my desk will be flooded with the overflow.

Ack!

But...because I am privileged, I was able to have one full week AWAY from work. No phone calls, no emails, just me Jason and the desert. Waking up without the anxiety of what I needed to get done was in itself a vacation. Every morning I would awake to the smell of Peet's Coffee brewing in Jason's Aunt and Uncle's kitchen. I'd walk down, get a cup, go out on their wide veranda and see this -



I would sit with my feet on the rail, read for a bit, drink my coffee, and then get ready for whatever adventure was planned for the day.

It was this more than anything that made my time a vacation - the slow pace. The chance to not have to decide what to do with myself, to not have an agenda, to not be rushing off somewhere, or have my mind flooded with to do lists. Instead I was free to just...be. This more than anything is what everyone deserves in life and more than just once a year. Unplugging our minds lets us rejuvenate and freshen our inspiration and energy to continue with jobs we like, dislike, do or don't do. Not everyone gets the chance to get away even for day, let alone a full week, so I started the trip with many thank yous and blessings and good wishes to the karmic forces out there that allowed me this freedom.

The desert is a strange and wonderful landscape. The song by America that sings "the desert is an ocean with its life underground" was accurate to an extent. But signs of its unique oceanic life are visible above ground too -





There were also these agava plants that were about 6 ft tall with this stalk like antennae that had fuzzy balls on the end. They were either some kind of seaweed in another life or a Dr. Suess character -



Living in the desert takes some adaptation and morphing of the human system. Within the first day there Jason and I were drying up like grapes in the sun. Our noses got so raw from the lack of moisture. Just walking the dog keno, who is the most interesting dog, with such a personality of sass , a little down the road made me tired and SWEATY! His Uncle Rick and Aunt Nancy and I went on a two hour hike through these washes behind their house and when we got back, all I could do was loaf around and drink some water. I'd start out with some grand ideas of doing two or three hikes, end up doing one, and loafing until dinner time.

One thing I will miss is the silence. The silence is as immense as the sky in the desert, and the sky is HUGE. For the first time I got a sense of what Montana's big sky must be like. With no tree forests to block the view, and only distant mountains to show a horizon, the sky the stars and the sunsets and rises went on forever. But the silence...it was just as big. Near Tonto Hills and Jason's Uncle and Aunt's house, there was the sound of crickets at night, but that was it. Once we were near the grand canyon, we didn't even hear that noise. I will miss the lack of traffic, the lack of airplane noises, and the lack of any general white noise. Without all that noise, my mind really did empty out...settled down, and was peaceful too.