My Perspective: Chapter 1; In Which I Speak of the Desert Among Other Things

They say the best place to start is at the very beginning. I believe that. So, I launch into the story of the wedding trip, with the beginning. As some of you may know, I traveled to Phoenix first to drive to Mississippi with my Grandparents. For this reason, I left nearly two weeks before the wedding. It was my first real trip by myself. Going through airport security was relatively easy, although I did have to step out of line for a brief moment because I had forgotten to put my toothpaste in the liquids bag. Thanks to wonderful parental directions, I navigated the tram/train thing with ease, and reached my gate in plenty of time. (Thankfully, I had no interactions whatsoever with the dreaded TSA)

Upon boarding my plane, I discovered with great pleasure that I would not be seated next to creepy and/or noisy/rude people. The couple beside me were elderly, pleasant, thin, (always a good thing in those cramped seats) and kept largely to themselves. I was almost the last person on the plane, and the last off. (It comes of sitting at the back of the plane.) I subsequently discovered that most of the airplane’s occupants where either very elderly or young families. I think this is because they were either retired grandparents or grandkids going to visit their retired grandparents. (with a few who may have been going to spring training.)

The most interesting airplane moments on the way down:

I was reading a WW2 book, when the gentlemen next to me peered over my shoulder.

“Ah! Are you reading that for history, or just because you like it”

“I just really enjoy history”

Shortly afterwards, he pulled out his own book. (I guess he got tired of his crosswords :D) He was obviously very excited to let me know:

“See, I’m reading history too!” (His was Rule Britanicca or something, and mine was Operation Mincemeat…:D)

The other interesting moment took place when we were landing.

The young family, a mom and two or three young boys) seated behind me had been fairly quiet throughout the 

flight. When we began to descend however, they became very excited about several things.

Boy1 to girl?: We left Porky home. Poor Porky. (insert long monologue about Porky)

Then,

Boy1: Agh! My ears are popping.

Boy2: Yes! It has something to do with your saliva! (insert long monologue regarding the medical/scientific explanation of popping ears as relates to saliva.) Whether true or not, it’s funny. If not true, funny because of it. If true, funny because an 8-10 year-old can explain it so well)

When I landed, and connected with my grandparents, I found myself talking to myself in my brain. It was rather like a running commentary on just about everything. And, I found myself doing it for the entirety of the trip. From here on, I will transcribe this commentary in as accurate a manner as possible.

“Arizona is beautiful! Oh! A white barked tree. My favorite. Wait, it’s only white partway up.

‘Grandpa, why are those trees white only a little bit’

‘Those are citrus trees. The paint them to keep the sun off.’

!!!

“Oh, so those are mesquite trees over there, I’ve always read about those, and now I’m seeing them.

“Wow, the air smells so good. Must be those orange trees over there. It smells like spring. I love spring. It’s my favorite.

“Hey, it’s not too warm like I thought it might be. It feels like summer! Ha! I’ll bet it’s snowing in Washington! (it was)

The day after I got to Phoenix, my granparents took me to the Sonoran Desert, to the White Tanks (National?) Park. Here, we took a half-mile walk through the desert. There were many different kinds of cactus. But, my favorite were the Saguaro. My Grandma made a comment about how there weren’t very many two-armed saguaro like they show in all the pictures (in fact, the only classic saguaro I found was the one on the Arizona licence plate). I also found myself naming the cactus and trees.

"Tall Saguaro"

Short Saguaro

Baby Arm Saguaro

Celebrating Saguaro

Beautiful Tree. It had white, soft, fuzzy balls in the center of the yellow.

"What's the Right Perspective" Saguaro

One Arm Saguaro

My Grandparents! Don't they look purty!?

Holy...I mean, Holey Saguaro

The Squid

Desert Military (Otherwise known as the jumping choia)

Smiling Saguaro

Mistletoe hanging up there!

Frowning Saguaro

See, there are other types of cactus. The small round looking one is a fish-hook cactus.

The One-eyed Monster Ironwood tree.

When we left, all I could think of was:

“Arizona, where the only (pretty much) two-armed cacti are the ones on the license plates.”

Throughout my time spent in Arizona I would think things using that type of phrase.

“Arizona, where there are golf courses on every corner.”

“Arizona, where there are parking spaces! for golf carts at  the local grocery stores and businesses.” (I got to 

drive a golf cart. It was fun!)

“Arizona, where there are palm trees that look like giant pineapples. (those were my favorite palms, followed by the great big tall ones)

“Arizona, where there is no such thing as grass, (except on the golf course) but rather a reddish gravel.

“Arizona, where there are indoor-type decorations outside.

“Arizona, where wood must be scarce since there isn’t a single house made of it. (It’s all stucco, or sometimes that sheet-metal-ware-house material)"

We left Arizona three days after I got there. On our way to the border, we traveled most of the way through the desert, and I did actually see two or three two-armed saguaro. As we left the desert and the cities, the palm trees became much smaller. If I didn’t know Arizona gets much hotter than it was while I was there, I would say I could live there.