MISSION SAN XAVIER

I went to the Mission San Xavier del Bac today. It would have been Arnie's birthday and it seemed a good way to observe it. I bought a candle with a picture of the mission on it and placed it under one of the statues of Mary, the Annunciation. I thought of the candle and the statue as Arnie's mother announcing his birth. Who knows. It was a comfort in its way.

The mission is hundreds of years old, some of it from the mid-1700s. I thought of the priests in their heavy black robes and wondered if they suffered in the heat.

The Mission, on Tohono O'odham land, is white white and reaches to the sky. So thick with heavy wood pews and doors and statues and angels and gildings and paintings, dark paintings of The Last Supper and Pentacost, rosy cherubs, statues painted and gilded and looking up or straight ahead, arms open, head bowed, and Jesus small on a cross. Sitting in a carved wooden pew, I felt the air heavy with spirits. Such a holy place. And on the Table of the Lord, a white tablecloth designed with The Nation's own holy image of man, The Man in the Maze.

It's 2 o'clock on a Monday and these are today's accomplishments:

I found the post office.
I figured out how to use the DVD player.
I correctly placed the green garbage pail outside so the garbage could be picked up.

Some of my neighbors have only garbage enough to fill one small plastic supermarket bag. ("Plastic okay for you?")What do these neighbors eat? Do they finish everything? Where do they put their trash?

There is a large angry bee circling around the front door. This is no 'birds and bees' bee. This is a Cujo of a bee. Will his fury hold me hostage indoors?

Something to worry about:
This could be a Killer Bee

Today is today. I'm sitting in the shade on the front patio. There's a dry wind blowing and there's smoke from the Murphy Wildfire in the air. I walked about 2 1/2 miles, did some Elliptical at the fitness center, washed the hairless dogs (who not only stank but had paws full of desert sand), cleaned up the bathroom, washed their towels...

And so...

I've now been to the Titan Missile Museum which is about a mile from where I'm renting and is the premier attraction in this immediate area. The Titan Missiles were the cat's meow during the cold war and this particular missile facility was out in the middle of nowhere in the Arizona desert.

When visiting the museum, there's a tour that lasts about an hour. I was one of two females on the tour and, by far, the oldest person there. It was hot and smokey outdoors in the desert and I had no idea what the tour guide was saying.

My thoughts were centered on:
(1) Getting out of the sun
(2) Acquiring the tee-shirt in the gift shop that said "I am the center of the universe." (I never did buy the tee and, home now, I do have some regrets about letting it go.)

Eventually the group went down below ground - into air-conditioning! - and saw the actual missile and the area where the crew worked. It was interesting enough, this back in the day stuff, and then finally the tour guide stopped talking and it was time to go.

Something is making my dog Rosey-Petunia sick, like with the mushy poops. All 3 dogs reek. They smell disgusting, like a combination of mildew and chemicals. I smelled the upholstered chairs and gagged. The dogs smell of the chairs. They've absorbed the terribleness of this odor into their skin.

I had to push Peppy off the bed because he smelled so bad. He gave me a sorrowful look. In the morning I found pee on the floor along with a pile of stinky poop.

Things could be better.

DAY ONE

There is pretty much nothing to do in Green Valley. The big deal is Walmart. Day 1 I found my way there and it is big and full of people, everyone spending and looking pleased and happy. Children cavort next to their parent's cart. Walmart!
"What do you want to do today, dear?"
"Let's go to Walmart!"
"Oh, yay!"

After I returned to the house (and, believe me, I will not say 'home'), I went swimming in the neighborhood pool. It is a large nice pool and I was the only one in it although there were several dead bees. I also found my way to the community center which gave me a pass to the various recreational centers in the town. I was told that in the winter these places support various clubs and activities but now there was little happening.

I'm here now. Here in Green Valley. And honestly I don't know what to say. I was so excited getting on the road. Going someplace! From my house I can see Interstate 10 in the distance, the sun glinting off the metal of cars, trucks, everyone going moving going and now it was me.

From where I live in Phoenix to where I'm renting in Green Valley is two hours. An hour and a half on I-10, 75, 80 miles an hour passing on the left, traveling on the right, and the other half hour on I-19, veering off toward Mexico, with roads marked in kilometers, Indian Reservations, mountains all around.

And then there are some turns and there is Green Valley. And there is my rental house. My fears answered. Complete with funky smell and trouble with the WiFi and calls to Cox to get on-line and also the TV wasn't working and the dogs were anxious and jumping around and my mouth was dry from talking talking to Cox to get on-line and there was the need to go to Safeway and bring in some food.

How To Open A Bottle Of FISH OIL:

Cover palm of left hand with several paper napkins. Place around bottle. Mold a sheet of paper towel in right hand palm, lift hand, and quickly open cap. Remove paper goods and immediately scrub hands with odor neutralizing soap. Rinse well. Douse with lemon juice.

Note: hands will continue to smell.

I'm several days closer to leaving for My Summer Vacation and...
1. I still don't have the WiFi name or password for the house
2. My hands still smell of fish oil.

Since the school year is now officially over I've wrapped up the list of books I've read for the year. My list goes May to May. I've read 45 books. Not bad. I didn't write any of them but I was quoted in one. *

*Tasting the Universe by Maureen Seaburg.

Truth be told (a good idea usually), my 'I' was written as it happened and is transcribed in retrospect. I am back home now, thank God.

Selah

A Moment Engraved In The Mind:

A man and his wife enter the gate leading to the community pool. I am in the water swimming laps. The man wears a long terry robe, white tee shirt, long shorts, water shoes, and broad brimmed straw hat. The woman is dressed in bathing suit, long robe, hat and shoes. The couple is very old and the smell of their zinc sunscreen proceeds them. The man carries a tape player. He walks to the edge of the pool, places it down and covers it with a face towel. He takes off his terry robe, turns on the tape player - ups the volume - and there he is, back in the day, with Glen Miller.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

How arrogant calling a journal 'I'! Yet that's what it will be. Of course, I could fudge it and title it 'aye' or 'eye'. But I won't. These thoughts are I. Intra and inter me.

And so...
A week from tomorrow I leave for Green Valley. This is a 2-month stay away from the summer broil of Phoenix. Am I nervous? Yes. It's a big deal for me to get in the car with the 3 dogs and drive to a new place without knowing any thing or any one. It's supposed to take 2 1/2 hours to get there although if I creep along it may take four. The directions are to go down 10 and then 19 and then a few turns and you're there. Well, I'm there. Unless you've decided to come along.

Some things I'm nervous about:

The house I'm renting may be creepy inside
I won't have WiFi and I'll be separated from communicating with the world, including my 30 friends on Facebook.
The dogs will poop or pee in the house.
The fire alarm will go off.
I'll get lost trying to find the supermarket or, if I find it, I'll get lost finding my way back to the house. I have the worst sense of direction and I certainly don't know north from south or east from west down there in Green Valley since where I come from east lands you in the Atlantic Ocean and not Nogales, Mexico.