This post is a few days late... and the photos are several weeks old. As you can see, these pics were taken on a hike in the Sabino Canyon area north of Tucson with Anna and Spencer. It was a fun day in a beautiful place.

The desert is an "acquired taste" for many people, but having grown up among the prickly pear, mesquite and saguaros, it's in my blood. I think I am drawn to the textures of the desert landscape. I love a beautiful forest, but I always feel like the textures of a desert -- at least the Sonoran Desert -- are far richer and more varied than the textures of the forest. Some people are put off by the blander colors of a desert (especially in a prolonged drought like the one in which we find ourselves at present), but I think the richer desert textures compensate for the lack of rich colors.

And actually, if one looks more than passingly at a desert landscape, one will find rich colors indeed. I refer to the vibrancy of almost every species of cactus blossom, the colorations of the various kinds of rocks and minerals visible in a desert, the depth of blue found only in a dry desert sky, the pure colors of desert wildlife such as a quail or fox or even a lizard's skin upon close examination.

I also like the cleanliness of a desert that stems from its aridity. There's not much mud in a desert, even immediately following a monsoon rainstorm.

So much for my musings on nature.

We are preparing for Jacob's departure. He will be spending June living with Mom's mom in Mapleton and doing some kind of occasional or regular work for his Uncle Ed. This will be the longest Jacob will have been away from home. Somehow, I don't expect him to be homesick. I think he is looking forward to getting away from the parents (or the payrents, as Spencer likes to call us).

Despite the occasional dustup, I have admired Jacob's patience in living alone with his parents. I think Mom and I have mellowed considerably since our earlier parenting years, but it must still be a bit of a challenge for Jake to have only his parents at his home. Sally comes around regularly and does yeoman's service as a sort of buffer or insulator, but most of the time, it's Jake and his parents rubbing against one another exclusively. The friction overheats the relationship once in a while. But overall, Jake does admirably with his "only child" status.

Our new back lawn was planted last Thursday. It's germination period was described in the packaging as between four and seven days. I've been watching intently for the little shoots of new grass but haven't seen any yet. It's been five days as of this afternoon (Tuesday). Perhaps tomorrow morning there will be a green sheen visible. I still harbor fears of the critters wreaking havoc with the new shoots -- rabbits, birds or ants. I'm hoping that once it sprouts, it grows fast enough to overwhelm any potential enemy of young green plants.

Thank you all for your comments to my last posting. There is clearly some "journal value" to a blog posting, but the real satisfaction comes from knowing one has readers and that the post generates some kind of response among the readers one cares about.

Take care of yourselves. Be safe. Take care of your little ones, if you have some, and get some little ones, if you don't. That's where true happiness lies.

Love,

Dad