sunday glow

Even though we haven't been blitzed by the heavy monsoons yet, the sunsets have been spectacular. A combination of the dust and humidity, clouds and setting sun transform the skies into soft shades of blue, gold, pink and lavender. I love this time of evening.

It's been a good weekend with chores, errands but also time for reading, resting, exercise (swimming, Y bicycling and weights). Sort of a lazy summer time when the the 100 plus degrees totally justify, even demand, living a slow life.

I am looking forward to my trip to New Orleans for the NEH PrimeTime training. The humidity will match the heat, no doubt, but there will be music, beignets and new colleagues to meet. Rita and I are flying together, so I won't be alone in navigating the Dallas and New Orleans airports.

It's a good time to be leaving. Today's local newspaper had a blistering article on the road projects in Tucson and, of course, the one I have been working on, Grant Road (www.grantroad.info) is one of them. It's hard to read all the criticism and complaints about a project that has taken my energies and interests for 4 years and which, I know, used incredible skills and talents, commitment and trust to get this far. And now, amidst the recession's fall out, the fear and resentments, another attempt to move my community forward may bite the dust or, at the very least, become much less than its potential.

Mark and I went to look at some real estate today; mostly out of curiousity and I felt so disheartened between the disconnect of economic reality and what "the market" is asking for in small condo conversions or town homes. No wonder no one is buying right now--the market is too tight, prices too high and wages too low. We are grateful for our modest home and the mortgage that goes down bit by bi each month. So from there, we went to Borders and I ate up the pictures from a French magazine. No traveling over the ocean anytime soon. Even our hoped for trip to the West Coast for my aunt's 97th birthday may not happen this year. I just checked at www.kayak.com and the airline and hotel packages are much higher than last year. Oh, well, we may just have to make a phone call this year and, again, be grateful for the opportunities we have had in the past.

Adjustments aren't easy to make but I won't let these facts darken the glow of Sunday's sunset.