Last image of late summer on Mt. Lemmon

I think of the Beatles' song "A Long and Winding Road leads me back to your arms...." and the sense of memory that comes with the song.  What kid of road-song do you recall when you see this?

late summer flowers on the mountain and more

One of the lovely sights in the moutains, is the sight of flowers, their colors contrasting with the deep green forest surrounding them.

Then there is the refreshing sound of a full stream in Marshall Gulch.  Sorry you can't hear the water as it falls over rocks, stones, and cuts around the boulders and deeply rooted trees.

 

I appreciate this photo for its textural gifts: delicate flower petals among dry pine needsles and sharp rocks.

 

 

Bear Canyon stream

As many of you know, Bear Canyon offers the first pine forest on the way up Mt. Lemmon.  The last couple of trips there, the stream bed has been all sand and rocks, but this time, after our picnic lunch, we found water from the latest summer rains.  So our "Mountain Monday" begain with hopeful signs of renewal that we take with us into this week.

Pine Needles with Rain Drops

We did our monthly "Monday on the Mountain" last Monday and had two wonderful rain storms in between our picnic lunch and walks.  I will be sharing the photos Mark took and here is the first one, taken by the roadside in Summerhaven, Mt. Lemmon.

Beyond the Gray

I have do a life beyond the recent posts about Gray, but I admit that focusing on the antics of a new four-legged member of the clan can be a diversion from other life tasks, opportunities and challenges.  For me, this week, it's important to mark the shift I made away from working on the Grant Road Project: I formally resigned after almost six years with Kimley-Horn and another 6-8 months, before that, with the City.  I am done with trying to make Grant Road an example of "context sensitive design" on a major Tucson roadway.  Since May, I wanted to turn into another direction, but external events and internal influences now brought me to this fork in the road.  I have been reading Buddhist literature and other books on living an authentic life, a life of abundance, and life of intention.  Those readings formed my internal compass for a new direction. 

One step on that new path has been my volunteer work at the Downtown Library as a Reading Partner.  I feel that I make a real difference in my one hour of reading to kids of various ages.  Now that school has started, the kids are pre-K age.  This week I had a 3 year old who didn't have a name. "We call him 'Little Man'", his mother said with a toothless smile.  This was my first experience with a child who lives on the street.  He sat next to me quietly, hands folded and head down, chin touching his chest most of the time.  The milestone I reached with him, after 30 mins., was when he began to touch the "feathers" on the penguin book I was reading. Before that, I couldn't get him to interact with board books because he didn't know colors, shapes, or nouns such as "cap" or "ball." 

I don't come away from these experiences with gloom, but rather a gladness that I have been in a space where simple reading a book can show a child there is another world beyond his/her life, whatever the conditions may be.  This summer, I have read to or with kids who, by 1st grade, say "I am not a good reader," and with kids who proudly share chapter books two or three grade levels beyond their age.  I have sat with kids with parents who gleefully join the circle and join in the story process and with kids with parents who sit in the back, texting on their phone before, during and after the story time.

So, my life continues to expand with these experiences, and I look forward to walking down a different path in the months ahead.  When I need to rest, I will, with Gray (outside) or with our 12 1/2 year old Lia who still rules the inside-the-house domain, perched on our (now tattered) leather couch.

Gray in the Tree

As far as I am concerned, Gray is earning his keep by attracting my hubby to "Gray's Adventures".  This draws Mark away from the gloomy news, and his tendency to be stuck in it, and elevates his eye to Gray.  You can see, not only the cat's post-breakfast exercise-in-the-tree actions, but the clarity of purpose that the photographer brings to the picture.  I have a talented husband whose artistry is unheralded amidst every day tasks and his 7-day "work mode" mentality.  Slowly, Gray's presence is wedging his way into our daily life and altering our habits for the better.

Gray Settles In

My hubby calls him "little Gray" and he is little for his age, but, we think, with regular meals on the porch in the morning and evenings, "little Gray" is putting on the ounces our Vet recommended.  We are learning about Gray and his preferences:  he still wants to come inside, but is adjusting to the porch and sissel welcome mat as his spot; he seeks out petting before and after he eats; he cleans himself up after frequent rain showers and lets me towel him down to quicken the drying of his fur; he likes to look for little lizards and chase them into the bush; he sometimes sits on the windowsill outside of my office as I type on the computer.  I find myself spending more time on the porch, petting his soft fur and talking with the neighbors who walk by.  We have put a small fan outside to help cool him down when the temps hit 100 plus degrees and this photo shows him relaxing in the light breeze of the fan. (The photo was taken from inside the house). Life with Gray is better than without; we think he feels the same about us.