A new mantra. in A small but passable life.

I finished reading “The Reckoning” by John Grisham yesterday. A nice little twist at the end of the story. That’s 24 books read for the year, so far.

Today, after my morning coffee, I headed out of the park, across the road and into the desert for another walkabout. I followed the same trail south but when it veered east I continued on south. I headed for a copse of trees in the distance. I found a beautiful spot. Almost a complete tree canopy shading completely level ground that was even clear of stones and debris. There were trees big enough to support a hammock. And even down, detached, and dead trees for firewood. And no sign of humans. No trash. No footprints. No bicycle tire tracks. Now of course there will be my footprints, remaining until the next rain. I kept wandering south. I found a rather large pond. With water! Thanks to the record five inches of October rain. Stagnant and covered in bright green algae. But hey, water is water in the desert.

All in all, I found the short hike rather enjoyable and valuable. By looking at the topo map you’d find nothing in the twenty-five square miles of the block of state land. Completely flat. Crisscrossed with shallow dry washes. There is a large canal running from northwest to southeast. But I’m pretty sure the output from the sewage treatment plant is up stream. The canal runs all the way to Tucson.

I was home by lunchtime. After lunch I went and laid by the pool and listened to NPR for a few hours. There was an interview with Sarah Marquis. I’d never heard of her. Apparently she’s one of those people who are so far advanced beyond normal humans as to be supernatural. I’m going to have to find out more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Marquis

Anyway, I’ll be going back to the library tomorrow to pick up a non-fiction book waiting for me.

Good times.

New personal mantra:

“I prefer not to.”