Idle thoughts for an unusually idle day…

Hard to believe where this year has gone, isn’t it? For this New Englander, December’s a funny month – actually it’s the poster-month for the reason why folks are drawn to Arizona to begin with. While the days are still warm (today it was in the low 70s – perfect for a walk), the sun just doesn’t have the same intensity you’re used to feeling out here. Walking by people’s houses, it still cracks me up to see cactus decorated with Christmas lights, or a big inflatable snowman sitting on gravel or sand. It’s weird to see the pool vacuum chattering away as if it were mid-summer. But it’s not – not when the water temp is 58 degrees! I’ve never thought to check to see just how low the water temperature gets in the winter – I know it hit a high of 102 this summer – so maybe this is the year I’ll do it.

A couple of people have told me we have the nicest-looking lawn on the street. I guess if you care about those kinds of things (which I don’t) you’d feel kinda proud of that, but I just tell them about Carmelo, our landscaper, and invite them to come by any Tuesday at 1 PM if they want to use his services. His crew is always there like clockwork.

Walking to the mailbox this afternoon, it was amazing just how tranquil everything seemed. No people about, a wam sun and hazy (or is that pollution?) blue sky, not a whisper of breeze to stir the palms – just the lazy sound of a lawnmower in the distance, probably another Carmelo customer…

Today was fruit tree pruning day, and the east side of the house now gets a tad more sunlight thanks to the lemon and lime trees getting a much-needed trim.

The guy came by to check out our A/C unit. This was the first year we didn’t have some kind of a failure during the summer. I’m still in a state of shock. After the guy came down from the attic, he said, “the whole unit needs to be replaced”. “Great”, said I, as I began reaching for my credit card. When he told me he was just joking, I could only remark about his ghoulish sense of humor.

What December and January nights are good for around here is lighting the tiki torches by the cabana bar. The nights have no breeze, and sitting at the bar near them with a boat drink is not the worst experience in the world, I’ll tell you.

I do have to say, however, I miss my four seasons – especially this time of year where dark, chilly, and gray New England seems a perfect place to enjoy the closing weeks of a long and eventful year. Of course, once the holidays are over and you know you’ve got a good three months of winter left, then Arizona or Florida seem like a pretty fine place to be. But I guess you can’t have it both ways. Hell, you’re lucky to have one!

If I were back in the Northeast, this would be the perfect time of year to drag out my Loreena McKennitt and Gregorian chant CDs and allow the long, dark nights to envelop me like a warm cloak. But here, the pool vacuum chatters away, the open windows and front and back doors allow fresh air into the house, and the pink bougainvillea and yellow and orange lantana provide a gorgeous contrast to a strikingly green lawn.

Just another December day in the Valley of the Sun.