Arizona magnificence

Ok, so here I am, all graduated, and starting my new life "post graduation."  I just have to say, to live in Arizona, you have to love adventure, or at least some semblance of the risk that you might not survive living in a place like this.  I am not being dramatic, I am simply reflecting the drama that is apparent so vividly around me.  For example, today: instead of chipmunks frolicking in the grass, you have lizards darting furtively across the path and up a tree. 

(a lizard I spotted on my way to work)

And instead of quiet rainstorms that last the day (and perhaps the week) which may be present on the East Coast, instead you have a dramatic display of Nature's most powerful fireworks, which raise a real alarm here for residents who reside nearby forest fires started by such lightning. 

 (that's a pic of lightning right outside my house, by the way)

My thoughts and prayers to the 19 hotshots who bravely lost their lives protecting the residents of Prescott.


So in the meantime, I will quietly appreciate the exhibitions that Nature has provided, and be grateful for the desert, in its own beauty.

About to graduate

About to graduate, which soon leaves time to start blogging again!  It's amazing how little time there is when one is trying to finish graduate school ;)  Looking forward to having time to appreciate more of these moments.

One observation that I made today...along the theme of gratitude for small things.  The first was a sound that caught my ear as I was walking to the grocery store today.  I was complaining to myself about the lack of the car, "this would just be SO much easier if I had a car, and I could avoid the heat, and happily take home as many groceries as I wanted because I wouldn't have to worry about how much I could actually carry home!"  But then I heard the strangest noise.  Well, more like the call of a bird that, to my East-coast ear, sounded like a parrot, or at least something sub-tropical.  I started looking around at the *few trees around me, since there are not that many in Arizona, except for little patches here and there in the washes where you might find a small cluster of bushes. I saw a flock of pigeons that are probably the same bunch that like to hang around my neighbors yard (I think he feeds them).  Not those. Then, I saw it...a small quail!  Hanging out on the top branch of a palo verde, nestled among a few other bushes.  I happy to be a bit of a bird watching geek, apparently, because I immediately flipped out my phone and took a small recording.

*insert recording here*
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BzJPMCi5tI2YRXYzbWUxQWdoaWc/edit?usp=sharing


I remember a conversation I had with a native Arizonan once about cardinals.  One flew by, during winter, and their immediate response was one of awe and wonder.  "Wow, did you see that! I just saw a cardinal!"  and my immediate response was, "so?"  Truth be told, even as a bird lover, they are so commonplace back home in Maryland that I am honestly a little sick of cardinals.  They are pretty birds, but definitely not one of my favorite.  Well, for me, this was my version of that reaction.  "Wow!  It's a quail!"  and I pull out my phone and take a video of it hopping its way down the tree branch like a true tourist.  :P

It definitely made my day. 

OK, now to finishing my final term paper….which will be the last paper I will ever have to write! *cheers to graduation!

Wow it's been too long since I last posted.  Well, here's a grateful nugget:

The peace and satisfaction I have obtained through mindful awareness every day.  Know where that comes from?  Practicing awareness of my ability to restructure my perspective in every situation I find myself in.  Pretty awesome what happens as a result.

Counting down the days........

grateful for relaxing days, and Charlie Brown Christmas :)

Grateful for the delicious taste of Gingerbread Chai Tea Latte :)

So today I caught myself with the insipid attitude of envy that had been lurking around for a while undetected.  The simplest form of wanting what you don't have, like nice clothes, looking pretty, and other material things like that.  And I then remembered that I needed to blog, and realized that I needed to practice the attitude of gratefulness, appreciate what I have.  So I popped in my favorite movie, did some assemblage of clothes that I did have and could wear, to appreciate what I've been blessed with, and remembered with humility others in the world who live in poverty and face bigger issues than wanting nice clothes.

Thank you God for my family and friends, and the community in which I live.

Today I am grateful for....coffee.  :)

Last final for the semester!    Few hours to go!