Bill & I took a long weekend and traveled to Show Low, Arizona. In the past we’ve had someone come in and check on our cat and turn the evaporative cooling system on for a bit while we were gone. We have never felt comfortable leaving the system running with windows open, which is how it works best. But Bill thought of a way to fix that problem – he built some wooden air vents!
There are two of them in different windows. They lock and there are “stoppers” at the top of the window so the window cannot be slid up any further. Safe, effective, and best of all, the house was nice and cool when we got home. And no dead cat from the heat! I say that tongue in cheek because the last time we went away for an overnight and came home to a very hot house, the cat immediately wanted to go out into the garage, where it was even hotter! And then she lay prone on the hot concrete floor for quite a long period of time. I think we are the ones who like the cooler house, not Copper!
Thursday evening, while we were getting things ready to leave the next morning, I discovered (and killed) another scorpion in the garage. It freaked me out, as you might imagine, and I did not sleep well at all that night. Before we left Friday morning, I had Bill seal up the door that goes from the garage to the house.
I knew the “Hello Kitty” packing tape would come in handy for something!
The reason for our trip was to attend the Cool Mountain Fling, a square dance festival hosted by the White Mountain Square Dance Club, The Rim Rompers. This is the third year we have made the trek north for this festival weekend. It was nice to get away and not think about scorpions or work or anything else that has been weighing us down recently.
Mostly, though, this is why we make the over seven hundred mile round trip in three days:
Aren’t they beautiful??? As we drove up and away from the Salt River Canyon and the pine trees began to appear, taller and taller, I could feel something deep inside me begin to relax. That happens every time I travel to where there are tall, green trees and abundant water. It’s as if my soul can finally breathe freely again.
Tall, green trees are so healing. When we moved from eastern Washington State (read high plateau, short trees) to Wisconsin, the kids thought we were crazy sighing happily and saying “Tall trees” regularly. They certainly help my soul to breathe, too.
I saw this on Twitter this morning and thought of you. Maybe you always need an open bottle of liquor close by. 😉
Amitabh Bachchan @SrBachchan
T 816 – A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it go mad instantly and sting itself to death.
Trees are a necessity here too – tall trees are so calming.