Boxed wine and autumn leaves

I've decided to start a blog for the purposes of sort of keeping a journal. My friend Kelly says that she likes to write hers so that she can re-read them when she's old someday. I can sort of picture myself on a stoop somewhere, wrapped in my old green fuzzy robe and boiled wool clogs, kicking back and reading my grandkids my yellowed, tattered binder of bloggery. Sounds like a scene from the Waltons, doesn't it? By then I'm sure I'll be using more Polident than Crest Whitening, but who's to say? And let's face it, when it comes to emailing people I don't think I could be lazier! I remember when I first got email... way, way, back in the late 90's... I remember thinking, "Hey, this is gonna be GREAT! I'll email everyone I know and we'll all keep in touch forever. Sure. I think that lasted a good year or so before the novelty wore off. So here I am, now chronicling my journey from Phoenix back to my native Northern Illinois, thus my blogname, "From Cacti to Cornfields."

Not long ago I went to the Morton Arboretum with my sister for an overnighter, a sort of yuppy cabin camping thing with a wine tasting and an evening hike. I was half looking forward to it, half dreading it. I figured I'd be snuggled among a bunch of middle-agers dressed in buffalo check flannel, trying out the latest "limited editions" of the very best Franzia in town while soaking it up with jiggly cubes of Velveeta on Ritz crackers. Well, I was half right. The wine tasting was actually quite good. I really don't know how to distiguish all the aromas of a good wine, but I do know what I like. Just for fun, my sis and I were throwing out descriptions like "leather with a hint of cedar", or even "peach floral with a subtle nuance of almond" and such, just to impress the wine aficionado. It worked. I love the opportunity to fleece an expert. And we ended up going away with an order of a mixed case of wine to split between the two of us. But the holidays are coming, see! I think the marshmallow roasting and smoresfest was my favorite activity of the whole program. As many will attest, I have a voracious appetite for all things chocolate. The hikes both evening and early a.m. were especially nice, too. I had forgotten just how beautiful the Autumns are here. I love it when the trees' leaves begin to burst into flames of reds, oranges, and yellows... and then, poof! ...one big wind on a brisk Autumn day sends them spiraling to the ground, leaving the tree bare and readied for winter.

It's funny how being in another place, halfway across the country from where you once were, will give you subtle reminders bringing on that queasy feeling of missing things. Just the other day I was writing an email to some friends, describing some things I've seen or heard in the last couple days that have reminded me of Phoenix. For instance, the car parked next to me that had the little rubber cactus antenna thing, the woman at Wal-Mart with the "Arizona" t-shirt, the guy at work who has a bunch of relatives in Yuma, or the story on NPR about the Northern Arizona falls. Just little glimpses. It's odd to me that I describe my missing Arizona as homesickness, when in fact I've grown up & lived in Northern Illinois far longer than in the southwest. I guess it's because I just really felt a very comfortable niche there. Thank goodness for friends who have guest rooms!!

I need to begin exploring and finding things to do, as my obsession with housecleaning and repeatedly wiping the kitchen countertops is nearly becoming worthy of pharmaceutical intervention. I really haven't even found a radio station that I like, so I've been consuming my 10-minute drives to and from work with NPR on my way there, and the classical station on the way back. Two quality stations are fine by me, I suppose.

Last week I attended my first neighborhood meeting, which just so happens to be a brand new neighborhood group getting off the ground. I had planned to just be the silent observer, prepared for the usual laundry list of neighborhood complaints and discussions of block garage sales. Somehow I managed to get myself elected as Vice President of the neighborhood association. I do find it interesting that a group of 50 or so people were quite willing to vote in a newcomer as a leader without knowing who I am, and were perfectly comfortable with the idea that I could be "the one" even having just moved here a month or so ago... knowing not much else about the community than how to get to and from work. Makes you really question if this is the way people typically vote on more important matters, too!

I need to get something for my digital camera so I can post pictures. Maybe that'll make me want to take more. My Fila Brasileiro is now two years old and I think I can count on one hand the number of pictures I have taken of her since she was a puppy. I love photos. I really don't know why I don't take more of them.

All for now! Goodnight Jimbob.