A Few Good Memes

No, I’m not dead, I’m just on vacation in Tucson, AZ, visiting Anna’s mom and sister. We’re on dialup out here (AOL dialup, no less), so it’s like being in a time machine set for the early 90s. Guess I need to crank up Nirvana’s Nevermind, imagine I’m driving my $200 Subaru wagon painted with smiley faces and peace signs instead of my mother-in-law’s late-model Toyota Sienna, get that long-on-top in a ponytail, shaved-on-the-sides haircut again and imagine basking in the safe glow of President Bill Clinton.

Being in Tucson is great. Went for a nice hike with Ian and my sister-in-law this morning. 2.3 miles through the desert and a rocky riverbed. I love hiking in a big way. Ian complained very loudly and staged several strikes the first half of the trip and then by the end told me he wants to go hiking a hundred times this week.

It was pretty tough arriving here yesterday. I’ve only ever been here with Anna. Walked in the house and lost it. I was bringing suitcases in the house and just had to lean against the wall and cry for a few minutes. I mean, we’ve done a ton of fun stuff here. Anna was the one who introduced me to this awesome city. I remember the first time we came here, I got off the plane and it seemed like we had landed on another planet. The flora (and fauna) are so different here. Cacti and scrub and red dirt and Palo Verde and Road Runners and Javelinas in the back yard and glorious brown mountains. The bedroom I’m staying in is the room Emma was probably conceived in. So that’s just hard and sad. I’m doing better today, but I sure wish Anna was here. She sure would have been proud of Ian climbing rocks and crossing riverbeds.

So, I’ll probably be a bit sparse this week between the opportunity to be outdoors a lot and the pain of dialup. I’ll try to catch up on everyone’s posts next week. We’re renting a convertible and heading to Phoenix on Thursday to visit my Gram, so that should be fun.

Have a great week everyone!

Update: Looks like one of the neighbors has an open WiFi access point, so I guess it’s time to sell the Subaru and put on the Panic! at the Disco.  Perhaps I’ll be around more than I thought this week