16 Days

This is a picture my girlfriend took of me driving us back to the city Sunday.  Yes, I am one of those people.  At least when DH is not in the car with me and can take our little female on his lap. 

Fall is in the air here in the Midwest.  And we have 16 more days.  I was thinking about the changing of the seasons and realize as we are going into fall this year, we are sort of going into the "fall" of our lives. 

I lived in Arizona for a couple years.  I missed the seasons there.  It was relentlessly hot.  Danerously hot.  Unforgivingly hot.  The scenery is mostly brown.  Lots of rocks and small shrubs dot the desert as you drive into town. 

It was 1999 and I drove into town with my dog and cat.  My significant other drove me out from Little Rock and stayed.  I had transferred with my job, so the movers would deliver my stuff.  I just had to unpack.  My convertible was brought out on a car carrier.  I rented a duplex.  It was weird having rocks for a yard.  I had grass in the back with olive and eucalyptus trees.  It smelled different.  There were also these large brown birds that sang weird songs that was really different from anything I experienced in the Midwest. 

I had a stressful job.  On weekends I liked to explore the area for relaxation.  Once I hiked with my boyfriend at South Mountain park.  We both took water and had sunscreen, hats, etc.  But how naïve we were.  We also had my dog with us.  My beautiful Golden Retriever.  My second Golden.  

We started out in the morning.  They trail we chose was downhill and back up.  I started to dread the hike back up.  Boyfriend decided he would give me the last of the water and I would go back to car with the dog and pick him up at bottom.  Thinking back I am not sure why we split up that day.  It does not sound like my idea.  He was a little impulsive and immature - that was the reason we broke up not long after.  I don't blame him for this day, I was stupid and unprepared too.

Anyway, I start back to the car.  It was just over the rise, I thought.  Water was running low, it was getting hotter.  My dog crept along and kept sticking his head in the shadows of the large boulders and small bushes that make up South Mountain landscape.  I thought to myself how awful I felt putting my dog through this.

I kept walking.  I started to wonder if I was lost.  The scenery all looked the same.  I kept topping each hill and more hills stretched out before me.  My had started feeling too small and I was feeling the sun burning my shoulders.  My sunglasses were sweaty and I had to keep pushing them up.  My mind started racing.

Pretty soon I started to feel panic creep in.  I wondered if I could carry my dog the rest of the way.  He was panting and seemed very focused on any shade he could put his head in.  I alternated thinking how stupid I was and how scared I was.  I could not believe what was happening.  I had never been lost before.  I grew up in the woods in the Midwest, where trees are tall and there are landmarks.

About the time I was wondering what to do and was on the verge of complete hopelessness, I topped a rise and spotted the parking lot and my car!  I never felt so much relief.  There was a while cinderblock building that contained bathrooms.  I ran in but there was no water coming out of the faucets.

I got in the car and blasted the ac to cool my dog down.  I retraced the drive we had taken into the park.  I saw boyfriend and picked him up.  He too had been hot and worried at the end.  He was quick to laugh and dismiss. 

I will never forget that day.  It was in late May, which is late to hike in Phoenix.  I also heard many times in the years I lived there that many people from back east/Midwest who are not accustomed to the heat/landscape die making mistakes like we made. 

I am so grateful that was not my fate that day.