re-entry

Leaving the desert by plane. Went to the airport. The line for security screening snakes around corners and weaved up and back, each curve only revealing the next one. It was worse than the line for Pirates of the Caribbean twenty years ago at Disney World, long before the movie. It was a long process. One guy fainted. The security folks were not sympathetic. They said we should come to the airport three days early to make sure we make the flight. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes.

I did not feel safe because of all of this. I was able to smuggle toothpaste past them.

The desert and the mountains are marvelous and magical. The valleys are now full of homes that are bunched cheek to jowl and wrapped around curves and into cul-de-sacs. People are moving there by the hundreds each day. They can't build the Wal*Marts, Best Buys, Targets, and others Superstores fast enough. A green-gray haze hangs over the valley. You can see it from the mountain side.

I flew home. We made the plane by two minutes. It is 24 degrees here, but that's OK. I had a good time. I was away. I wandered the sandy hillside and stood with the Saguaro and we held up arms up to the sun. I would post a picture but i dropped my camera (I haven't posted any pictures anyway).

I came back to 23 phone messages, only five from L. I don't think anyone went into the hospital, which is good. The rest can be sorted out tomorrow. Vacation is a good and necessary thing. It keeps the life in balance. We even spent time with friends and saw their kids, and their kids' kids, which is a whole other story, because everyone has a story. It's inevitable, you can't get away without one. And everyone's is complex and convoluted and very important, at least to them.

And now, with blogs, we are all stars in the Milky Way.

I am eager to get back to the stories I left. Did the people I see stay calm, find work, stay sober, get along, sleep well, avoid panic attacks, get their work done, keep their room clear, keep their spending in check, sell some snakes, not bring home any new cats, or any new men.

I will begin to find out, tomorrow at nine.