King of the Mountains

Here in the valley you can take a turn going whichever direction and you inevitably end up heading toward some set of mountains. Though they are all different ranges and individual mountains, they basically box in the metropolitan area and make for some great sunrises and sunsets in the vast desert sky pierced with a few sky scraping peaks. These ranges include the Superstition and Usery mountains to the east, South mountain to the south, the Sierra Estrellas to the southwest, the White Tanks due west, the McDowells and Mazatzal mountains to the northeast and the Hieroglyphics to the northwest. And they all have some great summits, like the Mazatzals' zenith Four Peaks (namesake of a brewery here), among others.
But in the center of the valley is a lone tall mountain,...Camelback, seen here with the Buttes glowing red as always in the foreground. On Saturday after a Friday night out on the Mustache Bike Ride and Bar Hop, I got out and literally jogged my way up Camelback. It is named this because of its obvious resemblance to a sitting camel and its hump. It was a great climb with some steep, slippery portions that one has to sprint up if they don't want to use the hand rails.When I reached the top, I found a Christmas tree,...a great view of mountains to the north,...and a police helicopter chasing after me.
Another mountain that stands tall in the valley, though small in comparison, is A mountain which I hiked last weekend.As you can see, the planes fly close by. Since moving here I have seen more airplanes than ever before. At night you can see them from far away in the sky blinking like the star that the three wisemen are heading to on the top of A mountain.

While climbing this mountain and riding my bike around town, I captured some scenes of the valley.

Sun Devil stadium and the other athletic facilities from atop A mountain. The stadium is awesome tucked in between two hills.

A view of the Mill Avenue district in downtown Tempe, with part of ASU campus on the left and Phoenix's city park (largest in the country), South Mountain, in the background.

The old Hayden Flour Mill for which the infamous street is named. It is just an empty building with a now non-connected railroad track cutting through.

A view from A mountain of the Mill and Phoenix in the distance.

Gammage - the performing arts center at ASU.

More of the geometric buildings on the southwest arts corner of ASU.

A tucked away statue showing the Native American and artistic histories of the southwest.

I hope that these views offer you some picture of where I am, at least until Thursday morning when I head to Las Vegas and will exit the mountains of the valley and catch a flight to the almighty Rockies and the wonderful world of snow.

a day trip through the Delta and a trip home for Thanksgiving

While I was home for Thanksgiving I took a day trip through the Arkansas and Mississippi Delta. After dropping off my busted computer at the Clinton School I took off toward Pine Bluff, trying to pick up a passenger along the way but Geoffrey was in Cambridge for the Harvard-Yale game. So my first stop didn't come until Dumas where I stopped in at Miller's Mud Mill and picked up a cheese tray for my mom.
While driving I passed through so many small southeast Arkansas towns like Lake Village...and kept remembering the road which I had taken countless times to Hamburg, Arkansas, to see Uncle Dane and eventually down to Monroe, Louisiana, to visit Mama, Pop, Aunt Lynn, Amanda and Hailey Haynes. But before I could make it there I turned left to cross the bridge to Greenville, Mississippi, the first planned stop on this trip. I was supposed to meet Frances, a friend I met in Spain and who attended the Mississippi State University. Frances had just taken the CPA exam the day before and thus slept through our engagement. But that didn't leave me with nothing to do. I headed to downtown Greenville and got an amazing meal at Jim's Place where I had some of the best greens and strawberry shortcake I have ever tasted from this man:Afterward I headed next door and shopped for some boots at Looking Good.No luck with the boots but I hopped in my car and headed to Helena-West Helena, Arkansas. Once I crossed the Mississippi River for the second time that day and entered town, I ran across a sign that James Mitchell mentioned in his writings.I stopped in Helena-West Helena to visit my Aunt Lynn and Uncle Dana who bought two houses there within the past year and are currently living and working on the nicer and bigger of the two. I sat with them for two hours in one of the living spaces with this amazing stove place:This was a long, but relaxing day on the road and was just the start to my trip back home.

Ten days for Thanksgiving might still not have been enough but I enjoyed every minute of it - getting to play soccer with Zach's teams, run and hang out with Imhoff, spend a couple evenings with the Shadids and a couple more with the Harrisons,...pick Haynes up from the airport, join in on a great meal at Yo' Momma's with a great crew, eat the best food on Thanksgiving and welcome Tina and Ricky into the house, spend some quality dessert-eating time out at the Oates', cover up on a rainy and cold but still amazing Razorback football day, shoot my first shotgun and get challenged by Sam on our Saturday Thanksgiving at the Boultinghouse's, play some football with North Little Rock kids from all ages, hang out with my crazy sisters and little brother, and spend almost every non-working time minute with Zach or the dogs.

Now I'm back in Tempe and already almost on my way out again. I spent the last week doing a lot more work on my project and working out a Foundation trip to D.C. around the inauguration to meet with Veterans' Affairs stakeholders, working with Tillman Scholars on their CGIU commitments, spending a Friday night seeing art with Katie, Eric, Joel, and Erin, and going to an bonfire/beer pong party at Ari's, a Saturday being active riding around town taking photos, climbing A Mountain and walking through the Tempe Arts Festival before seeing Katie's cousins' metal show and then just relaxing, running, and reading the rest of the time. Next stop, Las Vegas to the Rockies and back to Las Vegas for the new year.

Peace.

more to read and see, and then to settle down

everywhere i look i have a book waiting to read. i say this because on my desk right now at work i have a pile of 6 that i need to delve into for my own personal education and at home i have a box of 15 that i am steadily chipping away at. as haynes pointed out while we were home for thanksgiving, it is nice to have the internet and the website goodreads that james mitchell sent to us to keep books "on the shelf" virtually.

i just created the first rough itinerary of haynes' and i's trip around north america. it is more or less a way to figure out what directions and zig-zags we will take and not a schedule of our time. haynes has some "must-sees" and i have some as well. then there are friends - todd, kirsten, ryan, to name a few - around that we want to visit. we will have 2 months but from the initial plan, we might have to extend it. and we will most likely make the trip down for ginny branch's wedding into a trip as well. so look forward to us adding and taking from your refrigerator soon.

i have applied for some jobs, or am at least planning on applying. the only prerequisites i have are that the job be working with people and not all day in an office and that i am in a place where people will visit me. i can't wait to move to a big or small, definitely walkable and rideable city or town where i can find people and places that wave at each other and welcome you in. i also can't wait to find a place where i can have my own space and decorate it and have a lot of bookshelves and a desk and a comfortable couch.