Day 11: Staying put in Scottsdale!

Does this photo remind anyone besides me of the 1977 short film, Powers of Ten? (If you feel like watching it, click on the photo.)

We decided the warm weather warranted a hotel stay instead of playing Air BnB roulette again. I can hardly believe yesterday morning I was wearing waterproof winter hiking boots. FYI: NOT us in the poolside photo!

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My first time in a hotel since the Before Times. As my friend Liliana says, "Oh MYlanta!" Things have changed.

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Apparently I run on Dunkin' too. (You can take the girl out of greater Boston...)

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It's so much fun to meet someone in person that I know only online! Janine and I are in a writing class together, and when she learned we'd be in her home town, she suggested getting together. She and her husband Ron, along with the lovely (Miss Jean) Harlow, showed us around Old Town. And of course, we talked about writing!

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No crying in baseball. Even when there's no baseball. Joe in his happy place. One of many.

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You don't see singing cowboys much any more.

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We didn't know what it was, either, but it was outside a blacksmith shop in Old Town.

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Joe's comment upon seeing this sign: "Yes! Be a consumer! Buy more stuff." (At the moment, with a car full of stuff, and considering all the stuff in Mom's house, I'm mindful of the adage, "you never see a U-Haul behind a hearse.") I think the stuff I'm most interested reveals itself in moments, stories, in nature, and words. And things that make me laugh. Especially those.

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The Old Adobe Mission (Our Lady of Perpetual Help). Mexicans who settled Scottsdale in the 1910s built it by hand using more than 14,000 50-pound bricks made of native clay, silt, sand, straw, dung, and water. The centerpiece above the altar isn't the Christ, but rather the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Altar detail, Last Supper. The sanctuary offered a quiet respite from the busy tourist mecca of Old Town. As has been my habit on vacation if I see an open church, I stopped in for a quick prayer in the tranquil space and a chat with the volunteers selling rosaries at the back.

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A solitary peppermint stripe rose outside the mission church immediately takes me to thinking of my Mom and how much she loved roses. This one had a light scent reminiscent of fresh peaches. When I see a rose in an unexpected place, I like to think she's saying 'hi.'

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After visiting Old Town, we lounged around the pool and talked about family, writing, and politics (Ukraine, of course; but also national politics, especially around Arizona). And the dogs were a hit with other hotel guests!

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