It's hard to believe that I have been living here for a little over a month now. Sometimes it doesn't seem like it could possibly be that long already, but in other times it seems like I've been here for much long. I think I tend to "settle" into new places kind of quickly; I'm quick to make a new place home.
It was brought to my attention recently by a friend *cough cough, John* that my blog posts so far have made Arizona sound like a different planet, it in some sense, I think it kind of is. Let's face it, ways of living are different in every part of the country, and Arizona is no different. Before I moved here, I must admit, I was a bit naive about the looks of this part of the country. It had been over 10 years since I visited Arizona, and I mostly remember things about the northern part of the state, so I was expecting to move into a desert. Sand, lots and lots of sand, and a cactus here or there, that's what I imagined. But actually, it is very pretty down here. From my window at work, I have a great view of some mountains (and by mountains, I don't mean Rockies style). From my apartment I also can see mountains from two different directions. Even more impressive, though, was the sunset I briefly witnessed a week or two ago. As much as I love the Midwest, this sunset (orange, red, yellow, over a mountain) was one of the best I have ever seen. It's actually quite beautiful down here. Once summer it over, I hope to be able to go out and see more of the beauty this place has to offer.
One really cool thing that I witnessed last week was a dust storm. While it wasn't as big as the one we had a few weeks ago, I actually got to see this one, so it was more exciting. It started while I was at work. As stated about, I can see mountains out of the window by my desk. During the afternoon I noticed that it was a bit hazy around the mountains. At first it wasn't surprising, because after the dust storm a few weeks before, it had been hazy with all the dust particles in the air. But as the afternoon went on I noticed that the haziness was moving closer and covering more of the mountain. Then it really seemed to be moving. Luckily I got off of work when I did. As I drove home on the interstate (one of the quickest drives home since I've been here!) I was able to get a great view of the storm. When I finally got home, the storm was still moving in and at first it was dark; it felt like it was getting to be night time, not dinner time. But as it got closer, you could see just what it was: dirt. It was pretty fascinating to see it move in right towards me, so I snapped a couple pictures before taking cover inside. To make matters even more memorable, right after the dust storm came through, a huge rainstorm directly followed. I swear it poured for 20-30 minutes straight, it was so loud. I think my area got anywhere from .75-1 inch of rain, and it was noticeable by the partial (and only temporary) flooding outside. It has been a while since I've seen rain like that. It reminded me of a certain night last summer where it rained so much to completely flood the streets around my apartment, and I do mean flood, not just big puddles. Just ask some of my friends what happened to their cars that night, it was crazy.
As for work, things are still going well. A couple weeks ago got kind of busy with conferences calls and meetings, but then last week was meeting free, giving me time for more background reading and software tutorials. I did get some data to play with and will hopefully get to map it on GIS this week, which I am really looking forward to. I will also (officially) be traveling in a couple weeks. I get to go to Flagstaff for a couple days for some meetings. I'm pretty excited because the last time I was in Flagstaff (long ago), it was beautiful... and it's cooler! But I'm also kind of nervous about the drive. As some of you may know, I haven't had to drive much in the last 6 years, so I'm not used to driving trips on my own, and Flagstaff is 2-3 hours away (probably 3 with the way I drive). At first I thought my co-worker and I would be driving together, but it sounds like we'll be driving ourselves... even though we're going the same place for the same amount of time, just different hotels. But it's not just the distance of the drive, it's also the fact that Flagstaff has real mountains, real enough that they get snow up there. The elevation difference between here and Flagstaff is a lot, and apparently there are some... cliffs... that I will have to drive by. As stated in a previous post, I'm not a fan of heights (STILL haven't gone on one of the loops) so the idea of driving by cliffs... terrifying. So we'll see... I just might be that granny driver (even more so than usual) when those cliffs come up.
Other than that, not too much going on here. I'm still settling in (if you saw my apartment you probably wouldn't guess I've been here a month already, I really need to get my butt in gear and pick this place up).
I hope you all survived the heat and are doing well!
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