Winter Slips Away

JWise Life

Caroline Wise and John Wise in Phoenix, Arizona on a cold day

Winter slips away too fast when you live in the desert. We have two seasons here, summer and not-summer, and it is this not-summer that acts as our winter. By December and January, the desert sees some cold days that could be considered seriously chilly, but these are rare, and then before we know it, the days of February march ever closer into April, and while it may not yet be summer, we know it is around the corner.

Somewhere in December, it happens that one morning, we get to collect our scarves, gloves, beanies, and even a shell, but within days, we see them sitting near the door and wonder if we shouldn’t just put them back into storage.

Then, in January, it happens: the forecast predicts a cold front with the promise of temperatures in the 30s. A simultaneous shiver goes up, as does the joy that we’ll be able to bundle up for a day or two. But here comes February, and those warm clothes by the door begin to gather dust, and we lament that summer is inching closer. And then it happens again, and in mid-February, the temperature dips below 40 degrees. While we have grown accustomed to the colder days of the season, the air is dryer than usual, which means that as we doff the multiple layers, we are building life-threatening static charges that produce sparks when we touch one another or ground ourselves. But we love our version of winter and enjoy these opportunities to wear long pants, wool, and thick socks.

During the evening, our bed is covered with a down comforter that, no matter the chill in our place (we keep the heater turned off as much as possible), always keeps us comfy and cozy within its snuggly embrace. The seat heaters in our car get a good workout these days, too, with butts the first thing warmed as we leave for the morning. If only the seats and steering wheel were cooled as the 110-degree days of summer soon take over.

Whoah, was that a teenager walking to the bus stop in shorts? Yep, winter is certainly slipping away.

Sunn O))) – Druid Metal

JWise Photo of the Day

Brinn Aaron and Caroline Wise in Tucson, Arizona

Music has brought us to southern Arizona, Tucson specifically, as the band performing this evening is not playing closer to Phoenix this year. But first, once we collected Brinn on our way down the road, we were merrily traveling the interstate nervous as always that we’d be late. That perpetual anxiety of being late is likely what has had us arriving early nearly everywhere we go. Anyway, we were in Tucson earlier than expected, and so the opportunity to visit Charro Steak & Del Rey easily entered the realm of possibility because our concert venue is just around the corner.

Caroline and I had been here barely two weeks ago and enjoyed it very much, hence our desire to return, and now we have a convert found in Brinn. I thought we’d get drinks for them, coffee for me, and split a tableside guacamole, but Brinn’s eyeball fell on the Scallops Agua Chile and it did the trick and lured him into planning his own return visit.

Sunn O))) performing in Tucson, Arizona

We lingered at the restaurant, under the impression that Shoshin (初心) Duo was opening the show. Nope, it turned out that Sunn O))) was starting at 9:00 and not Shoshin (初心) Duo which actually is the name of the tour. I guess this kind of knowledge is a no-brainer for those who follow bands they enjoy closer than we obviously do. No matter, the show had just begun and only a strum or two of the guitars had been played prior to our entering the Rialto Theater proper. We could also tell the show had just gotten underway because the place wasn’t filled with fog yet. Seeing only two musicians on stage wasn’t what I had expected when we saw Sunn O))) in late 2019 they were a 5-piece and now the Duo part of the tour name starts to make sense.

Sunn O))) performing in Tucson, Arizona

The high priests of sonic bewilderment this evening are the core members of the band, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson. While there are three fewer people featured on stage, I’m not sure I can tell if there is less sonic bombardment than what we experienced last time. I am relatively confident however that the acoustics between the cavernous Rialto and the Mesa Center of the Arts are quite different because the show a few years ago featured far more girth of distortion wrapping itself around us. We were enveloped in a much deeper sound that penetrated our bone marrow to alter how red blood cells form. Regardless, there was enough alchemical mischief of Sunn O))) present this evening to bring us into an altered state of consciousness, as much as that’s possible considering that no illicit drugs are involved.

Sunn O))) performing in Tucson, Arizona

One does not clap for Sunn O))), we raise our hands in awe. Our ears are now defeated after the pummeling of being in the presence of such enormous fields of distortion and feedback, and mere claps would fail to be recognized above the maelstrom. Plus, how else should the cosmic energy of the druid overlords feed those present other than through our hands raised in obeisance while we pull into our souls the trembling remains of vibrational decay signifying the end of the ceremony?

Tucson to Miami

JWise Photo of the Day, Travels

Five Points Market & Restaurant Tucson, Arizona

Oops, after that mammoth post about Kartchner from yesterday, I kind of forgot about this day for a month. Well, here I am in late February, finally getting around to it. After our amazing visit to Kartchner Caverns State Park, we spent the night in Tucson at the Downtown Clifton Hotel, a nice little boutique kind of hotel. While I forgot to mention it, in the last photo of the previous day, where Caroline is peering into the view, we were eating at Charro Steak & Del Rey, which was quite a bit better than most everything we can get in Phoenix. That place is highly recommended. Now, onto this day, starting with breakfast.

Five Points Market & Restaurant Tucson, Arizona

I found Five Points Market & Restaurant on several “Best Breakfast in Tucson” lists, and it was near our hotel. The huevos rancheros I had were an interesting interpretation of the classic dish, while Caroline opted for a vegan roasted beet sandwich. This little diverse café of optimism was nothing less than great; from the wonderful staff to the eclectic range of customers, the place is a gem. I’d like to point out what differentiates this from most places that serve a decent breakfast in the Phoenix area: we live in a city that apparently cherishes conformity and that includes restaurant patrons. There are two camps out for breakfast within a 20-mile radius of where we live: one is a clientele of laborers and hourly wage earners, and the other is snobbish rich conformist clones dressed in a narrow range of fashionable crap.

Cathedral of Saint Augustine Tucson, Arizona

Oh yeah, it’s Sunday, and we need to go to church.

Cathedral of Saint Augustine Tucson, Arizona

We are at the Cathedral of Saint Augustine, where mass held in Spanish is just winding down. Because I don’t speak Spanish, this has the old-fashioned flair of services being held in Latin, which was how it was done when I was a little boy going to church in Buffalo, New York, in the late 60s.

Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona

But that wasn’t enough church for us, so we drove south so we could also visit the Mission San Xavier del Bac. Unfortunately, this was not a time for tourism, as I was informed matter-of-factly after I barged into the nave, camera in hand. Services were about to start. While I wasn’t ready for the word of god or entering heaven this morning, I was ready to take photos. This old church was founded back in 1692 by Father Eusebio Francisco Kino.

Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona

A side chapel was open to tourism, though I did try to be respectful of those who wanted to say prayers before I leapt in to photograph all the holiness my camera could capture.

Tucson, Arizona

That was enough god in churches; now it was time to see if we could spot the almighty in nature.

View from Highway 77 in Arizona

Obviously, we did not take Interstate 10 north; nope, that wasn’t for us when Highway 77 allows us to travel in these kinds of environments.

View from Highway 77 in Arizona

Anyone can live among the trees; it takes a special kind of person to find the beauty of cacti and then go out, seek them, and hug them.

View from Highway 77 in Arizona

I know it might be difficult to see the snow-capped peaks to the left in this image, while the ones to the right should be easier to spot. I consulted Bing’s ChatGPT, and while obviously it might be wrong, it appears that Mt. Baldy is to the left and that the entire range is part of the White Mountains. If this is true, we are seeing across an area about 100 miles wide.

Miami, Arizona

I can’t say that we’ve ever seen water running through the Bloody Tanks Wash that is found here in Miami, Arizona, but here it is flowing today.

Miami, Arizona

We are in Miami and walking around as we wait for a table at Guayo’s El Rey Mexican restaurant.

Miami, Arizona

There are a few businesses holding on here along Sullivan Street that seem to have been the main street at one time before the “highway” bypassed it. How they remain open is a mystery. Maybe it’s related to the number of folks that, like us, end up waiting for a table while walking around town. As for lunch, Guayo’s never fails to satisfy unless, like today, they’ve run out of carne asada. This dissuaded me from trying something else as I had meat on my mind, and so off to Hodori in Mesa we drove.

Just east of Superior is Queen Creek Canyon we have failed to visit for a hike for over 20 years, and stopping to snag a photo is no easy feat, but today, we were driving slowly enough that we were able to catch a pullout and then crossed the road for this view which also allowed us to see the creek down below. Shadows on the creek side made for bad photos, and the boulders I really would like to get a nice photo of never work out either, so there’s this, our last stop before reentering the greater Phoenix area.