So here I am above palm trees so straight and tall
You are smaller, getting smaller
But I still see you.
  — Jimmy Eat World - 'Goodbye Sky Harbor'

After a week, the change in temperature ceases to be a change you notice. The weather just is what it is. Part of me has already begun to take for granted that sandals and Decembers are not necessarily incompatible. Part of me realizes that after another week in equally sunny climes, I will find the relative chill of an Alabama December quite a shock, indeed.My sojourns are nothing new. Jody says he envies my ability to pack up and go; put my life into a suitcase and backpack and disappear into another part of the country—another life, really—for a week or two.

I can't explain why I do this, or what it is within me that needs this walkabout, needs the opportunity to step out of my normal life and into another.

Even if it's just for a week.

It would make more sense if I could point to some amazing, unusual activities I had (or still have) planned for while I'm away. Instead, so far, I've spent most of my time playing with Danny (age eleven months), teaching Kara to knit, or grousing about how I never managed to see even one of Phoenix's reportedly-spectacular sunsets.

(We got a stunner of a sunset in Sedona, but that's a story for when I'm able to post the accompanying photos as well.)

My time in Phoenix has seen me complete a set of mittens and a friend's scarf, while continuing on my point d'esprit lace scarf and beginning a pair of socks for me.

I suppose—no, in truth, I know—that I could do all this at home, but there's an allure to a strange couch and unfamiliar freeway system that overshadows my dislike of the flying that got me here.

My watch says 11:30 Phoenix time, and at this point, I am mostly prepared to change states and houses. I have successfully re-folded space-time, fitting all my belongings back into my suitcase, but I can't finish packing until after lunch.

The progression makes sense to me, at least. Eat lunch. Brush teeth. Finish packing toiletries bag. Put toiletries bag back into suitcase. Only then will I know if I can pack my jacket inside my suitcase, as I'm hoping.

Tonight, by way of Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport, Los Angeles. Another flight, time zone, and five hundred-or-so miles away from home.

Time to go.

Kara's shirt amuses me...

Southern Football
In the East, it's a cultural exchange
In the West Coast, it's a tourist attraction
In Texas, it's the big stakes
In the Midwest, it's a slugfest
But in the South, it's a religion
Roll Tide Roll

U of Alabama alumni crack me up. Including the one I'm married to. ;)