Maybe it was Utah

Things continue to settle in nicely in Part 2 of this weekly western serial. My DVD player is finally hooked up, and Eddie (one of my coworkers) has been so kind as to loan me several VHS from his own personal collection. Our tastes tend to diverge quite a bit, but he's 60 and he's nice, and I can't really turn down free movies, so I'm much obliged.

As far as work goes, I've started an almost-daily shift standing at the Lower Cliffs, which I thoroughly enjoy. Visitors are always saying things like, "It must get pretty boring up here," or "Do you HAVE to stand here ALL day?" to which I usually reply, "It's a lot better than sitting in an office all day." And it is. When I first started, I wasn't so excited about the piles of archaeological research dumped on me. It's just not my bag. Plants and animals - sweet! Ancient Indians - meh. But now that I've got a cache of info filed in my brain and a little experience under my belt, I'm starting to remember why I was so excited about this job in the first place. I do love random facts, and I love sharing them with people even more, probably just because it's fun to show off that I know stuff. But I do love it when someone asks me a question and I can answer it for them - tell them something they didn't know. I like it when other people are eager to learn and I can help them out a little bit, and if it happens that I can't, well then that's just another reason for me to go look up a new random tidbit for myself. This is why I think I would enjoy some kind of educational career. Probably not in a conventional classroom setting, but there's got to be something out there, right? I've got time to look at my options, anyway.

While the job itself is going swimmingly, I've recently realized how surreal it is to actually be here. Working a full-time job brings with it routine - I get up at the same time every morning, travel the same road to and from work, stand in the same places all day, answer the same questions, and stare out at the same picturesque desert landscape.

Wait, what was the last one?

Living and working every day in the middle of all this idyllic southwestern scenery makes it easy to take it all for granted. The sun bouncing off the distant red cliffs, sparkling on the lake, casting shadows in the canyons. The ubiquitous and iconic silhouette of the saguaro everywhere you turn. The giant, starry sky over your head every night, totally unpolluted by any city lights. I mean, I talk to people every day who travel here from all over the country - sometimes the world - just to see places like this. And I live here. I live on the set of a western movie. Like I said, it can be surreal.

I think what makes it the strangest, though, and possibly what makes it so easy to take it for granted, is not only to I currently live here, but I am going to be living here in the future. Every other place I've ever traveled to, I had a time-line - I knew when I was going to be leaving. So I knew exactly how long I had to take everything in before it would all be over. But after my current job is over, at the end of this three months, I'm still going to be in Arizona. I'm still going to be surrounded by deserts and mountains and cactus and canyons. Granted, I won't be living right in the middle of it - I'll be in an apartment, in a city, much like other cities - but all of that landscape will only be a short drive away. I'll have infinite opportunity to visit. It won't be whisked away again at the end of three months. And that's what's really surreal.

It's also what's totally amazing and exciting, because at the end of this three months, not only will I still be in Arizona, but I will be with Shawn. I might not be living in the middle of a John Ford movie, but I will be with Shawn, and that is more important to me than any postcard scenery. Together we'll be able to share the excitement of moving to a new locale, the adventure of exploring new places, and the awesomeness of just being with each other. When Shawn finally arrives, the reality of Arizona will finally hit me, because it will be a reality with him. That's what I've really been looking forward to, whether I happened to be in the desert, the jungle, or the arctic. And I can't even describe my excitement, because that reality is only a month away. In mid-March, Shawn has to attend the wedding of some good friends in Indiana, and after that, he's making a beeline for Phoenix. Woohoo! Let the countdown begin!

So in the meantime.....life at Tonto National Monument is pretty good. The job is swell, I get to visit town at least once a week, and every now and then I remember what a wondrous place I'm living in. I've already seen a roadrunner AND a coyote (unfortunately, not at the same time)! Maybe next week I'll be able to fill you in on some madcap desert adventure. Or at least on some of my coworkers.