Ahhh, the restorative powers of travel… As I glance out my window to a damp and dreary day, I’m fairly certain it’s sunny in Arizona. On cloudy days like these it’s good to know that sunscreen is still essential in some part of the world. It’s an affirmation of the Earth’s steady rotation and 23 ½ degree axis tilt. It’s a reminder that our own turn with warmth will come again.
Last week, I kind of bumped myself ahead in the line of those awaiting select signs of spring (flowers always trump mud puddles). Once my kids were launched toward their Hawaii trip with dad, I did a quick late night pack for my early flight to Phoenix/Sedona. Fortunately this required little actual brain activity beyond deciphering the scribbles on my various “to do” lists. My reasoning skills had diminished to “mom minimum” by then. Without the lists I’d have had to rely on restaging room entries until my brain found a familiar path back toward its original intention (“OK, I was compelled to walk from my bedroom to the kitchen because…? Oh yeah. I’m thirsty”).
I had blearily suspected that I was exhausted and tried to build some breaks into the daily schedule, but it’s
impractical to expect a mother of three to walk past burgeoning piles of laundry in her own home. For six lovely days in Arizona, however, I stuffed my worn clothing into a plastic hotel bag, liberated from laundry at last. I ignored schedules beyond the rhythm within and loaded up on my favorite outdoor activities. Camelback Mountain, South Mountain Park and Preserve, McDowell Mountain, Montezuma’s Castle and Well, Sedona, Red Rock State Park, Oak Creek Canyon… The most rejuvenating path is most often the scenic one.And the only thing “forgotten” was the stress I gladly left behind…