Subtitled, "Mr. Seattle Weatherman, Do you need a calendar? Use it!"
I think the second title has a certain lilt to it, don't you?
Dear Phoenix, Arizona:
I miss you.
I miss your prickly pears gleaming in the sun. I miss your tall, proud saguaros swollen after a monsoon.
I miss your purple bougainvillea blossoms, so beloved in Rosamunde Pilcher books,that have the nerve to stay in bloom almost all year, even during the wicked hot summer.
I miss the cheerfully orange Mexican Hat-Dance plants mixed in - purple and orange defying the hot asphalt.
I love your palm trees, though word on the street is you "imported" those and claimed them as your native own. Some might call that lying. Others call that ingenious!
I miss pools and swimming.
I miss the stark necessity of Iced coffee.
I miss sunburns.
I'm sending you this love letter because I miss you so much. I miss your weather reporters using descriptions like, "balmy, sunny, and toasty."
I take back all the times I called you "The Freakin' Desert." Please forgive me.
Girl Parker
Awww.
I would like to take a moment to point out that all of those photos (save the Saguaros) could have easily been taken here in Florida.
Hint, hint.
Posted by: amber | 06/27/2011 at 03:37 PM
"I miss sunburns" The late arriving summer must really being doing a job on your brain cells.
Not that I disagree. This whole cloudy and in the 60s weather is for the birds.
Posted by: eden | 06/27/2011 at 04:22 PM
You make Arizona sound wonderful - I'd love to go there. The closest I've been is Colorado (lived there from age 15 to 22). Compared to Virginia (where I live now), Colorado is a desert and compared to Colorado, southeastern Virginia is a swampy jungle. Amazing how the whole atmosphere and feeling of a place can be so distinct.
Posted by: Carol Apple | 06/27/2011 at 04:43 PM
Amber -- Haaa! Duly noted, minus the humidity. I heart you.
Eden -- It's three days till JULY. I'd scream in the cereal aisle at QFC, if I thought it would bring the sun back. I just cry...
Carol -- So true!! For the record, I was so homesick the first year in AZ, all I wanted was to come back to Seattle. The second year, the desert worked it's way under my skin. And who doesn't love a day at the pool? (in winter!) Thanks for stopping by!
Posted by: Girl Parker | 06/27/2011 at 04:47 PM
Great pictures! You're making me miss it, and I've never even been there.
Posted by: Kelly Hashway | 06/27/2011 at 05:42 PM
Phoneix Misses you tons especially me. Keep in mind my car read 116 today.. and my pool feels like bath water.. and it is still the freakin Desert that is wanting you to leave cold, rainy and expensive Seattle to come back to where you belong... XOXO
Posted by: Megs | 06/27/2011 at 11:09 PM
Kelly -- You would love it! Especially Tucson and the Sabino Canyon. In Phoenix, where we lived, you gotta see the Desert Botanical Gardens. It's so different from anywhere, you find yourself just staring.
Meg -- I Miss You Too!! Believe me. And FD is singing a siren song to my soul. Hugs x 10.
Posted by: Girl Parker | 06/28/2011 at 11:09 AM
As mentioned above, Arizona misses you too. It may be the only place where, when the mercury rises over 100 degrees, you are working in your office and hear over the intercom, "Snow cones are being served in front of Building 2". By the way, it was delicious...
Posted by: Amy | 06/28/2011 at 02:43 PM
AMY -- Hilarious!!! I love it and I can totally picture it. Miss you boat-loads. It's currently 71 degrees here and cloudy... I suspect our eyes can't adjust to anything bright now.
Posted by: Girl Parker | 06/28/2011 at 03:20 PM
Wow--an ode to Phoenix in the summer! Just how grey is it up in Seattle right now?! I'm back--S. said that the day before was the hottest day of the year so far in Tucson--112. (She got back a few days before I did) After sleeping until two today, I ventured out for errands in the evening--it was 100 at sunset, so must've been 105 or 110 up in Phoenix...My last week in Korea was rainy--but not altogether unpleasant, almost a 'Costa-Rica'-style rain, since it was in the 70's...So, then. When are you guys coming back down here?! Our doors are always open...
Posted by: J jetlagged but back in Tucson since this morning | 06/30/2011 at 01:43 AM
Lori, this post is tinged with yearning and nostalgia and I love it. It's often that I've had to move from a place I've loved and thought of the things, places and events that have made it special. Memories are so powerful and I'm glad you seem to have such fond ones of Arizona!
Posted by: Bella | 07/01/2011 at 05:37 AM