Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Snowed In

The Paco Command Center continues to be cut off from civilization due to the blizzard. In fact, we're told that we may get another ten to twenty inches of snow starting tonight.

All I have, I would gladly give to be back in Arizona. In the foothills of the White Tank Mountains in western Maricopa County, for example, or somewhere near the Saguaro National Park. Maybe it's just boring desert to some people, but to me it's heaven...



Completely unrelated update: Given the concerns the flying public has about airport security these days, you might want to consider every possible survival tip.

A related update: Don Surber has some advice for D.C. on how to survive the blizzard.
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15 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 9, 2010 at 5:40 PM

    Ah, the desert. Whether it is the deserts of Arizona, or the vistas of southern New Mexico, they are indeed, beautiful.

    I was stationed at Ft. Huachuca in southern Arizona. Some of my friends couldn't stand the desert since it had no "trees". Not one took the offer to show them the wonders that surrounded them, especially in the Spring. Don't get me started about the fantastic thunderheads in late Summer.

    Keep your eyes on the prize, Paco. I am sure that one day you will be liberated from the snowy clime of the Occupied territory.

    Deborah Leigh

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  2. PacoFebruary 9, 2010 at 5:55 PM

    Deborah: One of the great things about the desert (at least at some times) is the total quiet. I've sat down by an arroyo in the White Tank Mountains, surrounded by low hills, and it was quieter than sitting under a roof. And the appearance of water in the Spring and the brief but glorious display of wildflowers. the stately Saguaros, the smell of the desert - sun-blasted rock and clean earth and mesquite - that's for me!

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  3. bruceFebruary 9, 2010 at 8:02 PM

    I abandoned my oriental odyssey (I shall return!) and flew back to Sydney a few days ago, crossing the Oz continent diagonally from Port Hedland. Maybe you guys would be amazed at just how much of Oz is desert. An awesome but forbidding sight. Much of it looks like Mars.

    Desert does not have the same attraction for us as it has for you US-ians. Lots of reasons for that. The interior of Oz has always been unpopular, more so now. Most of us live in coastal areas with beaches. The few settlements there are on the edge of our deserts are either places of heavy industrial mining or have massive social problems.

    I did spend a weekend on a ranch on the edge of the desert once (the front gate was an hour drive from the homestead) and enjoyed the freshness of the air and the silence, so I know what you mean Paco. But the US deserts look nicer than ours.

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  4. YojimboFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:18 PM

    Good thing you didn't fly in here, we are expecting snow Wednesday and Thursday possibly to the valley floor. Nyuk, Nyuk!

    She Who is Never Wrong: "How can you not like the Arizona-Sonora Desert, it's such a unique ecosystem."
    Sez I: "Yes dear." *sigh*

    There!...Are!...No!...Trees!...Here!...And!...No!...Green!...Anything!

    Have to agree on the clouds, simply great, and don't forget the almost daily beautiful sunsets.

    Four Corners, now that's different.

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  5. YojimboFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:20 PM

    The dog seems to have eaten "Green!...Anything!"

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  6. JeffSFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:53 PM

    Don Surber has the right idea, but the wrong target. Although I have yet to hear anyone say that lefties are as tasty as caribou.

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  7. PacoFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:57 PM

    Yojimbo: Trees, shmees. I can always fly back east to get a gander at 'em.

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  8. PacoFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:58 PM

    Jeff: I hear they're quite gamey.

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  9. mojoFebruary 9, 2010 at 11:55 PM

    Bark scorpion
    Mojave rattler
    W. Diamondback rattler
    Gila...


    My heaven isn't so...bitey.

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  10. JeffSFebruary 10, 2010 at 8:38 AM

    Plenty of Tabasco sauce will fix that easily enough, Paco.

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  11. YojimboFebruary 10, 2010 at 10:19 AM

    No!...Shmees!...Either!:)

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  12. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2010 at 11:57 AM

    I love wide open spaces, and if I can't have the northern plains, I'll gladly take desert. The Four Corners area got snow two of the four years I lived there. "Green" is highly overrated, in my opinion, as are trees. They just get in the way - except for a few cottonwoods down by the river, which don't block the view at all. *sigh*

    Have I mentioned that I hate cities and dislike SO many of the other things this side of the Mississippi? No? Well, 'tis so. *heavier sigh*

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  13. jonathanFebruary 10, 2010 at 12:06 PM

    Paco, surely you mean that civilization is cut off from Paco Command Center?

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  14. RebeccaHFebruary 10, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    I think the desert is beautiful. Of course, I was born and raised in the Southwest, so naturally I would. When I came to Ohio for the very first time, I marveled at how green everything was. Then, after a while, I started feeling claustrophobic, because you couldn't see past the trees. Going to the desert is like breathing fresh air after you've been shut up in a closet.

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  15. PacoFebruary 10, 2010 at 1:42 PM

    Jonathan: Er, yes, exactly. Civilization's loss, of course.

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