I was reading aloud the second Harry Potter book to the sick kid. The reading was the fun part, I had thought I would probably have no interest in reading these again, but apparently once you love something, you can read it even if you are almost two decades older. The reading brought about mild nostalgia for everything I like about the series, the magic, the characters, the brilliantly told story.
Towards the end, the Phoenix swoops down to help our hero, and I sit and wonder what this city holds in store for us. There is a pretty intense scene where Potter is alone and tackles a strong enemy. He gathers strength from the love of his friends, and finds that the mythical bird has the power to fight evil.
I am still reluctant to love this place, it is hot in spring and one has to drive everywhere. I am thinking the theme song for this land could be this gritty song:
Banjar ret hai
Zameen banjar hai
Banjar aasmaan
Yeh ghar banjar hai
Iss banjar sheher ke dil mein dhoondhu mein gilee mitti ka manzar.
To loosely translate:
The sand, earth, sky, and house are barren. In the heart of this barren city, I search for a glimpse of wet earth. (I really wish I had some Hindi books with me to read from.)
The place is not barren, but I have not yet come to terms with the landscape. I have slowly started to be interested in the cacti; there is a pretty one with pink-purple hued discs (I have to learn more cactus terminology!) and there are lovely trees all around with powder green trunks and yellow flowers with the spring season here. But still it is not the lush green we were used to, and the people’s artificial turfs leave me confused.
Lizards dash out from the shrubs, there are plenty of hummingbirds and woodpeckers just outside our windows. Yet the impending heat and a something else, the underlying hint of hostility that I imagine, when I walk on the roads leave me unsettled. I never used to walk like this in Cork.
One day I had built up an entire imaginary scene in my head as I walked the short distance from home to the school, thinking all sorts of foreboding thoughts as over-sized trucks rushed past me. I concocted stories and analyzed the gaze of the construction workers doing their jobs on the dry heated pavement. I stepped across the road and stopped short, there was a truck hurtling towards me. I felt vindicated, see here, another one of those arrogant men who populate this harsh land. I stepped back, and looked up at the truck. The driver had stopped, and had a wide cordial smile, he gestured for me to cross the road. I hitched up my shoulder bag and let out the breath I was holding.
It is hard to stop the incessant chatter of politics and news, especially in this country. And not to be affected by it, not to be fearful. But then again, it is still humanity wherever we go. The dad ahead of us at the popcorn corner filled up bags for each of my kids, he was a typical male, the one I might concoct fictitious stories about. But he was also just a dad, come to get popcorn for his kid. “Oh look,” I said, “both of our boys have the same sandals!”
Not all of Arizona is a desert, this a view from the mountains. Also, the typical cacti grow only around Phoenix area (the higher up we go, they are replaced by grasslands, and I even spotted a cow!)
If you go towards the downtown area, there is much to make the heart of an urban girl happy. High rise buildings, people on foot and bikes and even on motorized scooters. College kids at every turn, museums and the zoo. I was mystified by the spending on electricity though. At night, once businesses close, they leave entire buildings lighted up. Perhaps to deter break ins. But! What about the energy wastage? Do they not worry about utility bills? Around the waterfront were huge buildings that looked like cruise ships, all lighted up and empty at night.
life-moonlighter 