Heading to Arizona

I'm from Seattle and have lived in the Pacific Northwest most of my adult life. The last two winters had me swearing, "No more winters in Seattle," so now I'm in Tucson, Arizona.

Actually we live about 30 minutes north of Tucson, in a town called Oro Valley, sort of close to the edge of town where it is very quiet and the light is a painter's dream. (I'm a landscape painter, by the way.)

We are in a gated community that is much fancier than our Seattle life and, at first, I thought desert "lite" because hardly a leaf is out of place. Then I looked out of the window to see a coyote strolling across our patio mid-morning and a week later saw a bobcat walking through the backyard on two different occasions. Whoa, not so desert "lite."

Then we were told to wrap our garbage thoroughly so that javalinas (small, wild pigs) won't smash through the garage door to get to the garbage bin inside. Last night the main sound was of a owl hooting. Wow, it was really loud. I didn't know owls could be so loud.

My first reaction to the desert was "No way, alien place, this isn't home." The first couple of weeks were difficult because I knew so little about my environment and lots of that environment wants to poke or sting you. The desert ecology is so different from anything I know, so I decided to write about what I notice and learn about this place and how the desert is gradually unfolding its beauty to me.