Village of the dark spring at the foot of the mountain

Arrived in Tucson today. It is so much more beautiful than I expected. I'm not exactly sure what I thought it would be like, but certainly my expectations involved HOT, DRY and DESERT. Not MOUNTAINS, TREES and BREEZY.

Flying into Tucson, I could see clusters of houses cuddled near huge wooded hills that often cropped up one at a time, not in long ridges. From the air, the hills (mountains?) were tan and green, giving them a different look than the packed forests on mountains elsewhere. I felt like we were flying over a huge topographic map because the shape of the earth below was just so apparent.

So, I was already liking this place when I stepped out of the airport.

As I waited for my ride to the hotel, the warm sun and light breeze combined in that blissful summer sort of way, and I could see the low-slung mountains off in the distance, surrounding the city. And I thought, I can see why people live here.

Now, tomorrow will be my first true test of this "dry heat" thing, but today it was in the 90s, and I can say that, in the shade, it certainly felt more like the 70s. And the thing about Tucscon is that there is shade everywhere -- mostly manmade roofs, as the palm trees offer little protection (the ones in the hotel courtyard have these fruit that look like clusters of huge green grapes. Must take picture later to find out what they are). Tomorrow, we'll be out in the sun, visiting the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

I'm off to eat dinner, so I'll sign off with this other thought. Note to self: next time visiting Arizona, bring own chocolate. After my initial disappointment that the outdoor vending machine had only chips and fruity snacks, I realized that it's likely just too hot here to stock chocolate without air-conditioning. And so my chocolate craving continues.