How quickly one gets use to things being on another scale. We drove up the I10 to Tucson in just under four hours, and it felt ike a fairly quick trip. To our surprise (and everyone else's) it rained really hard once we hit Arizona - but it made for some inspiring sights - the large buttes and mesas glowing against the darkness of the massing purple clouds. When the rain hit no one changed their behaviour on the road. We all kept right on going at 75 or 80 mph.
And then Tuscon - flooded and muddled with the rain. We took an involuntary long route around the city because our hotel exit was closed - and numbered exits are held in the same regard as satnav for travellers. We got to see lots of Tuscon though - including the first 'modern' houses that we liked.
We headed down to the student district and all the hippy dippy shops on 4th street. How many dreamcatchers can a population possibly need? Is there something in the air here that promotes REM sleep? The answer came in the form of an eccentrically dressed woman of - at least 75 and probably more, who stopped us on the street and with impeccable manners asked: "Do you know where I might buy a joint?"
We ate lunch in a student bar - check out the size of our salads ($6.95) and as we window shopped up the street I mused on the relationship between hippies, healing and neuroticism. Wherever you find good sized numbers of the alternative set gathered there will be an inevitable increase in potions, nostrums, special diets and quacks. Why? These people are sicker than the rest of us and they talk about what's wrong with them a whole lot more (but its always someone else's fault). Stay clear of them.
And we caved in to the urge to shop. We were killing time, really, Tucson being wet and chilly. We hit the Tucson Mall and ended up with STUFF. It was really good. I even hummed the christmas songs.
Suddenly we are down to two nights in the US. Want to go home, but don't want to leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment