The
Neighborhood Walk is a 2.5-mile walk that grew from a 1.5 mile walk
that I started doing around my neighborhood in Verde Village Seven
when I commenced chemotherapy earlier this year. I then extended the
walk to 2.3 miles by including another street and finally to 2.5
miles. The 2.5-mile walk is shown below.
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Neighborhood Walk – 2.5 miles
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A
short section of the 2.5-mile walk is down the wash at the bottom of
Christina Draw and, although the wash is open and affords easy
passage, there is a short, steep descent to enter it at the end of
Meadowlark Drive. Today, I decided that I would build at least a
rudimentary trail for the descent. The dirt was loose and easy to
dig with a shovel-shaped rock I found nearby and there were plenty of
other rocks to use for shoring up the lower side of a narrow
scooped-out trail. After about 15 minutes of effort I would up with
what I consider a much-improved descent into the wash.
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Improved descent into Christina Draw Wash
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The
official monsoon season starts tomorrow and I am hoping the rains
arrive soon afterward. That should help to consolidate the work I
did today and show me where I need to make improvements.
For
the most part this walk has already been described and photographed
in a previous report:
In
this report I will just point out a few new sights and some seasonal
seasonal changes I have noted during the time I have been traveling
this was. For instance, today I met a friendly rabbit (right)
who hesitated long enough for a photograph before he decided I was
probably a predator out looking for lunch and scampered off into the
brush.
Since the last report
on this walk I had stopped at my friend Angel's house to have my
photograph taken with him and to collect a photograph of Angel in
uniform during the Korean War.
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Ellis Price and Angel Vargas – 26 May 2017
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Angel Vargas during the Korean War
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Having
already spent several minutes constructing my trail into the wash, I
did not stop today at Angles house (or museum as I call it) to chat
and admire his collection of antiques from his old homeplace, the
Alvarez Ranch at Sycamore Canyon. These can be seen, along with
other items collected during his career in the National Guard and
while working as a munitions expert in the already cited report:
As I continued on down
the wash, I was alert for other wildlife; in addition to the
pervasive quails and frequent lizards, I have seen at least one
jackrabbit, albeit a little further down the wash between Arroya
Vista Drive and Old Hwy 279 while on another walk. I was much too
slow with my camera to photograph it; however, I did find a good
photograph1
(left) on Wikimedia Commons.
Leaving
the wash and heading west on Brook Hollow Drive, I paused to
photograph a century plant (right)
I had been patiently watching for several days as it slowly came into
full blossom, gradually turning yellow .from the bottom up. Finally,
on this 14th day of June, it was in full bloom, framed by matching
Mexican bird of paradise shrubs and shown against the background of
Mingus Mountain.
Continuing
west on Brook Hollow Drive, I turned north onto Acoma Drive, a short
street that runs downhill and ends just 0.2 miles ahead at a wash .
I walk down and back on it because because it adds 0.4 miles to my
walk and presents a nice, invigoration climb on the way back.
Just
a short distance along Acoma Drive, a very short street called Acoma
Circle leads to the west. This is actually more a driveway than a
real street as it just leads to a single, vacant, hillside lot, still
for sale. I checked it out several times waiting for some large
sunflowers to bloom, finally with success.
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Sunflowers blooming on a vacant lot at the end of Acoma Circle
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After
walking to the end of Acoma and returning to Brook Hollow, I turned
north on Agua Fria Drive. Along the way, tucked under a sugar sumac
shrub and protected from the hot afternoon sun, I found a vibrant,
sacred datura (left) in full bloom.
At
least three of the houses along the way have been re-roofed since I
began doing this walk. In one instance the roofer had come up with a
rather ingenious method of shielding himself from the sun. He had
erected the sort of portable canopy one often sees at campsites. The
roofer said it cost him about $150 at WalMart.
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Roofer protected from the sun by a portable canopy
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Still
on Agua Fria Drive, there is a vacant, overgrown hillside lot for
sale that supports all sorts of indigenous plants. The most striking
among these for now is a gorgeous cactus (right).
Agua
Fria Drive ends at Del Mar Drive and the homeowner on the corner of
those two streets has a motley collection of three very noisy dogs.
One is a medium-sized mutt and the other two are small, extremely
shrill yappers. They all seem to think it is their duty to alert the
entire neighborhood every time someone walks past in the street. I
finally resorted to carrying a dog whistle and stopping dead in the
street and blasting their ears with all my might until they stopped
barking. The larger dog soon got the idea and shut up. The smaller
ones took a while longer. But I can now walk past with a minimum of
barking; a couple of blasts from my whistle usually does the job.
After
reaching Del Mar Drive I turn back on S Arrowhead Lane, return to
Brook Hollow and follow it to Arroya Vista Drive and then home. But
because that does not quite make a 2.5-mile walk, I take a short
detour up and back on Elk Circle. Elk Circle is a pleasant street
with attractive homes. However, glaring in its contrast with the
otherwise pristine surroundings, is an old abandoned car. I noted it
when I first started walking this way, primarily because a piece of
side molding had come loose at one end on the driver's side door and
was hanging down to the street. Sometime later the attachment at the
front end of the molding strip had also given way and I kicked it
under the car where it is at least less visible. Meanwhile, the
derelict vehicle continues its steady deterioration. Today I noted
that the left front tire is flat. It will soon be time for cinder
blocks or a tow truck.
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Its about time for cinder blocks or, hopefully, a tow truck.
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Back
on Brook Hollow Drive, I cross Christina Draw Wash once to reach
Arroya Vista Drive and then again in the remaining short distance
home. There I am greeted by a gorgeous bank of yellow lantana. We
planted the lantana in an iris bed several years ago and found that
it takes over and begins blooming each year just about the time the
irises are done and continues until frost. We remove the dead
foliage each fall and wait for the cycle to begin again with the
return of the irises in the spring. We eventually planted another
bed of lantana, red this time, for a bit of contrast.
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Yellow lantana in the foreground; red lantana and Texas sage in the background
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This
is not a very long or very strenuous walk; however, in the heat of
summer, I am always ready for a quick nap when I get home.
1Jessie
Eastland
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Ears_Sitting.jpg),
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode
Great story of your walk. I felt like I was walking with you. Please be careful in this heat.
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