The Neighborhood Walk – Update 170614

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.

Neighborhood Walk – 2.5 miles

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.

Improved descent into Christina Draw Wash

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:

https://ellisfprice.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-neighborhood-walk.html

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.

Ellis Price and Angel Vargas – 26 May 2017

Angel Vargas during the Korean War

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:

https://ellisfprice.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-neighborhood-walk.html

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.

Sunflowers blooming on a vacant lot at the end of Acoma Circle

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.

Roofer protected from the sun by a portable canopy

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.

Its about time for cinder blocks or, hopefully, a tow truck.

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.

Yellow lantana in the foreground; red lantana and Texas sage in the background

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