We Now Return You To Your Scheduled Poet

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was a down cycle. I'm feeling slightly more human now, although still inclined to ramble, so forgive. As Charles pointed out, we did have some lovely (albeit varied) weather in Arizona.

First entries of a compressed travelogue:

Phoenix -- upper eighties (too hot for me); the highlight was the Desert Botanical Garden. Some prickly pear cactus blush purple as they age -- really handsome. Saguaros are constructed like humans; water-dense flesh over a woody "bone" structure, waxy "skin" over everything. Unfamiliar birds: mourning doves and cactus wrens. Night fragrance of orange blossom. I'd never want to live in Phoenix (climate), but there's a lot to be said for visiting to sit in the shade by my sister-in-law's pool surrounded by bouganvillia, or eating her gourmet breakfasts on the verandah.

Phoenix to Williams -- We were a bit early for cactus bloom, but lots of other things were blooming ... yellow daisies, Texas bluebonnets, indian paintbrush, evening primrose, and a really gorgeous coral-flowered shrub that I haven't identified yet. Green hills. It feels like we drove through 3 or 4 different ecological zones, judging by the flora. And then we started to see snow at the side of the road ... a proper blizzard about 10 miles east of Williams, but it wasn't sticking to the road, thankfully. We found out later that we just missed the worst of it, and (long story short) could have gotten really stuck if we had kept to our original route plans. Whew! Hotel and restaurant in Williams (we were there to catch the Grand Canyon train) clean but hardly inspiring. Ravens everywhere, making the most appealing noises.