Mountains!

I have forgotten how beautiful the mountains are in Tucson. They dominate the view and show every intimate detail as if you are gazing through a telescope. Natives tell me I should visit the state parks, and I would love to do that sometime. The wonderful mountains completely ring the city, standing out in pristine relief against the light blue almost white of the sky and the absolute flatness of the landscape otherwise. It gives a whole new meaning to the verse "I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help."

Of course, I didn't come here to gawk at the beauty of the scenery, as fascinating as that is. I thought perhaps due to the time difference I would wake early enough for a morning stroll before registering. I wasn't counting on being jarred awake by my cell phone at 4:30 am - the carpool driver subbing for me had completely missed the little detail about picking Drew up at my sister's, and he was none too happy to be delayed at my house and no Drew in sight. It took about fifteen minutes to straighten it out. By then, I was too awake to go back to sleep, but it was too dark to take a stroll.

Never mind, I have a lot of reading to do, and I jumped in until time to wander down to the conference. Fortunately, the keynote speaker was excellent, as was the second speaker - very thought provoking information about the sustainability of our lifestyle and how 15% of the world's population consumes 90% of the world's resources. They preached a social consciousness that the church has preached for years. I smiled at their exuberance and fervor for their message of concern based not on love of fellow man, but of self interest.

In between presentations I reconnected with people from previous jobs and conferences. It was so good to see friends, to catch up, to meet the new kids on the block, to share adventures and updates. That's always a part of conferences that I forget about until it happens, and then I am so happy about it.

My concerns about energy and strength faded away as I got caught up in the meetings. Soon it was time to quit for the day, and I realized I had a lot of homework waiting for me in my room. I was happy to take a short break and wander about outdoors for a bit before shutting myself in for the night with a highlighter and pen. Its nice to be in a different place for a change. I recommend it.