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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

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We made the choice to move from Arizona to Iowa for many reasons.  The choice to come back was made perhaps for even more reasons.

When we left for Iowa in 2005, I was sick of the desert, the lack of seasons, the 'brown'.

We returned home in 2011 and it's true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Driving over the border from Colorado and into Arizona, the scenery was flat, brown and sandy but my heart swelled with joy and we are blessed to be living in a house near the neighborhood I grew up in where there are more mature trees than the newer developments in Arizona.

But even the expanse of desert no longer bothers my aesthetic senses.  In fact, up in north Scottsdale, one early morning, the sun still not shining her fullest, I felt the desert quite beautiful and peaceful. This appreciation has grown within me.

Perhaps because Iowa was my metaphorical desert, the true desert I grew up in now appears as an oasis. It's funny what the mind can do.  Iowa had some simple beauty but my heart belongs to Arizona.  I'm a desert girl who needs the sun over snow, city lights rather than corn fields and I'll take our citrus and palm trees even over the majestic oak if it means warmth instead of cold.

You actually can go home.



Image courtesy of usborderfirereport.com



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8 comments:

  1. I love the comparison between the meaphorical and the real deset - cliche though it may be - home really is where the heart is. I think you've shown this so well!

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  2. That was a wonderful description of the desert, and I also loved the two different deserts, one in you mind. I have been to Arizona, and I understand how a place may look dead and flat, but is really teeming with so much energy and life. Also, I loved the picture. Gorgeous!

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  3. well that picture is so beautiful!
    I have never even seen a desert!

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  4. I never saw the desert that way before. I really like how you compared it to how you were feeling, how you needed a change and than you needed to go back. I have felt that way many times about the ocean!

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  5. An interesting read and like Sarah, I liked the comparison between metaphorical and real. A vivid piece of writing.

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  6. Oh, I can relate to this piece so well! As a child I grew up in the salt bush of South Australia and it's not the prettiest place in the world, but when I drive over there from the lush green of Melbourne, Victoria, the red earth and the grey-green salt bush make my heart sing! Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder!

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I'm a mother to six beautiful children (three boy, three girls) and married to a wonderful, incredibly patient and loving man. We homeschool and do life together and it's messy and full of grace.