I almost forgot to mention that my first day here, I had a surprise encounter with this little fella:
Okay, so you probably can't really see him, but it was a SCORPION. I think he'd made his home in one of my shoes overnight, and I was less than pleased about this roommate. I must have made an example of him, though, because I haven't seen any since!
My second brush with danger happened on our hike this afternoon. We decided to make it to the top of one of the nearby hills/mountains, so we set off on our trek. We brought with us a newfound friend, Fr. Peter Sweeney. Fr. Sweeney is a 76-year-old Irish priest, and meeting him might just have been the highlight of the entire trip. Throughout our hike, he regaled us with stories and jokes, and he set the brisk pace for us. When we made it to the top, we paused for a photo:
The view was spectacular:
Fr. Sweeney informed us that before a saguaro cactus can grow an "arm," it must be at least 75 years old. So when you see saguaros that have many arms, they could be hundreds of years old! Fascinating!
Fascinating... and dangerous. At least, it's shorter, pokey relatives are... As we were getting ready to head back down, I had another surprise encounter - this time with a cactus. I got stuck badly enough that I couldn't get it out myself, so Fr. Sweeney came to the rescue. Don't worry - at this point, only my pride is hurt.
We're nearing our last few days in Arizona! Sounds like it's extra cold in Kansas (-5 degrees, I saw on the forecast, and that's not even factoring in the wind chill!). I may be in for a shock! But I look forward to seeing you all soon.
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