“You have a nice van but your dog has to lie in gravel,” the woman said offering a blanket for my poor suffering dog. I explained Rusty has always enjoyed hiding under bushes and lying on uncomfortable ground. She was not impressed. “Put the blanket out” I said, “he won’t use it.” She pulled back and disappeared into her lair without another word. The air was heavy with disapproval. I like living on wheels with neighbors like that.
I didn’t mean to annoy her but Rusty is welcome inside, on the furniture, in his bed, on our bed, in the van on our bed. He just likes being feral.
People who meet Rusty wonder how it is he is so laid back. Indeed they should. He lives a low stress life. It took a while to work out the details but he knows if I really need him to do something I put an edge in my voice. Otherwise he is free to be himself. I don’t put a dog bra on him to control him and I don’t call him unless I really need to…if he wants to be with me he can choose to; if he wants to slip his loose collar and go elsewhere he is free to be stubborn , pull back and slide it off. After six years we are closer than ever.
I have come to terms with the fact that he must be middle aged by now, a stray has no birthday and I paid no ransom to buy him, rescue dogs are creatures filled with gratitude and mystery in equal proportions. There is nothing for him to bark about or beg for or any reason to demand attention. He is the laid back character I’d like to be!
He likes the mobile home park where we are staying. He loves the smells left by other dogs and he leads me down the various streets several times a day and always balls at any suggestion we walk out into the street to extend our explorations.
We had lunch in Clarkdale Saturday and my finicky companion was pleased to poke around the wide open spaces of Clarkdale while Kathy and Layne took outside tables at Violette’s and ordered me a Croque Madame with some of the best white bread I’ve tasted in a while.
We had intended to leave tomorrow,Tuesday, but the shock!-horror!-drama!- of the broken toilet handle (details withheld today to avoid repetition) will keep us in town till Thursday thanks to Amazon’s expedited free delivery…and I’m not entirely sorry.
I am antsy to be on the road and there is much to see in the four corners region, a stretch of high desert packed with monuments, canyons, Navajo, literary landmarks, scenery and history such that we could spend the entire summer around here.
But if we have to wait a couple of extra days Clarkdale and environs have plenty to keep us amused.
The weather is absolutely delightful here for now but July and August promise intolerable heat. I wake ridiculously early thanks to Arizona’s lack of daylight saving time and the mornings are cool and crisp with long shadows thrown by the 4:30am daylight. It’s hot by ten but afternoon rain (monsoon) chills the air and a sunset walk brings out no sweat and no insects either. The hills are green, traffic is sparse and the mourning doves drown out any human sounds. Kathy moved here from Big Pine and her neighbors settled from No Name Key. There is an influx of Californians seeking financial relief. I like all migrants they will seek to change the place that first attracted them, the fatal change that subverts the Florida Keys.
I think the Verde river can support life here quite well for now but the desert is in the headlines for sinking lake levels even as the notion of conservation remains anathema in this lovely valley. Americans have never been good at husbanding resources and watering public lawns seems an out of date concept in world running dry. But this is perhaps Shangri La and sensible rules of moderation do not apply.
An $80,000 dollar mobile home and $500 a month, no hurricanes, miles of winding highways, camping fishing hunting and wilderness, history and art, hospitals and old age care. Oh and our favorite Mexican beach just nine hours away by van. I feel like Odysseus and the call of the sirens. Luckily I am hungry for more roads, for more surprising vistas, for more culture shock, for more life on the road. I am glad not to be productive.
For those seeking a refuge from the turmoil of the headlines and are afraid to go abroad the Verde Valley is quite enticing. And that’s a phrase that comes unbidden to my lips: Arizona!
