Time Flies

Today is the fourth anniversary of my arrival in Phoenix. It seems like just yesterday that 100 seemed like it was unbearably hot and I didn't know how to pronounce "saguaro". I've lived in five different apartments/condos/houses, had three different cars (Tara still has one up on me on that count), four cellphones, but only one girlfriend. At least something is stable. Ish.

I still find myself missing Dallas. Of course, some things there I don't miss. My ex-girlfriend emailed me on Friday telling me that the apartment building we lived in together was damaged by a tornado that rolled through the area on Wednesday. She still lives in the same complex, but about 300 feet from that building. She said she can do without that type of excitement ever again. I never had the pleasure of experiencing a tornado during my time there.

I still compare the restaurants here to the ones I frequented in Texas. For the most part I've found at least one great restaurant for each of the cuisines I love. Hana, Osha, and Da Vang hold up nicely to Kampai Grill, Chow Thai, and Saigon Pho. What Phoenix seems to lack is the depth of field of restaurants. I had half a dozen regular Thai restaurants, easily twice that number of sushi places, and more Vietnamese restaurants than you could shake a stick at.

The Dallas area (and Texas in general) was also very disc golf friendly. There are more courses in the DFW area than all of Arizona. I spent many months playing disc golf in the summer of 2003. I was laid off and job hunting only took up so much of the day. Disc golf was cheap and gave me something to do. There was a fairly regular group of us who'd play. Teachers with the summer off, guys who worked nights, and others who were out of work like me. The Lake Lewisville course is still burned into my memory. Bear Creek DGC with all its poison ivy and water moccasins. Getting stuck in the creek at Jimmy Porter trying to recover a lost disc. Playing disc golf at midnite in early December with the temps in the 70s and getting the crap scared out of me when I stumbled upon a huge beaver on the beach at Lake Lewisville.

Phoenix has several courses, but most are at multipurpose parks and most people don't like getting a 175g piece of plastic upside the head. From first-hand experience, it's not fun. Plus trying to get up early on weekends before it's horribly hot is getting hard in my dotage. Worrying about getting bitten by a surly diamondback if I play the course that's a mile from home isn't a pleasant way to spend the morning. I usually play at either Conocido N Phoenix or Vista Del Camino in Scottsdale. VDC is a haul, but it's a bit more varied and generally better moving scenery.

I still consider Maine home, but having spent essentially the last 20 years in other states between college and jobs, it's not quite home home anymore. My summer visits remind me of what I love about it. The gorgeous scenery, plentiful seafood, and cool temps are a godsend after a few spring/summer months here. Then the winter visits remind me why I like living in the southern half of the country during those months.

Well, enough of memory lane.