We have not seen a cloud in the sky since evening on Pismo Beach, six days ago -- not a wisp.
Phoenix is huge. Somewhere there is a 24-lane expressway (we were on a 12-lane) so traffic is not so bad. It's a largely new city.
It has two red rocky mountains within city limits. A little like the Flatirons in Boulder, but more surreal.
We're staying with my godparents in the northern suburbs in their lovely home, certainly the nicest place we have stayed at (of the various people we have dropped iin on the West Coast). Their three our-aged kids are grown and gone, so there is a lot of room.
Their parents were good friends with my grandparents in the DP camps in Germany in the 1940s and they have maintained contact ever since. When they moved from suburban Maryland to Phoenix, it broke part of our hearts. We had fun with their kids growing up. My parents have still not been to the Southwest to visit them -- which is more to illustrate that it is a long way, rather to say they should.
Of course the population centre has shifted with all the migration to the Sun Belt which began around when the Mägis moved here. My impression is that they have worked their asses off but have apparently done well for themselves with their small businesses.
Most people in this neighbourhood don't have lawns, but a dun-coloured gravel with individual trees and cacti in their yards.
Our hosts' backyard (not pictured) looks a little like the courtyard of a monastery we visited in Crete, with walled-in expanses of raked gravel and a parade-ground square of grass. And a swimming pool -- everybody has them, it is the great leveller.
Many of the trees are said to be dying (from frost, acutely, though the record number of 45-degree days this summer has weakened them) and things will change once more, though -- cheap pun -- probably the city will persevere, rise from the ashes?
2 comments:
Interesting what perceptions are, or what parents might not have noticed. I don't recall partly broken hearts, but there were plenty good times when both sets of parents got together along with you kids. One time especially when I scarfed nearly a full bushel of steamed crabs at the end of a construction conference, drove home, called your hosts close to midnight, carried you to the car asleep and drove back to Maryland for mid-night feast. Perhaps some of those impromptu events is where the part broken hearts derive. I remember quite a few fun outings of that nature.
Your maternal grandparents were indeed friends with Mai's parents from the Displaced Persons camps after WWII, as were my parents life long friends with people they met in similar DP camps but at different locations. Some of these friends were also made en route and in Estonia. Your maternal grandparents and my parents unfortunately never hit it off. This older generation did intermingle quite a bit at various Estonian events, and my parents, living in Virginia, saw Mart's parents quite a bit at the Esto school in Baltimore, church in Silver Spring, etc. But they were never as close as they were to friends made during the difficult times keeping clear of the fighting in Europe.
As for visiting Phoenix, it is not a question of distance, but a matter of who my true friends have turned out to be. The Magi's turned out to be fair weather friends, never to be heard from during my difficult times or since. I am, however, surprised that your other parents have not visited either considering the traveling they have done.
Yes, they said there was often a copious quantity of alcohol consumed in those days, and late nights, without anyone thinking twice about it. And really, nothing was wrong with it.
Considering how similar Biran and I reprtedly turned out, excepting his post-doc, it's a shame we didn't keep in touch.
It's too bad friends get divvied up just like property, when people get divorced.
To be fair, I think they have seen quite a bit of hardship themselves. It's unfortunate that probably neither side knows what is going on in each other's lives. I don't see any signs that they want to speak what they endured, but I have to say they are certainly resilient.
And regarding the Estonian set of parents, Phoenix is not exactly on the Estonian political circuit. If you look at their travels, they are pretty geographically centred around the European capitals, though like all politicians, they do get a day or two of free time each trip and nice hotel rooms I'm sure...:)
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