Hello, Season Two

i've been back west for a few days now, but somehow things felt different right off the bat. quieter, more subdued, less energetic. a desert town exhausted from another summer of punishing heat.

or maybe that was just me. my plane landed late on a Thursday evening, and as i made my way home through the dark streets along the outskirts of town, i tried imagining this strange place through the east coast eyes of the friends i’d just left. it was different, that much was for sure. but what else? I thought about maybe stopping at a busy Mexican food truck parked along one of the intersections just to give myself a little culture shock. but the reality was that i wasn't hungry for it, and just wanted to go home.

when i got to my house though the air conditioning hadn't been on for over two weeks and inside it felt like an oven left on low. so i dropped off my bags, cranked up the AC and headed out to the bar to let it do its work.

there are a few certain bars that i’m dyingly loyal to on this planet, and this town has more than a couple. but when i walked in i wasn't greeted by the same sense of magic or nostalgia that once come to expect. jesus, i thought to myself, how many times have i sat on one of these stools? i didn't want to think about it so i ordered a cold beer and nurse quietly in the corner.

overall it was a fine – if unremarkable - night, and a decent return from a long trip. but the experience only served to strengthen the notion that had been growing within for some time now, that whatever time i was meant to spend in the desert was coming to a close, and at some point in the not-too-distant future it would be time to move on.

but the heat is just about to break, and soon everything will be much more tolerable again. enjoyable, even. and if this is going to be my last season out in the desert, then i have no intention of leaving it behind any regrets of the things I hadn't seen or done. so I bought a map for the wall that I can write on, and began to plot out my road trips accordingly.

i’ll keep you posted again soon. until then, be good.