Tucson Hiking Clubs

[Jim]

I give up. I've held out on this. I know Joe would prefer I don't and might delete this, but after several days of it, and yet another Memorial Day Weekend ruined by high winds, my Colorado Trip canceled due to high wind and cold, and nothing do to but sit and think, I take to the key board. When it comes to my location, I give up.

As some of you know, I moved to Kayenta on September 30. Liz knows I was cautiously optimistic at that time, but generally trying to stay positive about the move. I was getting excited about many aspects of the move, such as renting a house instead an apartment (something I later learned was sort of silver cloud with a gray lining), having a yard, living in a rural area and so on. The house is in terrible shape and isn't even 10 years old. Let me put it like this, "the building should be condemned. There’s serious metal fatigue in all the load-bearing members, the wiring is substandard, it’s completely inadequate for my power needs". Then there's the neighborhood (though this was obvious before the move). It's a disaster area. You might say, "the neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone". The yard is pointless and nothing but dirt, blowing dirt, unless it is mud, or hard packed clay, depending on season. Mostly, the yards seem to function as catchments for the blowing trash and people's 8 trucks they park on them. The rural area, is more of a prison of isolation, hours and hours from anything not this place. Then, there is the air pollution. Not from cars, but coal that people burn. It stinks like an old 2-stroke lawn mower idling with the choke clamped down, and it hangs around on cold winter nights.

All of that pales in comparison to the high winds made so much worse with fierce dust. I never thought it could be that bad. No wonder people in Oklahoma went insane in the 30s during the dust bowl. I had gusts so bad this afternoon, the house shook like I was in an earthquake. I mean windows rattled, the roof shook, and dust hit the windows so hard sounded like they were going to break.

Still, you would think that at some point, it has to get better. Summer is nearly here, it's time to enjoy the yard, the house, the warm weather and enjoy it by starting a garden to get food from. And, I did. I bought some stuff when I moved out, a peach and plum tree, and some other plants, as well as two pines. Virtually everything is dead. Dead, dead, dead. Stuff that looked fair after the last big wind event is now dead. Dried out and dead. All the leaves on the fruit trees, the sage brush I planted, the grapes (long since), and now all of the stuff I had planted in the last month and had come up. I really liked seeing some life, something green, something growing in the world of virtually nothing. My broccoli is shredded and dried out to stalks on the ground. My corn that came up is dead, my watermelon seeds, honey dew seeds, and sunflowers that had come up, all dried out and dead. My tomatoes, my basil, my radishes, my lettuce, and my gramma grasses, all dried out and killed in the last 48 hours. All dead. Even one area where I put in corn and it started growing, not only is that dead, but the wind has been so fierce that the soil I had planted the corn in- that is blown away. Completely gone! I have seedlings in pots that I could re-plant, but I am having a hard time wanting to bother again. I mean, what is the point? I put a lot of work in out here, just to have the wind destroy it. I had a lawn that got buried under 6 inches of dirt. Gave up on that, as you can't shovel your lawn. I had a native plants garden of grasses and wild flowers I planted and seeded last summer right after getting in. That was blown away in April. Not doing that again. I shoveled the dirt out of the street. That came back. Not doing that again. Seriously, I give up. Time to get up on the Model-T and move on.

[SuperstitionGuy]

Jim's trouble growing things in his yard remind me of the fellow from Idaho that retired to Apache Junction and after two seasons of a failed garden he finally asked us what he should do.

We instructed him to go back to Idaho and bring back a truckload of dirt for his backyard garden. ;)

[azbackpackr]

I'm pretty adaptable. After all, I can be happy in Eagar. However, Jim's situation is pretty untenable. Jim, I'm glad you are planning to do some serious job hunting this summer.

I plan to look for a job with DES in the fall. Anywhere in Arizona, except the reservations. I just won't do it.

[Jeffshadows]

Tucson welcomes you with open arms! ;)

[imike]

Jim,

There are interesting alternatives to income/lifestyles that allow you to live anywhere you want... and not even have to do all that much work.

I've never had a regular job... I work very little... I hike a lot. If you grow too frustrated, you should consider doing what I do...!

[Charger55]

Jim, I'm hoping that by sharing a little of my story you might find something useful.

Several years ago I moved to the midwest for my first radio job. I had never been to that part of the country before and I moved on a week's notice to follow my "career". The first year almost defeated me. The loneliness, the small town lifestyle and especially the weather were all too much. I grew up in the Northeast, but those winters are tame compared to the Upper Midwest. Weeks with no sunshine, tornadoes, and winter days with a high of 20-below (40-below with the windchill). It was insane. I was so close to giving up, but I didn't want to return home a "quitter". My persistence paid off. I ended up staying there until the job let me go for economic reasons. Not because I gave up.

However, I did have to make some adjustments to who I was in order to persevere. I had to search out posivity. When all I did was travel from the loneliness of my apartment to the negativity of the workplace I became severely depressed. So I made it my mission to connect with the people around me. Thankfully for me, I was a Christian in my 20s living in a small college town. That wasn't to difficult to do. There was always a church singles group willing to take me. But I also made it my mission to connect with my new culture. I took day trips everywhere. To museums, to the lake, to small town carnivals. I learned who my new neighbors where and what made them that way. I found myself associating with cultures I wasn't familiar with (African-American, Eastern European and even small town white folk) and I became unafraid to ask questions. Yeah, sometimes I got some rude responses or weird looks (like the time some old lady chastised me for not knowing what cheese curds were). But for the most part, I found people to be prideful of their culture and happy to share that culture with outsiders. It got to the point where my new church friends would accompany me on daytrips and were learning something about their own culture on the way. By the time I left, my most positive experiences had nothing to do with my silly DJ job and everything to do with the experiences I had and the friendships I made along the way.

Unless you moved to the Rez to escape something, my advice is not to give up. Stay positive and embrace your new surroundings. As for the veggies, I can't help you with that. I thought vegetables only grew in the produce department at Basha's

[azbackpackr]

I think I could do what the above fella did, in the midwest. But not in Kayenta. I just would not move there, period.

[hippiepunkpirate]

I'm not sure everyone understands what kind of beast Kayenta really is....and honestly, based on Jim's personality that we all know and love, is it realistic to expect to be able to smooth talk his way into the hearts of the locals up there? What Jim needs. (To use what I believe is slang in New England), is daily access to trails that are highly populated with breezies....

[azbackpackr]

I'm not sure everyone understands what kind of beast Kayenta really is....and honestly, based on Jim's personality that we all know and love, is it realistic to expect to be able to smooth talk his way into the hearts of the locals up there? What Jim needs. (To use what I believe is slang in New England), is daily access to trails that are highly populated with breezies....

There it is.

I'm very adaptable. That is why I agree, I could do the midwest if a good job called me there. After all, I live in a very remote and very boring cowtown right now, and I am really, really busy and I have a lot of friends and activities.

But, if you have not been to Kayenta, or tried to live there, you may want to hold your comments. Jim tried, he planted a garden, he went hiking around there, etc. But like HPP says, there is his personality factor, and also there is just the reality that is Kayenta, Arizona. Go there sometime and see for yourself.

[Sredfield]

Unless there is some moral calling, or the promise of huge rewards, I see no reason to stay where one isn't happy if the place is to blame. We only get one shot, if it ain't working where you are, and you gave it a good try, move on to the greener pastures.

Then again, "Bloom where you're planted."

[outdoor_lover]

Sometimes in order to improve our lives, we have to put in the time doing things that we just don't want to do. It's never easy, but sometimes it's necessary. I know that Reservations can be very very difficult places and I sympathize with your dilemma Jim. However, my advice would be to just try to stick it out, get the time in that you need to get in, in order to move on down the path that you've chosen. I'm sure that if you can do that, the benefits of having done so will be rewarding. You can always escape on your weekends, like you have started to do....

But then again, if it's just too much and the effect is damaging you too much, then the best medicine is to get out of the environment you're in.

Instead of trying to grow things outside in that formidable environment, take fotogirl's advice and enhance your indoor living environment. You would be amazed at what you can grow inside. You can do herbs, some vegies and just feel-good plants. Shoot, go exotic with your plants and when you walk in, it will be like walking into a Rain Forest or something... I don't see any reason to invest a bunch of money into landscaping the outside, especially since you're just renting the place anyway. If you landscape "indoors" you can also take it all with you when you leave....

[Charger55]

But, if you have not been to Kayenta, or tried to live there, you may want to hold your comments.

It's a message board. If the OP didn't want comments he wouldn't have posted here. How do I put this politely? Sometimes members of this site come across as so negative and opinionated that it truly makes the message boards unbearable for me. It's the main reason I seldom come to this section of the site.

[azbackpackr]

I think it's fun to debate stuff. I don't get my feathers ruffled too easily I guess.

[PaleoRob]

Kayenta is a tough place to live, but although some people might disagree, Page can be to. People in Page are actually envious of some of the amenities (multiple-screen movie theater, Wells Fargo Branch, etc.). Yes we have a Wal-Mart and a lake in Page, but they are similar. And anyone who says "You can't understand if you haven't lived/been there" I think is off base. Any tough living/working situation can provide insights into what to do in situations like this. Again, Kayenta is tough to live in. But thousands of people do live there, including some non-natives. Some stay their entire lives. If this place is so intractable it shouldn't have a population over 50. Really, we're talking about a tourist/mining town with major fast food chains, hotels, and local restaurants. This is not outer Mongolia.
I dislike Casa Grande for reasons that are not terribly different from what Jim has voiced. Jim likes peaks, but there aren't any around Kayenta, really, so therefore there are no good hikes. I like canyons, but there aren't any around CG. Therefore - no good hikes. Why do I mention this? Because instead of letting CG beat me down (and it does to some degree) I make the best of it. I go hike peaks. I may not love peaks, but they have grown on me.
I have been in crappy housing situations where there were no other options - working for the Forest Service in Alpine with drunken firefighters as housemates. They loved to party, and I worked nights. I had no place else to go, and to top it off I couldn't even make my interior space terribly inviting. The outside - nothing there, nothing allowed there. I made the best of it. I camped a lot, so I didn't have to deal with the roomies for example.
Again, this is similar but not exactly the same. None the less we can take lessons away from this. Refusing to see that similar situations can provide insight does little good.

[azbackpackr]

I agree, but at some point you can reach saturation, living in a place you are not well-suited to. You are just DONE. No matter how hard you try. I belong to clubs. I actively seek out friends here. There are a lot of nice folks here. But I don't belong here. I sure loved living in Flagstaff! But now's the time to take care of my house.

My family has all left this town, every last one, leaving me with a 2800 square foot funky old house on half an acre filled with leftovers, heirlooms, furniture, photos, and just STUFF from about 10 different lives: mine, my mother's, my dad's, my husband's, my mother-in-law's and father-in-law's, my husband's sister, my three kids... 5 people who are dead, and 5 are still living.

Yard sale, anyone? I've already had one, but plan on several more. Each yard sale, I end up with a pile of stuff that I think probably won't sell, so it gets donated to the "No-Kill Animal Shelter" thrift store, and I start over with a new pile for the next yard sale.

I want OUT of this town. On the other hand, I will defend it when people who haven't lived here make fun of it, because they don't even know what to make fun of. I will defend it when hikers talk only of burned forest, effectively keeping more people away. I will defend it when people make fun of my neighbors and their odd religion. (I can make fun of my neighbors, but hate it when city people come up here and make fun of them, because they have no idea what to make fun of, and they say VERY MEAN THINGS about my nice neighbors, who they have never even seen or met.) Best neighbors in the world.

However, I don't really belong here, so even if it takes me a year or more, I am going to get out of here.

[Jim]

Rob, if Kayenta was like Page or CG, it would be pretty nice. BTW, ask around to see if they replace the washer and hex-nuts on the bracket on the bridge which I told the guards about.

[PaleoRob]

Hex nut brackets on bridge?

[SuperstitionGuy]

However, I don't really belong here, so even if it takes me a year or more, I am going to get out of here.

Where then would your ideal place to live be? :STP:
LuAnn and I are returning to the good ole USA Tuesday and we cannot agree where we would like to live.
Close to grandchildren with grandchildren in four different states?
A retirement community with no little children or teenagers to interact with and enjoy?
A motor home where we can pack up and leave when we get bored with where we are? :yuck:
Or maybe rent your 2800 square foot funky old house with all those good neighbors?

[PaleoRob]

Or maybe rent your 2800 square foot funky old house with all those good neighbors?

Now remember, the towns of Eagar and Springerville have a population about the same as Kayenta - know what you're getting into!

[CannondaleKid]

a 2800 square foot funky old house on half an acre

I'd take the house any day over Tracey's 5 acres of land ~20 miles north of St Johns any day. (Oh yeah, did I mention the land is barely over 300 feet west of the reservation border)

[CannondaleKid]

LuAnn and I are returning to the good ole USA Tuesday

I was beginning to wonder when you'd return... if I recall it wasn't too long ago you mentioned something about returning soon.

A retirement community with no little children or teenagers to interact with and enjoy

That's what I'm in... thank goodness, not one of the snobby gated ones! :STP:

(My dad lived in Leisure World his last 10 years and after he passed away I lived in his house for 6 months until we could get it sold. Nice place but I felt like I was in a penitentiary... and only one gate was open 24/7, the others were locked 9pm-6am. I was happy to get out of there.