Week 11: A Furnace in the Desert?

When we arrived in Tucson we were informed that our house was equipped with an evaporation cooler and a furnace but that we could only use one at a time. Standing in our housing, sweating on a 100+ degree day we thought, "surely, we will never need to turn on our furnace." Well, I'm here to tell you that this week, we seriously considered it. After 11 weeks we've become more accustomed to the desert heat but have also learned that the lack of humidity means that it can be a pleasant 75 when I bike home from work and reach the mid-40s while we sleep. So maybe having a furnace isn't the worst idea.

This week also included another trip out of the office for me. On Wednesday, I joined a legal assistant on his visits to the Florence Correctional Center and the Eloy Detention Center. I have now been inside the three detention centers that the Florence Project serves. These facilities were even more intense than the first visit I had to Florence Detention Center. There was a combination of four doors and gates to get into each building only to go through a TSA style security checkpoint and be buzzed through another two doors before we were finally able to see the detainees we were there to visit.

The plus side of this experience is that I got to spend a good amount of time with other FIRRPies (that's what we call ourselves) both at the detention centers and in the Florence office for lunch. When I'm in the Tucson office, I can go most of the day interacting with three or four people in person. There just aren't that many people coming into the office still. Seeing people in person that I recognize from Microsoft Teams meetings is always a welcome change. Maybe having hour and a half drives to the Florence office isn't the worst idea.

Thursday night our house drove across town to share a meal with Grace (the volunteer who joined us in the Grand Canyon) and her housemates, some people that Jessie knows from working at Casa Alitas. We made some Mennonite connections (small world) and enjoyed black bean and veggie tacos, salad, and Trader Joe's apple pie. Maybe having outside-of-the-house friends isn't the worst idea.

This weekend I finally made something with my sourdough starter! I've been growing this thing for the last month and a half, only to receive some advice from Gretta, my partner and sourdough expert, that it might actually be ready to use, I should probably just be feeding it more than 10g of flour and water a day so I can see if it's doubling. Well, double it did and this weekend I made a batch of sour dough bagels. Maybe asking for help and being patient isn't the worst idea.

Saturday we drove up to the Catalina State Park to join the Shalom church camp out. Friday we made enchiladas and then froze them (to reheat in the fire for Saturday evening's potluck) and also prepared pancake mix for Sunday morning's breakfast. We packed up our tent, sleeping bags, mats, extra blankets, lawn chairs, and food and arrived around 10:30 am on Saturday morning. After pitching our tent and a rousing 6 mile hike (with lunch and shallow pools in the middle) we returned to camp for sharing food, stories, and games.

I was called a "grown-up" by the cadre of kids running around but I guess when you even think of packing a whisk for your pancake batter, that might mean you're a little grown up. Although, not too much. I still managed to dominate in a game of tag and thoroughly explored the pools we reached on our hike. Being a grown-up also means that I can eat dessert first if I want to because I'm planning on going back to the table for seconds on the black bean and corn salad and pulled pork. Maybe being a grown-up isn't the worst stage of life.

Sunday morning we woke up with the sun to cold noses and toes, quickly exiting the tent to warm up by the fire. Shortly after, we put the whisk to good use making a mountain of pancakes with all sorts of fruit. We wrapped up our time in the mountains with a worship service and headed home with only a little tired and very fulfilled. Maybe sleeping on the ground isn't the worst idea.

While the seasons might be changing, that's not always bad. Just because we turn on our heater this winter doesn't mean we're losing our northern strength against cold weather. In fact, maybe turning on the heater will make us more comfortable and free up some energy for doing other things besides finding thicker socks to keep us warm.

Being so far from home and the people I love is not easy. But, being able to share some moments of my life with stories and pictures helps.

Maybe writing a blog isn't the worst idea.

As the lunar eclipse and stars from camp-out reminded me, we all look at the same sky.