Homesick

I am homesick for Arizona. This happens every March. I spend all year being thankful that I don't live in such a brown (come to VA and experience green!) and hot and dry place. There are wonderful things about AZ like: my family is there, the Mogollon Rim, Sedona, Flagstaff, the canyon, true camping (unless you back country it out here on the east coast -- your only option is camping in areas with water parks, electricity, and hundreds and hundreds of other people). But....I'm not keen to move to the Phoenix valley any time soon (except to be closer to family).

So I spend all year not missing Phoenix and then March rolls around....and I get terribly homesick. March, in my humble opinion, is the most perfect month in AZ. When people out here in VA tell me that they're thinking of visiting the Grand Canyon State, I passionately tell them that they need to visit in March.

Here are my reasons why I think March in Arizona is so wonderful.....and why I miss my home so much during this month.

Spring Training

Every spring, professional baseball clubs from across the country converge in the Phoenix valley for the start to their season. Spring Training is magical. Or at least that is how I fondly remember it! The players are very accessible to the fans, games have a more intimate and playful feel, the spring sun is beating down upon you -- it's glorious! I grew up not more than 10 minutes away from Hohokam Park -- the home of the Chicago Cubs during Spring Training. At least once a year, my dad would take my sister and I out of school a little bit early and we would go catch the end of a Cub's game. Even games where nothing happens are wonderful!! I start to crave Spring Training games when we have beautiful sunny and warm days here in VA.

Orange Blossoms

If I could bottle up the fragrance of orange blossoms, I would! I have yet to find something that is similar. When I was growing up in East Mesa (where a lot of the orange orchards used to be and some still are), you could walk outside and if the wind was just right, it was like walking into a perfume bottle! Nothing like it! Last year, I discovered an orange tree in the conservatory at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens here in Richmond. And how did I discover it? Because, it was March and as I passed the tree, not realizing what it was, I was overcome with the smell of the blossoms. I was instantly transported home to AZ and I spent minutes just standing under the tree, soaking up the smell! Dave had to literally pull me away. Like I said, there's nothing like it!

The Pool

Starting in March, the days typically start to heat up -- but pleasantly so. (Although, 3 years ago, I was there over St. Patrick's Day and the temperature hit 100 degrees for the first time that year. It was a little early for that kind of weather. Ugh!) As the days warm up, any and all water starts to look tempting -- like you could just dive into it! See my family's backyard and pool in the picture above. Doesn't that water just look inviting?! But beware: it is cold!!! We felt brave if we got in by April....but you are always tempted in March. :-)

The Desert in Bloom

I am not a huge fan of cactus. I prefer lush meadows or forest floors to brown rock under or behind which may lurk scorpions, rattlesnakes, Gila monsters, etc. You get my point. But....the desert in bloom is something to behold. And if you can catch it right after it has rained -- stunning!!! {I bet you people on the east coast didn't think the desert could be so beautiful!}

Breakfast in the Desert

A Harris tradition.

Every spring, we would wake up early on a Saturday and head to the desert for a picnic breakfast. Dad would break out the Coleman stove and cook up his famous and delicious biscuits and gravy while the girls read the paper. :-) We always go out to Usery Mountain Park -- about 15 minutes from my family's house. They have great picnic areas at the foot of Usery Mountain where you can enjoy the desert, the birds, and views of downtown Phoenix, 33 miles away.

{The Arizona Board of Tourism should be paying me!}

So, here I sit -- craving Spring Training games, the sweet perfume of orange blossoms, breakfast picnics in the desert, the smell of the desert after a spring rain......and then I'm reminded of what I have here in Virginia.

You can't see flower bed likes this in Arizona but they're everywhere in Virginia!!!

I'll always be a desert rat at heart but after living in Idaho and Virginia, I've learned that home is where you make it. And I know if I lived someplace else, I would be homesick for the beauty that is April in Virginia. So...it is best to be content with where I am now and thankful that I have such cherished memories of my AZ home and have the health and ability to create memories here in my VA home. But having said that -- I am still homesick for AZ in March! :-)