A cooling trend is coming

October provides some of the best weather for outdoor activities here in SE Arizona. I had planned on taking three dogs down to the river to explore any visible changes to the flora and water level. I took Gretel, Hansel and Wolfie, who were all due a good run. We didn't even start until 11am. It was sunny and 73F.

 The dogs clearly enjoyed their romp. These three dogs together stay together, so I have no worries of them taking off somewhere. They ran ahead of me and I stopped and took a lot of photos. 

 The trees along the river are still very green, but a few cottonwoods have a few yellowing canopies at closer examination, but not distinctive enough yet to stand out. The trail to the

river was very passable. It wasn't as muddy as I thought it would be since last week's rain.

 Creosote have gone to seed, the desert marigolds are still in bloom, and the Christmas cholla I've discovered is all along the route. The red blooms are what make it stand out. It grows in relation to other evergreens and without its red blooms is hard to distinguish. 

 The water level was normal. It was muddy and flowing. The grasses along the river were still quite green.

 I was back home by 1pm. I had a 4:30pm appointment at the Carnett Clinic as a follow-up to the Losartan medication I'm now on. I used these three hours as chill time.

 I told the nurse that the medication has made me feel more fatigued and that I have trouble breathing while hiking elevation. She now wants me to get a bloodtest for iron deficiency. I hope that is all I have. I've had iron deficiencies in the past so this isn't shocking. The clinic was empty. I was the only patient in the building. 

 Once I left, I walked around the area looking at seeds to collect. There were some beautiful specimens of Yellow Bird of Paradise that I collected. The neighborhood wasn't the nicest, but there were plenty of seeds to collect in the alleys. Lots here are small and older.

 I stopped at Food City for a quick Taco Tuesday special at the Delicatessen. I took Steve there last week and he enjoyed the meal. Each street taco is a mere $1.25 and three fill me up. 

 While at the delicatessen, a young woman with two small girls came up to me and asked me if I used to teach at Lowell Middle School in Bisbee (back in the fall of 2008) and I said yes. I didn't recognize her, but she did recognize me, so we had a quick conversation about our lives since then.

 Her name is Sara. Sara is now 30 years old with two daughters, aged 10 and 5. She never graduated from Bisbee High School but she is finishing GED courses and wants to pursue phlebotomy. Since I was just at a clinic (and got my flu shot) I chimed right in: any kind of medical degree or training will keep you employable. We reminisce. I asked about several students I had that semester, both good and bad. She remembered David B, who is now a locally-known heroin dealer and serving his second stint in prison. She also remembered Cisco, a troubled boy living with his Grandma with no direction. And she is also in contact with AlexP, who is now in New York City as a struggling actor and working side gigs as a shawdow customer. I didn't want to interrupt her time with her children, so I bid fairwell, told her girls to listen to their mom, and departed the store feeling overwhelmed that a young person could still remember me from sight 18 years later. "Youre' looking good!" said Sara. I wish I could agree with her.