Arizona On My Mind

I absolutely love my landlord, Mr. Divis. He is simply one of the nicest landlords that I have ever encountered. Not only does he regularly stop by to give us jars of homemade pickles or fresh chives and parsley, but he actually engages us in conversation. Which must be painful for him considering the pathetic level of my Czech abilities. So yesterday he stops by to see if we want to buy fresh eggs from him. We now have over two dozen brown eggs sitting on our coffee table. He starts having a conversation with Leah, who he affectionally calls Maruska. 

Mr. D: "Hey Maruska! How are you?"

Leah: "Oh, I am fine."

Mr.D: "Do you want to buy some eggs?"

Blah Blah Blah...

Mr. D: "Hey does she ski?" (he points at me)

Me: (To Leah) "No, not really. Unless you count that time I ran into another woman while going down the bunny hill."

Leah: (To Mr. D) "No she doesn't, she is from the desert. She is from the state of Arizona."

Mr. D: "She is? Oh, I knew  a girl from Arizona. Do you remember Ruth Leah?"

Leah: "Yeah I do. I forgot she was from Arizona."

At this point Mr. D leaves the apartment and comes back in about five minutes with a book for me. The book is "Arizona On My Mind". A collection of pictures from around the state. Seriously, what a sweet man. Looking at that book made me really nostalgic. Pictures of sunsets, lightening storms, down town Tucson in all its glorious ghetto splendor, the mountains, Bisbee, my favorite quirky mining town, etc. Oh, Arizona! How I love thee. 

Whenever I am away from Arizona I always miss it. I will defend that desert land and its beauty to anyone. I have still not seen a sunset that can top the ones I have seen there and the mountains still hold for me a certain beauty, one that has been carved into them over year and years. I wonder if I will ever be able to get this place out of my heart. So here's to Arizona. Yes, you are on my mind.