SAND

My blog name comes from places where I feel most at home or which have had a deep impact on me.  In an earlier post I wrote about the “Sun” part.  To continue, I will now look at “Sand”.

Sand:  Many of my earlier posts have made mention of my upbringing in the Arizona desert.  Hence, my connection with not only sun, but sand.  When I was in 5^th grade my parents built a large house at the base of the mountains and we moved from town to this desert oasis.  My backyard was no longer fenced in, but wide open to the Sonoran desert.  This became our playground.  The house sat up on a promontory and we had to slide down a rather steep cliff to get to the wash below.  My brother taught me how to repel down that sand cliff using ropes and pitons when we were older.  Once at the bottom, there was a dry riverbed – an arroyo – with cactus and palo verde trees, rocks, bushes, animal holes. We had to learn to be wise when exploring or playing.  Always wear long pants and boots, preferably, so cactus didn’t catch your bare skin or to provide some protection should you unfortunately happen upon a snake.  Always take a sturdy stick with you and never, NEVER turn over a rock with your hands – use the stick – lest you meet up with some unexpected fellow hiding beneath it.  The danger added an element of adventure.  The sandy riverbed wound for miles.   We traversed it all.  We dug forts into the hot, dry sand and covered the hole with creosote branches.  We would find a shady spot under a green-barked tree to sit and sift for sand rubies by the hour – anticipating the reaction from our mom to our treasures when we returned.  Yes, this scorched, sandy world was my setting for hours of happy play.  No TV, internet, ipad, video games.  It was heaven.

As I have aged, I have also discovered an equally strong pull towards the sea, however.  We spent many a summer going to San Diego for a long weekend where we would spend each day on the beautiful sandy beaches of Coronado Island.  Sand castles, seashell hunting, sun tanning – another kind of heaven.  My husband and I now take our own children there for the same memories.  I love the sandy shore line; I love the warmth of the beach radiate through my towel into my skin as I lay there, molding the sand just so to fit the contours of my body.  I love the smooth flow of the waves onto the beach at dusk, as the sun casts its orange-red glow over the water.

Desert sand, ocean sand.  Both places mean “home” to me.

Quote of the day:  To see a World in a Grain of Sand, and a Heaven in a Wild Flower, Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.

                                                                                                            ~William Blake