Late Covid American Sojourn: Day 1
It was quiet and chilly for southern Arizona, maybe 35, when I let the dog out of our guest house at dawn this morning. The eastern sky in the Patagonia hills, just north of the border, began to yellow. A cloudless day, soon to warm; a good day for traveling east into Texas.
In December, as Covid rates rose in LA, Andrea and I took off for Tucson. Our son Wyatt was with his biodad in Michigan and now Florida. We rented out our house in LA and set up camp in the Sonoran Desert. At the time it was mostly a chance to get out of town and see something different, at a safe distance. I lived here 30 years ago, and reacquainting myself with this landscape, and the cholla, ocotillo, Saguaro, the desert quail and javalina — and most of all, to visit old friends — has been extraordinary.
Last night we dined al fresco with friends Gary and Laurie, who’ve fought for decades to preserve Arizona borderlands for the people and animals of the region. Despite Trump’s efforts to build the wall, Gary has worked with organizations along both sides the border to reverse the damage and re-establish a sense of dignity and possibility. And Laurie, a nurse, has set up clinics in indigenous lands south of the border, saving dozens, maybe hundreds of lives that would have been lost to Covid. Last night, after waiting in line in Nogales Sonora for about an hour (a short wait these days), she crossed the border just in time to join us for the Lebanese feast that Gary, fourth generation Lebanese American, had laid out for us: hummus, tabouli, fatoush salad, kebab, and anis-based arak to wash it all down. I hadn’t seen them in decades, and Andrea hadn’t met them before, but, for me, it seemed almost no time had passed. It was one of those dinners, socially distanced though it was, deep in fellowship, laughter and stories, talk of old travels and new writing projects, and steeped in the urgency of the border, barely 15 miles south.
Renewing.
According to an earlier plan, we’d be turning around about now to head back home to LA. Andrea was scheduled to fly to Florida to get Wyatt at the end of the month. But as the Covid cases have spiked out of control, as the hospitals fill, as ambulances waited for hours, as rolling morgues in the form of refrigerated trucks made their way into Southern California, we decided flying, especially out of LAX, was too risky. Better, we thought, to stay at superclean Airbnbs, order contactless food, wear gloves to pump gas, and DRIVE across the country to Florida.
And so today is Day 1 of our epic late covid roadtrip. Today’s destination: the White Sands of New Mexico (national park), then Marfa, Texas, eight hours away. Perhaps the Marfa Lights await us.
Late Covid American Sojourn: Day 2
For all current installments of Late Covid American Sojourn, click here.
