Phoenix, Arizona

Back home after a week of business meetings in Arizona (and very sad to hear about the terrible violence that happened there today). I'd never been to the southern U.S. before this trip and despite a lifetime of seeing images of the southwest in movies and t.v., I was taken off guard by how beautiful and open the landscape was.  Cacti, palm trees, brilliant skies, mountains, deep red dirt - just the kind of warmth and colour that makes my Toronto-based heart ache a little as we head into full on winter.  I didn't get much time to traverse the countryside with my camera, but I did snap a few images on my way to the airport.

These images don't really do the landscape justice at all (it's pretty tough to get a decent mobile shot from the back seat of a cab that's speeding down the highway), but T and I are already brainstorming a road trip to the Grand Canyon for this summer so I'm hoping to get another chance to take some better shots.

As for creating every day, I tried to fit in writing this week whenever possible (no easy feat at a national sales meeting).  I ended up with a few scribbles to work on as well as some sketches for a new themed project.  I also read Kiran Desai's The Inheritance of Loss, which is stunningly written and deeply disturbing.  I'm still trying to decide whether I'm thankful or sad that I didn't read it before my latest trip to India.  It certainly would have shaped my experience of India in a profound and unsettling way had I read it in early December.

In the little notebook that I carried with me on the trip, I also noted something a fellow conference attendee said to me when I mentioned how much I loved the landscape around the city.  She said: Yes, the desert does have its own kind of beauty, I suppose.  It's a response that seems to echo a line I've read or heard before, but I can't think of the source.  The way she said it, almost hesitantly, has stayed with me over the last few days and I'm trying to think of how to develop it.  If you can think of where I might have heard this before, please let me know.

I hope you've all had a wonderful start to the New Year.  I've really enjoyed reading all of the year end summaries and new goals for 2011 from fellow bloggers.  There's just so much great work being done by so many interesting individuals, and I feel so fortunate to have a forum through which to follow so many other writers and artists.  Which reminds me... I really need to update my 'Great Reads' list!