I have lived in the desert for 25 years; it sounds a lot longer when you word it like that as opposed to, I was born here. There are things I appreciate about Tucson, don’t get me wrong; like the sunsets, how pretty the mountains are, how mild the winters are, how I’ve never had to put chains on my car, how I never learned how to mow a lawn or shovel snow, and how nice everyone is. But after living somewhere for your entire life you can’t help but to notice the things that you’re missing.

I’ve always wanted to live somewhere that has seasons; technically Arizona has seasons but they consist less of 4 different quarters of the year and more of “swealtering”, “less hot”, “kinda chilly”, and “oop here comes the heat again”. I want to live somewhere that the leaves change color during the fall and I can take walks in the crisp autumn air, stepping on the crunching leaves. I want to live somewhere that I can have a white Christmas, I’ve never really had one and I’d like to experience it. I’d like to live somewhere where during the spring flowers bloom, flowers that aren’t just attached to cacti or considered weeds.

I’d love to have a garden. A garden full of flowers and greenery that I can tend to periodically but for the most part will stay alive with the natural climate of the area. Keeping plants alive in the desert is nearly impossible unless you dedicate every waking moment to care.

I’ve always wanted to be surrounded by old brick buildings everywhere I go; old architecture is one of my favorite things to look at. It never occurred to me that adobe houses aren’t the norm over most of the United States, that most of the houses don’t have flat roofs; rather they are peaked so that the snow and rain will roll off.

Arizona doesn’t really have bodies of water, sure there are a couple lakes but they are pretty far removed from most cities and we are all landlocked. I think it would be great to live within driving distance to a beach. I’ve always loved walking along beaches without shoes on, feeling the sand between my toes. It’s always been a luxury reserved for vacations, but if I could live somewhere that I could go and do that more than once every couple years, I think that would make me very happy.

I’m very grateful for where I’ve grown up, but I feel as though there isn’t much opportunity left for me here. I’m ready to go somewhere else, somewhere different and make my life there. If I could simultaneously be somewhere with seasons, greenery, and access to a beach, that would be the dream.