On the move again

Such is the life of a military family. We are moving back to Fort Lewis in Washington in the next few months. I couldn't be happier about this, though. I have hated El Paso with a burning passion that I can't even explain. I've never hated anything so much as living in this desert town on the edge of Mexico. Within the next few months, I will be back where it rains. Where the trees and grass aren't brown and prickly. Where the wind doesn't blow ten pounds of dirt through your window sills to decorate the floors and furniture. Where I can open the window and enjoy a breeze at night when I go to sleep without dirt blowing in my face. It's beautiful outside at night in October in El Paso, but we still have the air conditioner running because if we open the window, we get dirt all over our bed.

We can't let the dogs outside for long in the summer for fear of something on the ground biting them. Tara had a spider bite last spring, most likely a brown recluse, that ate away at her flesh and left a gaping hole in her side for three months. In the fall, the dogs go outside to pee, five minutes, and they come limping back in and I have to pull a bunch of stickers out of the paws. You know, those stickers that stick to socks and pants if you walk in the woods. Woods smoods. Those stickers are part of our lawn, both front and back yard. We tried once...once...to take our dogs for a hike. Thought we'd find a park with some grass, or someplace with shade trees where we could hike. Franklin Mountains sounded promising. We went there, and found the only trees were squat cactus, and the mountain itself was literally rocks, with a path of smaller rocks bordered by rough weeds. We twisted our ankles every hundred or so feet, and the dogs kept losing their balance. We were hot, tired, sore, and sweaty inside of thirty minutes. So much for a morning hike.

So, have I made it clear yet, just how nasty living here is? I can't wait to leave!