First Summer in Arizona

Looking back at my first summer in Arizona in 2005, it is difficult for me to make this true story real, because no matter what I tell you, it is going to sound like fiction. After driving down the Al-Can Highway from Chugiak, Alaska to my new home in Gilbert, Arizona, I had no idea what waited for me there. My father-in-law and I arrived in Gilbert in April. Little did I know what the summer held for me in the Valley of the Sun.

At one time in the not-too-distant past, Gilbert used to be a small whistle stop on the way to Phoenix, Arizona. That all changed when they built the freeway which connected Gilber, Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix. West of Phoenix was Goodyear, Glendale, Scottsdale, Surprise and Luke Air Force Base. Each of these places are part of the Valley of the Sun where the temperatures during the summer remain in triple digit heat. Summer begins promptly in May and will linger until the first part of October. So, for six months, you will live indoors where the air conditioning is.

At the time, Skylar was in the fourth grade and Tegan was in Kindergarten. The school was within walking distance of our house on Windsor Avenue. I would walk Skylar in the morning and Tegan would have grandma drive her to her Kindergarten class in the afternoon. Skylar’s teacher had a daughter in Tegan’s class, and they became friends.

When school was about to end for the summer, I wondered why there were no children playing at the playground across from the school. The playground had all the equipment, a slide, swings, sandbox, monkey bars, but the only thing missing were the children.

I wondered why that was so, but it did not take me long to figure it out. My wife, Amy asked me to go to Target to get a few things for the in-ground pool which we had installed in our backyard. It was an early late June day. With the car’s air conditioning on full blast, I did not notice the temperature had gone over triple digits at ten in the morning. As I stepped out of the car, I felt as if I had stepped into a convection oven. My shirt was completely soaked with perspiration before I got to the front door of the store. I had parked about a hundred yards from the store. Inside I was welcomed with heavy air conditioning. I picked up what Amy had asked me to get, and I went to pay for the items.

“Gonna be a hot one.” The cashier said as she tallied up my merchandise.

“It’s hot already.” I pulled out my debit card.

“It’s gonna get hotter.” She put my stuff in a plastic bag.

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“One hundred and ten is what they are saying it’s going to get to on the radio.” She shrugged.

Okay, I had just come from Chugiak, Alaska where sixty plus degrees was considered sweltering. A hundred and ten degrees? You could cook dinner on the sidewalk if you so desired. I grabbed my bag and left the air conditioning. The heat greeted me as I walked outside behaving as if I had walked into a brick wall. I managed to get to my car to put the bag in the passenger’s side on the car floor. When I closed the car door, I saw a Barnes and Noble three stores away from where I was standing. Deciding I wanted to browse, I decided to walk over there. Driving was out of the question, because when a store is that close, you just walk over to it.

That’s what I attempted to do, but it was a mistake. As I passed the first store, I was overcome by the heat. My head swirled and I became dizzy. I do not remember walking into Barnes and Noble, but I do remember finding an empty chair to collapse in.

“Are you alright, sir?” A salesclerk asked me as I sat there panting.

“I hope so.” I took a deep breath of the air conditioning.

“Can I get you anything?” She asked.

“Water.” Was all I could manage to say.

“I’ll get you a bottle.” She put her hand on my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t going to pass out. It did cross my mind, but I managed to stay upright at least for the moment. She returned with a bottle of Aquafina water. The entire bottle went down with one gulp.

For the second time as I left the store to walk to the car, my shirt was drenched in my sweat. It was hard to work up the nerve to walk out of the store, because I was not sure I’d make it to my car.

Another lesson I was quick to learn is how to drive like a native Arizonian. Never grab the steering wheel with both hands or you will burn the palms of your hands. You must learn to use two fingers to turn the steering wheel and be sure to move your fingers frequently or else suffer burns on your steering fingers. Another thing you must remember to do is cover the metal part of your seatbelts with a towel or blanket, because if your bare skin comes in contact with the metal parts, you will burn yourself. You will have exposed bare skin, because you will be wearing shorts and flip-flops. Long pants are not advisable. Make sure you have your car’s air conditioning checked, because if it should stop working, opening you windows will expose you to the dry desert air.

I have wondered how the first residents of Gilbert survived before air conditioning was invented. Even in the shade, you will be stifled by the dry air. And wind? You would think the wind would bring some relief, but you’d be mistaken. When the wind blows, it will remove any moisture you have in reserve. You can feel it drain you as it blows.

We had a swimming pool installed before the end of the school year so it would be ready for the kids once they were off for the summer break. I watched them dig the hole, put in the rebar and then set the molded swimming pool into the hole. After connecting all of the plumbing, the pool was ready to fill with water. When the pool was half filled, we all waded into the water. Oh my, what bliss was this? I felt the cold-water wash over me and I was in love with our new pool. A few days later, when it was completely filled, I jumped in and floated on my back.This was living.

We had noodles and if you don’t know what they are, you have never been to Arizona. Noodles are long floating devices you wrap around yourself to float. You can use them as weapons like a light saber or a large squirt gun since noodles have an opening that runs throughout it. Noodles are a very diverse pool toy.

July roared in like a fire breathing dragon. Anything plastic would melt in direct sunlight. We slathered the kids up in suntan lotion, because the sun would set you ablaze without the aloe base lotion.

When putting in the sundeck, we had the construction crew use a sundeck that would not burn the bottom of your feet. When walking on regular concrete, you would burn your feet immediately if you were not wearing protection footware. Flip-flops were not always enough, but my Birkenstock sandals provided protection on my ten-foot walk to the pool.

By the middle of July, however, the water temperature reached ninety degrees. Warm water is not refreshing whatsoever. I’ve been in steam rooms that were like this, but steams rooms were made for you to sweat in. The kids no longer wanted to go into the pool and like the empty playgrounds around our neighborhood, no one wanted to wade into bathwater. Instead, we retreated inside where the air conditioning was much more soothing.

I would sit on the couch and gaze longingly at my empty pool. I have always loved being in the water. While I may have been tempted to say, “The heck with it” and go in despite the illogical choice. But then my senses would get a hold of me, “What are you crazy? Stay put and enjoy the wonders of indoor living.”

It made sense to me, so the pool remained empty.

A world away, I remember how we bought a pool for the kids when we live in Chugiak. It was a three foot deep above ground pool. The water temperature never got above sixty even on the hottest summer days when the air temperature would get above sixty. Most of the time, the water temperature barely rose above fifty degrees. The kids would be blue when they got out of the pool. I was sad thinking about that memory as the air conditioning kicked on again.

Some of my friends would ask me, “How’s the weather?”

“Hot.” I would answer which summed it up, pretty much.

In August, the temperature remained at a hundred plus degrees, but I began to notice a fluctuation between sunup and sundown. While the daytime temperatures would got past one hundred degrees, the evenings were a bit cooler. Getting into the warm pool water didn’t seem as bad once it got cooler.

But August was brining another surprise.

Calling what came next a haboob is not a joke. But those people living outside Arizona will think I just made up a silly sounding word. I am here to tell you; this word is real. It comes to us from the Arabian language where there are haboobs in their homelands. August usually is when the monsoons start. When there is a dust storm, it is called a haboob. It may include a year’s worth of rain in just one haboob. It may including a furious show of lightning, but until you experience a haboob, you start to understand it’s not just a funny word anymore.

My first year in Arizona, the guy reporting the local weather called for a monsoon. I had heard of these, but I had never experienced one for myself. All that was about to change. I drove to Albertsons to pick up a few things and though the store was less than a mile from my house, walking was no longer an option.

I heard some people talking about a storm coming, but I didn’t give it much thought as I picked up the items on the list. I did not notice the skies outside were darkening until I paid for my stuff and walked outside. Right away I noticed the wind had picked up a bit.Opening the car door, I put the bag of groceries in the front passenger’s seat. I got in the driver’s seat and pulled out of the parking lot. I reached up to adjust my rearview mirror when I saw it.My reaction was one of shock and awe, because what I saw was a giant dust cloud gaining on me. I picked up a bit of speed hoping I’d make it home before being swallowed up by this monster. It had already advanced to the housing area next to ours.

Pulling into my driveway, I looked up into infinity as the dust storm appeared to originate from Heaven. I grabbed my bag and ran inside.

“What the hell is that?” I asked tossing the bag on the counter.

“I think it’s a dust storm.” Amy answered.

“Is it for real?” I asked, but I did not need an answer, because the monster was here. We all hustled to the garage. I could hear the dust particles rapping on the windows. I began to wonder if the debris carried by the strong wind would bust any of our windows. Standing in the garage was the safest place in the house, but the dust was eking through the small space where the garage door met the cement of the carport. I told the kids to put their shirts over their faces so they would not breath in the dust.

“This is crazy.” I spoke through my shirt.

“I guess this happens a few times during the monsoons.” Amy replied.

“You mean, there may be more?”

She just nodded infirmity. Then I remembered the pool. I had just cleaned it a few days ago as part of its regular maintenance.

I looked at the kids. Both Sklyar and Tegan were a bit unnerved by this explosion of sound rattling out house, but they weren’t panicking as much as I was.

Suddenly there was silence. No more dirt and rocks rattling our windows. No more howling of the wind just beyond the garage door. I pulled my shirt away from my mouth.

“Is it over?” I asked aloud.

“I think it is.” Amy nodded.

I opened the door from the garage to the kitchen and cautiously walked inside. The skies were clear once again. There was no sign of the monster who had followed me home.With a quick visual check, I saw there were no broken windows.

Carefully I opened the glass door to the patio and the pool.

What I saw made me gasp. Gazing into the pool I saw roughly four inches of dirt on the bottom of my pool

“Holy shit.” I snapped

“Oh my God.” Amy wandered out and saw what I was looking at.

“How am I gonna clean this mess?” I asked and then thought, there might be more of these coming.

Then the rain began to fall. Heavy rain to wash the dust off the pool deck, running rivers of muddy water right into the pool. There was nothing I could do to prevent this from happening. With a flash of lightning across the sky, I realized that I would have to wait to clean the pool.

Marvin our neighbor came over to make sure we were alright. He was a large, happy fellow who seemed to always be in a good mood.

“So, I see you survived your first haboob.” He shrugged and chuckled.

“A what?” I shook my head.

“A haboob. That’s what they are called.” He glanced at me.

“Are you serious?” I thought he was joking.

“Serious as a heart attack.” He smiled. “Looks like you have some work to do on your pool. Are ya gonna need help?”

“It’s okay.” I shrugged. “I need the practice. How often do we get these…Haboobs?” I could barely say the word without feeling as though I was being tickled.

“Depends.” Marvin shrugged. “Sometimes we get on or two, but other times we can get a dozen depending on the weather.”

“Good to know.” I sighed.

“You’ll get used to them the longer you live here.”

“There is no way I will ever get used to this.” I shook my head.

“Well, I’ve got to run. Doris wanted me to go to the store, but I told her I’d go after the haboob.”

I watched him leave out the front door and then turned back to my dirt filled pool.

Living in Gilbert, Arizona was different between the heat and haboobs, but I did adjust. Our first summer, however, nearly killed me. We had moved down after Amy’s father decided to retire. He wanted to get out of Alaska to somewhere it didn’t snow. We had found the place where it would never snow, but there would be other challenges that we would have to face, that’s for sure.