I walk most every day for exercise. When I lived in Seattle all those years, I didn’t much worry about what might be on the trail that was dangerous. Maybe some poison ivy or rocks to get around. Hiking had more things, but I didn’t hike much.

When I moved to Arizona. I learned fast about the desert. All wildlife is protected here, even in towns like mine. The town decided long ago that two thirds of the land would NOT be developed. So, I hear coyotes at night yelling after a kill as well as our most common animals walking on our streets – the javalinas (google them). Looking for plants they like to eat.   

Across the street from my house is a trail that leads to an abandoned golf course (a victim of the 2009 housing crisis). I walk the trail to what now is a county park where all the cart paths allow anyone to walk over five miles.

The path I walk was created by homeowners and is very nice, but it has its challenges. There are hundreds of Tree cholla cactus lining the path and when it’s windy parts of the plants come off an onto the path. I must be very careful as there are barbs on the pieces that can ‘jump’ onto your clothes shoes or skin and you can’t just pull them off. If you try, only a single needle will come away and prick you as you try to get the whole thing – It hurts! The first time I got one, it was on my arm as I didn’t realize that you can’t just ‘graze’ the plant. I had to get home quickly and google how to get it off me (they generally are 2 inches round). My husband had to use two chopsticks and place them on either side of the piece and then- 1,2,3, pop it up and off me.  It worked but it hurt too! 

Sometimes on an early morning walk I will see a snake 10 feet in front of me sunning himself. I stop and try to see if it’s one of Arizona’s famous rattlesnakes. Most often it is, and I have learned that what I need to do is search for a place to get off the path and go around the snake with five or six feet between us.

This week I had a God Shot about all this – my experience is much like sobriety. The path is clear in AA, follow it and life can be good. But life also presents barbs and dangers that are just life on life’s terms. Painful things jump out and hit us as well as dangers we must go around to avoid.  Many of my neighbors here don’t like to walk of the trail, they want the smooth concrete cart paths to walk on. I want to explore, stay sober, and deal with life as it comes with the support of people who will help me get the needles stuck in me out!

Oh, and there is something else I see on the trail – cactus blooming the most amazing colors!    I wouldn’t see them on the sidewalk!