Mode of Attention

Walking the streets of Tucson near the university over the summer is like walking completely different streets than when school is in session. When school is in session there is more hustle and bustle, there are students speeding around in cars blasting music, college boys throwing footballs in the street, and an ever constant stream of people moving around creating a buzz around the area. Walking the streets near my house now that it is summer, things are calmer, more peaceful, the buzz is nearly gone.

What seems more evident to me now are the sounds of children playing. I didn’t even know that elementary aged children lived in my neighborhood until now. It is unusual to hear the laugher of children since I have been so used to hearing the rowdy horse play of adult boys. I hear the barking of dogs and the jingle of dog collars. Cars seem to pass less frequently with the slight whisssh that they seem to make as they go. Every once in a while, passes with the same base I am used to hearing during the school year. I can hear myself walking. My flip flops snap as I walk, and the ground makes crunching noises as I go.

I brought my dog with me on this walk. He stops every few feet, and I wonder what it is that he can smell. To me it smells hot. I find it hard to explain the smell of heat. It is almost as though the sidewalk and the asphalt are producing a smell that rise as they get hotter. It also smells like dirt. It hasn’t rained in a while, and as I walk the dust gets stirred up and fills my nostrils. Then my dog pees, and the heat makes the smell of dog urine reach my nostrils sooner. There are garbage cans along the way. Some smell like stale beer, others of rotting food. The heat seems to speed up the process of rotting, and it makes the smells stronger and more putrid.

The weather has not yet reached 100 degrees, to my knowledge. It feels hotter though. I think this is probably because this area has so much concrete and asphalt. My flip flops heat up as I walk. There is a gritty feeling under my feet as I walk due to the sand that gets in my shoes when the sidewalk disappears. There is a warm breeze that is almost unnoticeablebut it starts to pick up as I walk, and clouds start to roll in. It is a dry heat. My shoulders feel like they are burning and they probably are. I feel like I am sweating in my underarms, in the creases of my knees and arms, and most uncomfortable in my cleavage. I find this to be one of the more annoying things about being a girl. There is a tug at the leash in my hand as my dog tries to get closer to something that smells interesting to him. The leash feels hard and plastic, and I push the little button on the top that makes the leash stop releasing.

I always do this walk alone. Just me and my dog. It gives me time to think, and it gives my dog much needed exercise. I connect this walk with time to think. Time to be by myself. Living in a house with four other people and two other dogs, this is a usually needed escape. The sun starts to set as I get home, and it is another beautiful arizona sunset.