Morning Constitutional

One of the major contributors to both my personal health recovery and the enjoyment of living in Tucson is our home’s close proximity to the Chuck Huckelberry loop. Named after a prominent home-grown Pima County administrator, the loop is a system of 136 miles of paved, shared-use paths, a portion of which follows the Rillito River from its origin at the confluence of the Pantano and Tanque Verde drainages at Craycroft Road all the way to the Santa Cruz river miles and miles to the west. Every morning, either on foot or on bicycle, I access the loop either by walking through nearby Fort Lowell Park or by traveling north through a small subdivision on the other side of our road. Either way, this morning ritual has become such an important part of my life that I cannot help but to feel my gratitude for living in a community that would make such a recreational investment. Here, in the middle of a very large city, I can walk along quiet pathways where the sounds of traffic are only a distant hum, and encounters with coyotes, birds, rabbits, and other wildlife are a daily occurrence.

My walks have been modest since my illness. I gradually worked my way up to a path of slightly more than three miles in the last few months, and sometimes I have walked more than four and a half. When bicycling, I have gone as far as twelve miles round trip, which is only accomplished by taking periodic rests (not for my leg muscles, but for my aching posterior). The map at the right shows the section I usually walk, and although not to scale the distance between the left and right sides of the image is about six miles.

Although I usually carry my cell phone during these morning walks/rides, I rarely take photographs. The few I have show the normally dry washes of the Pantano, Tanque Verde, and Rillito “rivers” filled with water after some pretty heavy rainstorms last summer. A streamside stroll in the desert is unusual enough to record, I think. My wildlife photos are pathetic. Usually by the time I spot a coyote and struggle to get out my cell phone, he is long gone or the glare of the sunlight prevents me from seeing the screen of the device well enough to focus the shot. Below are two "wet" images and one of some livestock that I pass each morning.

Overall I feel pretty thankful to be living in a community enlightened enough to fund this paved pathway through the city. It allows me to feel as if I am living in a rural setting, even though I am near the center of a city of at least a half million people. I will continue my morning walks as long as I am able, and perhaps some day in the future I may be able to get a photograph of some actual wildlife.