It’s Not Always Hot in the Desert

Late afternoon on our final day in Boise, we saw our first snowfall outside the windows of Delta Gate B20. The rest of our visit was clear and cold, not what you’d expect in a desert, because, yes, this is the desert, a high desert with an abundance of winter bare trees and blossoming subdivisions. Skilled trades people are in high demand and short supply. Welcome to Boom Town. I met Lydia in the gallery of gems. Penny was admiring rocks, and I was on the lookout for portraits to shoot. Lydia had a lot of positive things to say about the local photography scene, and she revealed that she’s a model, too. We shot a few photos in the store for fun, and that was that for now. Next stop, open road. Caldwell, Middleton. A cowboy in the java shop said no, he didn’t want to pose for any photos. We turned north towards Emmett, with its old brick buildings and large plots of land. Those bare trees that grab you and don’t let go. Glimpses of the Payette River to explore more fully on a future visit. As the afternoon sun starts to dip, we turn back south towards civilization, which isn’t all that far from this seemingly remote outpost. Meridian used to be a remote outpost, too, but now they’ve got the Village, where, among other things, you find that gallery of gems where Lydia works, and Texas de Brazil Boise, with its bountiful salad bar and a constant stream of waiters bringing you more meat on long, straight swords till you’re sure you’re going to bust. Don’t go if you have no self control, or maybe do go and just know you’ll wish you’d stopped a little sooner and know you’ll deflate eventually.

All good things come to an end, leading to other good things down the road. Drink it all in, and give yourself time to deflate on the way back down to civilization.