Classes are done for the day, temperature is scorching well over 110, and I'm wearing a blue hollister jacket. There is a reason for the jacket. It's there to keep me from turning into an ice cube while being lectured about mixers, signal paths, and microphones inside my studio classroom (sound production is the coolest subject to learn about!). But now that I've stepped outside, this jacket is preventing me from getting potential 2nd degree sunburns on any patch of skin that would otherwise be exposed. This is Pheonix, AZ, summer 2009, and its finally started to feel close to hell.
My buddy Cole and I head on over to his apartment right after buying ourselves a drive through lunch. The sun isn't showing any mercy in the afternoon time, and it only seems to be getting hotter. Luckily, we have a Pheonix resident's best friend: air conditioning. We crank it past the ideal temperature for any Alaskan Eskimo and it occurs to me that this jacket isn't coming off anytime soon. A couple of juicy burgers settling in our stomachs and we begin our usual routine of moping around, talking about the girlfriends we wished we had, and of course Youtube videos (which never seemed to fail us).
Nightime comes around and its finally safe to go out for a drive, with the heat of the day somewhat tamed and giving us a chance to enjoy a little outdoor time. We drive on over to Arizona State University in Cole's Jeep Rubicon with the music blasting (Cole had a thing for Rage Against the Machine). Going down the main college strip, we're able to catch a feel for the nightlife on this particular night. A drunk girl here, a douche bag there, a couple of university students enjoying a cup of frozen yogurt, a fight between a couple outside a dance club, some hobo-looking young people playing indie music in front of a coffee shop, and of course a dozen of Arizona's finest, keeping the peace in the midst of the usual chaos. We decide to keep driving and park the Jeep next to an ASU parking structure. With our skateboard and longboard in hand, we venture to the top floor of the structure and cruise down each emptied floor until we reach the bottom. We go for several more rounds before getting thrown out by security (they weren't very happy).
In a spare of the moment attempt to release our last bits of energy, we decide to hike up "A" mountain, as we called it. It was basically a stand-alone mountain located right next to the university with a giant "A" slapped onto its side that could be seen from miles away. A trail led to the very top, so we went for it. We were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the peak, but as we arrived, I knew it was worth the climb. Looking down on Pheonix, with its glowing city lights reflecting off the night sky, the warm, dry desert air hitting the sweat on our foreheads, there was a deep sense of calm on top of this mountain, as opposed to the frantic and nervous college setting we had passed through earlier. As I sat on the rocks, I reflected on my time in the desert. My gaze turned to the west, and I realized that I longed for the ocean once again. In moments such as these, I was constantly being reminded that I was still a SoCal boy.
