“Any fool can be uncomfortable in the bush,” explained Howard, as he prepared delicious margarita drinks. “Personally, I always travel with the necessities.” We presumed that meant not only his margarita mixing skills but his little coffee press among other things. Howard was indeed a world traveler – an American raised in Australia, a wildlife biologist in Tanzania, where we met him.
“Are you really moving to Tucson Arizona?” he asked us. “Yes, we’ve bought into an intentional community there.” “Well then” said Howard, “you must meet my parents and visit Ruby, our ghost town.” And thus with taste and ease he created a bridge between our Tanzanian past and our American future.
Not long after we landed in Arizona we met Howard’s parents and visited Ruby. Love at first sight; we were hooked.
Ruby is an abandoned mining area being reclaimed by wildlife. We can camp by a shriveled or full lake near the sand dunes of the former tailing piles. These days the ghosts of Ruby are silent at night. From our campfire we hear only the owls and poorwills and the songs of coyotes. The stars have the sky to themselves and it’s the silence, the beauty and the wildlife that has made Ruby ghost town so important to our own survival. Here we come to free our shuttered senses from the assaults of urban ugliness, traffic, phones and the internet. At Ruby we soak in the subtler pleasures of nature and experience, that joy that only fools comfortable in the bush can claim.
One reply on “Ruby Arizona”
I too must be a “fool comfortable in the bush” cause I love Ruby {and similarly pristine/secluded places} for the very reasons you mention!