Ever since leaving Arizona two years ago, our lives have been a series of adventures — some good, some terrible, some stressful. During the past two years, one song that was alternately a comfort and a reproach was Jamie O’ Neal’s ballad, "There Is No Arizona." The classic "lover left behind" lament tells of the moment when the girl comes to a realization that the promise to bring her to "a new and better life" were never going to happen.
The song reflects the anguish of thinking she’s been tricked as well as the determination to get on with her life. O’Neal references the Painted Desert, Sedona and the Grand Canyon. I never got to Sedona the last time I was in Arizona, nor did I get to see the Grand Canyon or the Painted Desert, but I did see the Superstitions and Camelback.
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The song became a reproach when every road we chose led us farther and farther from Arizona. First to Mississippi, then to Ohio and recently to North Carolina. We got stuck in rural Ohio through the winter of 2009, but finally got a break and sojourned in Tallmadge, Ohio until we were able to purchase an old, rusty van that had formerly hauled snowmobiles. Christened “Kymera” — a combination of Kylara, as in Kylara Vatta, a character in Elizabeth Moon’s trilogy, “Trading in Danger” “Marque and Reprisal” and “Engaging the Enemy” and chimera, a mythological creature, she took us on 3500 miles of flea marketing, art and jewelry-selling fun. But she gave up the ghost in October 2010, stranding us in Asheville, NC.
If you have to be stranded anywhere, Asheville is the best place that could possibly happen. From our wonderful baristas and friend at Izzy’s Coffee Den West to all the artists, fellow writers and quirky, fun people we met, Asheville has been a creative haven. We got another van, a ‘69 Chevy Sport with a 250 straight-six engine, a 2-speed Power-Glide transmission, which we christened “Jewel.” But the chance to return to Arizona has finally arrived, and right now, we are both too excited to think straight. So there IS an Arizona, and we’ll be there in less than 36 hours.
References:
Lyrics A to Z Universe; “There Is No Arizona”; Jamie O’Neal; Oct. 2000
You Tube: Jamie O’Neal “There Is No Arizona”
Izzy’s Coffee Den West 373 Haywood Road Asheville, NC
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