Jury Duty Summons

This week I got a jury duty summons. I've rarely gotten those. The last was 10 years ago, and the only other one ever was a long time before that. When other people talk about being summoned every few years I feel like the county doesn't like me or something!

When I was younger, getting out of jury duty was a sport. The popular zeitgeist was that it was a waste of time, and anybody with a real job or a family to support practically had a responsibility to get out of it. Comedians told jokes like, "Do you want to trust your fate to a jury of 12 people too dumb to get out of jury duty?"

I'm glad that zeitgeist has changed, because jury duty is important— especially for intelligent and otherwise well employed people. The justice system depends on having reasonably intelligent jurors who can understand the facts of the case, weigh the credibility of the witnesses by more than their physical attractiveness, and apply reasoning within the standards of the law. I look forward to bringing my intellect and perspective to whatever jury I serve.

There is one conflict for me, though. The week in May I was summoned for jury duty creates a cluster of activity where I'd be out of office for 4 out of 5 consecutive weeks. That's a big work disruption. Thus I filed for a brief postponement. My new week of jury service comes in June.

Atop Camelback Peak!

Phoenix Getaway Travelog #7
Echo Canyon Trail - Sun, 1 Apr 2023, 10am

Whew! We made it to the top of Phoenix's Camelback Peak. There were several times on the way up many steep sections of "trail" I doubted I'd make it. But like I encouraged Hawk on the Koko Head Tramline Trail a year ago to keep taking it one bit at a time, she was my voice of inspiration here. Oh, and after all those steep sections earlier... there were more.



The last four or so steep sections were like this, basically boulder-choked canyons. The funny thing about the steep sections lower down with rails on them is that by the time you get up here you wish there were more rails!



Through these final stretches there's no trail. I mean, you can't get lost. A) you keep going up until you can't go up any more. And B) in case you forget which way is up, there are dozens of other people going that way, too, on a nice weekend morning.



The views from the top are impressive. They're true 360° views. Almost nothing else for miles around is as tall as Camelback Peak.



Of course, on the aforementioned nice weekend morning one gets to share those nice views with dozens of other hikers. It's still possible, though, to find a bit of solitude atop the busy peak....



While everyone else is looking to the southwest, across the city of Phoenix, it's quieter out here with the view to the east. The green ridge below us is the eastern flank of Camelback Mountain. There's a trail that comes up it from the valley below. That's the Cholla trail. Maybe next time we'll try hiking up from that side!

Before there's a next time, though, we have to get down. All those steep parts... yeah, not gonna be fun on the descent. Especially as my legs are already feeling rubbery from the climb.

Stay tuned for more!