Saguaro Land: Adapting to Arizona, one shock at a time

This past year, The Show has brought you all kinds of stories from the Sonoran Desert in a series called Saguaro Land. 

Earlier this month, The Show hosted an evening of art and stories about our desert home. The Show brings you true stories about the desert told at the event.

The Show's Amber Victoria Singer moved to Arizona from California, and couldn't get wait to get out after graduation. However, now she's not so sure.

I’m not from Arizona.

A few Augusts ago, I moved here from California, much like the yellow star-thistle, which was brought over from my home state in the 1800s.

There’s this weird one-sided rivalry between Arizonans and Californians, so I sympathize with the unwelcome invasive flower.

I moved here for the same reason most 18-year-olds move here: to attend Arizona State University. We may be next door neighbors, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that Arizona is NOTHING like California.

I almost passed out my first week here because I was carrying around a jacket instead of a water bottle during a nighttime scavenger hunt. In August. Sweat dripped down my back as we followed cryptic clues around campus, and all I could say in my delirious state was, “How ... is it 90 degrees at 8 p.m.?”

When we got back to our dorm, I was revived by an absurd amount of water and a fistful of Doordashed McDonalds French fries.

The heat was the first shock. The guns were the second.

Amber Victoria Singer/KJZZ

A few weeks after I almost fainted, I saw a sign outside a restaurant that made me chuckle: No firearms allowed.

I pointed it out to my friend, who didn’t understand what was so funny, and then it hit me. You have to tell people not to bring guns into restaurants because people actually carry around guns.

Do you know how easy it is to get a gun in Arizona? I could decide I want a gun at … 2 p.m. on a Thursday and be meeting some sketchy stranger with a trench coat full of firearms in a parking lot at 3 p.m. on that same Thursday. In broad daylight. That’s not normal!

But living in the desert is all about adapting. For example, I’ve learned the importance of never leaving the house without my trusty Hydro Flask, and how to pretend I’m not absolutely terrified whenever I see a gun tucked into someone’s waistband.

Even though the Sonoran Desert is the hottest desert in the country, it’s also the greenest.

I thought Phoenix was a cultural desert when I moved here. But if you know where to look, it’s not hard to find cool markets, creative artists and incredibly talented musicians. The longer I live here, the greener the city looks. For so long I was sure I would be getting the hell out of this crazy state as soon as I finished my degree, but now that I’m set to walk across that stage in less than two weeks, I’m not so sure.

How could I move when the pizza place around the corner has a slice with corn and cilantro on it? When on any given night I could walk less than a mile and be at a cool local show? When one of my best friends lives across the hall from me and another lives right down the street?

Much like the yellow star-thistle, it’s going to be pretty difficult to get rid of me.

Amber Victoria Singer/KJZZ

The Show also asked local artists to envision a map of the Sonoran Desert for the Saguaro Land project. Each of the 14 artists has a unique take — and you can see the show in person at Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix through Jan. 14, 2024.