Blank Slate?

I'm back from Tucson where life was so pleasant and so completely different in every way from KC.  And I returned to a home where the downstairs and part of the upstairs is in the process of being painted.  Everything had to be removed and put away for awhile.   Since I am a bit of a collector, it had been a long time since I had seen bare walls and I have to say that I kind of like the serenity.  The new paint is a light buff which is between yellow and tan.  It is a color that holds the sun and makes the rooms calm and light.  It is also pretty feminine and not a color I would have thought of when Ed and I were one.

My feeling is that this may be the time to rethink possessions.  I don't even want to put curtains back up right now.  I have a collection of textiles that used to occupy a living room wall - they aren't going back up.  I have many paintings that I love, but I don't want so many on the walls now.  The china cabinet is too big and I wish I could find a new home for it.  This may be my best opportunity to edit stuff, make breathing space, and enjoy the peace of less.

Thanks Sally and Dave

It's always hard to leave people you care about.  The weekend was wonderful with good company, good walks, delicious food, and the generosity of old friends.  I am taking some of Tucson and the Oro Valley home with me!

Poppies Everywhere

Yesterday morning we drove a short distance to Catalina State Park.  This is a beautiful place with many hiking trails, mountains quite close, up and down terrain, and a stream at the bottom running fast with snowmelt.  We walked about a mile and a half with the midpoint being fields of yellow poppies with orange centers, all waving on their thin stalks  on a windy day.  This area has had an unusually wet winter so the green leaves and groundcover and the number of wildflowers are all unusual.  There were a lot of people out on this Saturday.  Many had brought their dogs.  The sky was a brilliant blue.  You couldn't ask for a better day.  We forded the stream three times and the cold water felt good - about ankle high - on a day that was getting pretty warm.  When we got back to the parking lot, volunteer naturalists had set up displays of snakes, gila monsters, and a coatlmundi (have to check this spelling) who looked like a small fox.  We could pet the snakes - a nice variety of cool and warm, different size scales, one felt extremely soft like a baby's skin.

In the afternoon, we were on the University of Arizona campus which is beautiful and very different from other schools I have seen.  It is a mixture of original buildings in a soft gray-rose brick with new, futuristic buildings for optic science and other fields often connected with astronomy or space.  We visited the archeology and anthropology museum where Sally is a volunteer in the gift shop.  There were two special exhibits.  The first was works by Corona, a Mexican artist in the '30s and '40s who painted the Tucson area but preferred the dress of the previous century. All his subjects wore what looked like 18th century dress. He worked in oils, decorating trays and furniture as well as painting daily life on canvas.  Naive and charming, his pictures of animals were wonderful.  All the horses pranced with curving proud necks.  His flowers were especially fine and reminded me of those I had seen at Catalina that morning.  We also saw a showcasing of eleven of the local Indian tribes.  Their creation stories were varied and interesting but all were firmly based in the visible world they knew just as their tools, pottery, and baskets made brilliant use of the scant materials in their world.

Such an interesting day.

Spring in Tucson

I'm here at last,  after a marathon day of short flights alternating with long waits in airports.  Dave and Sally met me just past security - a welcome sight.  They look wonderful and they are just like comfy shoes - we pick up right where we left off.  The last time Dad and I were here, they had just moved out to Tucson - I think it was not long after we left Cincinnati.

On the way back from the airport we stopped at a Mexican place for a quick supper.  Then on to the Ora Valley and home.  Sally has collections of rocks and minerals, all well lit and labeled.  She had some of the Bisbee turquoise which turns out to be very light.  S and D have had fun decorating the house with southwestern things.  Remember when I painted saguaro cactus on the stair risers after my first trip out here?  Sally has done horseshoes around a wall niche - it is wonderful.  We took a short walk around the neighborshood with a flashlight just in case the rattlers were out.  It was still too cool, but soon they will be lounging around at night soaking up warmth from the sidewalks.

We have a full day planned.  This morning we are headed out to see the wildflowers on some trails they know.  Then a bit further west to see petroglyphs.  In the afternoon, we go to the Arizona campus to see some of the archeological and geological museums.  Sally volunteers in one of the gift shops as well as at the Desert Sonoran Museum.  This is a wonderful life for them out here, with busy, interesting, and useful lives in a place they love.

65th Birthday!

I think this was the best birthday I have ever had.  Mary, Sally, and Dann took me out to Grand St. for brunch and that was one of my favorite places.  But what really makes this day special is where the kids are now and how much they care for each other and for all those who are dear to them.  I am so proud of our children - they are such decent, kind, hard-working, heads-screwed on right, loving people.  That's a gift that lasts me all my life.  Thanks, sweet Pooh, for all you did to make them that way!

Coffee and Disney

Boy, do I miss the good Italian coffee!  I'm ordering a small macchiato or cappuccino and they get close sometimes.

One of the most interesting cultural differences I found is Italian Disney channel.  There is a LOT of sex on Disney over there!  Here we would call it soft porn - lots of rubbing against each other with sound effects but clothes on.  So what's going on?  The children I saw were very well protected and obviously cherished.  But, at the same time, there is this exposure on the media.  How to compare it to the U.S.?  Here kids are certainly not nearly as well protected in everyday life and sex is everywhere - just not on Disney!  I don't know how to interpret it - do you?

Lessons

In many ways, this trip was a test to see how well I could function traveling alone.  I passed.  But a lot of the joy of travel is sharing it with someone, and I don't think I will take off on my own again if I have a choice.

Next time, I will do a lot more preparation before I go, since a lot of what I saw is running together or I didn't have the background to really appreciate the significance of what I was seeing.    Really good, cushioned athletic shoes next time - I don't care how they look.  Losing fifty pounds would help too!  Small backpack for sure.

It was an amazing experience and has confirmed my belief that I can travel the world.  The cultural differences are interesting - no value judgment, just interesting.  The U.S. really is much more open and friendly.  Naive?  Maybe.  But lovely because this is my culture.  Even the dour customs agent was a welcome sight.  I could have kissed the ground if I had been sure I could have gotten up again!

Ciao.