vv 10-23

We live in an amazing city and we forget what
it’s like to be on the other side of a tourist
economy. So, when we get the chance to visit
elsewhere, it’s hard not to notice what it’s like to be the tourist for a
change.
When I go to gift shops in other
lands, the first order of business
is to buy something cute and
adorable for my granddaughter
that she will play with for about
10 minutes. So, what if it costs
$50. That’s not the point!
The next part is when I get
creative and find another gift
that will make noise. I found
junior bagpipes in Scotland.
Naturally I got the matching jacket to go with it. Yes, I’m sure my
daughter will hate me.
In Ireland I found a small Guernsey cow and a pretty t-shirt featuring
sheep to go with everything else. In England there was a Paddington
bear. When at the beach earlier in the summer it was a mermaid and
a music box.
40
I’m A Tourist
By: Adrea Nairne-Barrera / Senior Moments
The Real Garden of Eden
By: Kathy Manney / Around Our World
Tucson lies in a basin between two Saguaro
National Park sections with the Santa
Catalina Mountains rising at
the city’s northern edge. Comprised of two separate
districts, on the east and west sides of Tucson, the
park’s low-elevation desert conditions are exactly
right for the more than 1.5 million saguaros
growing here.
Slow growing Saguaros are Arizona’s signature
plant. They take as much as 100-years to grow
their first arm and mature, Plants can reach 40-
feet and weight 8-ton, although recently they have
been vulnerable to excessive temperatures.
Abundant stands of saguaro grow here as well as
prickly pear cactuses with pads the size of dinner
plates; barrel cactus larger than fire hydrants and spindly ocotillo with
long, thin gray branches reaching skyward. The only palm tree species
natives to the Sonoran Desert are fan palms, whose life expectancy can
be 500-years.
Tucson is sixty miles north of the Mexican border and the park abuts
the Tohano O’odham Reservation straddling Mexico. At 2.8 million
acres (about the size of Connecticut) the reservation is our country’s
second largest, after the Navajo Reservation that encompasses parts of
October 2023
As for us, our grown-up gifts are whiskey fudge, books of all the
places we go and tiny highland cows and sheep for the bookshelf. I
have absolutely no place for anything else.
Oh yes, also a huge bill from the cruise ship that I will treasure
always.
People are nice when you visit
other countries. You have big eyes
and you’re looking to soak up the
surroundings, so any memento
offered is greatly appreciated.
As soon as you mention a
grandchild, the suggestions start
flowing. Each one is noisier
than the last and it empowers
grandparents.
And say you hail from Las
Vegas and they smile knowingly. Not sure why.
The tours are kind of fun too. Guides are proud of their country but
you can’t see anything from a bus. They need to put bubble tops on
them so you don’t take a picture of the head in the seat in front of you.
And that’s why I buy the books and why my coffee table will collapse
soon.
Adrea likes to opine and find the lighter side of life as a senior.
Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
This region was originally a tropical rainforest with swamps and
jungle. Then came the volcano period. During this period, millions of
years ago, the area was a cauldron of lava-spewing
volcano followed by a draught.
The ancestors from so many years ago were the
Tohono O’odham people. Today they are identified
as the Hohokam.
Climate change triggered the Hohokam to
change crops they were planting and make
substantial improvements to their irrigation
systems. Consequently, the Hohokam became
accomplished harsh climate agriculturalists. The
Hohokam people revered the sun and were master
astronomers as well.
Hohokam petroglyphs can be found in the park.
You may also encounter spirals which are one
of the more common petroglyph symbols in the Sonoran Desert.
For several years, I lived in Tucson and Saguaro National Park. For
me and many others, its tranquility and raw beauty is the real Garden
of Eden.
Kathy draws her articles from a diverse personal background. She
hopes readers enjoy her column as much as she enjoys the writing and
sharing.