Tucson, Arizona

 February 15, 2021

I may be in the only place without snow in the US right now.

Liz sent me this photo of my house, apparently the renter is tired of shoveling and now parking his truck on the apron of the driveway.  Hopefully the snowplow doesn't bury him in.

Jim was under the weather today, so I went for a hike with my neighbor Wendy.  The trails start right in our campground.

Desert views under a blue sky.

Mountains within view, but we stayed on flat ground today.

Cholla looks fairy like but the spiky needles are not nice.

"Bushes with a lot of spines are called cholla (Choy-yah).  Some people call them jumping cholla because they seem to jump onto your clothes.  the stems break off so easily so that they can grow somewhere else."  Wendy's dog Archie, managed to step on two balls of needles. Fortunately she carries a comb to get them off the dog and here.

A close-up of a cholla tree.

The terrain changes often; here is a more open area.

These Saguaro are all just columns.

While this one has arms a plenty.

This Saguaro cactus looked like a bunny with ears and a nose to me. 

Wendy saw it more as a kangaroo joey in its mom's pouch.

The eye catching yellow blooms on this barrel cactus really popped in the dusty desert.

When we were done with our loop we had hiked 9 miles in the Tucson Mountain Park.

I had heard Arizona sunsets were the best.  I checked at 6:00 and it was cloudy and gray with a little pink. At 6:35 pm it looked like the sky was on fire.

Another good day.

February 16, 2021

A second key for the truck still eludes us.  On Monday I called a Ram dealer to see if they had a key, parts department said yes, okay give me service, I book an appointment for Tuesday.  Today we drove to Tucson, entered the service department and found out that they did not have a Fob for the truck.  It is now on backorder and may or may not get here by the time we head out of here.

While in Tucson Jim got a haircut and we got some groceries.

It was breezy and partly cloudy, a great time to hike in the desert.

The clouds only enhance the skies.

Of course we went up the hill

Ocotillo starting to bloom in the foreground

A few Ocotillo blooms starting

This is the inside of a Saguaro Cactus, its woody.

Some just strike me as funny.

February 17, 2021

It's Ash Wednesday and the Catholic Churches are not open for services indoors so Jim and I drove to Mission San Xavier Del Bac to get ashes, outside the mission.

"The mission was founded in 1692 by Padre Eusebio Kino in the center of a centuries-old settlement of the Sobaipuri O'odham, a branch of the Akimel or River O'odham located along the banks of the Santa Cruz River. The mission was named for Francis Xavier, a Christian missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order) in Europe. The original church was built to the north of the present Franciscan church. This northern church or churches served the mission until it was razed during an Apache raid in 1770.  The mission that survives today was built between 1783 and 1797, which makes it the oldest European structure in Arizona. Labor was provided by the O'odham.   An outstanding example of Spanish Colonial architecture."

The lines for ashes started early.  The lines were peaceful and separated by the recommended 6 feet and everyone wore a mask.

Here we are waiting our turn.  The ashes were sprinkled over our foreheads.

Here is the inside of the mission, detailed artwork is everywhere.

The altar was ornate to say the least.

The fresco on the ceiling was still colorful.

Here is the baptismal font

The crucifix is very realistic.

The red, yellow and blue is bright and colorful.

Angels and ornate carvings abound.

The monkey head was unusual.

The contrast of the white sides and the orange/red center are striking.

The clam shell is representative of baptism (my brother Bernie told me this).

If you are in the area you should see this mission in person.

Jim and I ventured out for a hike in Tucson Mountain Park.

These 2 saguaro cactus I named cootchey-coo

Jim was more interested in the military aircraft overhead, A-10 warthogs.

I found the mountains to be the best part.

It was another good day.