Dorothy, This Can't Be Kansas

"No, Dorothy. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!"

What a difference in landscaping between the Midwest and the Southwest . . . especially the desert area around Tucson, Arizona. This might as well be the Land of Oz!

This is a landscaped area along the driveway to a home, typically made up of a variety of cactus, desert trees, and rocks . . .

Sometimes, no trees. Just cactus and stones . . .

Or no cactus. Just desert plants and dry grasses . . .

And sometimes, mostly rocks . . .

Even in a very large yard, the gardener probably only has to come once a month . . .

What a spectacular driveway planting. When giving directions to your house, just say, "It's the house with the giant Saguaro cactus with eight arms beside the drive".

At some homes, it looks like they just left part of the native desert growth in place when they built the house . . .

If John Deere or Lawn Boy depended on this area for lawn mower sales, they'd be in big trouble!

"Yes, Dorothy. I'm sure we're not in Kansas anymore."

Breakfast with "The Gang"

Here in the RV Park where we are staying, an Activities Director schedules various activities including some outings. This morning was a "Breakfast Out". About 16 residents gathered for breakfast at a local restaurant nearby.

The food was great, the atmosphere was casual, the company was interesting, and the conversation was thought provoking. It was a fun start to the day, having "Breakfast with the Gang".

Sentinels of the Desert

The Saguaro National Park is split into two areas, one on the east side of Tucson, and one on the west side, together totalling nearly 100,000 acres. The park sets aside a part of the Sonoran Desert with much of it officially designated as Wilderness Area.

The Park is named after the Saguaro cactus, a variety native to this area, sometimes called the "Sentinel of the Desert". Legend of the Native Indians holds that when you die, your soul becomes a Saguaro . . . and that if you stand silently in the desert, the Saguaros begin to look like people, maybe even some of your ancestors. The Saguaro is, indeed, a fascinating plant.

The Native Indians harvest the fruit of the Saguaro and make jelly, jam, and syrup. It is illegal to sell commercially products made from the Saguaro Cactus. These products can, however, be sold on the Indian Reservation, but they are so labor-intensive that the Indians make very little for sale, but instead consume most of it themselves. What little they do sell is extremely expensive.

Although the park is named for the Saguaro, many other species of cacti also grow in the park, including the barrel, cholla, and prickly pear.

 It is the Saguaro, however, that I find most fascinating.

These "desert trees" can take 75 years to develop the first "side arm" and some plants live to be 150-200 years old. Roots of the Saguaro only grow about 3"-6' deep, but spread out well beyond the arms, as far as the plant is tall. Fine hair-like roots can suck up as much as 200 gallons of water during an infrequent desert rain . . . enough water to last the plant for up to a year. Following a rain, the size of a Saguaro trunk is visibly larger after it has absorbed all of that rain water and expanded like an accordion. Its waxy skin minimizes loss of water by evaporation.

Many places in the park are literally "Saguaro Forests".

Although the tallest Saguaro I saw was about 30 feet tall, a Saguaro cactus can grow to 50 feet tall.

The cactus in the above self portrait was 25'-30' tall. The immensity of these "Sentinels of the Desert" is overwhelming. One of the wonders of this marvelous planet Earth . . . God's handiwork.

A Desert Sunset

The skies in the desert are generally pretty clear with lots of sunshine, but a really pretty sunset requires some clouds. So most of the sunsets here are "blah"; just the sun going down.

A couple of days ago, however, we had some clouds which resulted in a pretty sunset . . . a sunset with lots of red color.

A perfect example of the beauty in our world. If you just look, God's beauty is all around us!

   

"A" Mountain

Tucson is located in a fairly flat valley in the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by mountains. However, near downtown is a mountain which has been used by Indians, the Spanish, Missionaries, Mexicans, and subsequently the U.S. Army as a lookout post. The whole valley can be seen from the top of this mountain called Sentinel Peak.
In 1914,  students at the University of Arizona constructed a large "A" out of rocks and mortar near the top of the mountain. The "A" is 70' wide and 160' tall. Although it was originally white-washed annually, students painted it red, white, and blue after September 11 as a patriotic gesture, but it is now an annual tradition for the Freshmen of the University to re-paint the "A" red, white, and blue, which are also the school colors. The "A" has not been returned to it's original white since 9/11, although it has occasionally been painted green for St.Patrick's Day. This mountain and the large letter "A" near the top is visible from downtown Tucson and "Sentinel Peak" has become known as "A" Mountain.

A road winds to the top of "A" Mountain where the view is awesome. You can see the whole valley from there, including downtown Tucson.

Arizona State University more recently created an "A" Mountain of their own in Tempe, Arizona, on Tempe Butte with their "A" painted gold, the school colors of ASU. Both schools now need to guard their "A" during the annual AU vs ASU football game as students of the opposing school try to paint the opponent school's "A" with their own school colors.

So now there are two "A" Mountains, the original in Tucson and a copy in Tempe.

Desert Golf

The golf courses in the Tucson area are certainly much different than those in the mid-west. The courses here are all pretty flat with few water holes, but lots of sand traps. The tees are generally green, as are the fairways, but, as you can see in the picture on the tee below, there is a stretch of brown between the tee and the fairway.

In this picture, my long-time friend, Joe Chandler, is in the foreground watching an RV Park neighbor, Jim Green, tee off.

All of the greens are very plush, but the best things about playing Desert Golf are the mountains in the background, clear skies, no wind and, of course, the nice warm weather. It was 75 degrees the day we played.

New Year's Eve in the Desert

The traditional New Year's Eve Party is dinner, drinks, music, dancing, noise makers, and revelry. Our New Year's Eve was much different here in the desert.

A neighbor in the RV Park here in Tucson invited Carole and I to their place for New Year's Eve. There were only seven or eight of us there, but it was one of the nicest New Year's Eve I can remember. We all sat outside in the cool evening desert air around a roaring campfire.

One of the men had brought along his guitar and we passed the evening singing Christmas carols, hymns, and a few other songs we could remember. It was a very pleasant evening, but being a get together of old retired people, we put out the campfire early and retired to our own units where we watched the ball fall in New York's Times Square on TV . . . before falling asleep at 11 o'clock desert time.

And that was New Year's Eve in the desert.

Snowbird Christmas Decorations

The Snowbirds in Arizona during the holidays decorate their RV's and mobile homes just like back home.

A fifth wheel RV . . .

A mobile home with light icicles across the front . . .

And our next door neighbor here in the park . . 

A Merry Christmas was had by all . . . even the Snowbirds in Arizona!





The Beggar

Our adopted "junk yard dog, Millie, has certainly adjusted to life in "The Bus". She is very well behaved and minds quite well . . . except she occasionally "goes deaf" when we are out somewhere and she is not on her leash. It seems that she just can't hear me when I holler "come". However, she suddenly regains her hearing when I come after her!

She has taken up a post near the dining table when we're eating . . . and,of course, Carole encourages her eventhough she is not allower to be "The Beggar" and be fed anything at the dining table. But, here she is at her post in the dining room near the table.

Once in a while, Carole even slips "The Beggar" a small morsel. I'm having more trouble training Carole than Millie.

Christmas Dinner

We have always been with family on Christmas and enjoyed the traditional big Christmas dinner, usually ham, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, creamed corn, and all of the trimmings including a variety of desserts. However, since Carole and I are in Tucson, Arizona, and our family is spread around the country in Kansas, Indiana, Michigan, Washington, California, and Texas, there were just the two of us in Tucson for "Christmas Dinner" this year.

We certainly didn't want to be without a memorable Christmas Dinner, but it only made sense to keep it small. So we prepared a rolled pork loin roast, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and steamed broccoli. Of course, we served dinner with a glass of white wine.

Notice the bright desert sunshine coming in the dining room window of "The Bus".

We may have "kept it small", but we did enjoy a very nice Christmas Dinner . . . although it would have been so much nicer to have had our family share it with us.

Merry Christmas to all!