Tucson Times

Shannon, LouDog, and I stayed in Tucson with my sister Katie from Tuesday, April 2nd, to Saturday a.m., April 6th. I realize I have written very little about that visit.

Well, honestly, I enjoyed myself so much that I just didn’t write about it. Now for those of you reading this blog because you want to know about the “Travel”, well, this is perhaps more about Tucson in general and family in specific. Skip it if you don’t want to hear about my family. As I’m you have realized, I tend to write alot! The funny thing is that I am seeing and feeling so many things that these long epistles contain just a fraction of what I could say. But I will spare you what I can!

We arrived at a Starbucks in Tucson about 2 pm. We sat in the shop for about 3 hours writing, etc. I wrote on the blog about the trip, up to our Tucson arrival. Shannon answered emails, phone calls, managed her Viscera Organization (NPO for horror filmmakers), wheeled and dealed on the next film opportunities, and stayed busy. When we finally left, my niece Marina was wondering where in the heck we were. On the way to their house, I experienced my first flat tire. It was apparently a defect in the innertube, not in my pricey, high quality rhinto tires. No puncture. I replaced the innertube with a heavy duty tube. We rolled into Katie’s yard around 6 pm. There to greet us: My niece Marina, or affectionately known by family as Maha The Baja Mama; her son and my great nephew Jacob; Joe--longtime friend and adopted family; and Katie, my sister. 

Last year, Katie purchased a self-assembled above-ground pool for her grandkids. She is a pushover for the kiddies. She acts all tough, but she is like a toasted marshmallow. All crispy and blunt on the outside, but a real, sweet love on the inside. Her big act makes me laugh. We know she is a generous woman who would die for her loved ones. She was my hippie sister who grew up. She went to the School of Hard Knocks and we know her as a sharp woman who knows her way around.

But, back to the pool. Katie brings home this big pool in a box and told her son, Daniel, and our brother Sean, to get crackin’ and put it together. Well, they did. First, they cleared out a space, put up a short white picket fence to enclose the area, and put that sucker together. They take the pool down in the winter. They hadn’t reassembled it yet, which meant that Shannon, LouDog, and I had a perfect spot for our tent. Louie isn’t a really secure dog, so he needed some separation part of the time from the other dogs during our visit. Not only that, but the fenced area demarcated our area and kept Katie’s dogs from marking their territory on our stuff, if you get my message. Well, this was camping in luxury. The benefit of Katie’s house with kitchen, bathroom, shower, etc; her fantastic cooking every night; an outdoor refrigerator on her ample porch to store our stuff from the cooler; a closed-in flat, clean spot for our tent; and the joy of family every night. 

The next 2 days were spent hiking, wandering some shops, and continuing our daily internet work. For me--uploading photos from the camera and labeling them. Shannon and I took a hike in Sabino Canyon for about 4 hours. This is a natural masterpiece of a park. Imagine desert hills, flowers, cacti, saguaro, and streams from the mountains--clear and cool and fresh. The day was warm and we picked up some sun on our shoulders. LouDog was with us and he enjoyed putting his hot paws in the streams. 

On the way back down the hills, there was a woman in distress---sitting with an IV and a respiratory mask, assisted by family members---while rescue workers were getting prepared to get her off the mountain. Helicopter circled overhead; ambulance and firetruck and several police cars were waiting on the paved road a few miles down from the trail. Those rescue workers had literally run up the hill with a heavy, folding, wheeled gurney. Strong, young bucks. I tried to imagine carrying the gurney with a person strapped to it---trying to keep the patient safe and steady on the rocky trail. My full respect and gratitude are given to those people who have dedicated themselves to our safety when we are out in the middle of the mountains, hills, valleys, oceans, etc. Whether they be EMTs or working for the Coast Guard, or whatever their title may be. Thank you so much.

On Wednesday, my brother Sean came over and told us about his school adventures. I have written a separate blog about him. He felt compelled to tell us not only what his grades were (straight A’s) but what he learned from each class. My head was spinning by the end of the night. I learned or relearned Native American History (yes, I cried), Cell Biology, and Anatomy. We are very proud of him. He has faced many obstacles in his life---mostly alone. My heart breaks for this fact. But we are so proud that he is now going to school. There it is, folks, it is never too late to start over. He is 56. He is going to college for the first time in his life. Yay!!

Before my brother came over---Shannon and I did a bit of shopping for food, supplies, innertubes, etc. While we were out, we received texts and calls that LouDog had escaped the large, chain linked, fenced yard (the “real yard”, beyond our picketed tent spot), and they couldn’t find him. We cut our shopping short and rushed back to the house. Jacob hopped in the SUV with us and showed us the cemented arroyo where the spotted one was last seen. Thank God he went into the arroyo. We found him shortly and Shannon and LouDog had a blessed reunion. She was emotionally exhausted the rest of the day after she thought she had lost her baby. Shannon does not want any children; made that decision at age 4 and has never varied an inch from that decision. But. LouDog. That IS HER BABY. He is totally attached to her and has not left her side this entire trip. But we thought he would be ok in a big, fenced yard while we went out for a few hours. Boy, were we wrong. He went ballistic; he is an escape artist if he wants his mama.

On Thursday, or was it Friday, Katie invited my great nephew Daniel over, with his newly adopted family. We sat on Katie’s porch while the children played and the adults told big lies. That’s what we Irish do. Well, maybe not “lie” per se, but certainly we talked loud, laughed alot, and just had fun. 

We planned on leaving on Friday morning, but Katie had casually mentioned on Wednesday that she had thought we were going to be here on Friday and she kinda, maybe thought of taking Friday off work. So, Thursday evening, we suggested that maybe, kinda, sorta she had a good idea and we would stay if she would be around. So, we stayed an extra day and we got to actually spend some time with her. We wandered the old, artsy downtown area and popped into old thrift shops, colorful retro stores, and bookshops. I picked up some cool stickers for HD. Katie is proud of her town and this was evident. It was a great day. 

Tucson deserves your time.

A bit about the family. 

Marina--my niece. She is a very serious young woman and an excellent, supportive mother to her son, Jacob. She works at a call center and is also attending university to be a nurse. She will be a good one. She is a no-nonsense woman who will take control of her patients and make them feel like they better do what she tells them and that everything will be ok if they do. She is strong and determined. Marina finds joy and comfort in music, stating that there is a song or music style for every mood or emotion or need you have. I am in total agreement. She has music for study, for housework, for shopping, for hanging out. She loves her son and she enjoys watching him grow and develop. She has the smoothest complexion and huge brown eyes and long brown hair. She loves her family and will do anything for them, but they better not take her for granted or she will figuratively kick their butts. (Some of them are just too stubborn or blind to recognize when their butts have been kicked. Typical family!)

Daniel---my nephew. He is personable, friendly, funny, and a real doll. We have been teasing him ever since he was a teenager for the time he spends on his grooming. Maybe we’re just jealous, cuz he is a looker. Sometimes, good looks can be a detriment, though. (Not that I would know this from a personal basis. But I’ve heard it to be true!). Nevertheless, he has settled down now with a lovely lady with 2 adorable daughters. He has 2 wonderful children of his own---Daniel and Reyna. Daniel Sr has a fantastic sense of humor and keeps us laughing whenever he is around. He can come to a party of mine any time! Kids love him; dogs love him. What’s not to love?? He is a sweetie. WIth an incredible wit.

Jacob, my nephew---Marina’s son. He is now 11--how did that happen? He is growing fast and is taller than me and almost as tall as his uncle Daniel. He is athletic and moves with a special grace. Marina and Katie recently had a basketball net put up for Jacob’s use. He is out there every day after school (and homework!) shooting baskets. We see scholarship on that one! Jacob is sweet, respectful, and kind. He is also quite artistic. He showed me several of his freehand drawings. I love to draw, but I tend to copy stuff, not draw out of my own head. But he can. He had several designs of skulls wearing headphones and waves and curls and symbols depicting music and emotion. His passions are music, of course, drawing, basketball, and movies. He is often coming up with great plots for stories. What a creative, gifted young man.

And now. For my wonderful sister Katie. Where to begin. She is the smartest in the family. We think she is brilliant. She was a wild one in her youth, settling down in her 40’s and then she attended university and became an accountant. How she can look at pages of numbers and not go batty is beyond me. Hippie sister as a teen; daredevil in her 20’s; business owner in her 30’s; and all through those years taking crazy chances. She has had her share of falls, but this has made her stronger and wiser than all of us. She does the bookkeeping at the Museum of Art at the University of Arizona at Tucson. She has the pleasure of hanging out with the artsie folks, which suits her to a tee. She gets to do her math while talking politics with the artists. She is a bona fide “news junkie”, which is her deepest passion. Upon retirement, she wants to be a full time activist. I see a civil disobedience sentence in her future for some very worthy cause. She does what we should all do---she keeps aware of everything happening in our country and the world. She has strong opinions and passions about her beliefs and it is an education to talk to her. Everyone at work seeks her out for her advice--whether it be personal or business or political or whatever. They know she is a straight shooter. She won’t sugarcoat the message. But her advice is sound.

I want to grow up and be like her. 

But there is only one Katie.

And she is my sister. 

I love Katie.