The past year has been an interesting one in our lives as
well as in the life of our country. The recent election seemed to consume more
than usual amount of our attention throughout the spring, summer and fall. The
results were equivalent to a political earthquake. And I am sure that I’m not the only one who
thinks along those lines! What the next four years holds no one knows. The only
thing we can do is wish the President-elect good luck in governing the country.
I worked again for VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) at
Fellowship Square an independent and assisted living facility this past winter
and am preparing to do so again in 2017. Margaret continues to work for ATI
(Assessment Technology Incorporated) and traveled around Arizona and the US
providing training to schools and teachers. In addition what follows is what else
we have been up to during the past year.
Home Improvements
The year started out with us welcoming houseguests who were “worker
bees” for us. Sarah and Walter Wolf from ND “made us an offer we couldn’t
refuse.” They offered to install
flooring for us. They arrived at the end of the third week in January and we spent
about a week laying around 800 square feet of laminate flooring in our living
room, dining room, and hallway. Prior to the Wolfs leaving for home we toured several
wineries in the Elgin area south of Tucson.
Then during the summer while I was away, Margaret decided to
surprise me by having the tub and shower area in our main bathroom tiled since
we consider it my bathroom. Indeed I was surprised!
New Mexico Trip & 25th Anniversary
During the last week of April we visited Santa Fe, NM. Our
first visit in the area was to Los Alamos to see Casey Finstad and Elaine Drees,
friends we had known here in Tucson. Los Alamos is where the Manhattan Project
that developed the first atomic bomb during WWII was located. It was recently
designated as a National Historical Park part of 3 sites across the country (Oak
Ridge, TN, and Hanford, WA) that will feature the structures associated with
the research and production of the atomic bomb. We visited several museums
dedicated to that endeavor including the Bradbury Science Museum and the
temporary National Park Visitor Center. The Boys Ranch which will house the
visitor center is under renovations. To get the whole picture of that era I
highly recommend the book
American Prometheus a biography of
Robert Oppenheimer known as the father of the atomic bomb.
Back in Santa Fe we visited the New Mexico state capitol
known as the “Roundhouse” because of its construction. It is the only round
state capitol building. The building forms the Zia sun symbol and every wall
features artwork from NM artists. We marveled when we saw the Loretto Chapel
with its Miraculous Stairway built in 1873. There is no center support beam in
the stairway construction. We saw 109 East Palace Street the address that was
used on all birth/death certificates and all correspondence for the Los Alamos residents
during the Manhattan Project.
Near there is the Palace of the Governors which was started in 1610 and speaks to New Mexico’s Spanish, Puebloan, Mexican and American roots. Today, it is part of the State History Museum and where Native Americans sell their wares. Each morning a lottery determines the vendors for that day.
We toured the Museum of International Folk Art which is located in a complex of museums in one location including the New Mexico Museum of Art and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. It is an amazing museum with a wide variety of folk art from around the world.
We made a stop at the Shidoni Foundry &Galleries. While there we visited the Tesuque Glassworks and bought glass earrings for Margaret from Charlie Miner, a local artist. Unfortunately we weren’t able to see much of the Georgia O’Keefe Museum since it was in the process of switching exhibits. All in all there were too many museums and galleries for us to visit in the time allotted! That’s why we need to go back for another visit.
One day we went to Bandelier National Monument located near
Los Alamos. It is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016 and has
gorgeous cliff dwellings and petroglyphs of the native inhabitants from an
earlier age.
From there we drove to the Valles Caldera National Preserve. It is an area of approximately 100,000 acres last owned by the Dunigan family until 2000. It is in that area where they film one of my favorite TV shows Longmire, presumably set in Wyoming!
Towards the end of the week we visited the Puye Cliff Dwellings. In order to visit the mesa one has to take a guided tour and our guide was descended from native people who lived there for 700 years. From the mesa we saw amazing views of the area!
One of the highlights of our visit to New Mexico was a
chance to see my friend Brenda Davidson and her husband Rick. I first met
Brenda in Brazil when she was a Rotary Exchange student. We had dinner with
them in Santa Fe. An added bonus was meeting her brother Danny Lehman a
photographer who has worked for the National Geographic. At the end of the week
in Albuquerque we also were able to visit with Linda, Brenda’s twin sister who
has lived and worked in Brazil. To celebrate that connection we dined at TucanoGrill, a Brazilian churrascaria in downtown Albuquerque.
When we returned to Tucson we hosted a backyard party to
celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. As a special gift to our
friends we asked Christine Vivona, who played the harp at our wedding to
perform. She gave a wonderful performance for the 40 guests who attended our
party.
Summer Activities
At the end of May I headed up to ND and spent four months in
the northland, although I did take a couple of side trips during the time I was
there. I arrived before Memorial Day and was able to plant a garden which I
tended through the summer. Unfortunately it ended with mixed results as I was
fighting several elements. The plot hadn’t been tilled in two years and ecological
succession had taken over. Weeds and grass were dominant! The ground was hard and dry when it was
roto-tilled and difficult to plant. It also remained dry through June with only
.75 inches of rain. Although I did irrigate things didn’t turn around until
July during which 6.75 inches of rain fell. Unfortunately one rain included
hail which wreaked considerable damage to some of the produce. But before
leaving I did get the ground prepped for next year. A farmer is always looking
to next year!
In July Margaret’s sister Carol from NY State visited her. She
learned what Arizona summers are like and it wasn’t even the heat of the summer
yet! They took in the 4th of
July fireworks across town and participated in a neighborhood parade. The kids
decorated their bikes and several police officers judged them. At the end of
the parade the Tucson Fire Department cooled everyone down with the water
cannon. Very refreshing! They also
visited the Tucson Miniature Museum; Margaret thought this was more for kids. It
is for kids of all ages! If you live in
or come and visit Tucson this is a “must see” museum. They also took a side
trip to Dragoon to the Amerind Museum and visited the Butterfly Wonderland and
Queen Creek Olive Mill in the Phoenix area. They both love to cook so during
the week they made homemade English muffins, fruit cake (yes we love it), and
fig jam (thanks to the Burhans for the figs).
The first weekend of August Margaret met me in Kansas City
to attend a reunion of a group that I was involved with 40 years ago. The YASEP
or Young Agricultural Specialist Exchange Program was a 4-H U.S.-USSR international
exchange. Our group spent 3 months training in Washington DC and 3 months in
Belarus in the USSR working on five state and collective farms. Ours was the
first of four groups and it was the first time in the last 40 years that we have
been together. Of the original 15 we were able to round up 12 for the reunion. Besides
reminiscing and reconnecting our group outing was to attend a Royals baseball
game. That night they played the Toronto Blue Jays and won!
At the end of August Margaret flew to Boston for the 5th
Annual Girls’ Weekend with her cousins and sister. Unfortunately Carol injured
her back and couldn’t make it in person so they decided to use technology; she
was with them virtually. It was fun to revisit Faneuil Hall and the waterfront.
They had an awesome dinner at the Quincy Quarries...back in the day it was a
quarry, now it is a golf resort! They wandered around Newport, RI, and relaxed
at her cousin Catherine’s home. (Thanks Catherine and George for opening your
home up to us.)
Harvest Bounty
At the end of September I returned to Tucson and ran what I
called the “apple express” back to Tucson. I brought back enough apples and
crabapples from the farm for us to process the equivalent of 10 gallons of
various apple products. And that was after giving some apples away to friends
here in Tucson! Unfortunately I didn’t
have a lot of garden produce to bring back due to factors described earlier.
And so as we wrap up this year we want to wish a very Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year. May the Blessings of the Season Reign down upon you
and your loved ones and may you especially find Peace and Tranquility in the
coming year.
