I just got back from a trip to Arizona to visit my parents. Madeline and I left last Saturday and returned late last night. It was a nice chance to get away from the everyday, and I really needed to get away.
Things have been hectic for me for a while, and I was feeling a bit stretched over the last few months. Work at the cafe has been very busy and very tiring– it is a job that tires me physically, and after 6 or more hours there I arrive home worn out. Then I was still working at our theatre guild, usually only 3 or 4 hours a week but it was enough extra to really make me feel drained. Of course, I’ve been working on taxes and FAFSAs and that is stressful in its own special way. Add in our day-to-day work of homeschooling and laundry and grocery shopping and (theoretically) cooking meals, on top of all our activities (karate, theatre, shakespeare project, etc) and life is a little too crazy. Six and a half days in Tucson took on the aura of a life-saving escape.
It was lovely, too. My parents seemed good, for the most part. My mom is experiencing a lot of pain from her spinal stenosis, and she’s noticeably more hard-of-hearing, and a bit more forgetful than usual, but is well otherwise. My dad is having issues with potassium, which means his kidneys aren’t up to snuff, and he’s got a nodule in one lung that the doctors are a little unsure about and are keeping an eye on, and he may possibly need to replace a hip– it would be his second one– but otherwise is in good shape for someone about to turn 84. They loved having us visit.
We went to Tubac for some shopping (we always go to the Paloma de Tubac and to The Trocadero de Tubac, both of which are fair-trade shops with lovely items, mostly from Central & South America). Madeline got a cute skirt, I bought a new purse and some earrings, all at the Trocadaro.
We went to the Pima Air and Space Museum, which was very interesting, though I also found it a little depressing. So much of aviation is related to war, and looking at all the bombers and fighters made me feel sad. There was a special exhibit of airplane parts that various artists had painted, and many of them addressed that very thing– that much of this stuff is designed to kill people. I’m not trying to be judgmental about this, I understand the need to defend ourselves or stop horrors, but it still makes me sad. I looked at their B17 bomber and thought of “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell and felt so sad, thinking of the people who died in all the wars.
We also went to the Tucson Museum of Art, for an exhibit of photos by Nickolas Muray, most of them of Frida Kahlo. They were lovers. They were fantastic photos, but I am not a huge Frida fan. Very talented, but her art is so self-focused. She also doesn’t seem like the nicest person– learning about her and her husband and all their lovers was dispiriting. Ah well. After the Museum we had dinner at Athens Restaurant, a lovely Greek restaurant in downtown Tucson. Excellent good and service.
Madeline and I got in a few hikes, one at Saguaro National Park, Tucson Mountain District. That was just lovely, the desert there is beautiful and we had fantastic views. We hiked the Valley View trail and then part of the Wild Dog trail. It was sunny but not too hot, with a decent breeze, and it was very peaceful- we had the Wild Dog trail to ourselves. Another day we hiked from my parents’ house to Ironwood Picnic Area, where my parents met us with a picnic. After that Madeline and I hiked into the hills behind their housing development. It was hot but we enjoyed it.
The rest of the time we relaxed on the porch and enjoyed the warm air. Every morning I joined my dad on his morning walk, which I cherished. At night we slept with the window open and listened to the coyotes.
Now we are back in Wisconsin. We both feel refreshed, and I think the rest of this school year will be a little easier– college applications are done and in, acceptances here (she’s been accepted at both the schools she applied to), taxes and FAFSAs almost done, and my job at the theatre Guild is over, thank goodness! So- a deep breath and onward.
