Monthly Archives: September 2023

Painting a Flower Garden

White Mountain Retreat Pt 5

We’ve been putting some of our time and effort into art, gardening and decoration the last months. I have that budding B&B business and weekly sweat. A part of that is providing an inviting garden atmosphere in the mild winter months of Tucson. We like art. Here is a tale of that odyssey.

We spent a birthday up at Ted DeGrazia’s gallery in the foothills of Tucson’s Catalina Mountains. It has been a while. I love to wander in his old home. It’s an oddly shaped, textured and painted, creative endeavor, which states some down to Earth values.

Catalinas Through Fence

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Redington’s Hurricane Surprise

2023-08-22

“No water!” we exclaim. They said that a hurricane would come through, but what happened was just not very exciting.  We’re looking at some puddles and lots more sand.

While parking, we’ve seen one car this morning and one person. Then another smiling nude body along the trail down to the lovely granite canyon base. At the bottom of the trail, a couple of tanned friendly guys are sitting in the sun. They all say the same perplexing thing, “No water!?!”

There is nothing to do but take resolve, “So, this will be just a hike today, not a dip.”

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Big Bend National Park Onward

2022-09-30

To Georgia and Back Series: Part 22

We’re at the campgrounds up in the mountains in Big Bend National Park. The hike today was wonderful. We’re surrounded by a variety of tall jagged cliffs and mountains on all sides. People are all around, in tents and small RV’s.

A wailing brat is dominating the otherwise peaceful program. He just doesn’t let up. This kid is a mess. I think about yelling, “Stop beating your kid.” But I’m sure the parents are embarrassed as it is and desperate to get the situation under control. When “he’ll just play himself out in time out” is obviously futile, the father goes into the tent looking tense and firmly on a mission. The child shuts up…Peace returns to the community. I think to thank dad for abusing the little monster. Nah, parents do their best, we all make mistakes and I just hope for the best…

…There is something special about this place…and the sun drops into a saddle.

Golden light and silhouettes replace it. There is calm and magnificence.

After falling asleep watching stars, we awaken to much of the same sense of peace, as the morning sun paints mountains.

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Big Bend National Park

2023-09-29

To Georgia and Back Series: Part 21

When they make a breakfast burrito in Texas, it is built to last. There is a good place to eat in this out of the way spot in an out of the way little town.  Back in the day, it was harsh, raw, unrelenting and so were the moral sensitives of the settlers. Today, it is harsh, raw, unrelenting, but very friendly. The young people that are running the store and its take-out are accommodating and enjoy themselves.

We get our gas and ice and sit on the front porch in the open air and shade. It has a peaceful small town feel, until nearby, a very old tourist crawls out of his car and accidentally blares his horn. A startled jump and things settle down again.

We head out on the winding two lane road, soon discovering that the distant ominous tall mountains, not far away, are where we’re going.

In the desert at the base of the mountain, there is a greeting station. We get our online reservations arranged and an orientation and then make our way up the long road in the mountains to the camping area and its facilities.

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