22 fascinating facts about Tucson (part 1)

As you may have noticed, apart from one or two casual mentions of our move to Tucson, Arizona, I have been remiss in writing about life here in the Sonoran desert. (In fact, I am sad to say that I have been neglectful of my blog altogether during the past year (or more).. but with navigating life in a new city, searching for and finding new jobs, starting school, Covid and all its implications, and a bunch of other random excuses, I just have not had the mental space or desire to write…)

But that is all about to change. I am officially back to writing (at least for today) and while I have been generally not-so-positive about our life here in Tucson, I have decided that it’s time to focus on the things that I do love about this quirky little desert town.

It has taken me quite a while, but I have finally realized that even though it was not love at first Saguaro, there’s quite a bit more that I genuinely appreciate about this place than I thought. And since I believe in giving credit where credit is due, here are 22 fascinating facts I learned about Tucson – 1 to make up for each month I have been here criticizing this lovely little town.

To make sure I don’t overwhelm you with all this fabulousness, however – I wouldn’t want to cause a spontaneous mass exodus to Tucson after publishing this post – I have divided this list of awesome facts into 5 separate posts, which will all be posted in the next few weeks.

I hope they make you appreciate Tucson as I have come to appreciate it as well.

1 There is a shocking lack of cowboy hats in Tucson… Or cowboy boots… Or cowboys.

If hubby and I were expecting to see the John Waynes, Clint Eastwoods and Billy the Kids of the world strutting along wooden boardwalks and riding hard and fast through the open plains, we were in for disappointment. Even though southern Arizona figures prominently in the history of the Wild West, and reminders of the once untamed frontier can still be found all around the city, modern-day Tucson and its dwellers are completely… well, modern. And apparently cowboyhatless.

2 Roadrunners are surprisingly small and brown… and apparently not that fast.

Anyone who was raised on Looney Tunes cartoons might be surprised to find out that roadrunners aren’t really long-necked or purple-crested – and they certainly don’t say MEEP MEEP! Moreover, even though scientists have clocked the speedy birds running at 15 to 20 miles per hour, they have also discovered that coyotes can run twice as fast than even the fastest roadrunner. (I know… we were disillusioned as well.)

3 Seeing wildlife is awesome.

We’ve all had it happen. You’re out hiking when – suddenly! – you look up from the trail just in time to see an animal dart out of sight – a swoop of wings, a flash of a bushy tail, a rustle of brush. In Atlanta, this usually meant you had startled a squirrel during its nut-hiding-frenzy, a cockroach doing whatever cockroaches do, or – if you were lucky – a deer lazily grazing its way through the forest. As we’ve learned, however, in Tucson, it can mean almost anything. So far we’ve seen coyotes roaming the Loop looking for water, ground squirrels frantically darting back into their holes, a lost roadrunner in our backyard, a coatimundi climbing the cliff of Sabino Canyon, and countless birds, snakes and lizards basking in the sun… all without having to leave the city, or even take out the car.

Starting to become intrigued by Tucson? You should! (And while you’re at it, you should also stay tuned for part 2 of Tucson fun facts – coming soon to a blog near you)

Photovision photography challenge – two of a kind

I find this one hard to explain – which is weird, because for once, this photograph is actually utterly self-explanatory.

I titled it Personality.

Two of a kind, meaning very similar individuals or things, with one or more common characteristics… I can’t think of any object that fits this description better than shoes. They always come in pairs (two of a kind!) and each pair of shoes has the same core characteristics (two of a kind!). The right pair of shoes can mark you as belonging to a group and align you with a specific set of people. And yet…

Photovision photography Challenge – Light

If you have read one of my previous posts, you know that our move to Tucson had its ups and downs. What I may have failed to mention, is that in hindsight, I realize that those downs were mainly self inflicted. Happiness, after all, is a mindset. And my mind was not set on embracing our new life in Tucson. Rather, it was stuck on what was, what could have been, what should have been. But we all know that 2020 did not play by the rules and shoulda woulda coulda’s don’t really get us anywhere anyways.

On moving

If you have ever had to move, whether it was simply across the street, or all the way across the globe, you know: Moving can be a daunting enterprise. Under any circumstance.

Photovision photography challenge – emotion

For me, photography, as well as writing, has always been a reflection of my own personal world. When I joined this photography challenge, however, I was unaware that I would prove to be incapable of staging a photo, or even interpreting a challenge without it being a reflection of my own current inner reality… I guess you might say I’m a bit egocentric.

Photovision photography challenge – direction

If you’ve read the introduction to this portion of my blog, then you know that by the time we received our first Photovision challenge, I was absolutely shitting myself.

The theme would be direction, which as it happens, turned out to be a stroke of luck, as I was fortunate enough to come across this little guy the very next day.

Photo Vision photography challenge – home

When the theme of our latest photography challenge – home – was announced, I tried to conjure up images of what that meant to me. I thought of my bedroom in my parent’s old home, where I spent hours gabbing with friends over the phone, reading, listening to music and generally perfecting the art of chilling out, day dreaming and doing nothing in particular. I thought of the patio of our shared condo – the first and so far last hubby and I have ever bought together – where we used to spend hours eating, talking and laughing, but mostly simply looking out over the beautiful city below us. I thought of our adventures in Atlanta and how they have shaped and changed me in more ways than I have room to describe in this post.

Photovision photography challenge – sweet

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

– William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Photovision photography challenge – between art and quarantine

With social lives at an all time low across the globe in 2020, many of us have sought refuge in the various social networks the world wide web has to offer. As usual, I am no exception. From binge watching funny cat videos, endearing pregnancy announcements and an endless string of stupid yet hilarious memes, to living vicariously through other’s (past) adventures and travels; the ability to interact with others on social media may well have been what has kept me sane during this pandemic. Don’t get me wrong; I love hubby with every fiber of my being, but all this time cooped up together without hardly any real life social interaction with others has also meant that those same loving fibers sometimes just want to stick him behind the wallpaper… (If this pandemic has taught me anything, it is that I was not made for a life in solitude… and that I’m a tad dramatic.) Granted, not all interaction on social media is worth it, and with trolls abound it has the possibility to leave you feeling even more blue than before, but I have found a sense of community and belonging online that I was lacking in our current covid-ruled reality.

Photovision photography challenge – shapes

From my designated writing seat on the sofa, I see an abundance of things of all shapes and sizes – my tv: rectangle, my pillows: square, the ceramic plate hubby’s mom made for us: circle, the shapes on the bellies of my little owl candle holders: diamond, my sewing machine: whatever squiggly shape that may be, …

Shapes are all around us.