The Burrow

I can only imagine that, as the economy slowly but steadily rebounds, as the blandest human on the planet is on his way to the nomination, as the weather warms up and the world calms down (okay, we'll ignore Syria for just a moment), the Republican party is scrambling for an issue.  I wish they would look someplace other than my uterus. The Arizona legislature has succumbed to this problem big time.  Yesterday, a legal eagle friend sent an urgent message about HB 2036.  In addition to adding restrictions that would effectively put all but two of the practitioners at abortion clinics in our state out of business (because they don't have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic... and don't get me started on healthcare in a rural state with vast tracts of open land separating civilization from the wilderness), our Senate has amended HB2036 to include verbiage that makes even thinking about becoming pregnant equivalent to doing the actual dee...

Remember the photo that shocked Little Cuter? This was the condition of the little garage I use as my potting shed. It was a sorry state of affairs, to be sure. Bending and lifting and pivoting are each possible for me now. Combing the three in one safe (let alone fluid) motion is still beyond my capabilities. At least, that was the excuse I gave. But our planting season is short here in Tucson, and I've let enough go by without access to my tools. Besides, we are hosting a wedding in a little over five months; I have to be ready. So, on Saturday I shopped and on Sunday I planted. Before I could plant, I had to organize.  It took me two hours to get to the point where the floor was clear enough to step back and take this. This is a before shot of the tool shelf.  The irrigantion tubing poking out of my red plastic containers ended up there because it was the only place I could reach. The garden shelf was inaccessible. There was n...

I knew it was going to be fun when I saw this bucket just beyond the ticket tent. They were free and it was hot so I took one and squirted C & B when I caught up with them at the beer tent. We watched big and small people play big and small chess   as we hugged and smiled and admired our recovering and reducing selves. There's nothing like old friends. We were at the Festival en el Barrio, a benefit for KXCI, our community radio station.  It was a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon, and Tucsonans were out and about. Typically, it was full but not crowded.  Roadies are roadies no matter the venue, but Sergio Mendoza Y La Orkesta are one of a kind.  In between sets there was time to go to the Animal Farm truck for the best hamburger I've ever eaten and then to return to watch hula hoops in action.  There were many excellent shoes,  and even more excellent hats. But mostly there was Tucson. The big blue sky...

What would you say to a woman who made the same mistake not once, not twice, but three times? I love Nikon lenses.  I splurged on an SLR film camera when the kids were young, and the quality and clarity of my photographs improved immeasurably.  Though never a threat to Diane Arbus or Ansel Adams, I was good enough to amuse myself.  Little Cuter put that camera to good use in high school creating such masterpieces as this, which I titled Portrait of the Mother, Brooding I remember the day, the light, the request to look sad and the pride I felt.  My little girl was orchestrating the afternoon.... and she wanted me to be a part of it.  The Nikon was a third partner in that quarter's coursework.  The cemetery at the Presidio, the wildflowers on the open space across the street from Our Big House.... we took that camera and captured the moments. Truly captured them, denizens.  I am right there right now, though my body is typing to you,...

I've spent the morning trying to find the bodies. The ideas are in place.  The programs have been vetted and organized and created and advertised.  Where are the humans? It's not just Pilates at the middle school that's giving me trouble.  My girlfriend has a fundraiser scheduled for Monday and she's having the same issues. Everyone is interested.  No one signs up. It's hard to stay focused when your dream is evolving but the people are no where to be found.  It's hard to maintain enthusiasm when people don't participate.  One begins to doubt the wisdom of the entire endeavor.When that endeavor is part and parcel of who you have become, as it is for my friend, the wounds are much deeper.  I used to laugh when I'd enter a room for a new project only to see the same 12 faces I saw around every other table for every other project I was doing at the same time.  We weren't all stay-at-home-moms, we weren't all looking for a way to fill our f...

It used to be that April 15th was as relevant to high school seniors as it was to their parents.  While the grown-ups were busily putting the final touches on their tax forms before dropping them into the mailbox, the seniors were lined up on the curbstones, waiting for the first glimpse of the mail carrier.  College acceptance letters were received on April 15th.  It was a big day. Now, with the proliferation of rolling and early admissions, the process is more diffuse.  Some students know where they're going before Thanksgiving, adding a touch of Congratulations to their holiday celebrations.  Some find out that they're not going where they wanted to go, that they will be spending their holidays finishing applications to schools that are okay but not  what I wanted.   All that parental encouragement to finish those other applications so they would be ready to slip into the mail if the worst occurred seem oddly prescient all of a sudden. It do...

Can I opt out, too? As I understand it, the Conservative objection to ObamaCare centers around the mandate.  Extending benefits to millions more by requiring the states to expand their definition of need seems to be an easier proposition for the Justices to examine dispassionately.  Telling me what to do has a stickier presence. I get it.  I really do.  the Pilgrims came to our shores because they were peeved - the government was telling them how to live their lives and they wouldn't take it any more. Of course, they got to our shores and began expelling people from their colony when beliefs clashed.  Even in elementary school I was bothered by the hypocrisy of it.  Fleeing your homeland because you couldn't pray the way you chose was a stand-alone good reason.  Sailing across the pond and doing the same thing to others always struck me as the height of hypocrisy.  Didn't they get it?  Were the Pilgrims just looking for a spot of land...