Phoenix

We are back in Phoenix--the phoenix that rose above the ashes of numerous ancient communities in the Valley of the Sun--first as irrigated farms, then a mecca for snowbirds and now an impossibly sprawling city.  We have been delighted to spend time with our good friend Ruth’s daughters, Gwen and Kari and their husbands and children, who we don’t see much since they moved from Wisconsin.  At that great Super Bowl party, I talked nearly the whole time to Donna who was in the English department at Concordia University with me.  We also had one of the typical Kennedy Middle School retiree two-hour lunches with the Arizona snowbirds.  Great talk with great teacher friends.  That is Lin in blue, whom we haven't seen in years.  All you Wisconsin KMS teachers--wish you were here.

We visited the famous Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix with its wonderfully informative displays on each of the southwest tribes, complete with native art and ancient artifacts.  Again we were struck by the resilience of these courageous, long-suffering peoples, some of whom are long gone, but others who have survived to preserve their cultures.

The Desert Botanical Garden showed us another view of the now-familiar Sonoran Desert, this time with recreations of native people’s homes and lifestyle.  The entrance is enhanced with shimmering glass cacti by glass artist Dale Chihuly.  We have admired his work at the Milwaukee Art Museum.

The Palo Verde are such green, green trees.  It’s like the trunks are painted green, but their color enables them to continue photosynthesis even when leaves are off due the dryness.

White Tank Mountain Park shows how flash flooding over the centuries wears away rock to create big round depressions like tanks in the canyons.

I found out why the teddy bear cholla are called jumping cholla.  I could swear I stayed two feet away from this one to take a picture, but suddenly it embedded its thorns into my leg, through my jeans.  And they are not easy to pull out!

Desert sunset