mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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Poetry at the Gardens

March 29, 2014 — 1 Comment

Today at the Tucson Botanical Gardens docents from the U of A Poetry Center offered a reading and workshop in Ekphrastic Poetry. This style of poem is a response to a piece of art, the Ek being from Greek and referring to echo. The group attending was a mixture of students, visual artists, and poets.  By far the most emotional poem of the day was read by a Nam Vet who sat behind me. He chose to read War Photograph by Kate Daniels.  His choked up emotions brought tears to his eyes which brought tears to the eyes of the audience.  The other poems were discussed and analyzed but we were all very touched and had nothing more to say after he read.  At the end of the session participants wrote poems about the photos in the gallery.  All were striking.  I apologize, gentle reader, for cutting off the very beginning of some of these gentle readings.  It was a well produced and very well appreciated poetry experience, and we all have beautiful handouts to finish at home.  There is one more session this spring of Poetry in the Gardens, Native poetry on April 26, 2014.  These programs are included with garden admission.  It is SUCH A DEAL!!

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Grow Down at Tucson Botanical Gardens

March 25, 2014 — 1 Comment

The second annual Grow Down competition was held over the weekend.  Three designers had three days to complete an example of landscape design for our climate and region. Metal was the trending darling material, and chickens won the prize.  I liked all of them very much, but the winner featured shade for the chickens in the coop, but none for the people.  This year they added a feature I think is important to the viewing audience.  Competitors are allowed to ask for donations from suppliers.  The one who hustles up the most donations naturally wins.  This happened last year as well.  Now they make a note of the cost of materials only.  The winner had a materials budget about 30% higher than the other two competitors.  They all showed ingenuity and style.  It is a wonderful way to check out new ideas to incorporate into our own gardens.

Self Contained, Butterfly Magic in Tucson

March 19, 2014 — 4 Comments

Each year the Tucson Botanical Gardens hosts an orchid, butterfly, and now tropical frog display for the public.  It is popular with families and with me. I enjoy the humid tropical mist on my skin and the fun of watching the butterflies and people.  Yesterday there was a lot of activity.  Kids love to use the magnifying glass, no matter why they see in it.  It is  a small lesson in science, botany, biology, and ecology, adapted for all ages.  Who doesn’t like butterflies?

Self Sustenance, Investment in Living

March 16, 2014 — 12 Comments

Our society is experimenting with self sustaining living.  In recent decades focus has changed from local   production of food and goods to a transportation heavy supply chain.  We now pay little to produce our goods in countries with lax labor laws and spend fortunes shipping those goods around the globe.  The skills of preserving food, and even growing food have been lost to a great extent, but there is new interest in reviving local farming and local cuisines.  Popular classes and books are teaching:

These alternative practices offer students ways to save money and become more creative. Learning new skills can reap big benefits for society as well as individuals.  The future will be shaped by the habits we develop now.  Communities focused on improving local, self-sustaining economies are becoming more common.   The trend is strong and, in my opinion, will grow in the future.  Have you made any changes in your own life to create a more self sustenance?

Self Expression, The Metal Art of Jerry Harris

March 13, 2014 — 2 Comments


While hanging out in the steam room at my health club I noticed a man wearing a lot of silver jewelry and thought it must be hot on his skin. After a few steam room conversations I discovered that he is a metal sculptor who had worked in a shop in Tucson that I had later used as a pottery studio in the distant past. I have not worked with clay for a long time, but Jerry has evolved from making simple objects to producing very artful and complicated mixed media art. He worked as a ferrier.  He played polo in Colorado.  He bought the Village Blacksmith shop 30 years ago from another blacksmith.  His art today is centered around birds in action.  His knowledge about anatomy of birds has grown deeper as he has worked in this specialty field.  I was very lucky to have a personal tour of the shop and sculpture on display. He participates in the Pima Arts Council open studio tours.  Since there was no fire during my visit I thought my gentle readers would also enjoy watching the tools and Jerry in action:

Sylvester Graham and His Crackers

February 2, 2014 — 2 Comments

The son of an older Presbyterian minister and his much younger wife, Sylvester Graham became an orphan early in his life.  His mother was committed to an insane asylum and his father died.  He was admitted to Amherst, but left without graduating.  He met the Reverend William Metcalf, founder of the first vegetarian church in Philadelphia, known as The Bible Christians. He was convinced to try vegetarianism and soon pronounced it to be the remedy for alcoholism. Graham was a crusader for the use of whole grains.  He was outraged that beer and distilled spirits were using grains to create alcohol rather than whole grain foods.  He was angry with bakers for using what was known as the “bolting cloth” a process that removed the bran from the flour.  In 1837 he called physicians vampires in lectures given to his followers in Boston.  He denounced the butchers and the bakers of the city, causing a revolt on the part of the aforementioned.

Today we know his name because the graham cracker is part of our American cuisine.  The corn flake and other whole grain cereals followed the lead of Graham crackers.  He became an ordained Presbyterian minister and an ardent opponent of the consumption of both alcohol and flesh.  Since legal prohibition had been repealed in 1933 his views on alcohol were out of step with the times, and certainly nobody wanted to hear him go off on vegetarian diet when it was more unpopular.  His hatred for the “bolting cloth” moved him to call it America’s shroud.  Now that so many suffer from saccharine disease, his extreme beliefs that the removal of bran may seem prophetic.  What is crazy is that the Graham cracker of today contains no whole grain.  Unbleached white flour and sugar are the tasty main ingredient in our key lime pie crust, which would have made Sylvester freak out all over the place.

Tucson Village Farm

January 16, 2014 — 2 Comments

We are fortunate to have a wonderful teaching farm in Tucson, and I am lucky it is very close to my home.  I visited the Tucson Village Farm during the U Pick hours on Tuesday this week.  It is much more than I thought it was.  This campus is organized to teach kids how to grow, prepare, and eat organic produce.  Much is said about slipping healthy ingredients into the kid’s meals, but this is teaching an appreciation for the real thing.  I picked lovely greens and tasted a really good salad made from the garden while I was there.  I was pleased to see that many of the customers picking while I was there were kids and parents.  This is a natural way to teach the love of gardening and good health.

There is no better way to eat than farm to table.  It is encouraging to find this worthy institution making a difference in our city.  The food is tasty, too.

Break with Butterflies

December 27, 2013 — 2 Comments

ornament
butterfly
orchids
orchids
moth
nature study
close examination

In the dark of winter I love to visit the tropics by going to the Butterfly Magic show at the Tucson Botanical Gardens.  We are fortunate to have such a special nature spot with a controlled environment.  Kids and grown ups are all delighted by a short stay in a world of unusual beauty.  It is also fun to be hot and steamy in a greenhouse when the wind is blowing cold outside.

Phun in Phoenix

December 16, 2013 — 3 Comments

There is an arch rivalry between the cities of Phoenix and Tucson. We Tucsonans know that people outside the state have no way to distinguish the two and often confuse them. Politics aside (which would be impossible for Arizonans), there are extreme differences in the tourism and hospitality styles of these two towns.  Tourists are attracted to the golf tournaments in both Maricopa and Pima Counties.  Baseball spring training has all moved up there, and brings in millions. Bowl games and the Phoenix Suns brighten the economic situation for them too.  The typical Tucson tourist is much less interested in shopping and is more likely to be spending time involved in outdoor sports of all kinds. Scottsdale is not afraid to step up and cover that niche offering the shopper from back east a wester phantasy phree phun time. Phree parking in old town allows these people to leave the car and ride around in a horse-drawn wagon for an exorbitant price. Everyone is excited to be way out west.  The city of Scottsdale hires the trusty horse Dusty and Gary J Sprague, the singing cowboy, to serenade the crowd 1-4 on Saturdays. They are a huge hit.

I am inspired to drive to the Valley of the Sun for the phabulous phood scene.  The AZ Slow Food newsletter informed me recently about the existence of a  special highly rare date variety growing only in Scottsdale known as the Black Sphinx.  The market was established in 1951 selling a date that developed there from seed and was distinct from all others. The extremely thin skin makes it a poor candidate (pun intended) for shipping.  The fresh dates require refrigeration and are extremely delicate.  After shopping the Scottsdale Pharmer’s market where I scored amazing produce and preserved items, we visited the date store, which features Arizona products of high gourmet quality.  Bob bought beers brewed in Arizona, one of which was a stout that contained the dates from the Sphinx Pharm.  We both agree the Black Sphinx is the best date we have ever tasted, and before Bob ate it he told me he does not like dates…a convert.  We also tried a very good date cookie and some chocolate covered Medjools that are scrumptious.  We came home loaded with gourmet groceries and exotic citrus.  We have to admit we had phun.

Why We Love to Live in Tucson

November 25, 2013 — 3 Comments

Yesterday, 24 November, was Porch Fest in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood of Tucson. This local party includes musical entertainment scattered throughout the hood, food trucks, mesquite bean grinding, and more.  I went to attend a food swap with a theme of local food.   I went to my garden and harvested herbs, calamondins,  and Jerusalem artichokes to make trade baskets.  Since this was my first time to attend the food swap I was not sure what to expect..but it was better than I might have expected if I had had expectations.  We set out our trade items and used a paper bidding system to indicate interest in swapping.  I scored some spicy dill pickles, jalapeño prickly pear jelly, cranberry curd, rosemary focaccia, and delicious chive dip that was perfect on the focaccia. Best of all I am now an official swapper, with the chance to join in future swaps with my new friends.  Everyone was super helpful and informative.  I learned about new products and tasted some great items.  I packed up my excellent swap and partied with friends for a while before sunset.  Please note if you live somewhere else, it is sunny, and although for us it was a bit chilly in the shade, we are able to go outside and celebrate our neighbors, our talents, and our supreme good fortune almost all year.  We have a diverse culture and a growing interest in sustainable practices such as rainwater harvesting and eating local.  Our local music scene is diverse and sustainable too because our citizens come out to support local artists and musicians in an effort to make this a more artful place to live.

pomegranate swapper

pomegranate swapper

as in, NOT Phoenix

as in, NOT Phoenix

my fellow swappers

my fellow swappers

good times

good times

squash

squash

bread swapper

bread swapper

food hippies

food hippies

good friends

good friends

my trade basket

my trade basket

swap table

swap table

swap explained

swap explained

painting mural

painting mural

out to celebrate

out to celebrate