T-town, Tucson, The Old Pueblo

I gave a rather restrained 7 pages of recommendations recently to a friend who was really looking for 2 or 3 items to recommend to out of town wedding guests.  Oops.  There are also so many new things that I hadn't yet tried here in Tucson that I thought I'd squeeze a couple of those into my now multi week trip.  The wedding was preceded by a memorial service, you see.  And we said good bye to my first mother in law, an amazing little package of grace, good will and giftedness who always had kind words for everyone and an astonishing repertoire of dance, song, book, movie and game night shenanigans up her sleeve.  Everything from calligraphy elegance on every note to all the best episodes of Seinfeld and Fawlty Towers.  She encouraged my four children at every turn, and "Cassdini the Magnificent" did his first magic show at her house.  All the kids were roped in to put on a play for us ala "our gang" one year.  There was truly never a dull moment with her around and it was a delight to have known her.

There used to be a separate tree trimming party after Thanksgiving for the massive 10 footer they would purchase every year.  Coupled with the overnight extravaganza on Christmas Eve, this holiday ranked as her favorite.  I would start shopping for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and children in January to stockpile up for the momentous occasion on our single wage earning budget.  The kids loved helping her feed the animals.  From deer to javalinas to roadrunners to hummingbirds, they all ended up outside the windows.  The occasional scorpion would sometimes end up inside the windows and poor oldest son got bit three times by one scorpion while pulling on his pants after an overnight once.

It was fitting that hummingbirds were all over the place at her memorial.  And the next time I visited the house, there were roadrunners outside, although we hadn't seen any up there for quite some time.  My daughter came with my grandson to keep grandpa company.  They are still there as I write this.  And she loves Thai food, so we have stumbled across a new favorite.  The Dao Tai Pan on Wilmot has outstanding Pho, Pad Thai and Vietnamese Crepes.  Something for everyone, and the pork dumplings were very good as well as the Thai Iced Tea and the Thai Iced Coffee.  Keep trying new things.

But like the Girl Scouts always sang, make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.  I've enjoyed one on ones with mostly old friends in recent weeks but had a wedding with mostly new ones as well.  Lunches and dinners with friends and family in small groups and one on one has been a joy.  A reminder of what is truly important in life, the people that you have in it.  It's a quick and fast ride, so enjoy it, and find ways to squeeze joy out of simple things.  The bats flying out from under the bridge, the fresh figs hanging over the fence in the alley, the lovely smell of creosote before the monsoon rain, the most incredible, thin tortillas from your favorite restaurant, and a magical sunset with fairy lights at an old friends ranch like property tucked into the middle of the city.

I feel blessed.