Spring

Sun tea season is here. Back in January at the Cambria Farmer's Market, I bought some Yunnan Dian Hong tea from the Swan Sisters. "Spicy with a touch of citrus," it's outstanding as iced tea. An important discovery, as the past few days we've seen temperatures in the 80s. The locals are bracing themselves for summer. I heard it explained that it's difficult to appreciate the moderate weather of early spring. A sunny day, even one in the mid-70's with a mild breeze, is a reminder that June is on the way. And June is unbearable because there is still September to endure. With the monsoons, July and August aren't so bad; at least there are interesting weather patterns to watch.

Warmer weather=flowers in bloom=bees=Aslin got stung. The bees here are huge, the wasps even bigger. Her finger swelled and she comforted herself with a reminder that it wasn't as bad as the time she got stung on the eye lid. Swimming went a long way towards soothing the pain and itching.


Have Cracker Jacks prizes always been such a let down? Last week, we split a bag and watched the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Chicago White Sox 9-3 at Tucson Electric Park, the spring training field they share. There was no arguing over the paper pencil-top decoration we found in the popcorn crumbs. No disputes on the field either. Where the game was slow, the vendors picked up the slack. "lem.ade" "Fresh squeezed, you know you want some" "World's finest, factory fresh" Song birds of the stadium. In an hour, we could identify them by their calls- mullet man, missing tooth guy, SuperVendor with the ability to balance cotton candy and blue raspberry lemonade.

The Colorado farming season is not yet underway. And it seems as though Roswell, Santa Fe, Carlsbad Caverns and the rest of New Mexico isn't going anywhere any time soon. So we've been putting our energies into leisurely tourist outings, wondering when we'll wear out our welcome here in Tucson. Undertaking a little construction project on the basement stairs was our way of being helpful, of saying "thanks" to the family who's shared so much with us. 160 pounds of mortor later, it could be interpreted as something else entirely. Turns out working with stucco is a skill we have yet to acquire. Maybe a lime wash in a nice spring color. Periwinkle or coral...