Happy Birthday Tucson and hot weather stuff

Have a bite of this huge cake to celebrate 250 years since Tucson was founded at the Presidio. Although, in reality, the Tohono O’odham and their ancestors, the Hohokam, have been living in communities in and around this location for thousands of years. Because the founding is dated to a declaration at the historic Presidio there are several events taking place there. A calender of activities for the 250th celebration is here.

One of my favorite bits of trivia about Tucson is that at the time the U.S. purchased this area from Mexico, in 1853-54, the population of the city was 500. Population today is 500,000+.

Another bit of trivia is that after the U.S. Army withdrew from Ft. Lowell in 1891, a group of 15 farm families moved from Sonora, Mexico and settled the site where Ft. Lowell had been located. The tiny chapel for those farmers still exists on the grounds of the (not historic) San Pedro Church. The Ft. Lowell neighborhood is upscale these days.

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Going outside…maybe or maybe not

The 250th Anniversary is not the only thing happening. While this scorching weather (105+F) has been going on day after day, I’ve done very little outside, except for one quick trip to the Botanic Garden to take another look at the new model train installation. One change: many of the old Southwest miniature buildings have been removed and new wood ones installed. I had hoped the Garden would be cool, but the best it could do was “being slightly cooler” than out in the direct sun.

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Mega Mania…Comic Con Lite?

The Pima County Library kept sending out notices about Mega Mania which was held indoors at Pima Community College. It seemed to be for kids but I went and am so glad I did. How fortunate we all are to have not one, but two ghost busters vehicles in Tucson! I feel calmer already! Plus there were pirates and space creatures and a raft of cosplaying adults for the children’s amusement.

And the library has other good things…

Books and more books free at the Library

Mostly I’ve spent hours and days reading and here are some recommendations, all available free through the Pima County Library. Several, starting with Jane Eyre, are re-reads and are good even the second time around. Some may only be available as ebooks, which is all I read these days.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. One of the original English language romances. Boy and Girl meet and fall in love and then things go completely to pieces. Oooh, and what’s this? Marrying your cousin?

I have a bias toward spy/crime novels set in Europe because I lived there for a while back in the early 1990s. Here are two:

Zoo Station (The Station Series) by David Downing. A World War II spy series, which has the extra attraction of occurring during Hitler’s rise and the characters are close enough to the center of things to offer observations on key players in the Nazi regime. As I read about actions of the characters I often think: “That’s exactly what X is doing in the current administration.”

Stasi Vice, (The East German crime series) by Max Hertzberg. Betrayal, back-stabbing and revenge as far as the eye can read! No truly heroic good guys, but the main character becomes more sympathetic as it goes on. Set in East Germany in the 1980s, he’s the bottom man on the Stasi ladder and gets dumped on and set up as the fall guy by everyone above him. (The Stasi were the combination of FBI and CIA in East Germany, BTW, and modeled themselves after the KGB.)

And I read tons of science fiction, so here is one of the best:

The Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Suppose you could upon retirement choose to either live as long as you normally would or swap your body, at age 75, for a young one which had to leave earth forever and fight wars in space. That’s the elevator pitch for the award winning Old Man’s War series. One reviewer wrote that it is a good “entry level” book for science fiction. My comment: it’s just a great series about people you really like who happen to be living in space and on other planets. Book Seven is just being published.

And the monsoon has finally begun (hope it lasts!!)

Tomorrow, since the temperature is supposed to be under 100F, I’m going for a walk in the shade along the Rillito near Trader Joe’s.

And one last thing: if you like the gigantic cloud-sunset-cake, please feel free to repost or simply copy it. I made it using Adobe’s Firefly A.I. And FYI, A.I. can’t be copyrighted.

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Visit my author’s site to see books I’ve published.

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