Stan writes: Saturday we left the house in Tucson and left my sister, Sosie, and husband, Bill, in charge. They've been enjoying a mini-vacation there, much more the tourists than any of the three boys. Yesterday Sosie filed this report on her last day in Tucson:
Solveig writes:Wishing that this was our last week, not our last day, we decided to concentrate the day on the real charm of the place: This is not our place; there are no tasks staring us in the face. Everything works, and if it didn't, it's not our problem. How much closer can a person get to a perfect life?
So we eased into a day of long walks, reading, and staring off into space. Then we set about wandering off for today's restaurant review. Because we had to stop at Kathy's PO for last minute souvenir shopping, we missed lunch at Claire's by five minutes.
We tooled on to Mi Tierra, "Your Exclusive Choice for Authentic Mexican Food." http://www.mitierraonline.com/ The place looked good, but was just closing. We picked up a menu for the kitchen drawer and added it to the list of things to do next time, like when we go to the Sonora Desert Museum, something we are saving for next time, because we really want there to be a Next Time.
We returned to Ike's Farmer's Market to pick up some more of the fine wine bags gathered up yesterday. Yes, these bags make fine host gifts for the 3 Bro's, but what about other people? The people who would grab our blue tarp should a high gale blow it off our roof? Don't they deserve a wine bag too?
From Ike's, we followed the scent of garlic to Cibaria, Cucina Italiana, and verified that it would be a fine place to eat if it hadn't just closed for lunch. We picked up a menu for the kitchen drawer.
Just a few feet away, the Harvest Moon Chinese Cuisine shouted "THIS is your lunch spot," and how true. The asparagus and shrimp special was special! Plus, no MSG! Thumbs up on service, price, taste. We picked up a menu for the kitchen drawer and drove home.
We took another long walk around the neighborhood with JD to say goodbye to all the coyote, bear, dove, quail, sun, kokopelli, cactus, and road runner metal cut-outs that have greeted us for a week. Then home for some Edmeades Zinfandel, the sunset, and a toast to Stan and Kathy, for whom we should have chosen this fine bottle, not the sorry bland Cabernet. Ahhhh, but next visit!
Oops. Wait. Two little chores. Sweep the gravel off the flagstones kicked there by Kathy's quail, fussing thru the bread crumbs served by Bill today.
Cover up and mark the small skull outside the gate in the chapparal so neighbor Dick can find and identify it tomorrow. I'm certain it is a road runner, but when Dick (right) spies the aluminum foil flags on the sagebrush and uncovers the remains below, we'll know for sure.
Would that it was another week, not our last night,
Solveig
