It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Realtors and other volunteers wearing a red Santa hat in front of stores ring their bells for the Salvation Army, Christmas lights and icicles adorn the fronts of homes, the vendors of Christmas Trees have replaced their pumpkins with balsams and firs, and the stores are ready for another Christmas shopping weekend.
Less than three weeks until Christmas! Oro Valley celebrates its tree lighting ceremonies at the Oro Valley Market at 12155 North Oracle tonight between 5:30 and 8:00 pm. Santa will arrive to greet residents at this festive occasion.
Luminarias which line the paths at the Tucson Botanical Gardens will be on display this weekend and next weekend for a nominal fee. There will be refreshments and musical entertainment for your body and soul as you wander the pathways of this magnificent garden, home to lush and often rare plants.
For those with a bent towards animals, check the Reid Park Zoo’s animal light sculptures from 6 to 8 pm. Here is an opportunity to see the zoo and it’s animals at night…hmmm, wonder if the animals sleep as we do? This extends to December 23.
San Xavier Del Bac, the Mission Church, south of Tucson, stands as “the white dove in the desert” and can be seen in the midst of the desert from Interstate 19. Originally built to convert Native Americans to the ways of Christianity, the Baroque architecture is among the finest in the US. The interior art work in is stunning.
El Naciemento, the intricate Mexican Nativity Scene, is on display at La Casa Cordova in the Historical Block of the Tucson Art Museum. Displaying this nativity scene has been a tradition for decades.
Decorating gingerbread cookies and making ornaments out of candy canes are on the agenda for children attending Winter Wonderland, a program from 10 am to 2 pm at the Children’s Museum.
Unique stores line downtown Tucson, a place for gastronomical delights, music of all genres, and theaters to present entertainment from Broadway to the ultra modern. And now, stores are decked out in holiday decorations – competing for the best of downtown. Take a gander downtown, ride the trolley, and enjoy the December spirit.

http://www.orovalleyaz.gov/parksandrec/calendar/town-oro-valley-annual-tree-lighting-ceremony
http://www.tucsonbotanical.org/
http://reidparkzoo.org/
http://www.sanxaviermission.org/History.html
http://emol.org/calendar/tucson/2014-12
http://www.downtowntucson.org/venue/childrens-museum-tucson/

http://www.visittucson.org/about/downtown/
http://www.downtowntucson.org/

Toe tapping and the unbridled desire to dance and undulate to the rhythms of  the blues band, Cross Cut Saw is on the menu tonight served up with Domingo DeGrazia, a Spanish guitarist whose fingers fly across the strings. The Tucson Omni National is the scene of Fiesta de Fuego where hot salsa and chips, tequila tasting, a silent auction with gifts to please everyone, a cash bar, and Latin music reverberates with the blues. 

There are those of us who will agitate to dance, and those of us who appreciate the music and will sit and enjoy, and there are those of us who will work the pulsation and enjoy every second of the musical beat to stamp our own interpretation  of the music into the dance floor.  And of course there will be those of us who are so irritated that our partners will not dance that we thank God that women can dance with women without judgment!  Fiesta goers are guaranteed a rollicking time having fun supporting The Hearth Foundation, which provides housing for homeless women with children, building lives “one brick at a time”.

Tucson Omni is the place, $10.00 per person is the cover charge, make reservations at the link below. 

Omni Tucson National Resort, set in northwest Tucson, with the backdrop of the beautifully craggy Catalina Mountain which reflect the colors of the sunset, is home to an award winning golf course which will be the site Sunday of the Golf Tournament.  

Temperatures will be in the 70’s during the morning and rise to the low 90’s in the late afternoon, but a comfortable breeze will sweep across the manicured course throughout the day.  The humidity will be 29% at check in time Sunday at 11 am and the day promises to be glorious  fall Tucson day.  Come be a spectator and cheer for your favorite golfer.

The day culminates with a Golfers Banquet at the Omni restaurant.  Golf prizes will be awarded to the day’s top conqueror of the links.  And the results of the raffle will also be announced.

Raffle tickets are available on line:  Prices are $10 each or three for $20.00  –

Prizes include:  7 days/6 nights in a 2 BR/2BA  suite at Napa Valley, CA; 

Romantic Playa Grande Resort, Cabo San Lucas Mexico, 7 days/6 night;

and a Winter Wonderland Get A Way in Santa Fe New Mexico, 7 Nights, 6 nights, November through March only.

Restrictions do apply and all get a ways must be booked in advance. Winners must provide their own transportation.

Come and watch, enjoy Tucson’s fall season at a beautiful resort.  Support The Hearth, an organization supported by the Tucson Realtor® community and the community at large.  The Hearth is a non profit organization 501(c)3 organization.

 For more information or to book reservations for Fiesta De Fuego, go to this website:

                                    http://www.thehearthfoundation.com/fiesta.html

Resources:

http://www.thehearthfoundation.com

   The tiny beads of water dance on the orange plastic wrap which encloses the morning paper.  Although it is nearly 9 am, the dark grey skies look like Connecticut (from where I migrated) on a day which bodes snow.  A gentle rain, actually what I would call a sprinkle, dampens the earth. 

   This is a day to stay home and do paperwork, catch up on phone calls, and not drive around town for whatever reasons.  These days are like  snow days back in Connecticut when the glistening snow and ice weighs down the tree branches and sparkles like a million diamonds.

    This lovely and welcome greyness is part of the Tucson winter monsoon season.  The surrounding mountain ranges are covered by low lying clouds and I suspect there is snow on top of the Catalinas.   When this storm clears out, we will have snow capped mountains for a short period of time contrasting against the Arizona sunshine.

    The leaves from the Arizona Ash, a deciduous tree in the back yard, will shed even more green turned yellow leaves and fall into the pool, rippling  with tiny raindrops.  The pomegranates, nearly bare, have an abundance of fruit filled with holes, thanks to birds seeking the sweet juices.  And the citrus trees, always green, are slurping up the rain as the branches of the oranges and grapefruits sway somewhat in the wind. 

   We need this slow, gentle rain.   The water has time to seep into the ground and is not violent or rapacious like the heavy rains which pelt the earth and run off without percolating and benefiting the vegetation.

     We Tucsonans love this weather.  It is infrequent and needed.  This is “dancing in the street” weather.  Out of towners, who are accustomed to rain are puzzled by our excitement and gratitude for these beads of moisture.  Certainly the winter monsoons are not like the summer monsoons which often present dazzling lightning shows with the rays of rain. 

     I hear the trickle of the raindrops flowing down the gutters…oh what a beautiful day…the white grey of the sky obscures even the houses in the distance and my mind is playing the refrain, “let it rain, let it rain, let it rain!”.

 Resources:

Weather and Monsoons

http://ag.arizona.edu/maricopa/garden/html/weather/monsoon.htm 

http://geography.asu.edu/aztc/monsoon.html

     Tucson continues to celebrate it’s 233rd birthday with festivities throughout town.   The official birthday of the 48th state is August 20, and throughout the month, various celebrations including a huge birthday cake for the public are taking place.

    Continuously inhabited since 900 BC, Tucson is a wealth of colorful history and has had the mark of various indiigenous peoples which is reflected in its unique culture.  The flags of five countries have flown over the once territorial capital of Arizona including the Spanish, the Mexican, the Confederate, the United States and the Arizona Flags.  

     Look at the truly historical buildings built before the railroad – which incidentially was build in part by the “slave labor” of the Chinese imported expressedly for that purpose.  The historical long houses, built of adobe mud, were long and low and thick, architectually designed to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and also designed so that as the family increased in size, more rooms could be added conveniently.    Good examples are on Meyer and Convent Streets.   People are now returning to building adobe homes because of the energy efficiencies.

      Listen to the music of Tucson and the strong Mexican beat, or the haunting flute played by  R. Carlos Nakii, a Native American.   View the Southwestern Art which encompasses the traditional cowboy -western tradition as well as the mural art of people such as David Tineo, or the work of Ted DeGrazia.

      Look at the colors which abound in Tucson – a reflection of the vibrancy of the city.  The intricate mosaic dome in blues and turquoise and yellows of the Old Courthouse Building, itself a beautiful display of territorial architecture.  

     The history of Tucson is a tapestry of cross culturaliam.  Once a part of Sonora, Mexico, Tucson only became a part of the Gadsden purchase because it was the flattest route to the California gold mines.  And prior to the Mexican and Spanish occupation of Tucson, it was home to the Apaches, the the Yaquis, the Tohono O’odham, the Yumas, and the Pimas.   It was a thriving agricultural community with trade routes to what is now Northern Arizona as well as south into Mexico.

   Although we are officially celebrating 233 years, Tucson’s history is nearly 3,000 years old.  Happy Birthday Tucson!

Resources: 

Tucson History               http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/tucson_history.html

DeGrazia Gallery                http://www.degrazia.org

Chicano Murals                http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/folkarts/murals.html

Historical Walking Tours:
                    http://www.ci.tucson.az.us/planning/resources/publications/turquoisetrail.pdf

Tucson Birthday:             http://www.tucsonsbirthday.org/

<a href=”http://technorati.com/claim/a2vkqfdvhe” rel=”me”>Technorati Profile</a>

Welcome to my new website and blog!

In the tradition of all good books, I want to give appropriate kudos to the primary person who has been supportive, prodding, creative, and visionary! She is graphic artist and web designer, Lyn Bishop of Zama Arts. I am her proud Mother!

Lyn designed my first website in the mid 1990’s which won several awards. Now we are launching the new site which we hope users will find easy to navigate, replete with good information about Tucson, and informative for anyone who stops to browse.

Please take a peak and let us know what you think. My intent is to write about Tucson real estate, Tucson, and life in Tucson here on the blog.

If you are interested in a particular subject, please make that known. I will attempt to cover that subject in a blog post.

So grab your virtual bottle of champagne and pour yourself a glass to toast the new website and the new blog. Help us celebrate!

And to Lyn, a thousand thank yous for your patience, your imagination and inspiration, and your perseverance . Be sure and visit her portfolio or check out her fine art.

Thanks for visiting my new blog, I hope you will stop back often to learn more about Tucson and the surrounding real estate market.