Getting Pruned
January 1, 2010
Getting pruned…..
Our gardens in the winter can be a reflection of how we perceive this season—either dormant or alive. In nature there seems to always be a purpose which leads to the next moment. When we attempt to understand the mysterious workings of divine design we become receptive to new ideas and vision.
Capricorn
January 1, 2010
It’s time again to celebrate the season of top dog Capricorn, sign of more kings than any other (December 21 – January 19). It is said that many are called and few are chosen and no sign is more prominent among the chosen few than Capricorn. Capricorn is ruled by the mountain goat and climb he must, no matter how steep or treacherous the mountain. In fact, the difficulty of the journey is a spur to Capricorn’s assured success.
January
January 1, 2010
“It all started with arugula…” my husband, Stewart likes to say when asked how he got into farming. His mother, Regina had returned from Europe in the early 90’s yearning for the hot, flavorful green she had enjoyed while on her trip. She found a small seed company and ordered a few packets and planted arugula in and amongst her flowerbeds. The result was a bumper crop of greens that she washed and bagged and gave to friends. When she still had some left over, she asked her friend Ellen March if she could sell her arugula outside the Tubac Market. Regina ordered more “European” greens and recruited her son to build some raised beds in the backyard. I think Stewart was looking for an excuse to get back to the farm. He had followed me to Tucson while I went to the University of Arizona and had been working with a film studio in town. We were a young couple, just starting out and making big decisions, planning our future. Originally Stewart wanted to get into the film or sound industry. His father, grandfathers and great grandfathers had been monumental figures in the Hollywood film business so this seemed like a logical choice for Stewart. Every weekend, however, after my last class finished on Friday, I would cycle back to our apartment in the Tucson barrio where Stewart would fire up our V. W. van (often a very time consuming task and one calling for the crossing of fingers…) and we would head back down to the farm. This was where Stewart wanted to be and, with the lure of the country and horses and a very fun family to visit, it was also where I wanted to be.
Arivaca Quilters Alone and in Community
January 1, 2010
On the meeting room wall of the Arivaca Branch Library hangs the Arivaca Quilt, done by many women in town in the late 1990s. A cooperative effort by the Arivaca Homemakers Club with Ellen Dursema of Parks and Rec and Tucson Pima Arts Council, it was a project that took several years. Each of the blocks was done by one person and of course originality reigned and each one is a different size! Putting them together seemed to be an overwhelming task and it sat in storage for a few years. Master quilter Comfort Cover found a way to piece together the varying sizes, using a green background. Katie Lusby and Marty Moss quilted a design into the purple material bordering the green. For a time the quilt stayed at the Library while people quilted around each block. The names of the quilt block makers and the quilters is on a special quilt block. Once it was finished, the quilt made the rounds of public spaces–hanging for a time in the Pima County Board of Supervisors offices. Now it has come home to stay in air conditioned comfort in the meeting room of the Library, alongside quilt blocks representing children’s stories, done by Wendy Dresang, Lory MacFarland, Esther Horton, Lorraine Armour and Katie Lusby.