...another Sunday, another photo, another word...(from petroglyphs to hoplophobes)

...Sunday morning coffee with the paper...and there on the back page "Gallery All-stars" feature in the Vamos section:

...the editors did a spread of photos of pre-Columbian petroglyphs found in various parts of Arizona, and they chose a photo of mine! (another small 'published'-thrill...)
These are Hohokam petroglyphs on Signal Hill in Saguaro National Park, just west of Tucson...dating from anytime between 350 and 1450 A.D., rock-art being hard to date accurately...

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On a completely different note, also from today's paper, check out this column: Weapon-toting protesters hurt Arizona's image, reacting to this blog posting (Do Guns at Political Events Disturb You? Then Consider Skipping Arizona for Now) by travel-guru Arthur Frommer. I think it even made the national news...

Can't wait to come, right? How relaxing it would be, eh?, to see an AK-47 strapped on a fellow diner's back as you have margaritas and nachos...
And so, in reading the 'readers' comments' reacting to the column,
(you can imagine the range of opinions),
I learned this word:
hoplophobe, meaning a person with an inordinate fear of firearms and/or other weapons.
(Inordinate?)

New to me.
And that is today's mot du jour/palabra del dìa.

I don't think I'm a hoplophobe...I mean, running errands in Central America regularly involved saying Buenos Días to machine-gun-toting muchachos: at the bank, at the grocery-store, not to mention border-crossings...But, still...

(My wife and I still joke with each other, half-seriously, that living in Nicaragua was training-for-everything.)

And tomorrow is Monday, start of another week of educating the youth in this saguaro-studded state of second-amendment-worshippers, salsa, and Sonoran hot-dogs. (Incidentally, Bon Appétit magazine recently recommended a Tucson hole-in-the-wall as one of the ten best hot-dog experiences in America.)

But hey, we have prehistoric petroglyphs and abundant sunshine...
somehow it's all a good mix?

So, for your packing-for-AZ list, remember your sunscreen and don't forget the Kevlar...

First javelina sighting...and so far, no more muffin tops...

Week número uno of the new school-year has come and gone.

(Finished it with une bonne bière irlandaise: yep, a Guinness, draft, at "The Firkin & Friar" down the road...)

So far I've been pretty good about keeping my Buenos Diases and Bonjours straight;

we'll see how long that lasts as my foray into multi-language teaching continues...

A few evenings ago, we had our first javelina sighting at our new place--literally right outside our front door! Our next-door neighbor spotted them and called us, and we looked out our respective doors at the critters snorting and foraging in the sycamore leaves by the fountain...

I had just enough time to grab the camera and manage this blur, before the javelinas ran off:

The biggest of the lot must have stood thigh-high...
So, as our friends next door have said, when we arrive home at night, and we get out of our car,

we should be, not afraid, but 'aware, just be aware.'

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So, how many years ago was it that 'muffin-top' entered colloquial American English?

(here's a definition:

...generally pejorative slang term used to describe the phenomenon of overhanging flesh when it spills over the waistline of pants or skirt in a manner that resembles the top of a muffin spilling over its paper casing. This generally occurs when an obese or overweight person wears low-rise, hip-hugger pants, or midriff-baring tops that are too small. However, this phenomenon can be seen even on a slim person if his or her pants or shorts are poorly fitted.--courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muffin_top)

At any rate, thankfully, high-school fashion this year, at least in Tucson, is not really including or encouraging that regrettable phenomenon. It's nice to not have to enforce that aspect of school-dress-code...Moving on...

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Basil--looks like we're not going to have it here...
The local birds and lizards and squirrels and bunnies leave the verbena, lavender and rosemary alone;

Thai and Italian basil, though, are their preferred snack-leaves.
After two months of living in our new place, then, we realize our patio-herbs will be limited...

But the cactus-flowers abound. August is peak time for fishhook-barrel-cactus blooms. This is our third summer here, but we still find them spectacular, these flame-bursts in the midst of pineapple-esque fruits:

...and up close, almost otherworldly...a 'land anemone'...(?)

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...I finally looked up the word "firkin:"

Pronunciation: \ˈfər-kən\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, ultimately from Middle Dutch veerdel fourth, from veer four; akin to Old English fēower
Date: 14th century
1 : a small wooden vessel or cask 2 : any of various British units of capacity usually equal to 1⁄4 barrel --http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/firkin

Now I know.

end of summer...diaspora map...

Tomorrow: back to work--staff meetings and classroom prep before the students return next Monday.
Adios, verano...

I've 'sold' some of my photos the past couple of days(!)--to a local bookshop,
a coffee shop, and a furniture/decor gallery. Well, I've not yet been paid,
but I showed my portfolio, and the business owners picked out which ones
they want me to return with; one store is going to sell them on consignment,
while another will actually pay me on delivery...
nothing big, but it might help pay for gas, eh?
(So, do I have to get a business license or something? I mean, just for a few bucks?
hmm...technical questions that demand answers...)

This morning's online newspaper reading led to some hyperlink-jumping, resulting in this find:



(map courtesy of the Joong-Ang Ilbo-linked blog: http://www.discoveringkorea.com/)

...me and maps...
so, this one shows the Korean 'diaspora'...
color-coded--cool, eh?
Who knew that Brazil had so many Koreans?
I mean, China and the US--duh--but South America? Germany?
I like that the map is in shades of red: the color of kimchi and so much of la cuisine coréenne...

The notion of diaspora--close to my heart...
a couple of factoids:
Did you know
--that there are more descendents of Irish immigrants
living in the US than there are Irish people living in Ireland?
--the number of Franco-Americans (Americans of French-Canadian
descent) is larger than the population of Québec?
--one percent of the population of Costa Rica is Chinese?

All over the place...

...fishing in the Sunday morning paper...

Ahh, the Sunday morning paper...leisurely coffee, birds singing outside...
and in the "Vamos" (weekly Sunday travel) section, the editors decided to publish various 'fishing' photos sent in by readers...and one of them was this one:

I took it a couple of years ago, in San Diego...
I thought of it as more of a 'sunset' photo
with a scenically incidental inclusion of an angler
being circled by some seagulls...

So, fun to be 'published' again...

Saw my third rattlesnake-in-the-wild the other morning, going for my morning run.
It was stretched-out, pole-straight and sluggish across the trail...
A cottontail rabbit hopped by, oblivious...
and finally after the serpent inched its way back into creosote underbrush,
I continued on my way, giving it wide berth...

My mother was here visiting--left a few days ago...seriously considering becoming a Tucsonan herself...perhaps in a year or two...while she was here, I finally (re)learned how to make some Korean dishes...interesting to look at Tucson again through the eyes of a potential resident (and through the lens of real-estate)...and gustatorily nostalgic to reconnect with foods of childhood...