Secession in the Sonoran Desert? "Baja Arizona?"


Huh? Yep--an idea is floating around, gaining momentum, apparently. With all of the revolutionary action in North Africa and the Middle East, why not spread the spirit of revolt from the sands of the Sahara to the sands of the Sonoran Desert?  Here'sThe article in yesterday's New York Times that alluded to this movement:  "Arizona Lawmakers Push New Round of Restrictions."  Now, note today's headline here in Tucson:

(I have the day off--it's "Rodeo-weekend" in Tucson--

instead of a Presidents' Day school-break, 

we get a four-day weekend for the annual "Fiesta de los Vaqueros"...

thus, the leisurely latte-with-baguette-breakfast, 

along with the time for gratuitous iPhone photos and blogging...)

...and here's the article:
"Could Baja Arizona be 51st State in US?"


Geographically, Baja AZ would be larger than several New England states. Population-wise, it would be larger than several New England States and also Wyoming. So, I guess it might be 'viable.' 


And there IS historical precedent--in the early 19th century, Maine broke away from Massachusetts...and during the Civil War, West Virginia broke away from its Confederate/slave-holding 'mother'...


A tongue-in-cheek proposition:
 http://www.bandersnatch.com/bajaz.htm
 (This has been around for years, by the way...but never as a serious proposition until now.)

So. This is where we live. Tucson, the would-be-capital of a potential new state.

Two weeks ago, S. and I headed up to Seattle for a quick four-day visit. (Our friends' wedding was lovely.) But being 'back home' where 'home' is no longer--lots of mixed feelings. Voluntary as our move to Arizona may have been, we can't help but feel, at times, that we are in exile. Overly dramatic, that phrase, perhaps, but I can't come up with another word...

An old family friend, an ex-pat from the UK who's spent most of her adult life here in the US, has said that living in two countries 'makes one a citizen of both and a citizen of neither.' 

Hear hear. I wish we could just fold the map--bring the bookish amenities of Seattle right next door to the open landscape and sunny climate of Tucson...marry the cityscapes of Paris and Seoul...the deciduous forests of the East Coast and the evergreens of the mountains Out West...combine the friendliness of Nicaraguans with the relative functionality of North American public service...the Asian food of San Francisco and Los Angeles with the Mexican restaurants here in Southern Arizona...the Canadian concept of universal health-care with the lack-of-long-waiting-lists south of that border...

Fold the map. Erase the lines. Be happy.

If only.

(And to all our friends whom we just got to see briefly two weekends ago--it was so good to see you! We're sorry we couldn't have spent more time TALKING and getting caught up! Alas...)

========== warning: the rest of this entry is inane,

 à la Twitter...but it IS an 'update' =========

Today's minutiae:
It's sunny--will be in the mid-60's today.
This weekend will see snow, though, down to the base of the mountains here--temps in the 40's.
Our frozen week earlier this month completely shrivelled our citrus trees; will there be grapefruit this year?
After walking pneumonia and then a sinus-something I caught on the flight back from Seattle, I am finally feeling closer to 'normal'...Looking forward to a run among the saguaros this afternoon...