What’s new?
An Australian friend from Perth, traveling around the States on a two-month sojourn, dropped by to spend the weekend. Since John’s a fellow Hash House Harrier I took him hashing Saturday night. The hash started an hour late and trail took two and a half hours to finish, and of course we went out to dinner with the gang afterward … it was a long night.
Normally I wouldn’t mind a long night, especially one spent with hashing mates, but we had to get up at 4:00 am Sunday to man a drink station fifty miles south of here for a bicycling event, the Tumacacori Century. John came with us and had a grand time joking with the riders and passing out snacks. When we got home that afternoon we all took welcome naps, and then I prepared a patriotic meal for our Aussie friend, dry-rubbed ribs on the barbie.
Later today our goddaughter Natasha flies in with her husband Natale and their new baby Giorgianna. Natasha and Natale are coming with me to the air museum tomorrow to take my tours; Thursday we’re driving up to Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and Sedona. We’ll drive back to Tucson Saturday.
I mentioned the small Occupy Tucson protest the other day. When Donna and I walked through downtown Tucson last night, we passed the encampment at Armory Park again and couldn’t help noticing that it has grown considerably. Thirty or forty tents now ring the park. It’s clean and well-organized, and seems far less temporary than it did the week before. Are the nationwide Occupy protests making a difference? Some say the national dialog has shifted from austerity to jobs. I’m not convinced that’s actually happened yet, but hope it does … and if it does, credit belongs to the progressive left, which is finally stirring again. Right on, people! It’s about time.