What the H E Double Hockey Sticks goes on in Tucson
I have been asked this question by quite a few people. Most of which are residents not tourist! Tucson seems to be a town divided into niches and within these niches are tightly formed circles, cliques as you will. Let's racing for example I personally like race cars and like racing don't have anything against it, it doesn't have anything against me. So then tell me why is it that after living here for more than two decades i just found out a few weeks ago that there is in fact a full-blown totally authorized racetrack right here in town? I'll tell you why it's because i wasn't affiliated with that niche (surely it is not because I'm a nerd and don't' get out enough because I spent so much time on my computer, not) . Since I didn't drive race cars no one felt the need to bring up the subject to me. but i found it any way and I will tell you how. I found this incredible website called http://www.visittucson.org/ this so to speak is where it's happening. I was able to find almost all the events going on right here in town and with ample time to prepare for them. Not like usual where I read about it in the paper of find out about "Tucson Meet Yourself" as I casually passed through downtown on my way to an appointment. This website gives information on all the goings on in town as well as the who's who in the know. be sure and take a second and visit http://www.visittucson.org/ be sure and tell them who sent you...
Club Crawl is coming! Are you ready!
Tucson's very own Club Crawl an event unique to our town as 25 bands of live music go on simultaneously in downtown Tucson as well as 4th Ave. Most even producers will be blocking off streets and working with music venues and restaurants all along the entertainment districts of Congress Street and 4th Ave to present Tucson's largest music festival. This weekend should be one to remember as the club crawl of all club crawls! So make sure your there!
Country Club Gardens Apartments - A Community within a Community
I recently visited Country Club Gardens Apartments located at 3202 North Country Club Road, this complex just happens to be one of the better centrally one's here in town. For a person that seldom drives this is an important feature To have access to main transit lines. My objective was to find out the pulse of the community so to speak. I was pleasantly greeted by the Manager and informed thoroughly of the features and benefits of the property. I was given a price listing for each unit as well as the require that needed to be met. I found to my surprise that they were in fact pet friendly a feature that is getting harder and harder to find in multi-housing. As I walked the grounds the private balconies began to gain my attention more and more. After a minute or two I realized the uniqueness of them. For the first time I saw a private balcony as a luxury. The apartments themselves had a very open and accessible floor plan. Closet space I found to be adequate as well as the living quarters. The few residents that I did cross paths with seemed pleasant and courteous for the most part. Parking was adequate to the point of having a choice of covered or uncovered another fast leaving amenity in the multi-housing communities. The one thing I personally appreciated was the tree's, yes the tree's there was a lot of trees on the property which created a lot of shade! I thought finally someone stood up to the Arizona Sun. The trees allow for entire sections to be shaded for the whole day. Overall I personally liked the community and would in fact recommend it to friends, family and winter birds alike. The best part about it is that you don't have to take my word for it! Call and schedule your appointment! The manager would be more that happy to grant you own personal tour FOR MORE INFO CALL... 520-327-0886.
Patriots Day is what we Americans Wake to today
Today we all have a little more to be thankful for. Today as we all as well as the rest of the world knows it is the day one of the most vicious atrocities in history was committed against the United States of America, September 11th 2001. Yet in spite of these and other tragedies that try and befall us a nation we still have the resiliency to go on. So make sure you do something in honor of all of Americas fallen heroes since they do deserve it yet can't be here to see the progress from the sacrifices they themselves made. Patriots Day yet another way of showing how we as a country can and always will overcome.
Old Towne Tattoo Studio by Tony Edwards
Located at 4240 E Speedway Tony Edwards' Old Towne Tattoo shop remains a staple in the Tucson community. A fixture on southwest corner of Speedway and Columbus for decades, Old Towne continues to deliver remarkably unique Tattoos and Body Piercings day after day to it's diverse blend of customers. I walked in intending to only ask a few questions (just enough to fill a Blog Post).Although it was crowded everyone was very nice and polite as I made inquiry after inquiry. The level of patience and professionalism was very much above and beyond what I normally expect nowadays. I went in hoping to speak with a few employees without interrupting the flow of business. But instead I found myself actually sitting and talking with the owner, Tony Edwards. He took a few minutes and explained to me how a lot of the other shops popping up around town are being opened by amateurs in hopes of making a quick buck as opposed to creating individual pieces of art upon the human body. Which was what he and everyone else in the shop specialized in. I could tell from just the few minutes I spent interviewing him he was passionate about his trade, he was an Artist. I had seen a lot of tattoos but never heard of one described in such a way. I could see from how busy the shop was that his time was important so I thanked him for his time and asked if I could visit his second location at 1905 E Grant Road, here in Tucson (Google it!). So if your in the market for a great individual tattoo or strategically placed piercing be sure and stop by one of Tony Edwards' Old Towne Tattoo Shop(s) and take a look at what they have to offer, or even better what they can create just for you (based on how busy they were I would suggest calling ahead to E Speedway - (520) 321- 9042 or E Grant Road (520) 323 - 6966) . Beside the creativity within each artist there was also a sense of "pride in profession" in the shop as overall. When I finally left I felt I had discovered another one of Tucson's hidden treasures. Yet another reason why life here in Tucson is so interesting...
5 best plants for Tucson
1. Sweet Potato Very easy to restart since it can be done from clippings. It roots fairly quickly and looks great in hanging baskets. Fairly drought hardy does not require lots of maintenance and can tale the full Arizona sun. For decoration purposes it comes in green and purple a vivid purple.
2. Honeysuckle We start out with a small iron trellis (the wooden one’s fall apart in the Arizona sun) and watch the Honeysuckle grow up and around it. Blooms, Flowers are very fragrant with smell resembling a sweet honey smell. The bonus is that it attracts hummingbirds’ which makes for good company in the morning.
3. Mexican Lavender A very drought hardy plant and loves the full Arizona sun. Very fragrant as the smell is very unique in itself. Dried out it makes for a very scent full presence in any room of the house. Very easy to grow, just so long as the pot is proportion to the plant because it grows fast . One of my personal favorites.
4. Petunias first benefit is they can be grown year-round, the second is they come in virtually every color so they can be potted with many other types of plants. Fairly low-maintenance the water cycle is once a week in the winter and every other day in the summer. Or like every other plant mentioned they can also be put on a self-maintenance a drip system.
5. Snap Dragons not only a unique name but also a unique plant. The color patterns are very intimate sometimes with several colors combining, clashing within a single flower. One of the few outdoor flowers mentioned that can be used as a cut flower.
One of the unique qualities of Arizona is it’s sun. on average we get more than 9 months of sunny days right here in Tucson. This makes it hard on our plant life. Outside of Cactus very few other things survive. The above mentioned potted plants have lived and thrived in the desert of Tucson for long as I can remember. Just keep in mind just because they sell a plant here doesn’t it will survive here, so read the disclaimers.
2. Honeysuckle We start out with a small iron trellis (the wooden one’s fall apart in the Arizona sun) and watch the Honeysuckle grow up and around it. Blooms, Flowers are very fragrant with smell resembling a sweet honey smell. The bonus is that it attracts hummingbirds’ which makes for good company in the morning.
3. Mexican Lavender A very drought hardy plant and loves the full Arizona sun. Very fragrant as the smell is very unique in itself. Dried out it makes for a very scent full presence in any room of the house. Very easy to grow, just so long as the pot is proportion to the plant because it grows fast . One of my personal favorites.
4. Petunias first benefit is they can be grown year-round, the second is they come in virtually every color so they can be potted with many other types of plants. Fairly low-maintenance the water cycle is once a week in the winter and every other day in the summer. Or like every other plant mentioned they can also be put on a self-maintenance a drip system.
5. Snap Dragons not only a unique name but also a unique plant. The color patterns are very intimate sometimes with several colors combining, clashing within a single flower. One of the few outdoor flowers mentioned that can be used as a cut flower.
One of the unique qualities of Arizona is it’s sun. on average we get more than 9 months of sunny days right here in Tucson. This makes it hard on our plant life. Outside of Cactus very few other things survive. The above mentioned potted plants have lived and thrived in the desert of Tucson for long as I can remember. Just keep in mind just because they sell a plant here doesn’t it will survive here, so read the disclaimers.
Landscapes…one of out most undervalued assets here in Tucson
Almost each evening I get a chance to sit out and watch the sunset over the mountains. Each day on my way to and from my daily business I see something, something out of place something that catches my eye in particular. Usually it is something that doesn’t belong in the desert. Today it is the colors that have my undivided attention the vivid colors of the landscape. It is thought that the desert is beige. Beige as in barren, dry wasteland beige. Yet in reality the most complex array of colors exist right here. I am truly amazed when I photograph the desert landscape and realize the high Yellows of the flowers and the thousands of shades of green Cacti that jump out at me. Only when I set up my shot do I realize just how deep of a Grey the mountains provided as a backdrop to the Beigeness of the land. The sky in itself is the Royal Blue, not in color but in mass as it surrounds everything in the Blueness of sky. The clouds add a majestic topping, the perfect White.
Back to the sunset…as I watch the sun come to rest I notice the purplish hue that it creates. A Magenta is gradually settled into a darker and darker purple as the sun sets further behind our mountains until all is black, it is nighttime here in Tucson. My new objective now is to see the sunrise the next day. I awake early enough to capture the darkness just before it evaporates. I purposely preoccupy myself until I see that first crack of sunlight burst from behind the mountains. The Blue is different from most I see here in the daytime. This Blue is few shades darker in the morning to me. I can see so much potential in it. A new day has come from the ashes of an old one, another chance.
Back to the landscapes…I take my pictures purely for self-motivation. They give me as a writer something to correspond my thoughts with. I have taken manly types of pictures but I find the completeness of landscapes to suit my needs the best. I find landscapes to be non-restrictive since you don’t need a theme or a title. They can be interpreted however necessary. Here in Tucson you can turn in any direction on any given day and find a beautiful landscape. The perfect picture that captures the hustle and bustle of our downtown goings on can make for a split-second of time frozen forever where as the mountains that surround an underlying valley can seem to go on forever.
As I mentioned before the Desert holds a surprising array of colors within it’s landscape. The flowers and plants of the desert serve a purpose here just as they do anywhere else. Our desert holds a vast array of wild life that live and feed off of what we see as just a landscape. If have the luxury of being able to watch the sunrise as well as set then consider yourself fortunate in that sense, you are free.
Back to the sunset…as I watch the sun come to rest I notice the purplish hue that it creates. A Magenta is gradually settled into a darker and darker purple as the sun sets further behind our mountains until all is black, it is nighttime here in Tucson. My new objective now is to see the sunrise the next day. I awake early enough to capture the darkness just before it evaporates. I purposely preoccupy myself until I see that first crack of sunlight burst from behind the mountains. The Blue is different from most I see here in the daytime. This Blue is few shades darker in the morning to me. I can see so much potential in it. A new day has come from the ashes of an old one, another chance.
Back to the landscapes…I take my pictures purely for self-motivation. They give me as a writer something to correspond my thoughts with. I have taken manly types of pictures but I find the completeness of landscapes to suit my needs the best. I find landscapes to be non-restrictive since you don’t need a theme or a title. They can be interpreted however necessary. Here in Tucson you can turn in any direction on any given day and find a beautiful landscape. The perfect picture that captures the hustle and bustle of our downtown goings on can make for a split-second of time frozen forever where as the mountains that surround an underlying valley can seem to go on forever.
As I mentioned before the Desert holds a surprising array of colors within it’s landscape. The flowers and plants of the desert serve a purpose here just as they do anywhere else. Our desert holds a vast array of wild life that live and feed off of what we see as just a landscape. If have the luxury of being able to watch the sunrise as well as set then consider yourself fortunate in that sense, you are free.
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