I love the beautiful lichen that grows on our Live Oak trees. According to the Texas A&M Extension Service, lichen benefits the host plant with added moisture and environmental protection. Further, “lichen is admired as the one of the most efficient colonisers on the planet”. Good to know!
It always makes me happy to be back in The Lone Star State!
Tucson does have some beautiful sunsets.
Going to Five Points Market in Tucson has become my new birthday breakfast tradition. I had a plate of huevos rancheros and these two beautiful beverages…
On the left is a peppermint, chamomile, lavender tea. The brightly colored drink on the right is a white peach and prickly pear shrub. No alcohol but flavored with vinegar. Paul says it tastes like medicine. It’s very hipster (so count me in!).
Garden gnome seen at the very chic and pricey boutique next door.
Had a lovely birthday morning with Paul💚
To round out my early birthday celebration, Jon built a beautiful campfire for us.
Margaret roasted marshmallows. And we made delicious s’mores.
The chocolate isn’t completely melted. But in fairness, that is a pretty thick chunk of dark chocolate. So no complaints here!
Thanks Margaret and Jon for my super fun early birthday!
Margaret took me out for a birthday lunch at Cafe Desta, Ethiopian Cuisine. We had the vegan sampler platter.
So delicious. So spicy. You eat with your hands using the injera flat bread to scoop up all that wonderful-ness!
That’s Margaret photo-bombing my fantastic Ethiopian ice tea. Cardamom and cinnamon!
For my birthday, Margaret took me to the Yume Japanese Garden of Tucson. Yume means dream.
This is a small place with several vignette gardens that represent the small courtyard gardens you might see in a private home.
It’s an interesting idea but I’m not sure it’s been fully realized. Maybe the arid climate in Tucson doesn’t lend itself to reproducing the home gardens of Kyoto? It was fun to look. And we did see some really pretty little fences and gates.
Did I mention they had a gift shop?
We saw this public art in Tucson yesterday, titled Love Locks.
This particular piece was created as a charitable fundraiser. You could purchase a padlock, attach it to the heart and drop the key in the slot, symbolizing the endlessness of your love.
Coincidentally I had just read about the Cadenas d’Amour (Locks of Love) on the Pont des Arts in Paris. Several years ago people spontaneously started putting their locks on the bridge and then throwing the keys into the Seine. Eventually there were so many locks on the bridge that it created a structural and aesthetic problem. City officials removed the locks in the dark of the night. The very next day, people started all over, attaching their locks to this bridge and many other bridges around Paris.
Turns out that the Tucson art project was inspired by the Cadenas d’Amour in Paris.
On those occasions when they really get fed up with me, Paul and Max have a running joke that they are going to drop me off in Lordsburg NM.
We passed through Lordsburg this week on our way to Tucson. You’d think I would have been on my best behavior.
The good news is that they didn’t pull over and let me out!
On our way to Tucson AZ, crossing the border into New Mexico we stopped at a rest area along Interstate 10. The signage made us question if NM truly is the Land of Enchantment?
Did not see any snakes but Max got a pawful of stickers. No warning signs for that!
Sven Loves Danger Girl 