Fishing near the Santa Cruz

Sitting On the Dock*

(*It was more of a bench)

My final adventure was more of a social outing. Given that March was approaching and winter was nearing its end, I had but a few days to experience one of Tucson's rare natural wonders... the Lake Patagonia fishing season.

Contrary to popular belief, there does exist natural bodies of water in Tucson with real fish and real forests. What is particularly special about this body of water is its fishing seasons and the yearly rush to make the "Winter Catch". 

But there is more to this story than me sitting for hours waiting to yank a poor fish out of its oxygen source. My extended family came along for this trip, which included the Clemente family. My family has known the Clementes' for three decades and has had the privilege to serve alongside them during my father's military service. But recently our families split paths when the Iraq War broke out in 2003. My father was assigned duties in Las Vegas while Alec Clemente, the father of their family, was assigned to Davis-Monthan in Tucson.

So this fishing trip was more of a family reunion!

The Lewis family brought the fishing poles, since we had no idea what else to bring to "Lake Pategonia", while the Clemetes' brought the food. And boy did they bring food. Orginal Nogales recipes and even a few native Tucson dishes, all served hot when we arrived. 

The Clementes' were half Mexican, half Cherokee- from Ohio- and somehow became well acquainted with the local cuisine of the area. The foods ranged from taquitos to burritos to even stranger beef dishes seasoned local mesquite.

There was no dish, no flavor left to waste. Everything that could possible be served; the diversity of the food and the diversity of two families coming together to celebrate changes in seasons and reuniting in friendship spoke volumes of the society we live in. It reminded me of Tucson, a place where dozens of cultures, backgrounds, and beliefs culminated into one society. Objects ranging from architecture to the arts became individual melting pots as cultural bits of everyone living within the city and suburbs molded the aesthetics of the land.

The fishing trip, which had very little fishing in it might I add, was more of a situation representation of the town. Two seemingly different groups coming together to enjoy the moment. Tucson lives in that moment. It provides natural lands, people, and social events to continue the celebration of life a progress. Who would have thought fishing had so much baggage.        

The Tucson Symphony

A Trip to The Symphony 

Tonight, the fancy suit is coming out of the dry cleaner plastic wrap and getting ready to impress the Tucson elite!

In my quest to find the finer things Tucson has to offer, I happened to win a pair of tickets to the Tucson Philharmonic. You may be wondering how I was able to afford these tickets, because let's face it college students aren't rolling in the dough. Well I will have to confess, I did not buy these tickets. I won them by being caller number 12 on 104.1 KQTH.

So does this count as a casual trip or a random excursion, probably not. But the symphony and the musical arts are vital to the preservation of culture and history in our neighborhood. Still not convinced. Well I'd like to see you play Vivaldi's Four Seasons in E-minor and then speak to the audience about the cultural underpinning of musical scales. I certainly couldn't!

Act I: The Thunder

  

If there is one thing Tucson is exceptionally good at, is random weather patterns. The night of the concert can be best described as cold, windy, and annoyingly rainy. The rain came and went, in the form of sprinkle showers of course. And just when you thought being wet was bothersome, the wind came in to brighten your day. Not a good start to fancy outing. But there was a pick-me-up which manifested in the form of the concert hall. The stunning lighting, the glistening  golden and turquoise tiles, the crystal chandelier. It was like entering another world, one of art, of style, of class. Never would I have equated the harsh, desert landscape with its prickly pears and rattlesnakes with the aristocratic aura of the symphony. I was shell shocked.   

Act II: The Show!

Once I was seated, and the curtains slowly inched opened, the was a stillness in the air. The musicians began tuning their instruments for the final time and occasionally strumming a scale or two. The was a hum vibrating out from under the stage, not something a machine would make, but the sound of dozens of strings moving vigorously in thin air. All the senses were being overwhelmed, everything that could be seen, heard, felt, smelled culminated in that theatre. Then, a single light cord began to ring out into the audience. The first chair violist was calling attention to his fellow artists, they too joined in, masterfully striking the same note simultaneously. This rush of sound lasted for only a few seconds, but left wonder in its wake. The silence proceeding lasted for a mere minute, yet it was ominous, as if we the audience had no idea what was to come. What came was a sprinkle, a dance of colors, a wisp of wind. The silence turned into a storm. The winds, the brass, the drums all shattered the tranquility, hailing in sounds that I haven't heard in many years. The Tucson symphony brought us Tucson weather.  

Mt. Lemmon & Native Life

Lost in Mount Lemon! 

By Brandon Lewis

Howdy Explorers! 

My name is Brandon, as a local to Tucson I have a certain advantage when it comes to "knowing" the land. And by that knowing when to avoid cacti and venomous animals.  

But the most important knowledge when traveling through the harsh desert landscape is where to go to cool off! And no... I am not talking about hiding indoors with the A/C cranked up. 

I'm talking about a natural Tucson destination that keeps you cool while bombarding you with awe-inspiring views. Mount Lemmon.  

 

The other day, I traveled up north to experience first hand the cool air of Mt. Lemmon. And I may or may not have gotten lost along the way. 

• Note to Self: Keep a G.P.S on Hand at All Times!!!!

For at least 40 minutes I wondered three or four trails trying to get the actual mountain. I thought my journey was at an end before it began... until I met Birch Wild River. Birch was a member of the Tohono O'odham tribe and local to the mountain region for more than 30 years. He along with his young grandson, Alex, just finished a week long camping trip near the face of the peak. Needless to say, they were familiar with the area and were fond of tie-dye t-shirts. I greeted them both and told them of my plight, Alex chuckled after I described how long I was wandering the trials. In a casual yet upbeat tone, I asked him where I was and how I can get to the nearest hiking trail. Birch instead told me a story, one which he later described to me as a "Native Life story". It went something like this: 

   

 "Listen to the Wind.

It talks.

Listen to the Silence.

  It Speaks

        Listen to the Heart.

        It Knows."

Birch in a few sentences, gave me more direction than any GPS could something universal yet entirely unique. By following the direction of the wind, I was able to find the face of the mountain and a convenient Snack Machine.  

But I guess that's an accurate description of Tucson in general. Sometimes you may get lost, sometimes things seem unclear, but there will always be someone to help guide you through the mess of it all. Birch happened to be one of those people who offered more than direction but also experience. Tucson is one of those places that offers more than views and scenic routes, but opportunity to discover new paths and information outside one's bubble. 

Annotated Tucson

Set Your destination to Tucson, Arizona!

Tucson: A land rich in History, Cultural diversity, and Experiences of a Lifetime.

The purpose of this form of media describing Tucson is to reach an audience outside the normal southwest bubble. Furthermore, the blogging style of the first person narratives adds to the youthful and modernized message that I am trying to project. The projection, in this case, is that Tucson a up-in-coming city with cultural, ethnic, and spiritual diversity. The target audience; therefore, would be the millennial generation, or anyone technically inclined, that may want to escape the urbanized coastal America and experience a more eclectic style of development. The focus in two of my posts deals with Native American and "Old World" Tucson, something that I view as lost or poorly recognized in much of American culture. So the visualized, digital, and active design of these posts breathes a type of life into theses subjects. This is in conjunction with the narrative style writing which is more descriptive and personalized, like popular social media. The social media aspect of annotation is the most important quality of the post. Aside from the obvious familiar style, it makes the accessibility easy and the reading involved less "burdensome". The carefree theme, as well as the underlying social-political message, acts as a small portal into the larger ideology and structure of the Tucson area. The audience, like the city itself, is wide ranging while the principles and stories are specialized to the histories of the area. In many ways, this blog post acts as a tourist promotion medium and an informal documentation of local history. The post has the impact of a catchy lyric or jingle, but the content and citations of a traditional museum. Parallels and juxtapositions are a common feature in this series because I aim to connect with the reader by using relatable experiences to draw intrigue into the Tucson area.