It is deeply satisfying to immerse oneself in a live Impressionist painting. Slender branches sway, small leaves drop languidly to the garden floor, hummingbirds and butterflies arc from bush to bush in balletic grand jetés, landing on quivering pastel blossoms - and - on this particular day, we soak in a warm bath of auditory color drawn by Ana Maria Iordache's classical guitar performance.
Ana Maria Iordache, Tohono Chul Botanical Garden, Tucson, Arizona. October 2019.
I went for a guided morning walk at Tohono Chul Botanical Garden.
Jojoba. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
There was a slight breeze, welcome cloud cover, relatively cool temperatures ... at first. Later in the walk, hot and heavy air descended, making me sweat.
Crested saguaro. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
Crested saguaro with prickly pear stowaway. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
The guide pointed out the prickly pear growing out of the saguaro's crown. What a cheery surprise! You can find other examples in a fellow blogger's article, What's in That Hole, including two in Tohono Chul.
I'd have never figured that the haphazard pile of sticks and other desert clutter below was, in fact, a carefully-designed pack rat abode.
Pack rat nest. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
A few weeks ago, I learned that in areas where pack rats abound, car owners keep their vehicle hoods raised during the day, while they're at work, to deter pack rats from climbing under the hood and chewing on wires, hoses, and tubes and the like.
The ubiquitous lizards ran their rounds throughout the park, of course.
Lizard. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
Eggs feature on several art installations at the botanical gardens.
Art eggs. Tohono Chul, Tucson, Arizona. August 2019.
A cumulative slide show of Tohono Chul Botanical Garden photos below:
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
The thing about art is that you can conceive it and give birth to it, and it will be imbued with your artistic DNA, but once you release it to the wild, you have zeero control over the meaning that others put on it. .... Warning: This is watchacall foreshadowing.
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
On two visits to Tohono Chul, I visited Monica Zavala-Durazo's exhibit, which she titled Chubasco. The tubes represented a fond childhood experience related to her daddy and a memorable wash of rain.
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
The tubes, suspended from the ceiling, invited me to stand beneath them and to look up.
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
There is something about an object that, if solo, may or may not be particularly interesting, but en masse, creates a presence.
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
I liked the colored, seemingly random threads that dangled from the tubes.
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
A video of Ms. Zavala-Durazo's work below, created from both of my visits:
There was something, something, something else that made me mentally cock my head to the side, and wonder, what do these tubes remind me of?
Tohono Chul exhibit - Chubasco! by Monica Zavala-Durazo. Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Ohhh [gears whirring] .....got it! ........ horse peñises. You know how you're standing along a pasture fence and there's a gelding within, and you notice how he's letting down his peñis from the sheath a bit, then retracting, then letting down a different length, then retracting. It is difficult to turn away, as it elicits both a scientific and lurid fascination.
Which reminds me. Did I ever tell you about that time my mother took me to a semeñ auction? I swear to God. Every once in awhile, the woman throws out a real curve ball. And if I tie this memory to the art, I will always remember the succinct judgment she handed down on my very first piece of art that I bought for a sizable-to-me price: "The colors are lurid."
But getting back to Ms. Zavala-Durazo's installation. Any time you capture someone's attention for your work, you can call it a success, yes? I think so.
[Note: To save the time and energy of those who are surfing for more specific pages re: male anatomy, I've tossed an ñ into the works instead of an n.]
Lizard at Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Fauna
I heart desert lizards. They scamper up and down trees and across grounds; they do push ups; they pop out their necks like bubble gum; they move their heads about charmingly. They eat insects. They are relatively polite, not making a mess of one's garden, house, or trash. They are quiet. They are not likely to climb onto you.
There are many lizards at Tohono Chul, just as there are in Tucson generally. On my Easter afternoon visit, I saw a lizard with black and white rings arund its neck and a curly tail - like a Samoyed's curl - with black and white rings at its tip.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Flora
The usual assortment of cacti reside at the botanical gardens, of course.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
So maybe one's eye naturally seeks out that which is a little different, such as how the light passes through a bloom or how it rests on giant seed pods that a tree sloughed to the earth.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
Or how light transforms paddle spines into tiaras.
Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
By the time we arrived at the corral surrounded by Mexican Fence cactus, my camera eye felt weary. But then Stu took a close-up of red fingertip buds that popped from one of the tall, slender cacti, and it was a wow! The textured red buds, and the sharp shadows they cast against that green, lush flesh of the cactus, ooh, I had to have them for my very own.
The sun was wicked bright on the cactus corral and I asked Stu about how he dealt with that because the common wisdom, of course, is that this kind of light doesn't make for good photos. Or better said: This kind of light makes it more difficult to get good photos.
Stu said a past photography instructor told her students: "Don't be a slave to light. Control it."
University of Arizona Steel Band, Tohono Chul Botanical Gardens, Tucson, Arizona. April 2019.
It has become my habit to spend Sunday afternoons at the Church of Jazz, ministered by the Tucson Jazz Society, where congregants gather at Brother John's.
But yesterday was Easter and I sought something more .... Spiritual? Sedate? Solemn?
