Picacho Peak SP
What a great day! It was about 44F when we getup little after six. Penny headed to the shower while I finished up my meditations and readings. The showers are clean and the water is hot. We had a busy day planned but took advantage of rising early to write some postcards, breakfast and pack lunches and layers of clothing. Most Holy Trinity church was 40 minutes away in Tucson; Mass was at 11AM. Then we wanted to see the Botanical Gardens for two reasons, the plants and a Frida Kahlo exhibit. Penny has been a long time fan of this Mexican artist specializing in paintings of indigenous plants and animals.
The church was not very large, and it was packed with a diverse group of latinos and gringos, young and old. What was amazing was the “choir”; before the service began a Mariachi band of 5 men and three women marched in wearing traditional regalia. They all sang with gusto. A vihuela (Mariachi guitar), a bass guitarron, two horns and five violins might be played in any one song. They sang en espanol, and the congregation joined in very enthusiastic response. The priest and deacon spoke in english throughout the liturgy, so it was an interesting multi-cultural event. For me, it was a very moving liturgy; one of the most memorable in my life.
The Botanical Gardens were more of the same! Unlike northern locations, this botanical garden had no greenhouses, only a small tropical butterfly secured enclosure. Unfortunately, we were unaware the butterfly exhibit closed at 3PM, until we arrived at 3:05!
There were literally thousands of plants in seventeen specialty gardens on 5.5 acres. It is phenomenal how many variations exist of agave, aloe, cholla and all other groups of cacti. Creation obviously favors diversity; this is very apparent when so many varieties are displayed in one place.
The Frida Kahlo exhibit was interspersed amongst the gardens. A replica of the garden she and her husband, Diego Rivera, developed at their Casa Azul, appeared to be part of the Tucson Gardens. Even the four tiered blue pyramid blended well. Other Frida works were exhibited inside of meeting and classrooms, such as about two dozen of photographic portraits of her in her cultural attire. Another showed Frida like works by children aged 7-12, from all over the world. We were struck by the talent of these youngsters!
We had tried to see Kahlo’s work before at the Detroit Museum of Art, but another function precluded us from doing so. Frankly, there wasn’t much of her work here, but lots of insight into the artist herself. Penny was thrilled!
By then, we had both commented about what a wonderful day it was. A young man beckoned us, “Are you guys thirsty? Come on over!”. We had heard there was a memorial celebration today on the property. His name was Drew and he was trying to polish off the last of the wine; most everyone attending had left. He said, “I only ask that you toast to Bobbi when you drink it.” We did and struck up a conversation with him. Bobbi was his mom; his sister was there as well. They didn’t want to drink anymore and didn’t want it to go to waste. Milling about, we saw a collage of family pictures; one jumped out at us. It was a selfie of Bobbi and Joe Biden; the family was originally from Delaware.
We returned to Picacho Peak with joyful hearts thankful for an awesome day!