Can a Skydiver Be a Cowgirl?

Well…hell, yes! Especially if she is a talented, independent woman who was my friend in the wild and crazy days of 1970s college journalism.Maddy is her name. We lost touch after graduation but connected again three-plus decades later, when our college newspaper gang revived (an appropriate word for us geezers) contact.

She was one of the kooky ones. But a cowgirl, too? Hard to believe it, but, yes, that’s Maddy now. Gutsy as always, living solo, driving a pickup and maintaining a ranch in Texas.

Cowgirls are smart ….and I forgot to mention that after college Maddy became a nurse and also raised a family. I think she started skydiving after she moved from NY to Texas. As she wrote to our editor group recently: “Skydiving is safer and cheaper than a lot of other things I’ve gotten into, like marriage and dating.”

Maddy’s still taking pix and sent me one of her and Ginger (you figure out who is who!). As Tucson closes La Fiesta de los Vaqueros this week, I salute all cowgirls. And, especially, may I salute my cowgirl friends Maddy (this post) and Karen (see below). They are the rocks of their families, they tell it straight and they live life fully. You go, (cow)girls!

Home (?) on the Range

My fascination with cowgirls began while I was growing up in Brooklyn, where the closest I got to horses was the carousel at Coney Island. Ride ‘em I did—every summer – and my love of the cowgirl and her lifestyle grew. I read novels about romance in the wild, open spaces of the frontier and biographies of famous cowgirls including Annie Oakley and Calamity Jane.

OK, I never became a cowgirl but now I live in a place where I can taste the spirit of the West, visit ranches and see rodeos prevail. I even know some cowgirls, and during this week of yee-haw celebration (Tucson Rodeo) I’ll introduce you to two of them.

First up is Karen (see photo), proprietor of Solarwind Ranch. While I was still a New Yorker, Karen gave me my first taste of pioneering life. I loved the times I could visit her ranch, where I was awed by endless wild Arizona spaces and mountains, and where I first learned to haul hay to the horses and Karen’s “ark” assortment of ducks, goats, sheep and border collies. Karen may not call herself a cowgirl (she’s a county fair supervisor, border collie rescue and breeder, herding and obedience trial judge, friend and loving foster mother rolled into one). But, to me, Karen personifies the independence and strength of extraordinary women called cowgirls. They were the foundation of the families who helped settle the American Southwest. I tip my hat to my cowgirl friend Karen (shown here with Silver, in a pix taken by Leigh this past summer.)

Rodeo Time in Tucson

Tucson is hopping this week with two styles of competition. Wild West at one end, and sophisticated golfing on luxurious greens at the other. Northwest at Dove Mountain you'll find the golfers (yes, Tiger is here). And down south you'll find the cowpokes decked in their finest, all here for the 83rd annual Fiesta de los Vaqueros. It's a spectacle and a mesh of true grit, fun, culture and sport all rolled into a wonderful Tucson tradition.

Last summer we went to a small, local rodeo about 30 miles south of Tucson. The stands were alive with families and fans. Everyone was dressed in traditional western attire - jeans, hand-tooled boots, embroidered work shirts and of course great hats. There were bolla ties, belt buckles and turquoise everywhere. Neighbors cheered for local favorites. Everyone showed great respect for their animals - horses and cattle - beloved partners in these great shows. How colorful a tradition this is!

I'll post more later this week. For now (on a Sunday evening after a very full weekend), I just wanted to tip my hat as Tucson begins a week of fun and good sport. And I wanted to salute the traditions of the west that are celebrated by the rodeos this week. May the all-American pride shown this week never die. (photo taken at last summer's local rodeo in Sonoita).

A Desert Rose and other Arizona Beauties

February is a wacky month of Gem, Mineral and Fossil Shows and exhibits throughout Tucson (a rodeo, too, coming next week) and so we took a ride over the Tucson Mountains to our absolutely favorite Fossil and Rock Shop on Kinney Road. I always discover something wonderful in this shop, and I so enjoy saying hi to Ron, who is a retired paleontologist from Long Island. He knows so much about fossils and minerals of the Southwest, and browsing his shop always brings alive for me the ancient earth history of this Sonoran desert.

Today I chose four pieces all native to Southern Arizona and the Sonoran desert. I found a beautiful "desert rose" (made of pinkish selenite), two tiny pieces of turquiose from Bisbee, and a magnificent, tiny octahedral fluorite (formed from a mineral which came from the Silver Bell mine. So many complex crystals set in its rock!) Leigh selected another complex rock; his is a piece of quartzite.

I love the colors, textures and histories of these beautiful artforms of nature. Ron is a very responsible collector and truly appreciates all that is housed in his shop. So I take away these tiny items carefully, with much respect for their beauty and heritage. And I promise that they will have places of honor here in the rock landscape of my own desert home.

Every day, there's something new to learn about the amazing Sonoran Desert.

In Praise of Collectible Books and an Authentic Tucson Cowgirl

Long live used book sales sponsored by the Friends of Pima County Public Library. I know everyone in Tucson is focused on the gem show, But take an hour and go to the Book Barn on Country Club. You’ll find another type of treasure worth a visit.

I took my own advice and found a few real gems (at least to me). One was a 1950s manual produced by the Tokyo News Service that reviewed customs of Japan….all sorts of interesting topics, from handclapping ceremonies that arouse spirits, to the importance of first dreams in a new year. Another was a 1926 Muirhead guidebook of North-western France. Such beautiful maps and diagrams. The book is unmarked except for checkmarks on pages about Loches, a small town on the banks of the Indre River. Someday Leigh and I will travel to Normandy, and head south to see what is special about this little central-France town.

My prize from the book sale is a tiny 1980s paperback about the Tanque Verde Ranch. The booklet is illustrated with beautiful gouache paintings by Erni Cabat, a local painter who died in the 1990s. There is lovely text by Charlotte Cardon, who may still be alive and residing here in Tucson. In the 1930s Charlotte was a member of the Desert Riders, a U of A women’s riding honor society. The book says Charlotte traveled the world to write and photograph cultures and unusual places. I suspect Charlotte (in her heyday decades ago) also traveled Tucson by horseback, recording the desert’s unique people and places. The book I purchased is signed by Charlotte with this inscription: “To dear friends who now are Arizona desert dwellers and can appreciate the lore of this old ranch…”

Charlotte’s comment was not meant for me, but I take it to heart now that I own her little book. If you’re out there, Charlotte, I salute you. You’re an authentic Tucson cowgirl. You knew how to enjoy adventure here in our desert, and beyond.