An Explorer's Butterfly on New Year's Eve

First pix taken by my new iPhone is an Australian blue tiger butterfly, which I found resting in the temporary aviary set up at the Tucson Botanical Garden. I read that the great navigator Captain James Cook saw masses of these butterflies in 1770 nearby the coastlands of Queensland. And here they are in Tucson.

Today we dismantle the Rooted in Place exhibit that Leigh and Jim installed (with Peggy's help) downtown. It was a good photographic show that focused on the importance of placemaking in our lives. As my family travels back to New York after one week of holiday good times here in Tucson, the concept of placemaking as a state of mind (and one that resides in the heart) takes on new meaning. I miss them already.

December 31 - It's a turning of the page. It's also our 36th anniversary. A day to look ahead to a good 2009. I raise my wine glass (and my iPhone, my journal and my camera) in a toast with blessings to us all.

Family

Cheesecake in oven, a Bouche De Noel in the fridge, sauce on the stove, meat, bread, greens and cheese bought and tree adorned. Hannukah candles readied for another night. And family members mid-route to Tucson, having escaped NY rains (only to face more desert rains here tomorrow). No matter. It's Christmas celebrations with those we love.

I am so lucky to have good people in my life and around our table tomorrow. I bless each of them:

• My sis, AnneMarie, whose friendship I treasure,
  
• My bro, Steve, a computer/engineering genius with a sweet heart,
  
• Jim, a friend for decades, now a brother-in-law,
• The true center of our life - Brett, so wise and handsome. How could this sensible, intelligent, non-proft pro/rock star be our son?
  
• Leigh, for 36 years, my best friend and husband. We've shared so much and our love just continues to grow. My joy in life is to know I have shared (and will continue to share) so much with a partner I cherish, have fun with, enjoy and love.
  
• Bisbee - Our always perky and dapper 10-year old standard poodle. He is the old man of the house and we love him, gumpy feet, stinky and all.

That's the lineup for the Tucson Christmas Day table. Across the miles, from California, to Oklahoma, Florida, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, UK, France, and Italy the rest of our family on all sides will celebrate in different circles. But there's no doubt - our large and loving family net holds us all close this holiday, and builds within each of us a spirit that truly is the holiday's most precious gift.

May it be so all around the world. May all people, all religions, all walks of life, stop and remember the important, good messages of this season. Share the good that comes to us! Happy Holidays!

Latkes and Christmas Trees

Leigh (Jewish) and I (Christian) express religion in different ways - 37 years later it still works. Ours is a home where we try to show that diverse spiritual teachings are welcome. And so it was Brett's (fate?) while he was growing up to experience eclectic holidays, drawing on formal religious foundations that were laced with personal interpretation and expression of faith.

Here we are, with Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa coming upon us quickly. The menorah is out. Our very funk-ily beautiful Christmas tree is here. We had an ocotillo made from rusted iron, and it will be re-purposed and visible all year as art.

Importantly, family are on their way to join us in Tucson for a Sonoran holiday celebration. It will be simple yet perfect because it will be shared with family.

When Brett arrives tomorrow we will light the menorah, saying prayers from an old children's book we started using with Brett about 25 years ago. When my sis and bro join us we'll say some more prayers, light more candles and toast family.

Wishing everyone happy holidays and better days ahead. I'll take pictures of our tree and menorah but for now just wanted to send these wishes and blessings.

Viva Local Art

Wishing Tucson Artists Colony much success on the opening tonight. A wonderful addition to our local arts scene.

I was around in the 1970s for the first baby steps of downtown Brooklyn's revitalization -- the local arts community back then was at the core of that revival, working together with independent businesses. And so it is here in Tucson. Tucson Artists Colony is enriching an interesting office/business/artist complex called Placita de la Luna nearby Oracle and Grant. The complex has sustainable features (like water harvesting) as well as professional spaces.

Don't want to sound like an old sage but in the 1970s Brooklyn faced pretty miserable economic times. Plenty of empty storefronts, a lot of negative people sayings the revival wouldn't work. And now look at downtown Brooklyn - million dollar rents; chi chi Williamsburg and Dumbo, people begging to live down there.

Hang in there Tucson. Keep the innovative ideas coming. Government officials, be wise in your decisions. Developers, think sustainability and infill. We can make the magic that happened in Brooklyn happen in our city, too.

Are You Rooted in Place?

A photography exhibit about "place" opened on Congress Street in Tucson on Friday. Do you understand the importance of place -- and how it relates to the collaboration of people, objects, culture, buildings and even open spaces in ways that enliven a community? Yes, in the interest of full disclosure, this fabulous exhibit has much to do with photography by my wonderful husband Leigh. You can read all about the gallery show in its Tucson Weekly city pick story! I'm so proud!

How did I get here from Brooklyn?

Imagine a pony ride in Coney Island (Brooklyn, NY circa 1958), two sisters about 10 and 8 years old. The sisters are wearing the cowgirl shirts and holsters they got for Christmas, and they are in their glory as they "saddle up" on pinto ponies. Their tiny horses get led around the small makeshift corral. The rides, no more than a minute or two, become the basis of lifelong fantasies about cowgirls and horses.

Our mom rode horses as a teenager, and I believe she was happy that her two girls shared her admiration of these animals. Any time a Brooklyn festival or fair offered pony rides, we were there, riding around in tiny circles, talking about the ranch we'd own someday.

My sister and I never got that dream ranch or fantasy ponies, and we never learned how to saddle up in earnest. But our happy memories about a cowgirl-styled life have certainly lived on. The fascination with the west and the cowgirl impacted our tastes and what we believe in. Yes, we're cowgirls of a strange sort.

I guess I've taken this Tucson Cowgirl notion a but further than my sis. Here I am, a New Yorker living in a dusty Tucson. This week I launched the Tucson Cowgirl website. Please take a look. The website is more a tribute than an online crafts shop, but I hope you enjoy the surprise balls and the gift baskets.

I watch those who ride in the washes of our beautiful desert and recall my own pony rides. To my sister, mom and all the cowgirls out there I say, yee-haw!