Tucson in May

I went to Tucson last weekend for Mother's Day, and because my mother had invited me to come see Celtic Woman with her on Monday. On Saturday I spent the day cooking a picnic lunch for Sunday. Here is the menu:

David Lebovitz's Killer App candied peanuts
Individual tartlets with sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions and gruyere cheese
Caramelized onion and goat cheese frittata glazed with reduced balsamic vinegar
Ceviche
Grilled zucchini, herb and olive terrine
Strawberry panzanella with Greek yogurt
Fruit with lemon curd

My parents' neighbor, Cathy Benson, joined us and we drove to Peppersauce Canyon, around the West and back side of the Catalinas. It is a magical place full of monumental sycamore trees where I spent a lot of time in high school. I don't think I had been back in 15 years or more.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the picnic because my other Mother's Day present was to not even ask my mother, who is intensely picture-averse, if I could take one. And I just plain forgot to take pics of the canyon and the food. So you'll just have to trust me that it was a beautiful day.

May is a great time to be in Arizona. Everything is blooming, and this year was an exceptionally good one, especially for the palos verdes.






I especially love how the palos verdes cast "shadows" of blossoms. It's like Andy Goldworthy without the Andy Goldworthy.


The saguaro blossoms had mostly gone but a few remained.

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Staghorn cholla:

Creosote catkins:
Desert willow:
Milkweed (?? This is what Maureen called it; I've never seen this before)


On Tuesday morning I got up very early so I had time to do a little yoga before hitting the road. I went outside, and there were 3 javalinas trotting past on their way to the watering hole: two adults and one juvenile. I ran back inside for my camera and when I returned there were at least 8 of them gathered around drinking. When I tried to get close enough for a picture they heard me and scattered. But a minute later another group came.
The first group had run about 100 feet away and were running around wildly. At first I thought they were still spooked, but it became clear that they were just cavorting and playing ring-around-the-mesquite-tree. A couple of them would break away and play ring-around-the-creosote-bush, then go rejoin the main pack and they would all stamp and snort and start running around again. I'm guessing there were 20 of them all together. I've never seen piggies at play before; it was a perfect birthday present!

The drive from Tucson to LA was pretty peaceful. Weird as it sounds, I really like that drive. Something about all that empty desert puts me in a very quiet frame of mind. Also, I bypassed Phoenix using I-8 to SR 85, something I've never done before, and it made the trip much, much better. Phoenix has nothing to recommend it for driving through, especially at rush hour. Other than paying $4.16 a gallon for gas in Gila Bend and the mother of all dust storms that continued for about 20 miles West of Blythe, the trip was uneventful.

I arrived in West Hollywood just in time for a Manhattan with Dick :-) Here he is in his girly bling-bling shirt:

Dick and Gary in front of their swell new WeHo condo. Doesn't Gary look cute with the goatee?

Wednesday morning I had coffee with Dick at his favorite Starbucks, where everybody knows his name and they serve pastries from LaBrea Bakery (happy me!) then drove up the pretty part of Sunset Blvd, gaping a bit at the amazing houses, before beginning the long and bleak drive that is I-5 through the Central Valley. As much as I love the drive through the empty desert on 10, I hate this drive up the middle of California. Too much traffic, ugly roadside and, of course, Cowschwitz. Bleh. It was a great trip and I'm happy to be home.