Steven’s visit

My brother Steven and his family came to visit in December.

Here’s John giving the grand tour of our front yard. Be sure not to miss this amazing attraction on your next visit to Tucson! Apparently we’ve got some interesting specimens of palms and cactus.

Steven’s goal was to hike in the desert. The rest of the family – maybe not so much! We all enjoyed the first hike, for the most part.

The second hike – maybe not so much.

When Steven’s family visited, they tended to do most things together, unlike when my kids visit and we often do things in pairs or small groups, and not everyone goes on each outing. Doing most of the activities as a large group resulted in a certain amount of necessary compromise. It also resulted in an odd mix of activities as we accommodated different people, of different ages, with different interests.

For example, I bet you’ve never seen a microbiology professor challenge the household puppy to timed trials of puppy puzzles. Yes indeed, a PhD scientist takes on the dog. Who can find the treats fastest?

I don’t actually know how this game came about, because I had briefly stepped out of the room for something. When I got back, this was happening! Seriously, what? Have you ever seen somebody so intent on solving a puppy puzzle?

These puzzles are designed to teach dogs reasoning skills. You hide dog treats in them and the puppy has to figure out how to get the treats out. For Steven, we used popcorn kernels. He seemed plenty enough motivated without an immediately edible reward.

They kept score and everything. Three rounds, each of the 4 puzzle toys in each round, Biska (dog) vs Steven (Dad).

Yes, my brother won and my puppy lost. Biska’s motivation declined after awhile, so I think that’s why she lost. Although it’s probably a good thing that my brother beat my dog at the puppy puzzles. Otherwise, I don’t know what I’d think! I mean, I guess either way I wouldn’t know what to think.

You could wonder whether we were adequately feeding our guests, as motivated Steven was by those popcorn kernels, lol. But of course with visitors from up north, we made sure to go out for Mexican food.

Now that’s how to spend December. A warm, sunny courtyard, the table spread with spicy food, sitting around talking with family. That’s the life for me.

It wasn’t Christmas yet, but preparations were well underway. Here we are making toffee with three different kinds of nuts.

Mmmmm…

High on our list was the Desert Museum, which is pretty much a must-see in Tucson. Don’t worry if you don’t like museums. It’s misnamed, in my opinion, and is more like a botanical garden plus walking safari than a museum. Most of it is outdoors. They have a raptor show that’s awesome.

I was too busy staring at the birds to take any pictures, but John took a few quick snapshots. The pictures don’t do it justice. It was really neat to be able to see the birds flying wild and up close.

One low-key but fun activity we did one afternoon was pick pecans. There is a local park that contains a section of an old, abandoned pecan orchard. The trees are slowly dying due to old age and lack of irrigation, but some are still producing pecans. The public can just come and pick them. Free pecans within walking distance from our house!

We bought a couple of fruit harvesters just for the pecan trees. They are a metal claw and bucket on the end of a long pole. And what kid doesn’t like to climb trees?

One night John, Adrienne and I went to a painting class.

For some reason I didn’t feel like painting the big trees in the foreground; I just added a scrawny tree and a couple snags and bushes along the edges. It was just the mood I was in.

And here’s the lineup:

As usual, the pictures are too bright for my taste. They’re fun to paint but not really something you’d want to hang. Adrienne didn’t even bother take hers home; I can’t imagine why not!

These classes are fun, but now that omicron is peaking (it’s January as I write this), we haven’t been going to the painting classes anymore. It’s just too long in a small room with strangers, and not everyone wears a mask. Sometimes the classes are held outside, but it’s inconsistent and impossible to know whether it’s going to be inside or not. So this was the last one we’re going to go to for awhile, until the pandemic is in a better place. It’s great that it’s no longer as deadly, but it’s just so contagious right now – just rampant. Meanwhile, I got some acrylic paints for Christmas, so I’m going to start painting at home.

Remember when I bought a handpan recently? I haven’t done much with it yet. I’m just slowly trying to learn how to play it. Turns out Steven is a natural. He has more musical training (and talent) than I do. He just sat down and started playing like an expert, even though he’d never seen a handpan in his life.

The little green sticker on his shirt is from the local botanical garden. It was a short visit, but we kept busy!

Here’s a few final hiking pictures.

We had a great time!

Tired of the rain, snow and cold? Come visit us! Don’t wait for an invitation – if you’re reading this, you have one. (I can say that because this blog hasn’t been discovered, lol.)

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com