Palo Verdes, Tubac and Notre Dame

Saturday we spent most of the day in the wash next to the house, cutting the tops out of the Palo Verde trees.  They're a terrible tree, they have sharp spines that rip your flesh, and an unattractive growth pattern.  Large sections of the tree will die, and then you have all of these black branches hanging around.  Jim wielded the 16 foot pole pruner, and I pulled the cord to cut branches.  It's difficult.  Then there was sitting on the rock bank with a pruning saw, cutting off dead branches.  By the end of the day, we both hurt pretty much everywhere.

We made four large bundles of branches for trash pickup.  They're compressed and tied up with twine so they're easier to pick up.  I am starting to really hate Palo Verdes.

I do love my Hopseeds.  They continue to bloom.

Sunday we were still pretty sore, and decided a restorative stroll in Tubac would be a good idea, instead of hiking or the gym.  When we spent winters in the RV park, one of our neighbors had a house built in Quail Creek.  It's an age targeted Robson community.  It's out in the middle of what used to be pecan groves.  It's enormous.  There are several floor plans from which to choose, and options and extra costs abound.  Their motto is "Live Life Inspired."  Look at it, it's everywhere.  On the way to Tubac, we decided to go look at it.

They have set up a model home village.  There were about nine houses that had been built, that you could tour and decide on the one you want.

This model was about 2,600 square feet.  I will say that I give the builder credit for putting in a lot of storage.  Each model has many places to put stuff.

This particular house has a back yard water feature and overlooks the golf course.

Notice the giant trees.  The were large when they were installed.  The surrounding neighborhoods where people actually live have zero trees, they have rocks and some cactus.   The trees make it look nice.  That's fake grass, it looks really good.

I could not live here.  The houses are too close together.  The nearest grocery stores/drugstores/etc. and about 10 miles away in Green Valley, which is another old person ghetto.  The roads have shoulders, so a person could ride, but the ruts and bumps are significant.

After looking at Quail Creek, we continued on to Tubac which was our intended destination.  I do like the chickens.  They're smiling.

If you go to Tubac, you should go to the Graham Bell Gallery.  There is a lot of cowboy photography, works by Edward S Curtis, and photographs from Tibet.  They have some good stuff.  These are pictures of some of the art for sale.  The woman working  there was studiously ignoring us, so I took a quick shot of this.  I love the horse and the flying rider.

This is border patrol north of Tubac, going north.  It was weird, the majority of the cars had Sonoran plates.  The agents working the station were just waving everybody through.  The dog wasn't working, and no one seemed at all interested in anyone.  Usually they pull the Sonoran licensed cars over for special attention.

Last night there was a small sunset.

This morning there were doves on the wall.  They're really pretty.

Later we learned that Notre Dame was on fire.  This is so devastating, especially to the people of France.  I just can not believe this has happened.  The age of it is just staggering.  Many of the trees that were harvested in the 1200's to build the cathedral were 400 years old, the seeds had germinated in the 8th century.  Much was saved, but much was not. I do not know how you rebuild something like this.