Mt. Lemmon

Mt. Lemmon....one of Tucson's gems. One of the parts of this blog that others may find helpful are the places around and near to Tucson that make Tucson such a special place to live. During my course of blogging, I will also snap pics from local areas to give you an idea of what kind of area we have around here. Most people think we are desert and the answer is absolutely....we are the Sonoran Desert to be specific and it is one of the most beautiful desert climates to have around you. But we also have these "sky islands" such as Mt. Lemmon(a 45 minute ride from Tucson) that offers people a break from the hot summer weather. And if you're lucky like I am to have two friends who happen to own a cabin on top....well....instead of roughing it in a tent....you get to sleep on a cushy bed and hang out with some great people:) These past two days I took a break for some inspiration up on Mt. Lemmon. Sometimes when nothing seems to be working....the battle in the garden with plants and money spent on each of the "art pieces" you hope will make it and create a special space....well....sometimes you need to take a break and aborb in Mother Nature and how she did it all....in the Amazon, she is called Pacha Mama. So that is exactly what I did.....the thing that I took from Mt. Lemmon this time was the balance between pockets of trees and empty spaces. Back in 2005, we had a huge fire on top of the mountain that wiped out cabins and lots of trees.....and today, it is quite the view. Fire is a nature's way of cleaning house.....so while it is very sad that about half of our forest was lost....it was also good for the mountain. Today there is new growth all around and it will take time for all the trees and land to recover to what it was in the past. But it is recovering and that is good to see....slow by our human standards....but it is there. This year was the year of the wind and it knocked down a lot of those dead and tall standing trees....leaving hillsides naked.....which brings me to my observation..... Our gardens begin as empty spaces.....there is nothing there but ground...maybe a solitary tree....but we are left to visualize in our minds what that space should look like. On top of Mt. Lemmon in the village of Summerhaven, you can see full spaces(those not touched by fire) and those bare, naked spaces that have nothing....it is interesting to walk from section to section between forest and grassy hillside....once being all forest, now a broken line of landscape....in many ways representing our city block of backyards. It gave me some perspective on what it is to have shade, wildlife, wind blowing through leaves, etc.....and why it is important to fight for and create these spaces that we make special around us. It is worth every penny spent and...oh yeah...our time:) I also remember my friends buying their cabin with two baby apple trees on a steep hillside and thought....impossible....these trees aren't going to last.....and they did. 6 years later they are taller than I am....so things can work if we try it out....it was relaxing, but it also got me more excited about returning back to the garden and getting things going again....sometimes a break is good:)