Wednesday, February 8, 2017

U of AZ Humanities Class "What is Politics"

All days start with a magnificent sunrise




















Off to Tucson and the University of Arizona.  I've walked around the campus a bit


































A forest of palm trees




I am fascinated by the rocks in Arizona.  Not sure what these are.  It is a seriously strong "fence" around a lovely shaded park.































This is one of the buildings for the Arizona State Museum.




Women's Pavilion





Inside each arch is dedicated to someone or some group.




 The bluish circles are glass mosaic titles




The plague below says "Waiting for Grandfather."

 “Every detail has meaning to me because every piece begins deep inside me,” Suazo is quoted in the release commenting about the work. “The young woman is waiting anxiously to see grandfather, to show her baby to him because he has not yet seen the child. The belt around her skirt is like the one my grandmother used to wear. The stair step design at the bottom of the woman’s skirt represents the steps we take in life.”
Of the stair step design, Suazo, a former student of New Mexico sculptor Allan Houser, explains, “A few designs have special meaning to me and so I use them over and over.” The stair step design is one.


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Old Main" a beautiful building

This U of AZ building is called the "Canyon." The undulating walls resemble the sides of a mountain canyon.  The vines that are hanging down are actually butterfly incubators.  The larvae feed on the leaves and come spring, the "canyon: will be full of butterflies.  I'm not sure if we will get to see that.  Our classroom is on the first floor to the right.






This is one half of the classroom. We met a very nice couple from Canada. Chris and Bob.  Chris was a social worker originally from England, with a delightful accent.  Bob  was born in Milwaukee and was an aerospace engineer with Bombardier.  We sit together and discuss what we've read and wonder how we missed all the history presented in class.  We plan to celebrate the end of the class with a dinner somewhere.




















We signed up for this "What is Politics" class because we had such a wonderful class last year (Ever
Changing Brain) from the Humanities organization at U of AZ.  And because we heard a lecture by Professor Noam Chomskey in 2013.  He and Professor Marv Waterstone lead Tuesday and Thursday lectures on the history of democracy and the current challenges.  The class is 250 undergrad students and 250 "older" students in a large classroom with very comfortable seats.  There is a vigorous load of required reading for the students and optional for us.  But it is very interesting reading, very thought provoking.  It keeps us busy keeping up the chapters and articles.  Most valuable was a tape of Eisenhower's Farewell speech warning of a military industrial complex. It is a speech by a great statesman.  It's been a while since we've heard a speech that sounded like a real dedicated leader for our country.


Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Possible 2017 Walsh Family Reunion Craguns Resort, Brainerd, MN

Craguns Resort - 2.5 hours north of Minneapolis

Main Entrance to the 6 bedroom, Cabin  115

Side entrance to cabin 115

Patio facing the lake
Private fire pit on the other side of the patio.  Large picture windows facing the lake


Private side yard - large enough for badminton, soccer
Front of cabin 110
Back of Cabin 110, (2 bedrooms, each with 2 queen beds, 2 baths) balconies overlook the lake.  109 is exactly the same if Tom and Lil want this one.  112 has 3 bedrooms in case that would work for them.  Cabin 111 is already reserved.  All are just to the left of Cabin 115.
 1/4 of really large dinning room
Long table of fruit, salad, raw veggies, cheesy potatoes, veggie alfredo, bbq chicken, breaded fish, rolls, assorted desserts
 Outdoor pool, next to Irma's Restaurant ( food option for lunch) 
Indoor pool next to Cabana Cafe ( food option for lunch)
Sign up for daily activities
Air conditioned Sport Center  Volleyball on one side, tennis on the far side
Basketball hoops, not really a complete court,( complete court outside)  Walking path above
Kayakers on Gull Lake

Pontoon boat rides ($85 for 1 hour for up to 14)
Big sandy beach, swimming area, lots of chairs and picnic tables.

Of course, there was a sail boat, named "Irish Ayes." 


View of the lake side walking path from our lodge room, third floor balcony

Friday, April 1, 2016

Road Home thru New Mexico

We're on our way home to Wisconsin by way of AZ Interstate 10, NM Rte 26 and Interstate 25.

We always watch the radar and try to tiptoe in between storms.  This big cloud is coming at us from the west.
It is hard to see but the rain or snow is drifting down from the bottom of the clouds

 We "flat landers" can sort of predict weather by looking at clouds.  Throw in mountains and all guesses on what will or even is happening are out.
 Some kind of cloud "fallout" across the valley

Snow on the mountains

Clouds are pretty dark.
 So we guessed we might drive into rain, but.....
 Temperature dropped from 52 to 34 and we got snowed on.

No worries.  We made it to Las Vegas, NM.  It's 4:30, temperature back to 48 and the suns out.  Time for a good rest and off to North Platte, Nebraska tomorrow

Last Day Esperanza Estates March 31, 2016

Time to leave for home.  We had a wonderful Feb and Mar here in Green Valley, Esperanza Estates.
Mr Cardinal visited often.
Mrs Cardinal posed for this close up.
Mortimer and Millicent Mourning doves paused for a drink in the fountain. 

3 rose bushes in full bloom
It will be a long time till roses bloom in Wisconsin
Even the climbing rose has a good start
The pink roses smelled sooooo good.

Prickly cactus plant is hard to love except when it blooms
Soooo God designed an infinite variety of cacti and added delicate, colorful flowers for each one!!!
Last evening we had a cloud performance, over the mountains...

in the sky....
variety of colors....



Jim said this looked like white icing on a cake
This big old scary cloud even had a swirl and we heard thunder.  No rain and no wind though
Last sun beams.  Good bye 941 Calle del Regalo.  This town home is now up for sale.  We met the owner in 2013 and 2014.  She died suddenly in Sept 2015 and her sister will sell this unit.  So we celebrated Sandra's love of roses while we were there and said good bye to the special home she used when she didn't rent it to snow birds.    Home to Wisconsin.