Tales from the Garden

From 1993-2016, winter was the only season that Uno and I saw the Arivaca area, because that was the only time when we both could fit a long road trip into our work schedules.   The blue skies and warm sun were such a wonderful contrast with the grey cold of Seattle, it didn’t matter one bit that the trees were mostly bare and the grasses brown.   In the early years of our visits though, the trails along Arivaca creek and through the Cienega were lush and green even in March, and we quickly fell in love with this little slice of paradise.      Arivaca cienega in February 2017 As the years passed by, the Cienega and creek gradually grew drier during the winter months, but our appreciation for this place continued to grow strong.   When we first began living in our “winter getaway” home here in 2016, our new Arivaca friends began encouraging us to stick around for the summer monsoon season, when the heavy rains would turn all the hills and valleys “as green as Ireland”.    We listened

As I write this, I have reached the 6-week point in my visit to Seattle this summer.   During that time, I got to experience the very up-side-down phenomena of this whole (pavement-heavy) region’s changing temperatures.     Spending 5 days “in the asphalt oven” at 100+ degrees with high humidity and no wind was difficult to bear, and hearing pleasant “tales of the monsoons” from Uno at home as he enjoyed 80-85 degrees with breezy showers just added to the torture.      A suffering Rhododendron shrub             Needless to say, I was as green as the Arivaca hills with jealousy, and blue with pity as I saw some of Seattle’s renowned greenery turning brown and dry. Thankfully, the “oven” turned off again, and temps have gone back to the typical 75-80 degrees and breezy. But the best part of my visit here is that I have been able to spend much of my time at Magnuson Children’s Garden, a colorful and peaceful oasis that has delighted me for each of the 18 years I have volunteered here.