Playing House in Tucson, Arizona

December 18th, 2007

We are settled into Lee and Joyces' house in West Tucson out in the Saguaros. We are house sitting for almost a month and taking care of their 12 week old yellow lab Tess (AKA Leaky Cauldron) and her Uncle Tack (who holds his water just fine). We spread out like wild fire once we parked the pop-up, and could actually each have our own bed if we wanted. Chris and Teslin just went back to the Amherst area for a week for Teslin's birthday, while Cassidy and Anny went into SE Arizona to go birding. Alas, the birders were victims of a rare southern Arizona "winter" storm with much rain, wind and some snow, but still saw an amazing array of birds (13 life birds for Cassidy), and met some wonderful folks. More on that to come.....

The holiday season is as surreal when traveling as it is when you have a permanent home, but it is somewhat easier to ignore the ugliness. We are trying to focus on some of the amazing inequities in our society, the casualties of our capitalist way of life, and the need to give back something to those who have less. The kids and us are all talking on how to make that happen here in Tucson. This whole trip has been a gift to our family- seeing the country, being outside, being together, and NO WORK! Mexico is just around the corner as we contact language schools and potential volunteer sites in Oaxaca. We're getting the car and trailer fine tuned for the southern journey. If anyone has ideas of agencies or NGO's that are active in Oaxaca, Chiapas or the Yucutan, please let us know.

Much love to you all over these days. We realize how many great people we have moved on from and this season of gatherings makes the distance seem greater. Wishing you all peace and serenity and JOY!
The Roving Ruges