JoanWink.com

Dear WinkWorld Readers,

In the last WinkWorld, I wrote only about how my health improved in the last year.  In this post, I want to share some of the many activities I have enjoyed in January and February while in Tucson.  Wink and I keep reading about the importance of social interaction–particularly as we age.  I often notice that I have more human connections in Arizona in a week than I do in a month in South Dakota.

While in Tucson, we stay in our townhouse.  Our community is exceptional. None of us knew each other before we came here.  We all tend to watch over each other, support each other, and accept our many differences.   For example, here we are getting into the “birthday bus” to celebrate a neighbor’s birthday.

Christmas on the Desert

We had a good time together, in spite of the fact that 7 of the 10 of us had flu/food poisoning.

At the Desert Museum

Beauty and the Beast

I enjoyed the live performance by Art Express so much that I went twice! The soaring music and the home-grown desert thespians were pure magic. The photos below were taken at the two different performances.

The Music of ABBA

Not the original singers, but the music of ABBA never fails.  I spent most of the evening dancing and singing. Great fun! The woman on the left is our next-door neighbor and dear friend, Ro.  The woman on the right?  I have no idea who she is, but we had fun dancing together.

Birding at Sweetwater Wetlands Park

I didn’t even know about this treasure on the NW side of Tucson.  Brian Vanderberg and Sharon Biegen took me there. My favorite birds were a Vermilion Flycatcher and a Summer (red) Tanager.

The Art of Hank Willis Thomas

University of Arizona Museum of Art

Absolutely amazing! It was breathtaking and very sobering. I had never heard of him,  and now I will never forget him.

Reading and Writing

While here in Tucson, I continue to love reading–historical fiction is my favorite, followed closely by any book about elephants.  I am also focused on banned books, as I prepare for the great Tucson Festival of Books.  My writing during the last couple of months includes an oral history project with the University of Arizona, and another one with California State University, Stanislaus.  I also continue to write weekly for my StoryWorth project. Dawn and I are working on a project about Dr. James Cummins. I am thankful for the internet, which allows me to continue to connect on ZOOM and learn with different groups of friends: one on literacy, one on mentoring, several on books, and, of course, my dear Rogue in Motion which makes sure that I continue to learn with my Parkinson’s friends.  The more I learn, the less afraid I am.

Best Super Bowl Photo

The Eagle above the Philadelphia Museum of Art (and Rocky’s famed steps).  Our granddaughter’s & her friend, Erin’s apartment window looks directly down on this magnificent view.

Betty Jay

Soon I will be home to help my dear  AngelMama celebrate her 99th birthday.

And, when I get back to the ranch, I  will be back to go read with my treasured country school kids.

Desmond Tutu, South African Anglican clergyman

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

(said before 1986)

https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00016497