Cactus, Mountains, Friends, Family - Home

I just came home tonight from spending a three-day weekend in Tucson with my good friend, Babette. She and I go back a long way (to the late 1960's), had lost touch for awhile, but now try to visit every year or so. And we had a great time. Drank wine, hung out, laughed a lot. All good things.

Back in the late 60's the cool thing to do was wear a piece of yarn in your hair that matched your outfit. And we were nothing if not cool! Yes, we've aged - but we still have our cool moments. The photo below is at my 60th birthday party. Babette came up from Tucson to join in the surprise.

We had a great time this weekend and I saw many parts of Tucson that were new to me. The city has really grown up. Since my dad moved from Tucson to Chicago in 2002, I had only been back twice. But I think that will change now and I look forward to more frequent visits. It's still my "home" and there is a different feeling there - something safe and solid. The mountains are still incredible and the desert is still beautiful. My history is there, I still have family there, and Babette is there.

I find the older I get, the more I cling to those friends who knew me in the "old days", who share portions of my history with me, who know the changes I've gone through.