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- Preparing For The Hike
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- My dad and mom on the trail, Sabino Canyon, Tucson
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- My Parents: Harry (age 85) and Elsie (age 83) after we hiked at Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona
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- Ocotillo Blossom
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- Mom’s “Rail Fence” Quilt
I visited my parents in Tucson, Arizona, where they spend the winter months away from the snowstorms of their home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As usual, we went hiking. I told them I wanted “photographic evidence” to document them in their vibrant and active life.
As we took walks and hikes, some leisurely and some more challenging, I savored the time with them. On a perfect 80- degree day, with a cooling breeze, I spotted a beautiful ocotillo blossom against the cerulean sky. My mother had commented several times on how dry things were, that the desert was in a drought and the usual spring flowers were dormant. Yet, here was this bright blossom. It was a rare spot of color against the arid landscape, and I relished it, as I enjoyed a perfect day of weather, a beautiful hike, and the sight of my elderly parents taking their time on the trail, helping each other along, enjoying life together.
In a couple of weeks they will return home. My father will resume his medical practice, and my mom will continue cranking out quilts and needlepoints “like a factory”, as she puts it. Although they have retired from the snow, they have hardly retired.
