Monday, January 7, 2008
SKP Saguaro Co-Op, Benson, AZ - Nov 18-Dec 31
Our original plan was to stay here for around 3 weeks, then head out to points west. Shortly before arriving, however, we learned that Gayle, Doug's dad, was thinking about selling his home of the last 40 years and moving to a retirement community. Doug's oldest brother Bob and his wife Paula found a really nice place in Albuquerque, where they live. Needless to say, this was a hot topic of discussion as all three brothers' families met at Gayle's for Thanksgiving. Despite the "hot topic" we all had an excellent time together. 
Willie & I decided to fly out and meet Bob & Paula in Albuquerque, so we could visit La Vida Llena ("the full life"), as it is called. We went on a tour, took many pictures, and found it to be a healthy, friendly environment that we felt Gayle would almost certainly enjoy. We also had a scrumptious lunch with Bob & Paula, then took a pleasant walk with them around the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park before flying back home that afternoon. It was exciting to be "jet-setters" for a day!
Our extended stay here has given us the chance to catch up socially with some of the members of the co-op, as well as take advantage of some of the cultural (& commercial, eg Trader Joe's) aspects of Tucson. This was particularly nice during the Christmas season, which got off to a fine start Dec 2 with two concerts in Tucson: the Reveille Men's Chorus in the afternoon, which was excellent; and the University of Arizona's Holiday Card to Tucson, a free concert given every year by the School of Music which was also superb. 
The Holiday Card has become so popular that they offered two concerts this year. And Benson is not devoid of culture -- the Cochise College Choir presented an excellent concert at a local church, and Doug made his vocal debut singing in the Co-Op's annual Christmas Carol Concert.
There is a good bridge group in Sierra Vista that we have been playing with 1 or 2 times a week, and a group trying to get started in Sunsites, a small community east of here, where the play is erratic but fun. And there is a line-dancing class here 3 times a week where we have introduced a couple of the dances we learned in NM.
We have also been up to visit Gayle, including Christmas day -- we stayed overnight after an enjoyable day of opening presents, chatting, and eating turkey -- and New Year's Day (lots of football). We rang in the New Year at the co-op's big bash the night before, expecting to leave just after the 10pm (New Year's in New York), but wound up staying until after midnight, so fun were the people at our table.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 8:48 PM 
