Adventure 832: Day 55/Tucson/2023

Speaking of deep thoughts. Pastor Harrington asked this question in her sermon today: "What do you want people to say about you at your funeral?" And to break the silence she made some joke I can't remember, but her basic message had each of us who claim to be Christians asking, "What is your relationship with Jesus? Who do you say he is? How does He fit into he context of my life?"  Pretty deep stuff, which most of us deflect with smaller, less serious stuff like paying off last month's cribbage debt. The Wiley Cager had to pull out her credit card at the Locale Bakery where we had a couple of pastries and a mocha. I think we both felt like winners. In the afternoon, we went down to the U of A campus to take in the book fair, a colossal event where we mingled with four or five thousand like minded folks. It reminded me of a bicycle trip we took a few years back. We rode the Underground Railroad trail from Mobile, Alabama some fifteen hundred miles up North to Archbold, Ohio where Kelvin (Kelbabe) Friesen lives. On the way, in some tiny rural town in Alabama, Judy and Deb went into a local grocery store looking for a book to read. On the way in Judy and Deb asked two young high school girls if they had any books. They replied, "No, Ma'am." On the way out, Deb overheard the girls mutter, "Books, Hoo!" as if it was the height of certain insanity to read. Those two girls may have held a poor opinion of books, but the people we mingled with today hold a different opinion. In fact, I saw one caption on a T-shirt that read: "So many books, so little time." After the book fair, we toured one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tucson, the Barrio Viejo, which is a few blocks Southeast of downtown. I wish I could go back in time to experience it as a vibrant neighborhood. As it is, it's slowly being gentrified, which is very cool. I guess my deep thought for today is that as I age I tend to see more value in the past. It still doesn't answer the deepest questions, but one thing is sure: Life is good, especially today.

Deb and Ed Drouin found this  pleasant spot. 

Winning tastes so good.

Besides authors talking about their books, the entire campus was filled with activity. Everything from music to food, and of course a score of tents full of all kinds of books.

Dancers all of kinds performed. There were cultural performances that ranged from Mexican traditional dances to Irish clogging.

This girl, who hid in plain sight, may have been from the rural South.

We walked several blocks that featured fabulous metallic art.

This is an example of the the housing in the Barrio Viejo.

And of course, there were books.

Hooo!