AfricanKelli

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Wandering

~K

One of the repetitive complains I hear from non-Phoenix natives is, “This town has no culture.” Stucco, suburbs and beige, are a culture — just not one most people want to replicate. The truth is, Phoenix has a growing, fascinating array of cultural exhibits. They simply take getting off the couch to see them. {My friend Amanda regularly emails a weekend update of great events that Mini posts on her blog.}

Dale Chihuly, one of my favorite artists, is currently showing at the Desert Botanical Gardens. I spent several hours today with Dee, wandering the winding paths at the base of the Papago Mountains, admiring these glass beauties. The art seems to be planted with the plants, creating a very trippy garden experience.

The garden is a dashing work of art — cacti from all over the world have been gathered on display, along with many other desert plants.  The waiting list for weddings and parties at the garden pushes two years. It’s a gem of the Valley.

This exhibit is powerful. It is hard to tell if he specifically designed these pieces for the garden, or if they are a general outdoor traveling exhibit. It seems a bit like Dr. Seuss came through with a magic wand (and cat in a top hat). Chihuly’s work made me dizzy. The colors, variety of texture, detail in pieces and incredible shape and size are spectacular.

If this isn’t culture, I’m not sure what is.

~K

Dee and I cruised around the Arizona Center yesterday, enjoying the warm November weather and our time together. She just got a fancy new camera and wanted some pointers. Little did she know my only advice would be, “Shoot a lot. Delete the ones you don’t like.” We had a great afternoon wandering, looking for the details around us and catching up like two gossipy hens.

Now, to carry forward that positivity to this week!
~K

So, I’m thinking this headache I’ve had behind my eyes for the last five days is more than just jet lag. I’ve spent more time during the last week under the covers pinching my eyes shut and praying for relief than I have in years. And I’m pretty sure that time I had the flu. This is just this incredibly annoying pain that refuses to leave, regardless of the copious amounts of aspirin I’ve been inhaling.
Could be the change in weather (official outlook in Phoenix: RIDICULOUSLY HOT). Could be I’ve finally pried myself free of the caffeine demons that have kept me hostage for years (haven’t had any in 8 days, but who’s counting?) Could be Africa trying to tell me to get my butt back home. She misses me. I’m thinking its the latter. Regardless, this is about as whiny as I get and I’m hot. HOT! And my head hurts. And I am really missing being in Africa. (And am trying not to be too worried that maybe one of those stupid tsetse fly bites I got from the elephant safari could mean sleeping sickness. This would explain the headaches.)
Last photos of the adventure:

Check out the toy car this kid fashioned out of trash. Tell me these kids couldn’t kick your student of the month’s butt in ingenuity? Yeah. Pretty sure they could kick my butt too.

Seriously awesome.

Who needs a JoAnn’s for supplies? Not these two village tailors. They put whatever they’ve got to great use, including these sewing machine relics.

And they are pumped by foot.

Gratuitous pretty kid photo. How beautiful are these girls? Stunning!

These guys too!

Thanks again for cheering me along through this adventure. Tomorrow I resume my domestic blogging duties that have been seriously neglected for the last two months. In the meantime, I’ve got a date with some Excedrin and a big bottle of ice water.

Cheers,
K