In the Mission Garden – A Time of Reflection

March 4, 2011 by 10 Comments
Garden, Mission San Xavier del Bac

In the Garden © 2011 Bo Mackison

Today marks the first month of my two month stay in Tucson. The “Bo Goes Solo” experiment, to my great relief, has been a quite a success. I think I could become a desert rat with ease, though to be honest, I’ve only experienced the beauty of spring and nearly perfect weather. I would probably be talking a different story if I was here when the temperatures hit 100˚ and stay there for weeks at a time.

I look back at the last month in amazement. While the world has been spinning and Madison has been on the news day after day, I’ve been spending a lot of time sitting in gardens. I spend much of that time taking photographs, but I also take time to simply sit and absorb. Every place has its own space, its own mood. I’ve spent time in reflection in mission gardens, in the great solitude of the desert at mid-day, atop a mountain accompanied by the constant chirping of migratory birds who are stopping here temporarily.

I’m getting to know a different habitat and the different creatures that live here. I’ve gotten accustomed to visits from the javelina. First, one adult made the rounds at dusk. Now I often see the mom and dad with their two offspring. I’m not fond of the adults’ appearance, though the baby javelinas are cute in an ugly kind of way.

I hear the coyotes singing at night and have seen a few on my desert walks. The road runner I saw when I first arrived hasn’t run past my door again, but other birds are plentiful — several species of hummingbirds, Gambel’s quails,  finches, woodpeckers, even a glimpse of a mountain bluebird.

So I celebrate today, the day “in the middle”, privileged to have spent the first month learning how to “be solo”, and delighted to have the next month to continue my explorations. I’ll also be printing my new collection of desert and mission photographs for the next art fair at the end of the month. I am truly grateful for this time in the desert.

This photograph was taken in a small courtyard garden at Mission San Xavier del Bac, a most remarkable place.

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Bo Mackison is living in Tucson for two months, exhibiting her photography in art shows, taking photographs, and blogging about photography, art fairs, and living life “solo.”  There are many gifts to find when one takes the time and opportunity to seek.

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Last Minute Details

February 4, 2011 by 14 Comments
Capitol Building in Packer Green and Gold

Wisconsin’s Capitol in Packer Green and Gold © 2011 Bo Mackison

This date has been circled on my calendar for the last ten months.

Today is departure day–Madison to Tucson, a 30 hour drive. We should arrive sometime on Monday.

My last to-do list includes:

  • Say goodbye to my neurotic cat, and the house sitter who is doubling as the neurotic cat sitter.
  • Recheck (for the fifth time) the camera gear bag, the computer equipment, the two suitcases holding four seasons worth of clothes, and all the other things I’m certain I can’t live without for two months, including a plastic milk crate filled with books.
  • Recheck the bubble wrapped art, and the trailer that will carry that art half way across the country.

Google Map indicates it will take 5 hours and 9 minutes to reach our first destination in western Iowa, but it does not appear to factor in drifting snow or icy patches on the roads. If all goes according to schedule, we should be snug in our hotel room by 7:30 this evening, give or take an hour.

Well, not too snug. A belt in the washing machine snapped while I was doing a load of laundry during the blizzard. Since no repairman would venture to my house before tomorrow, I’m bringing along a plastic garbage bag full of still damp, still dirty clothes. I will get to practice my motel laundry skills, first night out.

In another life, the broken washing machine and the inability to pack clean, folded clothes into my suitcase would have upset me. But not in my going-to-Tucson life. Dirty laundry didn’t rank high enough to make the worry list. It did make the how-do-I-solve-this-with-the-least-amount-of-effort list. So far, so good.

Last night I took a final trip downtown to check out the State Capitol. The dome is specially illuminated this week in Packer green and gold in honor of the Green Bay Packers. They are playing in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday. It’s not an event that happens with much frequency, so I wanted to capture the Capitol in all its Packer glory before I left town.

Madison is a wonderful city. I’ll happily return when the tulips are in bloom.

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Share Bo’s Excellent Adventure as she writes about living in Tucson. Her mantra is “Bo goes solo!”

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The Beginning: Solo in Tucson

February 3, 2011 by 24 Comments
Frozen in Frozen Custard Land

Frozen © 2011 Bo Mackison

I am a woman of a certain age, raised in a certain time and of a certain generation.

And like so many woman my age, I have seldom been on my own. On those few occasions when I did travel alone, I was only away from my home and husband for a few days at a time. I have never lived on my own, except for the six months between my college graduation and my marriage. And even then, I had a roommate.

For the last couple of years, Sherpa and I have traveled to the Southwest for two weeks in the winter.  And truly, the sun sent a feeling of newness through my body and soul. I felt alive and awake in the Arizona sunshine. And I felt disheartened as I realized how I struggled through the many weeks of late winter in Wisconsin, year after year, unable to appreciate or fully take advantage of each new day.

After our return to the Midwest from our Southwest travels last February, I began having dreams starring little snowy birds as the main characters. These birds flew to Arizona each night, waving goodbye to me, while trilling, “Don’t worry. We’ll be back when the tulips start to bloom.” Gradually my dream changed – I became the snow bird in the dream. And I flew away to Arizona, sweetly singing, “See you in April!”

Week after week passed and I dreamed of living in Tucson, and I kept muttering to myself, “It’s JUST a dream! Get over it!”

This month, that all changes. Tomorrow Sherpa and I will drive to Tucson, where I have rented a very small condo for the next two months.  Sherpa has obligations in Wisconsin, and to boot, he rather likes winter. He will be returning to Wisconsin. And I have a couple of obligations in Arizona. First, Seeded Earth Studio and I will be exhibiting my photography in at least two, possibly three, art fairs in the Tucson area from early February to early April. And second, I want to prove to myself that I can live alone for those two months.

It’s a pretty big challenge for me. I am excited; I’m also a little worried.

I will be blogging about my experience, and I hope you will join me as I share the adventures of Bo as she establishes herself as an artist in Arizona, and as she learns the skills necessary to survive, contentedly, in a very small condo in a place that doesn’t see much winter!

Bo Goes Solo!  In Tucson!

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Bo Mackison is the owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. She is living in Tucson for the next eight weeks, taking daily opportunities to visit deserts and desert gardens while practicing her photography, and blogging about learning to live on her own. Share Bo’s Excellent Adventure as she writes about living in Tucson, solo!

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