It's warming up in Tucson

Temperatures in Tucson are warming up; it was over 80 degrees today. I suspect we'll have a 90-degree day by the first of April. That's the time we'll be leaving for home. I'm flying home with Larisa the Designer Cat on April 4; Art will begin the three-day drive a few days after that.

Here at the Voyager, the end-of-season activities are underway. We have potluck gatherings scheduled for the Reimagining God and Great Decisions groups. A cast party for Guys and Dolls. Friends to help us celebrate St. Patrick's Day by sharing Art's traditional corned beef and cabbage. Dinner with the couple who were our landlords last year. Our handbell group plays next Sunday at the resort's church service and the following night at a concert. I can see the calendar thinning out over the next two weeks. That will be good: I can get the taxes done and spend time sunning at the pool (yes, sunscreen is a good thing). It feels like the end of the school year - busy and bittersweet.

Here's what I love, love, love about this place:

• I can be as busy as I want to be: discussion groups, water aerobics, dinners with friends, conversation conversation conversation, music, art, crafts of all kinds, dance lessons and dances. Sometimes I'm too busy.
• We live well and contentedly in a small space - just 620 square feet including our Arizona room.
• The community is walkable. We can also ride our bicycles. Some people have electric golf carts. 
• We wave to people as we walk, and we say good morning.
• There's a restaurant on the resort and the food is pretty good.
• I can hear trains - and the wind chimes on my deck.
• The terrain is mostly flat, but there are mountains all around. And glorious sunsets.

Here's what I love, love, love about our Washington home:

• I can be almost as busy as I want to be: mediation, water aerobics, coffee or lunch with friends, opportunities to be with my church community, time with family.
• We live well and contentedly in the house that's been home for nearly 20 years, with all the memories that entails. 
• The hills in our neighborhood mean good aerobic exercise, and the espresso stand is a great break at about the halfway point of my neighborhood walk. I haven't had an espresso since we left home on December 3.
• When I see a neighbor I can stop and chat. All ages of neighbors, from the couple up the street who are well into their 80s to the young family next door.
• There are three restaurants within walking distance and the food is pretty good!
• I can hear the sounds of the neighborhood - and the wind chimes when there's a front coming through.

Good places to be, Arizona and Washington. We are blessed.