Tucson hipsters on a rainy day

Posted on March 1, 2014 by sheilawill

Not us, that’s for sure. I’m a former pseudo-hippy, which is different from a hipster. I’ve wanted to try Five Points Market for breakfast. So we went there. Maybe a rainy day — so unusual in Tucson — invites trying something new.

Five Points Market is definitely for hipsters. And so they came. Better yet, it’s in a part of town that needed a gathering place. Young hipsters in tiny shorts and boots, beautiful couples with matching babies and toddlers, a group of lesbians or just girls with many tattoos, bicyclists, a few older folks like us.

The new Five Points Market

The new Five Points Market

 

photo-179

Our food was yummy. I had breakfast salad: roasted winter squash with slivers of chili peppers, covered with super-fresh eggs, a side of winter squash puree to smush over it all. Got it? Accompanied by arugula salad. Dan had breakfast toast: a half-piece of multigrain toast topped by a lovely pink chili chutney and a layer of  fried eggs.

I thought the place was expensive but worth trying. Coffee was $3 with only one refill!  Still, we had an interesting conversation about race as a social construct, the rise and (I think) fall of anti-Semitism and who crossed the Bering Strait.

Unfortunately, I had to kill a bothersome fly. Ick. Nothing is perfect.

Tucson’s weather usually is perfect at this time of year. All those sunny days without the extreme heat. But this rainy day was a good time to drive through areas of Tucson I haven’t often seen. My man accommodated me. We zig-zagged through the old barrio, Armory Park and Miles neighborhoods.

one of the colorful redone adobe buildings in Armory Park

one of the colorful redone adobe buildings in Armory Park

Yup, a lovely time was had by all.

 

Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, Food/happy hours | 7 Comments

Girl on a fast bike…

Posted on February 23, 2014 by sheilawill

That’s not me. I can walk fast. I still have a small waist. I dream about being in good shape for another 20 years, traveling, keeping up with my daughter walking fast across Manhattan, hiking in the desert.

photo 1

Recently, I read about a study in which men said women are old at 68 (this June for me). Women called men old at 75. That’s a bullshit study. Who did they ask, people over 65? AARP starts hawking people the moment they turn 50.

I still don’t feel old. (I recall a colleague who I worked with in my 20s telling me that women over 60 are invisible.)

I’ve had to adjust my outlook on retirement. The only way I’ll be able to travel is if I keep working. I like my job. I get to hone my writing skills and talk with interesting people. I eat lunch outdoors, looking at bougainvillea and the Catalina Mountains.

Retirement is not a kind word for many baby boomers. We can’t afford to stop working, which requires a change in mindset, at least for me. But when I moved to Tucson 11 years ago at age 56, I felt semi-retired. Constant sunshine. Swimming in the pool in March. No grading papers all evening. Ahhhhh…not too shabby.

Anyway, what would I do all day if I retired? I’m not a stay-at-home type. I would read a lot of books. Maybe. I would work on my own writing. Maybe. I would hike all the time. Maybe.

Visiting with my accountant the other day helped me see reality.

This morning we had a delicious breakfast at the B-Line. We hiked in the Tucson Mountains where the sunny yellow brittlebush will soon cover the desert.

Although I won’t be “retiring” anytime soon, I’m on the right path.

photo 2

Posted in Baby Boomers, Bopping Around Tucson, Nature Girl | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Book People

Posted on February 15, 2014 by sheilawill

I’ll admit it. I wish I knew a way to get our book available on Kindle or Nook or whatever all those devices are called.  But we won’t go so far as selling “A Certain Slant of Light. Emerging from the Shadows of Mental Illness” on amazon.com. They’re “predators.” Maybe even more important to me — they’re not book people.

I’ve been there, having owned Oz Books for 15 years in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Book people can be more helpful than therapists by suggesting reading that may take you out of yourself. Voila! Problems solve themselves through story, escape or  empathy with someone else’s realization.

Book people can become good friends. When they recommend a book you love,  you want to hang out with them. Plus, they take the time to listen.

I always appreciated a customer thanking me for a book suggestion. It was a kick when someone would return to OZ, telling me I was “the source of all knowledge.”

“A Certain Slant of Light…” has a lot to offer to so many people who have limited understanding of mental illness. If anyone knows how to turn our important little book into an ebook, short of getting a commercial publisher, please let me know. Also looking for that one Oprah-like acknowledgement to get our book national publicity. All ideas welcome!

Meanwhile, although I don’t usually care for Broadway in Tucson productions, the “Wizard of Oz” is opening next week. I’ll be there. And there’s the Tucson Festival of Books, March 15-16.

Once a book person, always a book person.

Posted in Mental illness, Tucson Festival of Books/good books | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cabin fever in Tucson

Posted on February 6, 2014 by sheilawill

Yeah, poor me. I’ve escaped from Downeast Maine ice storms, snow piled so high I couldn’t open my garage door. Thirty years ago I was a commercial for Mt. Desert Island — expounding on its beauty to anyone who would listen.

But here I am in sunny Tucson, although it’s been pretty cloudy this past week. Maybe that’s why I feel that February restlessness, cabin fever as we New Englanders call it. Maybe it’s because yesterday was a year that I returned from Istanbul, the first time in my long life I ever traveled to another country alone. Adventure, intrigue, money well spent!

Maybe I’m restless because my writing group’s important, very satisfying project is complete. “A Certain Slant of Light. Emerging from the Shadows of Mental Illness” was published by Our Place Clubhouse on Jan. 17 (order at ourplaceclubhouse.org). Our book launch that night was spectacular. More than 200 people showed up. Ethan was there too!

Dan, Erica,Julie, Ethan, Me, Gabe

Dan, Erica,Julie, Ethan, Me, Gabe

This morning I went to Antigone Books and persuaded them to place copies of our book on their recommended table at the front of the store. That felt good.

I went to Zumba this morning. In the locker room two women were talking about “the last time I was in Bangkok” and “did you go to the Phnom Penh museum?” One admitted she had to return two years later to see the golden Buddha.

Island-hopping in Greece has been on my mind, to the point of considering a trip with three Tucson women friends. Missed that opportunity, not that I can afford it. No big travel plans ahead.

I was so looking forward to the recently engaged Ethan and Steph’s visit last month. We hiked. We talked. We ate. We drank. Then they were gone and I was sad. We’ll be going to Minneapolis in late August for their engagement party.

Steph and Ethan at the Stone House on the David Yetman trail

Steph and Ethan at the Stone House on the David Yetman trail

So I made the plane reservations for my annual trip to Southwest Harbor. I’ll be stopping in Austin on my way to see Ethan and Steph. Never been there before. How lucky I am. Vacation, life by the sea, family and old friends!

Southeast Asia isn’t high on my list of places to go but I’ve been enjoying following the itinerary of my old friend/colleague Susan and her husband, Hector. Clearly they’re on the 2 1/2 month trip of a lifetime, but they’re adventurous enough to go for another. Isn’t this amazing?

SUSAN & HECTOR’S TRIP ITINERARY:

  • 1/6 – Concord Trailways bus to Boston; overnight in Boston
    1/7– British Air flight from Logan to London Heathrow
    1/8- arrive London 5:55 AM; overnight in London
    1/9– mid-morning transfer from London to Southampton; 6 PM sailing on MS Rotterdam
    1-10 & 1/11 – at sea
    1/12 – Lisbon, Portugal
    1/13 – Gibraltar
    1/14 – Malaga, Spain (Malaga to Granada for full-day tour of Alhambra)
    1/15 & 1/16 – at sea
    1/17 – Valletta, Malta
    1/18 – at sea
    1/19 – Kusadasi, Turkey (full-day tour of Ephesus ruins with lunch in mountain town)
    1/20 – Piraeus (Athens), Greece; disembark ship; fly to Heraklion, Crete to meet Lina & her family; overnight in Heraklion hotel
    1/21 – tour Crete with Lina; reboard ship at 5 PM
    1/22 – at sea
    1/23 – Suez Canal transit
    1/24 – 1/27 – at sea
    1/28 – Salalah, Oman (full-day tour)
    1/29 – at sea
    1/30 & 1/31 – Muscat, Oman
    2/1 & 2/2 – at sea
    2/3 & 2/4 – Mumbai, India 2/5 – Mormugao (Goa), India 2/6 – at sea 2/7 – Colombo, Sri Lanka 2/8, 2/9 & 2/10 – at sea 2/11 – Phuket, Thailand 2/12 – Penang (Pulau Pinang), Malaysia 2/13 – Port Klang (Kuala Lumpur), Malaysia 2/14 – Singapore (disembark ship; end of 37-day cruise) 2/14 – 2/16 – Singapore hotel 2/16 – fly to Bangkok, 5:25 PM 2/16 – 2/18 – Bangkok
    2/18 – fly to Hanoi, 2:45 PM
    2/18 – 2/19 – Hanoi, Vietnam
    2/20 – Ha Long Bay, Vietnam
    2/21 – 2/24 – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2/24 – 3/3 – Mekong River cruise on 24-passenger ship (sleep on ship with shore tours during day)
    Feb. 25: Cai Be–Sa DecFeb. 26: Chau Doc–Cambodian Border CrossingFeb. 27: Phnom PenhFeb. 28: Phnom Penh–Prek Bang Kong, CambodiaMarch 1: Wat Hanchey–Angkor BanMarch 2: Prek Dam–Konpong Louang–Kampong TralachMarch 3: Siem Reap (Disembarkation)
    3/3-3/5 – Siem Reap hotel
    3/5 – 3/8 – fly to Laos; spend 3 days in Luang Prabang, Laos
    3/8 – fly to Bangkok
    3/8 – 3/11 – Bangkok
    3/11 – 3/14 – open days in Thailand (no plans yet)
    3/14 – fly from Bangkok to Tokyo
    3/14 – 3/15 – Tokyo
    3/16 – fly to Boston
    3/17 – return to Southwest Harbor
    Oh Susan, please have a slide show this summer!
    Meanwhile, I dream of bicycling around the lavender fields of Provence in June 2015. But I can’t wait that long.
Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, Mental illness/civil rights, Mount Desert Island/Maine, The Rest of the World | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Musing on the new year: How green is my desert!

Posted on January 2, 2014 by sheilawill

Photos don’t do the Sonoran desert justice, especially on a lovely 70-degree blue-sky day like today, the first of the new year. While hiking in Saguaro National Park West I tried to capture images of the  grass surrounding the Saguaros (with all their fun personalities). Parts of the desert inclines looked like rock gardens laced with lush color. In some places it looked as green as the Emerald City of Oz, which was sorta confusing here in Tucson. Although it had rained some in recent months.

Ocotillos leafing out...

Ocotillos leafing out…

I needed a day off from working. We started with breakfast at Mother Hubbard’s. All dishes were accompanied by free sides of collard greens and black-eyed peas to celebrate the new year. Yum.

Then we drove to the Tucson Mountains in Saguaro National Park West for a hike. I haven’t been out there much; our three-mile hike was perfect. As I was thinking of Woody Guthrie’s 33  “rulins” for the new year that Brook posted yesterday, we came upon # 26: Dance Better.

Shake it up baby...twist and shout.

Shake it up baby…twist and shout.

Maybe I’ll take up tap dancing again? Met someone at a party last night who said Gene Kelly’s niece, or granddaughter, lives in Tucson and teaches tap!

I don’t have any set resolutions. More hiking. Most important is Kurt Vonnegut’s one rule, “God Damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”

I live with a kind man. He’s from the Midwest. Maybe I was thinking of us when we came across these cozy Saguaros.

Saguaro couple

Saguaro couple

After our hike I had a craving for a beer and wings, which doesn’t happen very often. We went to the Red Garter. I feel lucky on this first day of the new year. My kids are doing well. There’s love in our family.

Sitting at the bar scarfing down saucy wings, sipping on cold beers was relaxing. The Rose Bowl football game was on TV. I wasn’t paying much attention. I was thinking about stopping to smell the roses more this year. Our bill said “bar couple” at the top. We chuckled.

Happy New Year to all! May your desert and/or your garden grow well!

Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, Nature Girl | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Getting ready for the celebration!

Posted on December 29, 2013 by sheilawill

Many celebrations are coming up!  2014 awaits! “A Certain Slant of Light. Emerging from the Shadows of  Mental Illness” signing and reception on Friday, Jan. 17 from 5-7 p.m. at Our Place Clubhouse, 66 E. Pennington St. But most of all I can’t wait for Ethan and Steph’s visit to Tucson over Martin Luther King Day weekend. Newly engaged at our Southwest Harbor home last weekend — actually the proposal took place at our adored spot by the ocean, the Wonderland path in Acadia National Park — I just want to hug them both. I want to see Steph’s ring that Ethan picked out by himself.

So I needed to check out Tucson eating establishments to wine and dine the happy couple. I asked Facebook friends, who came up with myriad suggestions. We’ve decided on 47 Scott downtown, which should be quiet, and has been commended by the New York Times for its inventive cocktails.

Eating is important. I’ve also decided on Hacienda del Sol for happy hour on Sunday. It’s the prettiest Tucsony spot in the foothills by the Catalina Mountains..

Then there are hiking spot to consider. Today we walked along the Yetman trail to the stone house in the Tucson Mountains.

At the stone house. framed by the Tucson Mountains in the background

At the stone house. framed by the Tucson Mountains in the background

Hiking is a great way to visit, especially during our glorious Tucson winter, and especially when so much of the engagement celebration relies on eating. I’ll suggest a hike in each of our three local mountain ranges — the Yetman trail in the Tucson Mpuntains; Sabino Canyon in the Catalinas, since Steph has never been there; and Douglas Spring trail in the Rincons.

Whenever we’re hiking after a hiatus from being in the desert it’s hard to believe I don’t go more often. Maybe after three hikes with Ethan and Steph in a few weeks, we’ll want to celebrate 2014 by hiking more ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Posted in Bopping Around Tucson, Family Matters, Nature Girl | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I’m happy

Posted on December 15, 2013 by sheilawill

Everybody’s talking about happiness, even doing research on it. The New York Times jumped onto the happywagon today, looking at studies over four decades. Duh. Faith, family, community and work matter most. Believing in something such as the magical beauty of trees. Knowing that my two amazing children have taught me so much about life.  And still, after being away from Mt. Desert Island for 11 years, my attachment to that community is intact.

Fifty percent of our ability to be happy stems from genetics. I can’t remember the other 38 percent that’s super-important. Gratefully, there’s 12 percent left over that we can mess with that contributes to happiness. The big “surprise” in the NYT study is how great an effect work has on our lives. I like my job where I mostly interview interesting people. I write. I edit. I’m known as the “ruthless cutter.” It’s fun.

But what I’ve always known about myself: Messing with my own ideas brings the greatest happiness. I suppose that’s creativity. Or independence, being in charge of my own work. Fighting wimpyness. I’ve always believed that I’m capable of doing anything (I can’t imagine it has anything to do with my genetics).

Image

“We can do it!” says Rosie the Riveter. My good friend Phyl sent me these socks last week.

But there’s anxiety (definitely genetic) that comes with wanting a project to be perfect. I need to take care of everything. A motherly attachment, perhaps. Haven’t  felt such anxiety in a long time. I’m about to birth to “A Certain Slant of Light: Emerging from the Shadows of Mental Illness” with the Our Place Clubhouse Thursday Writing Group. It’s thrilling. And I love the group’s kindness, appreciation and friendship.

I’ve been waking at 5:32 a.m. most mornings this past month. I worry about having everything done in time for publication, or I decide to change or include a citation on the title page. What about the acknowledgements, have I left anyone out?

Back to happiness and my current dilemma balancing creativity/work and anxiety/worry. It’s been nice having a job where for the first time in my life I’m not in charge. Yet there’s nothing as satisfying as working on my own creative project. I’ve been able to reduce my anxiety as I’ve gotten older. Makes me happy.

So here’s how I would extend today’s NYT happiness article:

Fight the good fight. Find someone you love to grow old with — even if it’s for 20-year increments. Speak up to change the world. Gaze at your children’s beautiful faces as often as possible. Learn how to relax. Check out history, preferably in real places.

petroglyphs in the Tucson Mountains

petroglyphs in the Tucson Mountains

Take on creative projects only intermittently or learn how to reduce my anxiety more. First step: Take a walk in sunny Tucson.

 

Posted in Baby Boomers, Bopping Around Tucson, Fight wimpiness, Mental illness/civil rights | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Almost there…Our Place Clubhouse writers step forth!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by sheilawill

Are excitement and anxiety flip sides of the same coin? How come I started waking up at 5:30 a.m. this week? What yummy appetizers will Orlando, Autumn and their crew at Cafe 54 prepare for the OFFICIAL BOOK LAUNCH of A Certain Slant of Light: Emerging from the Shadows of Mental Illness? 

Mark your calendars: Friday, Jan. 17 from 5-7 p.m. at Our Place Clubhouse, 66 E. Pennington St. The Clubhouse and Cafe 54 are under the umbrella of  Coyote Task Force, of which I’ve been a board member since 2007.

Our book has everything — heartfelt writing, poetry, Emily Dickinson, neuroscience, hope, Suzi Hileman, memoir, laughter, great quotes, sad times, artwork, references, collaboration, surprises, photographs of wonderful people, a few statistics, what you can do to help reduce the stigma of mental illness, and lots of love.

If you want to meet us all, munch on a yummy lemon square or two, we’ll see you on Jan. 17!

Cafe 54 makes other great goodies too!

Cafe 54 makes other great goodies too!

We’ll also be signing A Certain Slant of Light: Emerging from the Shadows of Mental Illness at Stroll and Roll with Suzi Hileman at the Christina-Taylor Green Linear Park on Jan. 11, 2014, part of  Beyond Tucson to commemorate the Jan. 8, 2011 tragedy in Tucson. We’re all in this together!

I’ll have a lot more to share about upcoming book signings. Heading back east  for Thanksgiving with my daughter and son-in-law. Enjoy good health with your family and friends. Stay calm. I’ll try.

Posted in Mental illness/civil rights, Neuroscience needs me | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saturday morning, oh Saturday morning

Posted on October 19, 2013 by sheilawill

It’s confusing when you come from Maine. One thing I know for sure: I never want to be cold again, and I’ve become a weather wimp after living in Tucson for 11 years. It was only 61 degrees this morning when we rode bikes to Frank’s for breakfast (oh brrrr, right). I always take a sweater with me, just in case.

Now I don’t dread October, knowing that snow can’t be far behind. I just made plans with friends for a January visit to the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. photo-162

I can’t get enough of the Tucson sunshine.  Still, something in my cellular memory requires some fall foliage, so it’s up Mt. Lemmon tomorrow.

Antigone Books reminds me of my Oz Bookstore.

Antigone Books reminds me of my Oz Bookstore.

This morning I headed to 4th Avenue after breakfast, wanting to wish Trudy at Antigone’s a happy 40th anniversary. Quite a feat for an independent bookstore! I’m impressed. My Oz Bookstore in Southwest Harbor made it to 15 years.

Seems like so long ago when I closed Oz on March 17, 1997. That day felt more like a funeral, not a celebration like at Antigone today. I took it in, browsing through new books and turning Brook’s “Paradise Lust” face out, as I always do.

But there was a bit of sadness too. For so many years, I was so sure that a big part of my identity would be as a bookstore owner. Everything’s changed. If only I could stop taking a sweater with me wherever I go.

Posted in Baby Boomers, Bopping Around Tucson, Mount Desert Island/Maine | 1 Comment

Something else I don’t know how to explain

Posted on October 13, 2013 by sheilawill

I’m not sure how Reiki works and I’m not terribly woo woo. But yesterday I attended an all-day Reiki workshop to learn how to comfort myself and loved ones who are far away in times of trouble (we all have them).

I went because my dear healer friend Kathleen in Bar Harbor suggested it. She’s a close friend in addition to being the real deal. Working with Kathleen for four or five years changed my life before I moved to Tucson in 2002. She can move energy. All I know is that after one or two sessions with her every July I feel different, clearer, calmer. Then we have lunch and talk about the usual things old friends talk about.

Kathleen is a regular person and a healer. She used to be a high school English teacher. She’s trained in massage, shiatsu and Reiki.

Me and my two cohorts yesterday

Me and my two cohorts yesterday

“Reiki is for stress reduction,” our teacher told the three of us at the workshop. Ok. I’m all for that. I believe in the power of the body’s chakras, seven sites of spinning energy along our spines. All ancient cultural/belief systems refer to them in their own ways.

The point is to clear the chakras, allowing energy to flow freely, enhancing our capabilities for connection to some higher power, intuition, communication, love and compassion, self-empowerment, feeling and pleasure, and groundedness.

Are we all about electricity? Doesn’t the clarity of the chakras change from day to day? Maybe there’s more gunk blocking our chakras one day than another? Do we have this much power to change our lives? If we do, or believe anything enough, can we make it happen? What part do our brains play? I asked a lot of questions yesterday.

I’m pleased with myself because I participated in the touchy-feely parts of the workshop, something I usually poo poo. I was curious and wanted the full experience. I also got tired and just wanted to nap all afternoon. Then have someone, perhaps a nice mother like our teacher, give us milk and cookies. Maybe that’s a sign. 

The day-long distraction, learning experience, life-changing event — I’m not sure what it is yet — calmed me. I’m not as worried about renting my house in Maine. It will happen, my optimistic self says, quelling my cynical side.

Which chakra is calling to me now? I’ll let you know.

Posted in Neuroscience needs me | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments