Ever vigilant.
Author Archives: Deonne Kahler
Walking with the Dead Near the Mexican Border
Tumacácori National Historical Park is south of Tucson and just north of the Mexican border. Like the Mission San Xavier del Bac, Father Kino founded this mission, too, one of more than 20 in the region:
Posted in Travel
Tagged Arizona, Cemeteries, Missions, National Parks
Face it, the Holidays Are About Decadence
‘Tis the season for shopping, drinking, and eating, and here are some of my favorites for all three in Tucson. (Anna, my dear friend and Tucson local, was my tour guide.)
Posted in Travel
Tagged Arizona, Bars, Restaurants, Shopping
An Uneventful Afternoon. Almost.
The same day I went to Saguaro National Park I visited the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, so it was some great sightseeing. You know, as long as you ignore the cactus-lust and killer-bee sting. (That plus the jumping cholla incident suggest a new state motto. “Arizona: Land of the poky, stingy, and stabby.”)
The Good Father
I’m not a religious person. At all. But there’s something about churches I love. The stillness, the sense of history and reverence – it settles me down in an instant, like nothing else. (Well, except Valium. Where did I put that bottle?)
Beauty and Pain in Arizona
I’m spending a couple days with my friend Anna, and even though we haven’t seen each other since high school it’s like we were never apart. When I got to her house in Green Valley after a long day’s drive, she had a delicious, healthy dinner and glass of wine waiting for me. It’s all I could do to not drop to one knee and […]
Posted in Travel
Tagged Arizona, Cemeteries, Mishaps, Nature
Ending Up Somewhere Else
Driving home on the last scampabout, I heard Kathleen Edwards’s song “Somewhere Else.”
Posted in Confessions
Tagged Music, New Mexico, Texas
How to Stand Out in Five Easy Steps
We’ve established Texas had its challenges for me, one of which was finding a meal not involving a dead cow or deep fryer, and about halfway in I was desperately seeking tofu. (I realize “desperate” and “tofu” are two words that naturally go together for many of you, but I felt them in a different way.)
Posted in Travel
Tagged Mishaps, Restaurants, Texas
Looking for Happiness in Lubbock
One of my favorite bands is Thrift Store Cowboys from Lubbock. Listening to their songs I pictured a quaint Texas town with serious but sweet cowboys, rolling tumbleweeds, and sprawling farms. What I got was strip malls, aggressive drivers, and McMansions.
Posted in Travel
Tagged Bars, Museums, Places I don't want to go back to, Texas