Tucson Botanical Gardens and a few laughs (Weekend Coffee Share #15)
Good morning! Writing and work have kept me busy this week, so I’m a little late getting the Weekend Coffee Share (hosted by Natalie the Explorer) up for this week. Today I’ll share a few pics from my visit last weekend to the Tucson Botanical Gardens as well as the usual funnies at the end. But first:
This Week’s Writing Update, Brought to You By Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The writing update for this week is that there isn’t much of an update. I’ve heard exactly nothing about any of my pending submissions, including the story I submitted for the Christmas horror anthology that was supposed to be published in November but for which there’s still an open call for submissions. Not sure what’s going on with that one. I expect to hear about two others, the IWSG anthology and my application for the Storyknife retreat in Alaska, in early December. Tom Petty was right: the waiting is the hardest part.
While I pull my hair out and check my email 72 times a day, I’m also participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) as what’s called a NaNo Rebel, i.e. I’m not writing 50K words of a brand new novel but, rather, revising a previous project. That work is going well, though I’m struggling with motivation and not as far along as I’d hoped to be.
Gratuitous Tom Petty video
I love Tom Petty, but the dude did not know how to enunciate. Anyway…
Tucson Botanical Gardens
People often think of deserts as barren wastelands, but the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona contains all sorts of interesting plant and animal life (see my various Arizona travel pics for examples). And with a bit of supplemental water, it’s possible to grow a lovely garden down here in Satan’s Anus. My garden is still very much a work in progress (a polite way of saying it’s a complete mess), but the Tucson Botanical Gardens, about a mile from my home, provide me with lots of inspiration about what’s possible (well, possible if I had more land and a team of gardeners).
I believe this area of the garden is primarily native/low water vegetation–and look how lush it is!
So many flowers!
Milkweed 
Baja fairy duster 
Zinnia 
Angelonia
The ones in the bottom picture look like they’re yelling, don’t they?
And the pollinators:
Busy bee 
Unidentified bee or fly 
Cactus fly
And then there are the butterflies. Lots of native butterflies hang out in the gardens, and they also have a greenhouse with tropical plants and butterflies. The tropical ones are huge!
The native butterflies are gorgeous too. Here’s one enjoying Gregg’s Mistflower, a native perennial that butterflies go crazy for.
And finally…
The weekly funnies
This week, we have two themes:
Dead
That first pic could totally be me if I ever fulfill my dream of owning a converted hearse.
And Undead:
And here’s your fitness pep talk as we enter holiday eating season:
Bonus Tom Petty Video
Because why the hell not?
That’s all for this week. How about y’all? What’s happening in your life?
11 Comments
joylenebutler
LOL, it was the same with Bob Dylan as he got older. I love his music, but some of his lyrics leave me shaking my head. Great post, Janet.
Natalie
Tucson Botanical Gardens look beautiful. I’d take so many photos if I went there. I hope you receive good news for your pending submissions. Have a happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare
Janet Alcorn
Thanks!
Gary A Wilson
Hi Janet.
I’ve been to those gardens. My daughter did her undergrad work at UA so I was there several times to help her move into the dorms or apartment, visit or whatever. I well recall those gardens along with a few great restaurants – but yea – Tucson is HOT. Her body thermostat has never recovered.
In other news, I finally got that longer story (Canopy) posted. For me, this is a feat to took me too long to produce but I do like the result. I know it would make me nuts if now I had to prod and wait for publishers to make a decision and while I’m still working, simply would not be able to make the time to fuss with it. I’m happier just sharing it for free and seeing a few folks read and engage the story with me. I chalk it up to great practice that I can go back and improve whenever I feel like it.
I hope by the time you see this note, that good news has arrived regarding your latest submission.
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! And congrats on finishing the story! I’ll take a look when I have a minute to breathe. Still no word on any of my submissions. I’m losing my mind over here.
Gary A Wilson
Oh Janet – and this is one of my great fears of starting down the route traditional publishing. Doing all the work getting it ready, then fighting the process of being recognized by a publisher. The economics of this huge number of folks who want to write compared with the much smaller market of who will pay anything to a real publisher for any work they deem worth publishing just puts a huge unknown about of time that may pass before anyone sees your work. ugh. It’s exhausts me to even think of it.
Janet Alcorn
Yup. It’s exhausting and overwhelming for me too, so I try to remind myself to take it one day and one word at a time.
Julie
The Angelonias are funny like they are yelling at each other. I’ve been to Tucson — and oh my gosh it was so hot. Even though I live in LA — where in some parts it can very hot — I can never get use to the heat.
Janet Alcorn
I used to live in Glendora, and you’re right—SoCal heat is nothing close to Arizona heat. But it’s lovely here from about October through April.
leannelc
Hi Janet – the photos from the botanical gardens are lovely – it sounds like a beautiful place for a walk. I never remember to take photos of anything like that – I’m too busy wandering around aimlessly enjoying the sunshine and ambiance! Good luck with the submissions 🙂
Janet Alcorn
Thanks! I think I’m too busy taking photos sometimes, so much that I forget to wander aimlessly and enjoy the sunshine and ambiance.