In my last entry I included photos of a beautiful Saguaro cactus that lived in our yard in Tucson.  About 10 years ago a Palo Verde tree blew over in the wind and ripped a hole in the side of this Saguaro.  The great cactus produced a huge scar and over the years put out multiple arms in an effort to survive, but the big freeze in February 2011 was too much to overcome and multiplied the stress & severity of the original injury.
In the years of it's struggle, it provided nesting for mourning & white winged doves as well as a few Gila Woodpeckers.  Now in it's death it will provide for many organisms as it decays.
In the last couple of years, we could tell the cactus was loosing ground.  The arms began to shrink in bulk as it used up it's moisture stores.  
When we were in Tucson before Thanksgiving, we noticed the telltale black ooze of a dying Saguaro and the distinct lean of the giant, so I took a few photos, knowing it would not stand much longer.  As we arrived back in Tucson a week later, the injured soldier lay crumpled on the ground.  I'm saddened by it's loss, but I'm so glad we got to enjoy it the way we did.
The first arm burst through in June 2004 and we were so excited, but within the next year the injury occurred that would bring the end to this beautiful plant.  It stood in silhouette in many sunrise and  sunset photos we took over the years.  It's been photographed with rainbows and the moon & planets.  We even used it as a backdrop to photos promoting the Arizona Banjo & Ukulele Blast in 2014.
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We spent two days in Tucson before Thanksgiving.  Visited with Mel, Matt, Wes & Greg and played two banjo gigs with the Arizona Banjo Blasters.  It's always fun to play with the band.  We played three gigs with them in December too, but won't have any more until after Christmas.

The most rewarding banjo gig I think we ever played was  in a gas station parking lot to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the A&M Shell Station owned by Arnold Mendez, a Naturalized Citizen who is living the American Dream.  He came here from Cuba in 1962, has worked at this Shell Station for over 50 years and is loved by his customers for his honesty, integrity and loyalty.  The customers got together to plan this celebration and to honor this hard working American.  They presented him with an American Flag that was flown over our nations Capitol.   Very good feeling to be a part of a good story about an immigrant!  

Wesley and Greg are becoming fun little boys with distinctly different personalities and interests.  Wes is all about imagination and creativity.  Greg loves animals, books and cars! They visited us here in Portal after Thanksgiving and we played on our tire swing and took the boys to the Chiricahua Desert Museum while they were here.  

It's now mid December and Christmas is just a week away!  Don't know where the time is going?  I remember my Mother saying that.....guess we're getting old. :)

We played an outdoor gig last weekend in Tucson and it was cold, drizzly and miserable.  We were happy when it started raining hard and we packed up and went to Beyond Bread for hot chocolate and soup.  YUMMM!  That afternoon we also played a Christmas Party at the Mobile Home park where Elaine Calloway, our Red Hot Mama lives.  Thankfully it was indoors and we got fed after Santa arrived.