I love Tucson

It is wonderful to be home for so many reasons....

to see my adorable parents, my sisters, my cute nephews

to be in the warm desert sunshine

to be surrounded by the rich borderland culture of Southern AZ

Today we went down to the UofA for the first ever Tucson Festival of Books. Totally free, hundreds of authors, children's activities..fantastic. This is nirvana for a librarian.

Mom and I discovered a local author during a reading. Alberto Alvaro Rios grew up in Nogales and was reading from his memoir, which was chosen for the Arizona One Book project this year. Capirotada (Mexican bread pudding) is a series of stories of his life growing up on the border, and he is a gifted storyteller and engaging presenter - funny, sharp....LOVED him.

Here is a poem that he read:

Border Lines

A weight carried by two
Weighs only half as much.


The world on a map looks like the drawing of a cow
In a butcher's shop, all those lines showing
Where to cut.

That drawing of the cow is also a jigsaw puzzle,
Showing just as much how very well
All the strange parts fit together.

Which way we look at the drawing
Makes all the difference.
We seem to live in a world of maps:

But in truth we live in a world made
Not of paper and ink but of people.
Those lines are our lives. Together,

Let us turn the map until we see clearly:
The border is what joins us,
Not what separates us.


©2003 by Alberto Ríos