About a month ago I met a lady at the Green Valley Chamber of Commerce Business Expo, she is the Program Coordinator for the Santa Rita Experimental Range located in Florida Canyon on the northern slope of the San Rita Mountains. If you're not familiar with what the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) is, it's about 80 square miles of rangeland administered by the Arizona State Land Department in cooperation with the US Forest Service, and dedicated to the study of rangeland management, a topic if paramount importance in the Western US.

Established in 1902, this area is the world's oldest continuously studied rangeland. Being interested in all things "Southern Arizona," I asked to be added to their e-mail list for info and updates. Through this exchange I learned about a program they offer called "Science Saturdays," and signed up for a presentation at the site by US Forest Service Archaeologist William Gillespie.

The presentation was titled The Human Dimension, A Look at the History of People on the Santa Rita Range. I've got to say it was one of the most interesting presentations I've attended in a long time, as he chronicled the lives of all those who have inhabited the area from the nomadic tribes that roamed the area BC, to 20th century Ranching Families. The beauty of the program is that they offer a different topic and speaker each month, and it's located in one of the most spectacular settings in our area.

I suggest you make a day of it, attend the presentation (usually 9 - 11 am), pack a lunch and hike Florida Canyon, as numerous trailheads are accessible from site. SRER is managed by the UofA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, more information and a schedule of up coming topics is available at their website. Check it out!

"Where Words and Imagination come to life" is an excellent description of the 2nd Annual Tucson Festival of Books on the University of Arizona campus. On Saturday, March 14th my daughter invited me to join her and her family to go the festival. I thought we'd only be there a couple of hours for my granddaughters to look around. What I didn't envision was that you could hardly haul me away from the place once I got there. This festival truly has something for all ages.

 

Upon our arrival, we watched the Lindley Lopez literary Circus who performed spectacles and tricks with literary themes. The group originates from San Diego's Sophia Isadora Academy of Circus Arts. My granddaughters Dana and Amaya were enthralled by the contortionists and enjoyed Thing 1 and Thing 2 performances from the Dr. Seuss book, Cat in the Hat. Looking at the crowd around me, I saw all ages enjoying the performance.

Dana and Amaya took turns at the Tucson Medical Center's prize wheel, played giant checkers and saw characters such as Curious George, Wild Thing, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Skippyjon Jones. There was so much to do and see. The girls could draw, paint or even get free books. Both entered a contest to name a woolly mammoth. Grandma wanted a Tomas the Turtle Hat but the TMC tent ran out early.

Turning the corner, Janos Wilder of Janos Restaurant at the Westin La Paloma was whipping up chile rellenos in the culinary stage tent. We began to get hungry and headed off to the food vendors. Some of Tucson's favorite restaurants such as Ziva's, Beyond Bread, Fat Greek and Choice Catering and served up a reasonably priced lunch. Seating for meals was under a large tent. The tables were all pretty much full so my son in law asked a couple of women if we could join them at their table. I kept thinking that the one woman looked familiar, and then I could finally read her name tag. It was Janis Ian, the songwriter/author who was promoting her book, Society's Child and would be interviewed by the bestselling author JA Jance on Sunday! It was all I could do not to ask her about Jimi Hendrix or what Arlo Guthrie is really like.

Then it was off to the BIO5/ Ventana Roche Science Zone Tent. There, my granddaughters extracted DNA from their cheek cells to wear in test tube around their neck, learned what life as a water molecule would be like and entered the fascinating world of insects. My personal favorite exhibit in the science tent was Brain Works.

Presented by the UA School of Mind, Brain and Behavior, there were experiments that illustrated how the brain plays tricks on you and how the different parts of the brain work. The exhibit had a brain zoo that consisted of bug brains, pigeon brains, cat brains, whale brains and even human brains! I never thought that in my lifetime, I would actually touch a human brain or examine a really human scull but I did. It was totally amazing. I was so into the exhibit that my granddaughters thought that I was out of control. For me however, it was a one of a kind learning experience.

Looking back at the event, I would suggest that you map out your festival events in advance. There are so many diverse authors, workshops and activities that attending both days of the festival is a must. Books are available on site for purchase for the author signings. Wear comfortable shoes and sunscreen. Bring a camera as you will never know who you will see there. For the many free books, pencils and assorted freebies bring a tote bag or backpack and if you want a Tomas the Turtle hat, come early.

Next year's, 3rd Annual Tucson Festival of Books is slated for March 12-13, 2011.